Theopolis Logo

Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

See all
kyler-nixon-urkdeazlvtq-unsplash
Music

The Case for Shorter Hymnals

I believe hymnals should be shorter than they are. Much shorter. 100 hymns at most, let’s say. I imagine that this will be a hard one to swallow for most of my readers, so I will attempt to bolster my argument as best I can. I can’t think of any…

by John AhernNovember 16, 2021
books-of-the-bible-joshua-by-ralph-drollinger-capitol-ministries
Hermeneutics

King Joshua and the Christian

Joshua is never called a king in the Bible. Yet while lacking the title, Joshua possesses the trappings of biblical kingship to a degree that it seems warranted to consider him a royal figure. There are lots of reasons for thinking this. In a 1981 Journal of Biblical Literature article,…

by Daniel HoffmanNovember 9, 2021
raphael-schaller-gkincd2eniy-unsplash-5
Language

The Liturgy of Language

God speaks. He is not silent. He has designed humanity for reception of such communication and also to speak on His behalf. This speaking is not simply happenstance. It is not just a curious quirk about humanity. It is intrinsic to who we are that we speak and shape the…

by Chase DavisNovember 2, 2021
ross-sneddon-zstkmnvmwsq-unsplash

Practicing Repentance

One evening, years ago, home from college for Christmas break, I dreamt that I was playing the piano, passionately and well, in the church sanctuary beneath the parsonage in the renovated mansion in rural New Hampshire where my father was the minister. It was something of a lucid dream because…

by Garrett SoucyOctober 26, 2021
artem-kovalev-fk3xucftavk-unsplash
Anxiety

Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

I’m a big worrier. Always have been. Some of my earliest memories are of being anxious to the point of getting sick, sometimes for trivial reasons. My mind moves a million miles a minute, wondering what will happen in 5 minutes, or tomorrow, or next week, or in ten years.…

by MargaretAnn HesterOctober 21, 2021
main-image
Biblical Studies

“But Lot’s Wife Behind Him”: Translating a Conjunction in the Sodom Story

“The sun had gone up on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. And the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD from heaven, and he devastated those cities and the whole valley and all those dwelling in the cities and the growth of…

by Josh JensenOctober 19, 2021

Showing page 50 of 309

See all
See all
Time

Time, Curse or Gift?

New Year's Day makes on reflective, at least about the past year, perhaps about life, perhaps, more broadly, about time itself. Many view time as a curse. Some see it as a curse because of missed chances. As one day or year moves on to the next, all we can…

December 31, 2015

Lordly Obedience

Paraphrased/quoted from Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics , 4.1, pp. 185ff. In the incarnation, the eternal Son of God makes His way into a far country, and takes on the form of a servant. “But the incarnation, the taking of the form of the servant, means not only that God becomes…

December 24, 2015

The Harvest

GB Caird ( The Revelation of St John the Divine ) has a superb discussion of the harvest scene at the end of Revelation 14. He takes it not as a depiction of horrific judgment but rather as the harvest of the saints in martyrdom. He points out that Jesus…

December 24, 2015

Jews, Muslims, Christians

In his Washington Post piece about the Wheaton College controversy, Miroslav Volf equates Christian positions on Islam to Christian views of Judaism: “Christian theologians neither insisted that they worship a different God than Jews nor did they accuse Jews of idolatry. That’s a step that would have been easy to…

December 24, 2015

Economy on Steroids

The Economist's Schumpeter reports on the extreme physical disciplines of top American executives - early rising, strenuous exercise, frenetic pace. Then this: “according to one CEO, several of his peers are now dabbling in mind-boosting drugs such as Modafinil and Ritalin, which aid concentration. This trend is likely to intensify:…

December 23, 2015

Hamann, Kant, Enlightenment

According to Hamann, the guilt of the dependent is not in “laziness or cowardice,” as Kant seems to imply. “No, in the blindness of his guardian who pretends to see, and precisely for this reason must assume responsibility for the guilt of all.” Again, “How can one mock the laziness…

December 23, 2015

Showing page 337 of 2212

Browse by Category

In Medias Res

Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.

Donate

Theopolis is nearly 100% donor-supported. Consider joining us on our mission.