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Writing

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

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The Lady and Her Jewels: An Epiphany Meditation

And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery (Revelation 12:1-2). Then Joshua spoke…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 6, 2015
extreme-unction
Anointing

Fattening Our Suffering

In his post asking Ought we Anoint the Dying? Peter Leithart makes an excellent and important point about our suffering as members of Christ. However, he only parenthetically mentions that the verb in question in James 5 is not chrio but aleipho . By assuming that these words are interchangeable,…

by Robert MaddoxDecember 30, 2014
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James

Death as Frenemy

We spend a lot of time in the church talking about what it means to live like a Christian. But what does it mean to die like a Christian? If we are to follow Christ in life, what does it mean for us to follow him in death as well?…

by Rich LuskDecember 23, 2014
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Literature

Was Shakespeare A Christian?

How would one go about answering the question posed by my title? That depends on what the question means. Obviously, different definitions of the question would require different approaches to an answer. Right off hand, I can think of at least three possible — though not necessarily mutually exclusive —…

by Ralph Allan SmithDecember 23, 2014
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American Culture

Phobophobia

In recent weeks and months, we have seen events that are not the event. The drama around these events is not the events themselves, but the anxiety about the events, and then even the anxiety about the anxiety about the events. That is the real event. The events in Ferguson,…

by Richard BledsoeDecember 22, 2014
anointing-david
Anointing

Ought We Anoint the Dying?

Anointing the sick, including the dying, is one of the traditional seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The Reformers denied that the rite qualified as a sacrament. Formally, this was because anointing did not have a direct authorization from Jesus; more theologically, it was not one of the marks that…

by Peter LeithartDecember 18, 2014

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Practical Ecumenism

The New Testament makes clear that the church is one and should manifest that unity. But given our current state of institutional division, how does one proceed? Especially, how is a local pastor to proceed? Seven modest suggestions: 1) Start local, stay local. Large-scale ecumenical efforts have born fruit, some…

March 11, 2015

Apocalypse and Epistemology

In his introduction to Apocalyptic and the Future of Theology , Joshua Davis traces the travail of modern theology to Kant: “Seated at the heart of modern theology, and especially of modern Protestant theology, is the existing and still unresolved problem of the relation between knowledge ( Wissen ) and…

March 11, 2015

Unity As Mission

The Protestant consensus that American churches long relied on no longer exists. The effect is similar to the effect of disestablishment in Europe. We never had an official national establishment, but we have enjoyed a strong unofficial generic Protestant establishment. There is no traditional religious replacement for the loss of…

March 10, 2015

4s, 5s, and 7s

John hears a loud voice from heaven, described in elaborate terms (Revelation 14:2). It is like the voice of many waters, of great thunder, like the voice of harpists harping their harps. This is a wonderful little overloaded description of the sound of the singers who are singing from heaven.…

March 10, 2015

Nevin Lectures, 2015

Check out the Theopolis Institute YouTube channel for Robert Louis Wilken's 2015 Nevin Lectures on the “Catholic Roots of Religious Freedom.” Visit the Theopolis web site for a report on the event.

March 10, 2015

Creature of Primal Love

In his recent study, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory , Jerry Walls argues that “hell is possible precisely because God is love.” Citing several passages from John's gospel, he points out that “for God to live with us, we must love and obey him. . . . The obedience God wants…

March 10, 2015

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