Theopolis Logo

Writing

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

See all
sixteen-miles-out-al48tflf4e8-unsplash
Hermeneutics

Everything Concerning Himself, (Part 1)

I begin with a proposition: The Old Testament is not so much a collection of biographies as a biography. The Old Testament is the biography of Jesus, the Son of God. And as such, the Old Testament is the biography of God. This is what Jesus Himself says about the…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 16, 2013
markus-winkler-aid-xyrtlec-unsplash
Theopolis News

Conference in Ukraine

Trinity House Institute joins with the Alliance of the Reformed Churches in Ukraine to co-sponsor a conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on September 19-20. Peter Leithart, President of Trinity House, will deliver a series of lectures on hermeneutics. He will also deliver several lectures at Ostrog Academy on September 18.

by Peter LeithartSeptember 16, 2013
trnava-university-beeyeib-am8-unsplash
Books

If There Is Something To Desire

Vera Pavlova (b. 1963) has published over a dozen collections of poems in Russian. She came rather late to poetry. In her youth, she studied music and began writing poetry in her early 20s while she was in the maternity ward after giving birth to her first child. Her first…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 12, 2013
markus-winkler-aid-xyrtlec-unsplash
Theopolis News

Book of Beginnings (Course Announcement)

Registration is now open for the Advent class at Trinity. James Jordan will lecture on the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, December 16-20. There will be a kickoff welcome on December 15, and classes will be held at Trinity Presbyterian Church . Registration is open until November 1.

by Peter LeithartSeptember 9, 2013
channel-82-urfja47nuhu-unsplash
History

Idolatry and the Reformation

In 1533, Hugh Latimer, already well-known in the city of Bristol, preached a series of sermons attacking “pylgremages, worshyppying of seyntes, wurshypyng off ymages, off purgatory, &c. yn the whyche he dyd vehemently perswade towarde the contrary.” The writer of this account went on to say that “the people ware…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 9, 2013
jehyun-sung-6u5aemqiajg-unsplash
Authority

Authority That Gives

Even if Adam had never sinned, there would have been structures of authority, and authority would have been invested in particular men and women. Authority is not a postlapsarian rescue operation; it’s essential to the good of human life. Unfallen Cain might have wanted to build his new home on…

by Peter LeithartSeptember 4, 2013

Showing page 188 of 309

See all
See all

Figuring History

Timothy Furry’s Allegorizing History is a careful, engaging study of the Venerable Bede’s understanding of history, and of biblical hermeneutics. But perhaps the book’s greatest interest comes at the end, in a more theoretical conclusion, where Furry draws on the work of Frank Ankersmit to argue that history-writing is invariably…

August 13, 2014

Triune Chord

Kathleen Fitzpatrick’s contribution to Trinity and Salvation is on the Trinity and music. Fitzgerald overstates when she called about “musical refutation” of heresy, but her analogies are illuminating. She points to chords as vestigiae Trinitatis : “Each note of the major triad has its own specific relationship with the other…

August 12, 2014

Serious Puns

According to Frederick Ahl ( Metaformations , 18), we have an irrefutable syllogism to demonstrate that puns aren’t found in serious poetry like the Aeneid: “Vergil is a great poet. Puns are not the stuff of great poetry. Therefore Vergil cannot be using puns.” Except that Vergil seems to do…

August 12, 2014
Biblical Studies

Winged

Typically, wings in the Bible are appendages of birds (Genesis 1:21), so much so that “winged-thing” (substantive of kanaph ) becomes a synonym for bird (cf. Genesis 7:14; bird is ‘oph ). Bird wings are mentioned in the rite for the ascension offering from birds (Leviticus 1:17). The earth’s four…

August 12, 2014

Etymologizing the Gods

Encyclopedic Isidore of Seville was one of the most widely-read early Christian writers. His analysis of ancient mythology in Etymologies summarized and extended a tradition that combined several components: Etymologies of the names of gods; euhemerist interpretation of myths as enhanced accounts of historical events; and moral indignation at the…

August 12, 2014

Onan in History

According Thomas Laqueur’s 2004 Solitary Sex , masturbation wasn’t a major concern in sexual ethics until fairly recently. Stephen Greenblatt summarized the argument in a 2004 review in the NYRB : “Medieval Christian theologians . . . did have a clear concept of masturbation as a sin, but it was…

August 12, 2014

Showing page 550 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.