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

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Acts

Journeys of the Prophets in Luke-Acts

In an earlier paper 1 I argued that the story of Jonah belongs in the book of KINGS. Jonah and the unnamed Judean prophet in 1K13 are paired by the author through literary links. The Judean prophet travels longitudinally to confront national paganism and is killed but not swallowed by…

by Scott FairbanksNovember 15, 2022
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Biblical Theology

The Liturgical Day and the Eschatological Day

The Scriptures have much to say about “the day.” “This is the day that the Lord has made,” sings the Psalmist (Psalm 118:24). But what exactly is the day ? Or, more broadly, what even is a day? Days make up human life like water, light, and air. There’s no…

by Jackson ShepardNovember 8, 2022
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John

Worship in Spirit and Truth

According to the Westminster Confession of Faith 21:5, “God is to be worshipped everywhere, in spirit and truth, …” A similar phrase is found in the OPC’s Directory for Public Worship (II.6). In my experience in the OPC and other Reformed churches, the phrase is often interpreted to mean that…

by Brian NolderNovember 1, 2022
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Genesis

Through New Eyes: Eve's Desire and Adam's Rule

Introduction In Genesis 3:16, after the fall, God said that Eve would “desire” her husband and that her husband would “rule” over her. It is popular for Christians to interpret Eve's desire as sinful, that she would try to usurp her husband's authority. Likewise, some interpret Adam's rule as sinful,…

by Adam McIntoshOctober 25, 2022
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American Culture

LGBTQ+ Is Not Enough! — TMPZ+

White Western/Christian society has long discriminated against lesbians and homosexuals — ever since the days of Moses — who was neither white nor Christian, but that is beside the point — who claimed that God gave him revelation about what a man or woman is and how they should relate…

by Ralph Allan SmithOctober 18, 2022
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Humor

A History of Quiet Times

They Found a Book in a Wall, You Won’t Believe What Happens Next The secret behind the history of quiet times will make your quiet times more effective than ever. One of the enduring mysteries of American Evangelicalism is the question of the source of Quiet Times: A Handbook ,…

by George EdemaOctober 11, 2022

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Life Incarnate

The Ten Words are a portrait of the true Israel, the true Adamic Son. They provide, in short, a portrait of Jesus. They are commandments, yes, but they are more fundamentally a character sketch of the true man who worships God alone, who bears the Name of God weightily, who…

September 17, 2018

Creative Speech

God speaks worlds into existence, worlds that do not have the capacity to respond before the Word is spoken. Jesus calls dead Lazarus from the tomb, a Lazarus who has lost the capacity to hear and obey. Creative speech confers the capacity to hear and respond. This seems to be…

September 13, 2018

Pluralism, Fundamentalism, Abortion

Some typically sharp observations from a 1995 essay by Robert Jenson ( Either/Or ). First, on pluralism and the ideology of pluralism. What's new in the modern age isn't the reality of competing faiths: "The presence of contrary faiths and practices within a society often causes formidable problems, as America…

September 12, 2018

Do Not Kill

The sixth word says, “Thou shalt not kill.” What does that prohibit? Does it prohibit killing of all kinds – including killing animals? Does it prohibit all killing of human beings? Does it prohibit war or capital punishment? Some translations use the word “murder” but that is too specific. Hebrew…

September 11, 2018

Searching for Richard III

Some notes from an upcoming lecture on Richard III , drawn from Thomas Costain's popualr history, Last Plantagenet, with additional details from Peter Saccio, Shakespeare’s English Kings . Shakespeare's first tetralogy covers an especially tumultuous period in England’s history. Henry VI’s reign was split into two parts. His armies were…

September 10, 2018

Rich and Poor

Proverbs 22:2 says: “The rich and poor have a common bond, Yahweh is the maker of them all.” The text has an immediate contemporary application. Rich and poor aren’t different species, and they shouldn’t occupy different spaces. But, in the U.S. at least, we’re “coming apart,” as Charles Murray has…

September 6, 2018

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