Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Place names become fraught with meaning by association with people and events. The name “Wittenberg” calls to mind Luther and the Reformation for Protestants and Catholics alike. Geneva has a wider range of associations, but the Reformation Wall, with its four main statues of William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza,…
“…a mystery without a solution, a horror story without savagery, a nightmare in which all the watches stop at noonday…” The Bestial Gardens of Men Then they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” (Luke 23:30) The following lines by Edgar Allan Poe,…
2 Samuel 11-12, which record David’s sin with Bathsheba and its aftermath, is structured chiastically: This arrangement highlights several things about the episode. It reinforces what is obvious from even a casual reading, that the transition in the story occurs with Nathan’s confrontation of David’s sin and David’s confession. Up…
Medieval bestiaries are packed with quaintly inaccurate information about animals, birds, and other created things. Foxes and snakes are devilish critters; stags, pelicans and elephants are Christlike in their various ways. Of course, the medievals picked this up from the Bible, where bestiary observations are fairly common. “Go to the…
What do Reformational Catholicism and craft beer have in common? The question seems to beg for a punchline. Better yet, it would be pretty good clickbait for an article on Katharina von Bora’s “spirited” contribution that helped spark the Protestant Reformation. Well, this is no joke and I am certainly…
Suffering Defined Suffering happens. We witness it all around us and experience it in our lives. It often comes from forces beyond our control. Suffering is inscrutable; it strikes unexpectedly, on a bright summer day or a cold winter night. We lament and are bewildered by suffering. But we are…
Showing page 117 of 309
Showing page 1 of 43
Vancouver, BC, is the most expensive housing market in North America, but, as James Surowiecki reports in the New Yorker , this has little to do with the local economy and everything to do with the globalization of real estate: “A torrent of capital from wealthy people in emerging markets…
The title story in Aidan Carl Mathews 1993 collection, Lipstick on the Host , is a tour de force of character development. The story is told by the protagonist, a saucy 41-year-old Irish schoolteacher named Meggie who has a brief, sad affair with a gynecologist, Antony (without an “h”). Mathews…
In each of the synoptics, Jesus sends out the twelve on a mission, and in each He is said to transform them from mere disciples (followers) to apostles (emissaries) by a grant of authority ( exousia ) over the spirits (Matthew 10: 1; Mark 6:7; Luke 9:1). Not power (…
In a recent sermon on Mark 6, Pastor Rich Lusk pointed out that John the Baptist’s martyrdom fulfills his life as a Nazirite. According to Numbers 6, the Nazirite offers his “head” (often translated “head of hair”) when his vow is completed. John was a Nazirite from the womb, dedicated…
In his recent book on Vincent of Lerins , Thomas Guarino observes that Vincent taught that Scripture is “perfect and sufficient for all matters - indeed, more than sufficient” (93). Vincent is, of course, more famous for his “canon” that provides a touchstone for distinguishing orthodoxy and heresy, and Guarino’s…
Pastoral ministry - in leading liturgy, in counseling, in preaching and teaching, in day-to-day encouragements and exhortations, in discipline - can only be accomplished by faith. That is true in several ways. You have to believe God’s word to dare to do the things ministers are required to do. By…
Showing page 601 of 2212
Your weekly digest for all things Theopolis.
