Author: Matt Jenson
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A Theology of Hugging
I’ve been thinking quite a bit recently about the call to let others be. This, I take it, is the ethical correlate of the Christian doctrine of creation, in which the perfectly strong God makes room for the world, in which he lets it be. It is true that creation is always utterly dependent on…
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Now You See It, Now You Don’t
The church is a visible reality. Sort of. Evangelicals frequently forget, neglect or disdain the notion of the church’s visibility. This is more often than not a function of an ecclesiological minimalism. We get antsy around institutions and formalities, and we rejoice in the simplicity of the gospel. Do you trust in and love Jesus?…
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Sin Happens
I’ve just reviewed Alan Jacobs’ new book Original Sin: A Cultural History for Books & Culture. I’d like to recommend both to you. Jacobs writes beautiful, thoughtful books. (I’m finishing his other new book, on the nature of Christian testimony, now.) And if you haven’t looked at Books & Culture, think Christianity Today meets the…
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Tangled Up in Blue
An hour ago I unloaded my things after a long drive down the 5, back from three weeks in Berkeley with two other faculty members, their families and thirty-some students. Every year, a crew of Torrey students and faculty live in Utopia, also known as the Westminster House in Berkeley. Mornings are for classes, afternoons…
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The Bread of Forgiveness
As a teacher and writer, I am constantly juggling, examining, ducking, burying, testing and launching words. Day and night, I read and talk and write. I seldom escape the weighing of my words for timing, accuracy and fit. I love this word-riddled life, this chance to mimic the One whose mere saying something makes it…
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On Viewing a Body
Frankly, I wondered about the wisdom and place of a viewing. Our church was devastated by the death of Midi and Nathan Mikasa, mother and four-year-old son, less than a year — but such a year — after we opened our doors. I remember my pastor’s call one morning. I had been planning to call…
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Catholicity, Race and Sunday Morning
For the last 1600 years, Christians have confessed belief in the ‘one holy catholic and apostolic church’. The ‘catholic’ bit of that confession makes many Protestants fidgety, but it need not. Its etymology renders it simply ‘according to the whole’. Catholicity gets at the universal character of the church, and it does so by two…
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The Wisdom of Wyschogrod: On Being Biblical and Historical
Michael Wyschogrod is an American Orthodox Jewish theologian. He writes a piece asking the question: ‘Why Was and Is the Theology of Karl Barth of Interest to a Jewish Theologian?’ Wyschogrod resonates with the theology of divine initiative and the theology of the Word that both play such central roles in Barth’s theology. Of particular…
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Thriller at 25
Okay, I know he’s a little weird. But at the beginning of his solo career, that Michael Jackson was unstoppable. His breathtaking Thriller turned 25 last week. He had already dropped a discofied Off the Wall, but Thriller was something else entirely. Take a look at the playlist: Wanna Be Startin’ Something’ Baby Be Mine…
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Come, Thou Long Expected Servant
Advent is upon us, and as God’s good timing would have it, I spent all Tuesday last week reading and many hours throughout the week discussing Isaiah with students. Often spoken of as a ‘fifth gospel’, the book of Isaiah is a feast for Old Testament Jesus-watchers. That’s helped by Handel, whose Messiah teaches us…
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Praying on World AIDS Day
It’s World AIDS Day today. We tend to get faddish about issues. A buzz starts up about a particular need in the world, and many of us jump on a bandwagon of support, buying T-shirts and seeing movies and, sometimes, praying. Too often, our interest wanes as soon as the issue becomes ‘so last year.’…
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Luther the Word-Wielder
Thank God for shorthand. Without it, the ready wit of Martin Luther would be lost to us. Some argue that Luther’s were the loose lips which sank the great ship; others hear him as a voice crying the wilderness who merely called a spade a spade. But he sure did have a way with words.…