Category: Blog
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Jet Turtle
Cleverly concealed within the hard structure of the turtle’s shell, dual miniature turbofan jet engines roar to life, sure to give him a competitive advantage when that cocky rabbit comes boasting of his superior landspeed. Pictured here with a satisfied smile at the moment of blast-off, the turtle flattens himelf out aerodynamically by tucking his…
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Nicaea’s Theological Stance
The first ecumenical council was Nicaea, in the year 325. As all the later councils are at pains to attest, the Council of Nicaea is the most important of all the councils. The heresy which provoked this epochal council was Arianism, the teaching that the pre-existent Logos who took on flesh in the incarnation was…
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Map of the Theological Field
There are a lot of parts to theology, and although over-specialization is always bad, some division of labor makes a lot of sense unless you’re personally interested in earning degrees in everything from Hittite to Herodias to Haplography to Heidegger’s Hermeneutics of Hegel’s Historicism. Here’s how I see the labor divided. While the various theological…
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Help from Chalcedon
Christology is one of the most important doctrines in all of theology, and also one of the most difficult. The standards of proof here are high, because the claims —that this man is God, one of the Trinity, the eternal Son— are so outrageous. It is incumbent on all Christians, I think, to be able…
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Brief Guide to Theology on the Web
“As far as theology is concerned, “www” might stand for “wild, wild west.” Whatever law may hold sway in the civilized territories of academic theology, it is unenforceable out on the range. Internet theology, unlike other academic disciplines, has not been guided or normalized by the presence of any established institutional presence. With a few…
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Felicitous Nativity
Phoebe age 4 steps up to representational drawing just in time for the Christmas season. You can pick out the human figures to the left and the right, especially if you’re prepared for the bold abstraction of showing all the hairs on their heads by portraying one representative hair. Which one is Mary and which…
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Baby Jesus, Mighty Warrior
If God performed a mighty act of salvation in sending his Son, then we have to interpret the helpless baby of Bethlehem as the conqueror who showed God’s salvation to all the ends of the earth. Filling out so sharp a paradox is a big challenge for the poetic imagination, but a few have attempted…
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Present Accounted For
A little drawing of a boy getting a nutcracker toy soldier for Christmas, you say? Carried out with characteristic verve, but in the unpromising medium of #2 pencil and crumpled yellow legal pad? No, no, no, there is much more going on here. Attend to the actual placement of the image on the page. The…
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When is Psalm 98 True?
“O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” Clearly Psalm 98 is a psalm about salvation. The word “salvation” occurs three times in a consistent translation of the first three verses (KJV and others interpret the word…
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New Song for God’s Victory (Psalm 98)
Psalm 98 breaks down nicely into three parts: Verses 1-3 tell you why to praise God: Because of the marvelous deeds of salvation he has done. Verses 4-6 tell you how to praise: Loudly, joyfully, with guitars and trumpets. Then verses 7-9 say who should praise: The sea, the world, the rivers, the hills, which…
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Psalm 98 for Christmas
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things.” — Psalm 98:1 Psalm 98 is a remarkable Psalm, and according to an ancient Christian tradition, it is a Christmas Psalm, an Old Testament text that is appropriate for reading at this time of year. What’s Christmassy about it, you might…