Latest Posts
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With Respect for What?
Read more: With Respect for What?What do Derek Jeter, Tim Tebow, Lebron James, and Sidney Crosby have in common? Is each the premier player in their respective sport? No. Are they the highest paid individuals in each league? No. Do they all have the same level of experience, or have they won identical rewards in each of their respective leagues (i.e.…
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Hermeneutics of Love (Guest Post)
Read more: Hermeneutics of Love (Guest Post)Withstanding the apostles and Jesus himself, Saint Aurelius Augustine is arguably the greatest Christian theologian of the first millennium. His contributions to the understanding and development of Bible interpretation are incalculable. He was a man ahead of his time. Indeed many of the current debates on hermeneutics and postmodern literary criticism appeal to Augustine for…
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Esther & Canon?
Read more: Esther & Canon?[Update (2/14/2014)—My new book Esther and Her Elusive God: How A Secular Story Functions As Scripture is now available. My posts on this site represent stages in the development of my thinking about Esther. For the full argument check out the book]. The Book of Esther is notoriously difficult. For many Christians this might seem like an…
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Come, Let Us Go Out into the Wilderness
Read more: Come, Let Us Go Out into the WildernessThe more I read Hebrews, the more I am convinced that Auctor wanted his readers to see themselves as members with OT Israel in their wilderness journeys. I often wonder why Hebrews includes discussion about angels, Moses, the high priest, sacrifices, the tabernacle, and other OT images; but lately I am beginning to think that we…
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How Many Kingdoms? Finding the Source of Civil Law
Read more: How Many Kingdoms? Finding the Source of Civil LawA few weeks ago, I introduced an idea that natural law was meant to be the source from which all civil laws flowed. Thus, rather than appealing to biblical texts in order to erect judicial code, one must look to natural law. This post is my effort to establish natural law as the normative seat…
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Joy to the World…But what IS this Joy?
Read more: Joy to the World…But what IS this Joy?What does Christmas joy look like? And if so, how do we obtain it? This month, I’ve noticed that a lot of my Christmas reflections have sought to explore the emotional and spiritual dissonance that the soul can fall prey to during Christmastide. Personally, I do believe that nostalgia is not all evil, and that…
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No Room In the Inn?
Read more: No Room In the Inn?Everyone knows how the Christmas story goes. As Stanley Hudson vehemently asserted in the most recent episode of The Office (8.10 Christmas Wishes) regarding the sensitivity to celebrate everything but Christmas during the Holidays: I want Christmas! Just give me plain-baby-Jesus-lying-in-a-manger Christmas! When our culture boils down the Christmas event it looks like this: baby…
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Of Nativity Scenes, Christmas, the State and the Small Town of Athens Texas
Read more: Of Nativity Scenes, Christmas, the State and the Small Town of Athens TexasIn keeping with the Christmas spirit that has been permeated the blog, I thought I would attempt to meld my two-kingdom series with something relevant for the holiday season. In the secularized west, the constant debate about Christ’s relationship to Christmas provides a fantastic peek into the practicality of the two kingdom’s discussion. Today’s article…
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Too Christian? Reflections on Linus, Tebow, and Paul
Read more: Too Christian? Reflections on Linus, Tebow, and PaulSurvey anyone within the church, and if they are honest, they will let you know that there is at least one approach or method for sharing the gospel that makes them cringe. It’s not that there isn’t excitement about the spreading of the news of Jesus and His redemptive work to redeem and restore mankind.…
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Secular Christmas
Read more: Secular ChristmasThe concept is bizarre when you stop and think about it. Let’s take a couple of days off of work at one of the busiest times of the year. We’ll time our school calendars so that the semester break occurs during the holiday. For the month preceding the holiday, houses and storefronts will be decorated…