Theopolis Institute teaches men and women to lead cultural renewal by renewing the church. Participants in our various programs—our courses, conferences, and publications—will gain competence to read the Bible imaginatively, worship God faithfully, and engage the culture intelligently.

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  • The One City of God

    by Peter Leithart on February 21, 2019
    Christians confess that the church is “one” and “catholic.” As “catholic,” it is dispersed through time and space. As “one,” this temporally and geographically dispersed city is a unified communion of saints. Augustine and Anselm were members of the same church as Calvin and Barth. Anglicans, Baptists, non-denominational Christians are members of the same church as…

  • Paths to Human Maturity: The Conversation Continues

    by David Field on February 14, 2019
    Paths to Human Maturity: by David FieldA Radical Modesty: a response by Peter LeithartPaths of Maturity: a response by Uri BritoLearning Wisdom From the Serpents: a response by Alastair RobertsA Crisis, Not a Conversation: a response by Douglas WilsonThe Conversation Continues: a final word from David Field Although, as mentioned elsewhere, the Paths to Human Maturity course…

  • A Crisis, Not a Conversation

    by Douglas Wilson on February 12, 2019
    Paths to Human Maturity: by David FieldA Radical Modesty: a response by Peter LeithartPaths of Maturity: a response by Uri BritoLearning Wisdom From the Serpents: a response by Alastair RobertsA Crisis, Not a Conversation: a response by Douglas WilsonThe Conversation Continues: a final word from David Field I was initially of two minds about contributing…

Theopolis Articles

  • The Chiastic Structure of Lord of the Rings

    by Kelly Kerr on February 19, 2019
    The chiastic structure of The Hobbit we considered in the previous essay is highly suggestive of what might lie in store for The Lord of the Rings saga. It is undoubtedly the case that J. R. R. Tolkien was a literary craftsman. It may even be the case he is more of a craftsman than he is…

  • The Chiastic Structure of the Hobbit

    by Kelly Kerr on February 5, 2019
    Structure plays an important part of any literary work, whether poetry or prose. It adds to the beauty and depth of the work and allows insight to be gained about what the author is trying to communicate. The question that concerns us here is whether or not there exists an underlying structure in J. R.…

  • Learning the Language of Arrival

    by Eric Robinson on January 29, 2019
    Can we learn to communicate from an outside intelligence? Spoiler Alert! If you have not yet seen the movie, this article may provide you with a great deal more information than you wished to know at this point. Since the 1999 film The Matrix received careful scrutiny on many fronts regarding its possible underlying Christian…

  • Sex and the City (Part 2)

    by Richard Bledsoe on January 24, 2019
    The first quotation at the heading of PART 1 is from J. D. Unwin's Sex and Culture, a 676 page volume published in 1934.  The second quotation is from a lecture given by Freud at the University of Vienna, and it parallels the theme of his book, Civilization and Its Discontents.[v]  A primary motivation for the researching…

  • Sex and the City (Part 1)

    by Richard Bledsoe on January 17, 2019
    Sometimes a man has been heard to declare that he wishes both to enjoy the advantage of high culture and to abolish compulsory continence.  The inherent desire of the human organism, however, seems to be such that these desires are incompatible, or even contradictory.  Any human society is free to choose either to display great energy or…

  • Waters of Earth and Heaven

    by James B. Jordan on January 10, 2019
    Genesis 2:5 says that no shrub yet existed in the earth and no field plant had sprouted for two reasons. The first is that "Yahweh God had not caused rain upon the earth," and the second is that "there was no man to serve the soil." Then v. 6 explains that "a spring used to…

  • An Epiphany Hymn: Nations to Him Shall Come

    by Brian G Daigle on January 8, 2019
    This hymn was written by Brian Daigle and is based on the Epiphany lectionary readings. It follows the tune of "We Three Kings." Brian is the priest and rector of Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church. He is also Headmaster and teacher at Sequitur Classical Academy and Director of Chesterton College. Brian lives in Baton Rouge with his wife,…

  • The Church Calendar in Outline

    by James B. Jordan on January 3, 2019
    As a rite of command performance worship, danced before the throne of God for His pleasure, the Church Year is a form of covenant recital or covenant rehearsal. The recital of the covenant in Scripture takes two forms. The first is the recounting of the great acts of redemption that God has wrought on behalf…

  • A New Evangelism? Reconsidering Evangelism in Light of Social Justice and Sexual Assault

    by Mario A. Russo on January 1, 2019
    The recent developments of the #metoo and #churchtoo movements has shed new light on sexual assault in the United States. Its impact has been felt at the highest court in the country. Amid this, a new statement distinguishing the gospel from social justice was published by some within conservative evangelicalism. They are seeking to defend…

  • The Jephthah-Jesus Connection

    by Eric Robinson on December 27, 2018
    Why there is more to Jephthah than meets than eye It was not that long ago that I realized the Jephthah-story and the Jesus-story were basically the same story. Sounds crazy, I know. But here is a one-paragraph synopsis of both: The people of God have gone their own way, chasing after other gods, and…

  • Jesus Rejoiced

    by Peter Leithart on December 25, 2018
    G.K. Chesterton famously said that the Gospels don’t reveal Jesus’ mirth. It’s true we never catch Jesus laughing. But can we believe He never did? I don’t think so. Laughter is human, and Jesus was fully human. Jesus promised that those who mourned would laugh. He mourned; would He not also have laughed? Jesus spent…

  • New Exodus

    by Peter Leithart on December 20, 2018
    Matthew 2 has all the elements of an exodus story. There’s a murderous king, who slaughters Jewish babies. There’s a infant who will be Israel’s future deliverer, saved from the murderous king so He can later return to save His people and lead them to the Promised land. There’s an exodus from the land of…

  • Is the Church Calendar Desirable?

    by James B. Jordan on December 18, 2018
    The calendar of Israel was primarily theological, centered on commemorating the salvific acts of God, but also agricultural, celebrating the creation-restoring effects of those salvific acts. The feasts of the first month celebrated the reviving of the world in the Spring, and typified the cutting off of the Savior in his youth. The feasts of…

  • Chiasms and Life

    by James B. Jordan on December 13, 2018
    The chiastic shape corresponds to the shape of human life. This should not surprise us, because we are made in the image of God, and God is manifest in Word and Spirit. If we are living epistles, our lives will look a bit like the literary shape of the books and book-sections (pericopes) of the…

  • Boat Stories

    by Alastair Roberts on December 11, 2018
    Back in January, Venkatesh Rao wrote a fascinating post on the Ribbonfarm blog, discussing different forms of models of narrative. Engaging with Ursula LeGuin’s talk ‘The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction’, Rao explores her contrast between the (male) ‘hero narrative’ and the (female) ‘carrier-bag story’, and suggests a third model: the ‘boat story’. The male hero…

  • Israel Redux: The Image of Christ in the Gospel According to John (Part IV)

    by Geert Heetebrij on December 6, 2018
    John 18, 19: Latter Prophets and the Writings John 18 and 19 record the arrest, trial, torture, and death of Jesus as laid out in detail in Isaiah 53.  After the Roman soldier pierces Jesus’ side, John quotes Zechariah: “They shall look at him whom they pierced” (Zech 12:10). In terms of historical scope, the…

  • Israel Redux: The Image of Christ in the Gospel According to John (Part III)

    by Geert Heetebrij on December 4, 2018
    John 12.12 – John 17: Latter Prophets In the Hebrew Scriptures, Kings is followed by the Latter Prophets. John 12:15 quotes Zechariah 9:9 as having prophesied Jesus’ triumphal entry: “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.”[1] N.T. Wright sees, beside Zechariah, the fulfillment of…

  • Israel Redux: The Image of Christ in the Gospel According to John (Part II)

    by Geert Heetebrij on November 29, 2018
    John 6.16-70: Joshua The book of Joshua documents the nation of Israel entering the Promised Land. Consider the order of events: (1) Israel is still receiving the daily miracle of manna; (2) Israel miraculously crosses the Jordan on dry foot; (3) The day after Passover, Israel eats produce of the Promised Land, and the manna…

  • Israel Redux: The Image of Christ in the Gospel According to John (Part I)

    by Geert Heetebrij on November 27, 2018
    Since my educational and professional training have revolved around story and narrative structure, I approach John’s Gospel from a literary and narrative perspective. In doing so, I have noticed structural story patterns and followed them where they seem to lead: the Gospel of John parallels the ordering of the books of the Tanakh. Although John’s…

  • The Clouds of Mt. Sinai

    by Remy Wilkins on November 22, 2018
    The Mt. Sinai Hospital was neolithic on the black hill of Hollow, New Hampshire. Winter dampened the trees and the wind bit at the sparse branches, the sidewalks and stairs were perilous with soggy leaves, and the dim yellow light cast a pallor upon the milky stone building. Ambling inside the halls of determined walks…
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