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Metaphors, Mysticism, and Modern Misreadings

William Placher and Denys Turner, though separated by geography and academic focus, converged on a shared mission: to confront modernity’s relentless effort to shrink the mystery of God into categories palatable to human reason or emotion. Placher, an American theologian and philosopher of religion, spent much of his career at Wabash College in Indiana, where […]

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The Weight of Ancient Myths and the Dawn of Genesis

This week we completed a brief section on Greek and Ancient Near East mythology in the IF program. As they head into Spring Break, I shared these closing thoughts with them, which I hope will help them as we begin to transition to the Book of Genesis. In the world of ancient myth, humanity crouched […]

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Carthage College Intellectual Foundations Panel Talk

I’m speaking on the revamped Intellectual Foundations panel series for Carthage College next month. The idea is to share more publicly the kind of discussions we have in our classes. The first panel is based on the text of Genesis, and is entitled “Must we choose between science and religion?” I’ve approached it, naturally, as […]

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Wisdom of the Ages

David Curtis Steinmetz (1936–2015) was a distinguished historian of Christianity, renowned for his pioneering work in the field of Reformation studies. Born in Schenectady, New York, Steinmetz earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University under the mentorship of the eminent church historian Heiko A. Oberman. His academic career was defined by a commitment to understanding the […]

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Idols of the Mind

In an age where faith in traditional religious systems often yields to secular frameworks, the concept of idolatry—once confined to ancient graven images or overtly pagan practices—has taken on a renewed and insidious relevance. Modernity, with its promises of progress, autonomy, and self-realization, has, in many ways, restructured its idols, elevating ideologies, institutions, and material […]

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“It is love that believes the resurrection.”

I finally finished Wright’s History and Eschatology, based on his 2018 Gifford Lecture. Wright takes us on a jaunt through 18th-century optimism about nature and divinity—a time when thinkers like Joseph Butler thought the natural world sang of a benevolent, orderly God. But then comes the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, a disaster that tore through […]

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Milton’s Theological Process

Jason A. Kerr’s book, Milton’s Theological Process, offers a method for interpreting Milton’s De Doctrina Christiana as a reflection of his evolving theological thought process, rather than merely a compilation of his established doctrinal views. Kerr gives a close examination of the manuscript’s complex material state, as well as Milton’s diverse ways of engaging with […]

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