For far too long, many have approached these questions within the ambit of that poorly disguised and misnomered field of inquiry, "practical theology," where so much is "practical" and so little is "theological." But domestic violence is in fact a rather prominent biblical theme, requiring serious exegetical labor if we will hear the Word faithfully.

One of the focal points in the discussions surrounding religious violence has been the degree to which some atonement theories purportedly support “divine violence,” which critics would apply to any theory of atonement that would require sin be dealt with on the cross as a form of expiation or punishment.

Walking with someone who is coming out of an abusive relationship will not be like any other situation you have faced. At least, this is what I have found. I have learned throughout this experience with my best friend, that there are a number of things she needs.

We invite you to watch this video which explores the reasons we exist. Please share it if you care about these issues and wish to support our work.

If I had a flair for the dramatic, I would say patriarchy died on November 23, 2013. There is some truth in that claim, though it's a truth having more to do with the world of scholarship than the everyday realities many people live with. Instead of going that route, then, I will suggest that November 23, 2013 is one of the most important dates in the convoluted story of patriarchy in the world of biblical scholarship. It is at least a date students of the topic should try to remember.

The curtain has been drawn. The questions have been sharpened, the stakes clarified, and the issues focused. And the dust is starting, it seems, to settle. Now -- now -- is the time to stretch our reading to the other side of this debate, to add Davidson to Davenant, Block to Bavinck, Collins to Cyril, Milgrom to Monothelitism.

In an insightful recent post, Christopher Cleveland explains "Why the Trinitarian Controversy Was Inevitable." Cleveland's diagnosis is perceptive, and I would like to extend it somewhat further and also suggest a way forward in terms of the opportunities our situation presents. Cleveland points to the neglect, and in some quarters the rejection, of properly theological work which lasted decades.

David W. Van Gelder, then Associate Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Erskine Theological Seminary, ponders the implications, personally and ministerially, of an encounter he had with a possessed boy.

This omission is not the result of variations in the original biblical texts. As Parker notes, the Hebrew word is undisputed in the MT, and ancient textual witnesses all include it, with the noteworthy exception of Jerome's Vulgate. And the omission is a critically important one. Without this phrase, the reader is left with the impression that Eve sins alone. Parker is generally persuasive in her argument that the translators appear to be motivated to excuse the man and blame the woman.

If you've not yet had the pleasure, Anthony Esolen's (characteristically) outstanding book, Ironies of Faith: The Laughter at the Heart of Christian Literature(ISI Books, 2007), should rush to the top of your reading list. I often recommend the opening essay, "To Be Pompilia, Not the Fisc: Browning and the Irony of Humility," to ministerial and theological students.

Alongside the writings of the Divines themselves, the writings of the great moral theologians such as Ames and Perkins, and the twists and turns of evolving canon law, one of the most important contextual features in the Assembly's statement is the series of publications on divorce written by the great English poet John Milton.

What is a child, and what is a child for? What qualities identify a child as such? Are they desirable or undesirable? Is a child an image of folly or of innocence, of weakness or of strength? An old Greek adage said, "Old men are like children once more." In our day we might think that endearing, and an image of innocent simplicity may come to mind. In the ancient world, however, the adage reflected the connection of children with ignorance.

Wince+Sing -- whose name is drawn from the Hopkins line, "on an age old anvil, wince and sing" -- was the nascent form of the Greystone project, and after the recent hiatus the blog is now able to take a slight turn in its story, a turn in the direction of a more visible link with Greystone.

Greystone’s Lydia Center for Women and Families has been formed to advance research and provide resources in the areas of women, marriage and family, and children. The Lydia Center encourages collaboration among scholars in biblical, theological, historical, linguistic, and sociological disciplines for research output that is serviceable to clergy, academic and religious institutions, and families.

Do you want to see reconciliation? Luke locates it in the seam of a double quaking.

As I look out my window this morning at the sun rising over my house to shed its light on tops of the trees behind it, a golden crown is set on a forest still caught in the dead of a hard winter. A long awaited spring is still kept at bay…