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The Wycliffe Blog - Vestigia Dei
Vestigia Dei – is a Latin term meaning “traces of God.” As a theological term it is associated with natural theology – that is, the view that there are vestiges of God within creation. We’ve chosen this term as the title of the Wycliffe College blog because our hope is that through these writings, readers might glimpse evidences for God as our writers interact with the wider world.
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Meanings matter: clarifying “mission” and “gospel”By John Bowen I remember seminary students who were hoping to be ordained warning one another of the kind of questions they were likely to be asked in the selection process. “It used to be,” they said, “that you had to say something about the importance of the sacraments. But now,” they explained, “you’d better say something about the importance of mission, or you don’t have a chance.” “Mission” has become a very... |
Wed, September 15, 2021 |
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What is a theological college? Wycliffe College as a M.A.S.H. UnitBy Stephen Andrews People think about theological colleges in different ways. To most, perhaps, they are simply schools, maybe professional schools, like the faculties of medicine or law or music. Wycliffe College’s incorporating documents identify us as a “divinity school,” indicating that the education we offer, while practical in its intention, has something to do with God. This is a place where one learns the tools of the pastoral or academic trades. Some... |
Thu, September 02, 2021 |
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Reflections from a Covid-couch: Jesus comes to where we areBy Christopher Seitz Senior Research Professor and Old Testament scholar Christopher Seitz recently contracted Covid-19 after having been vaccinated. His symptoms—while relatively mild—have nonetheless been disruptive. In the midst of his recuperation, he wrote this sermon using Mark 7: 24–37 (the story of Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman) as his text, and granted permission for it to be shared here.
Short and sweet—would be a good way to refer... |
Thu, August 19, 2021 |
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Sine nomineBy Stephen Andrews Names are important in the Bible. From the time Adam named the animals in the creation story, to the revelation of God’s name in the Sinai desert, to the angelic naming of the holy child who is our Saviour. Names identify. Names personify. Names are intimate. Names awaken memory. We are given names in our baptism, and we are told that the Good Shepherd “calls his own sheep by name”... |
Tue, June 01, 2021 |
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One Christian’s struggle to make sense of the war in IsraelBy Andrew Barron Israel is where I have family. It is the country many of my friends, and coworkers (Jews and Arabs both) call home. My heart is weighed down at the recent manifestation of violence and hatred that we have seen erupt there. How is a Christian to make sense of it all? I assert that God’s deepest desire, as made known in Jesus Christ, is “to seek and to save... |
Tue, May 25, 2021 |
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Some pushback to Albert Mohler’s pushbackBy Marion Taylor Albert Mohler is blowing up the Internet. In his inflammatory response to the first ordination of three women as pastors in the SBC-affiliated Saddleback Community Church in California, the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes: “Simply put, the only way to affirm women serving in the pastoral role is to reject the authority and sufficiency of biblical texts such as 1 Corinthians 14 and 1 Timothy 2.” To... |
Wed, May 19, 2021 |
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John Stott and Anglican EvangelicalismBy Stephen Andrews Today marks the centenary of the birth of John R.W. Stott (1921-2011). Identified by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People,” John R.W. Stott was a legendary figure in the modern global evangelical movement. Evangelicals of various stripes claimed him as their own. To Billy Graham, he was a fellow evangelist. To decades of students in the Inter-Varsity movement, he was an apologist and... |
Tue, April 27, 2021 |
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We are not good at predicting the futureBy Annette Brownlee On this day the Lord has acted. We will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24) |
Tue, March 30, 2021 |
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Stuck at home, in Guelph, OntarioBy David Kupp “Stuck at home” stuck: “mired, glued, compelled, resolutely adhered, halted, saddled disagreeably” home: “one’s place of residence, domicile, habitat”
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
A bevy of new and resurrected words and phrases have pinned themselves to the pandemic elephant, who has been rampaging through our terminological garden the past 12 months. Here are ten of my favourites:... |
Mon, March 29, 2021 |
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The Tyranny of NowBy Stephen Chester My first degree was in history. I was educated at the University of York in England by professors who were by and large resolutely unimpressed by notions of human progress. In one introductory lecture on the medieval period the question put before us was why Europe in 1550 was so much more fragmented, insecure, and less prosperous than it had been in 1250. And although they did not say so... |
Tue, March 16, 2021 |
