Vestigia Dei
Wycliffe College Blog

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.

A Five-Hour Challenge That Could Change Your Life

Marion Taylor
<<ABOUT MARION TAYLOR>>

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Anne Askew and the Dangerous Activity of Reading Scripture

Marion Taylor

Twenty-five-year-old noblewoman Anne Askew (1521–1546) was accused of heresy, arrested, interrogated at least twice, tortured on the rack, and burned alive at the stake.

Did Paul Really Intend to Silence Women Everywhere and Always? Sixteenth-Century Female Reformer Said “No.”

Marion Taylor

I was raised in a church and family that encouraged women to be all that they were meant to be.

“The Yeah, Yeah Experience” or “Communion Sweet from Heart to Heart”

Marion Taylor

In my first year of graduate studies at Yale University, I was asked to be a teaching assistant in a course that allowed for “the yeah, yeah experience” to arise.

Marie Dentière: A Voice Long Silenced that Speaks Again

Marion Taylor

In my graduate studies, my professors had me read great books written by great men who had made a difference in the church and academy. They never talked about the great books that women had written and the great things that women had done. Women’s voices had long been silenced.

Loneliness—it’s now built in

David Kupp

There’s a growing ache at the heart of many of our western societies. Its name is loneliness. And a stream of actors has been calling it out of late: psychologists, pastors, pandemistas, even politicians.

How do you know when you’ve gone too far: Lessons from an American Jezebel

Marion Taylor

Anne Hutchinson (ca. 1591-1643) was a courageous woman who fought for many of the freedoms we now take for granted.

Some pushback to Albert Mohler’s pushback

Marion Taylor

Albert Mohler is blowing up the Internet.

Stuck at home, in Guelph, Ontario

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

Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Taking a Stand against Slavery and against Racial Equality

Marion Taylor

I was first introduced to renowned abolitionist, women’s rights activist, and feminist biblical commentator Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) at a birthday party held in her honor at Yale Divinity School.

Why the Lives of Historical Black Women Preachers Matter

Marion Taylor

Early African American women dared to preach and call for personal and societal change. These heroes of faith inspire us and need to be remembered. We stand on their shoulders as we continue to battle over questions of gender, race, and biblical interpretation.

Spiritual deformation: the faith community’s losing battle with social media?

David Kupp

We’ve all had enough, it seems. And yet we only want more. Shoulders curled forward, phones in our hands, eyes fixed to the screen, our brains wired to thumb endlessly deeper into the digital matrix: this is becoming the posture of humanity.

Faith in the Face of Adversity

Marion Taylor

The biblical prophet Habakkuk lived during the troubled last decades of Israel’s southern kingdom. “The Chaldeans [also called Babylonians] that fierce and impetuous nation” threatened to destroy God’s people.

Have you got what it takes to interpret Scripture?

Marion Taylor

Hidden away in the November 1921 edition of Nazarene Messenger, the official paper of the early Church of the Nazarene in Los Angeles, is an article titled “Qualifications of an Interpreter” written by Olive May Winchester (1879-1947).

Lessons on the World Day of the Poor: Pope Francis and the anonymous Jesus

David Kupp

I found Jesus a seven-minute walk from Wycliffe College. At first, I could not quite recognize him. Lying on a park bench, thickly covered with an old blanket, he was layered with snow. As I sat down on the bench beside him, though, I noticed his feet.

Dorothy Day: “gloriously different” sainthood

David Kupp

With World Writers Day having been celebrated earlier this month, and World Book Day (as declared by the United Nations) coming up on April 3, it seems a fitting time to revisit the story of 20th-century journalist, author, and social activist Dorothy Day.

Dorothy Day: “Gloriously different” sainthood

David Kupp

With World Writers Day having been celebrated earlier this month, and World Book Day (as declared by the United Nations) coming up on April 3, it seems a fitting time to revisit the story of 20th century journalist, author, and social activist Doro

Three Women from history who might change your thinking about women preaching

Marion Taylor

Paul’s words to the Corinthians—that women should keep silent in the churches—have traditionally been understood as prohibiting women from preaching, speaking, and teaching in church.