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.

The gift of the new road

Catherine Sider-Hamilton
Professor Catherine Sider-Hamilton on the gift of the new road - that Christ Himself has made that new road His. "If I take the wings of the morning And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there your hand shall lead me, And your right hand hold me fast. (Psalm 139: 9-10)" Read more

O What a Tangled Web we Weave When First we Practice to Deceive

Peter Robinson
This Holy Week, Professor of Proclamation, Worship and Ministry, Peter Robinson, explores Sir Walter Scot's epic poem and how it collates to the Passion of Christ, and the sobering portrayals of how easily self-justification leads all too quickly to a complex web of deceit.

The Good Thing: Thoughts on the Confession of St. Peter

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

Let me begin with the story of two Rhodes Scholars. One is named William Jefferson Clinton. He went to Georgetown University on scholarship, Oxford on the Rhodes Scholarship, and Yale Law School. He served as the 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas and before that was Arkansas’ Attorney General.

Peace like a River

Peter Robinson

On the second Sunday of Advent we anticipate and celebrate the promise that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has come to bring peace into the world. In the face of so much hubris, greed, polarization, division, and war around the globe, the promise of peace might seem a distant and elusive dream.

On Saying “Thank You.”

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

Outside my office window there is a stunning tree. Burnt-red, tall and thick, deep blue sky behind it, and on either side trees still bright green.

Learning From Successful Churches

Peter Robinson

In Churchland there is a natural tendency to look to churches that appear successful, hoping to learn from or emulate what they are doing in our own communities.

Valentine’s Day

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

When my children were young, Valentine’s Day was hugely exciting. We made cookies with pink icing in heart shapes.

The Church, God’s People on the Way

Peter Robinson

“My soul longs, indeed, it faints for the courts of the Lord”

Psalm 84 is a psalm of longing or lament, and it is also a psalm of pilgrimage. Three times a year the people were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the temple to appear before the Lord (Exodus 23:14–17).

The place of online learning in theological education

Peter Robinson

At the beginning of March, the Angus Reid Institute ran a poll surveying those who were anticipating a return to work. The poll revealed that after two years of working at home many employees aren’t sure that they want to return to the office.

Women in Ministry? Light from Ancient Greek

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

Can a woman preach? Can women lead worship? Does God ordain authority for women in the church? It is a question that matters to me, as a woman and a priest in the Anglican church, now for more than 25 years. Greek points us toward an answer!

God’s Call for your life?

Peter Robinson

“What is God’s call for my life?” That is a question most Christians think about at one time or another and it is certainly one of the questions we have in the back of our minds when we come to a college or seminary like Wycliffe—regardless of whether we are looking towards possible ordination/pa

Candlemas

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

Where I grew up, in southern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Day was a big thing. For weeks before February 2, the papers, the broadcasters asked: would the groundhog—who had a name, Punxatawny Phil, from Punxatawny, Penn.—see his shadow?

Address the Sin and be Plenished by the Well

Axel Kazadi
Born in the Congo and raised in Zambia and New Brunswick before moving to Toronto, Axel Kazadi is a ThM graduate of 2018 and current PhD student at Wycliffe College.

Prayer in the face of fear

Peter Robinson

There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

In his inaugural speech as president of the United States (March 4, 1933) Franklin Roosevelt began by saying “let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is ... fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror…” 

A Call to Prayer in Times like These

Peter Robinson

In the midst of this present crisis one of the greatest gifts the church has for the world is prayer. Not prayer as a way of retreating from, or turning away from, the world, but prayer as means of being more present to the world in the midst of this crisis. In prayer, in worship, we begin with w

Abide with Me: Thoughts on Christian Unity

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

What can be said about Christian unity in a month that has seen yet another church propose to split?

Theological Interpretation of Scripture: “not a method but a mode”

Peter Robinson

“The soul watered by sacred Scripture grows fat and bears fruit in due season, which is the orthodox faith, and so is it adorned with its evergreen leaves, with actions pleasing to God, I mean.” – John of Damascus (The Orthodox Faith, 4:17) as quoted in

On Christian Marriage

Catherine Sider-Hamilton

Some rules on developing leaders in and for the church

Peter Robinson

Chris Wright, a biblical scholar and the International Ministries Director of Langham Partnership, has suggested that the great commission in Matthew 28:19, 20 is not so much a mandate to go to the far corners of the earth as it is about making disciples and baptizing wherever we are.

John Stott - a (previously untold) story

Peter Robinson

By Peter Robinson

Langham Partnership Canada exists to equip the next generation of Bible teachers.

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