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.

Where is God?: Finding God in the Depths of Suffering

Boram Lee

Two decades ago, in response to Christ’s call to offer care and counseling for the suffering, I embarked on a journey of caregiving. Throughout my now twenty-two years of serving as a psychotherapist and pastoral caregiver, I have immersed myself deeply in the realities of human suffering and confronted the prevailing darkness within our society.

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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.

Magi at the Manger: A Hermeneutical Meditation for Epiphany

Joseph Mangina

One of the most treasured items that gets hauled out of storage in our household each Christmas season is the crêche, or Nativity scene. Ours is a simple affair. It is composed of wooden folk-art figures made, as I recall, in Costa Rica.

Homesickness: Where Is My True Home?

Boram Lee

Seventeen years ago, I embarked on a life-altering journey. I departed from my homeland, leaving behind my family and friends in South Korea, where I was born, raised, and spent the most significant portion of my life.

The Word of God Abides: Reflections on the First of the Six Principles of Wycliffe College

Joseph Mangina

In a conversation with some students recently I made reference to Wycliffe College’s Six Principles, and was met with blank stares. I do not fault the students. The fact is that we don’t talk about the Principles nearly as much as we did when I began teaching here in the late 1990s.

The Temptation of the Godless Sermon

Judy Paulsen

Some time ago I visited a church in which the sermon, delivered by a guest preacher, concluded with the sentence “If you do this you’ll be happy, and your neighbour will be happy.”

Wycliffe as a School for “Generous Orthodoxy”

Joseph Mangina

In late October I attended a conference at Yale commemorating the centenary of Hans Frei (1922-1988), one of the leading historical theologians of our age, and the most important figure in the so-called “Yale School” of theology and scriptural interpretation.

Kyrie, Matthew, and Anti-Judaism, or Why Read the Gospel in Greek

Catherine Sider Hamilton

I don’t often think about Kyrie – and, in fact, when I saw the name, just like that, “Kyrie,” in my newsfeed last week I thought I was seeing the Greek word kyrie, meaning “Lord,” as in kyrie eleison, “Lord, have mercy.” That was an exciting moment: New Testament Greek breaking

Scripture Readings for a Church in Trouble

Judy Paulsen

Over the past few weeks I have had several long conversations with pastors who seem dangerously close to burn-out. They’re worried because some 25 to 30 percent of their congregations haven’t returned to church following the easing of pandemic restrictions.

Of Pasta and Palimpsests: Notes on a Visit to Rome

Joseph Mangina

I recently had the opportunity of spending two weeks in Rome as part of a course on Anglican Ecclesiology and Ecumenism. The course, ably taught by Prof. Matthew Olver of Nashotah House seminary and Dr.