Jack Franicevich

About Jack Franicevich

Jack is a Biola University graduate (business) and an MDiv student at Denver Seminary. His particular interests are the articulation of Christian truth and the public witness of the Church in everyday life, especially Christian friendship. To those ends he preaches, writes hymns, and is passionately interested in whatever anyone else tells him they're interested in.

Towards a figural reading of… To Kill a Mockingbird?

Sep 1, 2017

This summer, I got to read through Ephraim Radner’s Time and the Word: Figural Reading of the Christian Scriptures. When we flipped the calendar to August, and I traded theology for middle school literature, sharpening the transition from student to teacher, I was surprised to discover how theologically rewarding my experience would be. I want to tell you two stories from my classroom about figural readings of To Kill a Mockingbird and then turn them into an argument for...

Freedom and Asceticism: Christian underpinnings of Nietzschean friendship

Jan 9, 2017

Happiness on earth, friends, only stems from war! Powder smoke, in fact, mends friendship even more! One in three all friends are: Brothers in distress, equals facing rivals, free men – facing death! In this text, Nietzsche begins with an assertion that war is the only source of happiness. Then, after claiming that the action of war only enriches friendship, he parodies the Aristotelian tradition by listing three ascending levels of friendship that are affected...

Why is the bush not burned?

Nov 27, 2016

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it saved Israel. As he unwittingly proto-typed Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Moses was distracted by a curious phenomenon: “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” (Ex. 3:3) Read the rest of the story here. Why is the bush not burned? Moses’ question is not answered, but Israel is set free from slavery. — Even more curious is the mystery of...

Angelology, Political Division, and a Criticism of Friendship

Nov 11, 2016

During my sophomore year of college, I looked up the entry in a theological dictionary on “angelology.” It suggested that we know very little about angels, and that the best places to get acquainted with the theology of angels were Augustine’s City of God, Anselm’s Why God Became Man, and select writings from Pseudo-Dionysius. That turned out to be massively unhelpful, because my confusion about angels began from having read those three authors that year....

Becoming “fit” for joy

Sep 17, 2016

Four weeks ago, I was one of four people standing in front of Biola’s Heritage Cafe, laughing in the low sun of late morning. Before taking a brief walk, Jessica and I had stopped to enjoy some time with Stewart and Erin, two good friends who had met to mull over C.S. Lewis’ essay, Education in Wartime, before leading a freshman seminar discussion. We had just a moment ago seen my good friend Andrew and...

Becoming friends with God and Abraham

Sep 10, 2016

Why is Abraham called a friend of God? Here are some ideas: Isaiah says it, and James says that “doing good” has something to do with it. (Isa. 41:8; Jas. 2:23) Augustine describes friendship as a “sharing of the counsels of the heart.” (Edward C. Sellner Like a Kindling Fire: Meanings of Friendship in the Life and Writings of St Augustine. Spirituality Today, Autumn 1991, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 240-257.) God asks, rhetorically, “Shall I hide from...

DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”

Aug 20, 2016

In 1985, drawing heavily both from Jeremy Taylor’s “Discourse on Friendship” and his own personal experience, the Episcopalian English professor, Travis DuPriest, argued that “Christian unity begins in friendship.” Why is this worth knowing? For one thing, it’s happening. For another, it is true to who we are, both as humans and as humans united to Christ. Trans-denominational Friendship: It’s happening On his Sabbatical tour de three countries, DuPriest enjoyed a remarkably diverse experience of hospitality...

The Sacrament of Pokemon

Jul 14, 2016

Earlier this week, a friend of mine pulled out his phone and opened what looked like Google maps. Only, it looked more pixelated, and it showed not restaurants but Pokemon. I was introduced then to the new craze that is Pokemon Go. Pokemon Go is a virtual reality smartphone game in which players can find, capture, and battle Pokemon around the world. In the old games, you controlled a little character who would find a...

How to Write a Research Paper in Five Days

Jul 9, 2016

Systems are great. You should use them for, like, everything. I just realized this summer that there’s a pretty straightforward system for writing a research paper over five days. Identify a category. I like Athanasius’ On the Incarnation, but I had no idea what to write about it. So I picked it up and read the first twenty or so pages closely. Then I checked out Peter Leithart’s book, Athanasius, which breaks down his theology in three chapters. After...

Sing the Ascension

Jun 25, 2016

We believe what we sing, so it’s important to sing the most important doctrines of our faith. But I don’t think we give Jesus’ ascension the attention it deserves. Here is a beautiful hymn text that considers the Ascension biblically, theologically, and with implications for our lives, below with my comments: The author introduces us to the Ascended One with biblical allusions from the Psalms, most notably Psalm 24, from which Handel also helps us sing...

About Jack Franicevich

Towards a figural reading of… To Kill a Mockingbird?

Freedom and Asceticism: Christian underpinnings of Nietzschean friendship

Why is the bush not burned?

Angelology, Political Division, and a Criticism of Friendship

Becoming “fit” for joy

Becoming friends with God and Abraham

DuPriest: “Christian Unity begins in Friendship”

The Sacrament of Pokemon

How to Write a Research Paper in Five Days

Sing the Ascension

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