The Penn Epistle is a Christian journal at the University of Pennsylvania dedicated to
sharing the words of Christ’s followers.
We accept all students at Penn and encourage you to explore what it means to be Christian through our pages.
recent posts
The Garden of Gethsemane: Christ’s perfect humanity
The Garden of Gethsemane is one of the most intimate pictures of Christ’s perfected humanity throughout the gospels. The night Jesus was betrayed, he came to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray with his disciples. I focus on how Jesus is both entirely human and perfect at Gethsemane, setting an example for how we are…
The Son of Man: Embodied Humility
On Palm Sunday, we often think of Jesus Christ entering Jerusalem on a donkey with the Jewish crowds cheering, “Hosanna!” Yet, this story as frequently told, does not do justice to the prophetic power of this story. This entrance into Jerusalem has been prophesied in the Old Testament, hundreds of years before Christ. Zechariah 9:9…
Cease Striving: Resolved to Rest in my Redeemer
It was a cold November evening, and I was walking back to my dorm after class, my breath visible beneath dim campus lights. My mind was crowded with deadlines, readings, projects, and exams—the familiar weight of academic striving. As I walked, a simple question cut through the noise: who was I doing all of this…
Till We Have Faces: Work and Identity Beyond the Penn Face
How C.S. Lewis’s forgotten masterpiece reveals the cost of living behind perfection and the freedom of finally facing ourselves. I’m sure most Penn students feel inundated with talk about Penn Face by now. Endless panels, wellness seminars, and workshops on the topic have made it almost more myth than menace; a familiar ghost we’ve learned…
older posts
Presence over Presents: Let The Rush Cease This Christmas
Christmas preparation often gets a bad rap. Some quotes that I found include Maya Angelou: “You can tell a lot about a person by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.” [1] Cassandra Clare writes, “Waiting for a special occasion to kill me? Christmas is…
A Lesson From Those Striving for Perfection
This year, we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Advent, the season of anticipation leading up to Christmas. Find this series also published by Cornell Claritas. by Deborah Aderibigbe, Cornell University “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” – Matthew…
To the Weary, Broken, and the Lost.
In case you’re lost, I am, too. For four years in high school, I’ve been sprinting without knowing why or having a sense of direction. Thought I would know better in college, but turns out everyone—including myself—is lost, more than ever. The first few months I arrived at Penn, I was like a mad compass…
What is Holiday Joy? Reflections on Isaiah 35
This year, we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Advent, the season of anticipation leading up to Christmas. Find this series also published by Cornell Claritas. by David Johansson, Cornell University “The wilderness and the dry land shall be…
An Eye Towards Eternity
With wonder, the people of Judea spread the story in hushed excitement. Not two centuries after the revolt of Judas Maccabeus, a time of subjugation had befallen the Jewish people; the centurions of the Great Babylon tread on the streets of Jerusalem. There were rumors, as there often are in times like these, of foreboding…
Do You Know God’s Voice?
This year, we’re collaborating with writers across the Augustine Collective, a network of student-led Christian journals, to bring you a series of short devotional articles during this season of Advent, the season of anticipation leading up to Christmas. Find this series also published by Cornell Claritas. by Frank Fang, Cornell University I used to think I did. Almost two…
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