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Writing

Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.

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Biblical Studies

Gold, Silver, & Precious Stones

[This essay was originally published in 1988. Given the situation that our new national socialists are getting the world into, I thought it might be useful to reprint it here. – JBJordan] The Bible has quite a bit to say about gold, silver, and precious stones, and the Bible always…

by James B. JordanMay 19, 2009
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Biblical Horizons

The Pastoral Function

I wrote this elsewhere and was encouraged to put it here. It is a comment on what a pastor is. Today, this is not very well understood, and God’s people suffer because of it. There are four professions: medicine, education, law, and religion. Each of these, when done at a…

by James B. JordanMay 17, 2009
Biblical Horizons

The Virgin Tomb: The Womb of the New Birth

James Jordan recently pointed out in private conversation how appropriate it is, in John’s Gospel, that Nicodemus is present both to ask Jesus about being born again, and to see Jesus re-enter the womb of the mother. Nicodemus rhetorically asks, “How can a man be born when he is old?…

by Mark HorneMay 8, 2009
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Romans

Romans 7

This is a problematic and much discussed passage. I’ve been discussing it in another forum, and have decided to move it here and present some very preliminary observations about it. One large question is this: Who is the speaker here and what is his situation? Traditionally, the speaker is seen…

by James B. JordanApril 19, 2009
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Biblical Horizons

Good New Sci-Fi

1. The current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction includes a good fantasy novella by John C. Wright, who since his conversion has been writing Christianly. This is a fine fantasy with nods to C. S. Lewis and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and probably Gene Wolfe as well.…

by James B. JordanApril 15, 2009
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American Culture

The Name of Jesus

“It is an experience of our days that the spoken name of Jesus alone exercises an unforeseen power; and the effort which it cost to speak this name is perhaps connected to some faint apprehension of the power which is inherent within it. Wherever the name of Jesus Christ is…

by Richard BledsoeMarch 20, 2009

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On Earth as in Heaven

When John goes into heaven (Revelation 4-5), he enters a worship service. Four living creatures and twenty-four elders are engaged in a cycle of praise, including a version of the Sanctus and a proclamation of the worthiness of the Creator. When the Lamb appears and takes the book, the worshiping…

May 22, 2015
American Politics

By Consent of the Corrupted

David Goldman (“Spengler”) is suitably appalled by the revelations of Peter Schweitzer's Clinton Cash . But he seen enough of global corruption to put the onus where it belongs: “What kind of people are we Americans, that we allow these kleptocrat’s hirelings to persist in public life? The answer, I…

May 22, 2015

Church As Harmony

Paul describes the church as a body animated by the Spirit - one body with many members, each member necessary to the health of the body, each making its unique contribution to the common good. It would be consistent with Paul's ecclesiology to use musical rather than somatic images. Each…

May 22, 2015

Islam in Decline

Raymond William Baker ( One Islam, Many Worlds of Muslims ) wants to reassure his Western readers. Islam's resurgence isn't mainly driven by extremists and terrorists, but by mainstream Islam of the Islamic renewal: “The source of Islam’s power derives from the far broader al Tagdid al Islami (Islamic Renewal).…

May 21, 2015

Blended spaces?

In an article on Revelation 14, David deSilva summarizes recent biblical work that employs a social-rhetorical mode of interpretation. He draws on Vernon Robbins's notion of “rhetography,” the ways in which texts create mental pictures in hearers and readers. This is not to dismiss the more common idea of verbal…

May 21, 2015

Spirit Become Music

Culture is formed by cult. The liturgy is the first form of culture. What happens in the sanctuary shapes what happens outside. Rivers flow from Eden's garden to the four corners. A spring starts from the throne of God and flows to the Dead Sea, refreshing as it goes (Ezekiel…

May 21, 2015

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