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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

The Beatitudes and Woes

Mrs. Marguerite Lane of Grand Rapids writes to ask if I have ever noticed a correlation between the eight beatitudes of Matthew 5 and the eight woes of Matthew 23. I confess that I have not. A glance at various commentators reveals that such a correspondence does not seem to…

by James B. JordanMay 15, 1989
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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 1

1. The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the burden. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: 2. Surely I am more stupid than any other man, And I do not have the understanding of a man. 3. And I have not learned wisdom, But I have…

by James B. JordanMay 15, 1989
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Biblical Studies

The Problem of Psalm 137

Psalm 137 is widely regarded as one of the meanest of the imprecatory psalms. Certainly as we read it it is seems to be a song of pure vengeance. The exiles in Babylon, in grief over the judgment that Babylon has brought upon them, pray for the destruction of that…

by James B. JordanApril 15, 1989
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Biblical Studies

The Thigh of the Peace Offering

In the Levitical law, the priests received two particular portions of each peace offering: the "wave offering" of the breast and the "heave offering" (or better, "contribution") of the right thigh. The purpose of this essay is to attempt to determine the reason why the second of these, the thigh,…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1989
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Biblical Studies

The Son of Joseph

The story of Jesus’ visit, early in His ministry, to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth is recorded for us in Luke 4:16-30. You may remember that Jesus read from Isaiah about how the Messiah would preach the gospel, care for the poor, work miracles, and bring in…

by James B. JordanApril 12, 1989
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Biblical Horizons

"Do This!"

(The essay that follows concerns a rather touchy subject: how the Lord’s Supper is to be done. I am not writing to insult or offend, but to challenge. To that end I have not "held back" but have "gone ahead" and said what I think needs to be said —…

by James B. JordanMarch 12, 1989
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Trinitarian love

Toward the end of Love’s Work , Rose offers a quasi-Augustinian account of love: ” L’amour se revele en retirer . If the Lover retires too far, the light of love is extinguished and the Beloved dies; if the Lover approaches too near the Beloved, she is effaced by the…

May 12, 2009
Philosophy

Violence deeper than violence

Of Rosenzweig, Buber, and Levinas, Gillian Rose wrote, “The separation in their work of the lesson of love or perficient commandment from the actualities of law or coercion suffuses their ethics with an originary violence that has been borrowed from the political modernity which they refuse to historicize.” That opens…

May 12, 2009

Analogy of being

David Hart ( In the Aftermath: Provocations and Laments ) explains the analogy of being by pointing to the difference between God (whose essence is existence) and us (whose essence in no way implies existence, and who do not even possess our essence, since we become “by losing what we…

May 11, 2009
History

Against the Priests

Jesus castigates corrupt priests and scribes for oppressing the people of God. So does Luther. So do the leaders of the Enlightenment. Shouldn’t we at least give the last of these credit for getting something fundamentally right?

May 11, 2009
Media

Constantinian media

Miami priest Alberto Cutie is found in an illicit sexual relationship. A few days later he’s on CBS “Early Show” confessing and explaining what happened. Did his bishop approve the media appearance? “Constantinianism” is, in Yoder’s terms, the church’s peace with the world; as RR Reno has explained Hauerwas, the…

May 11, 2009

Doing what I do not wish

Romans 7 is about the law, and the effects that the law has on someone (Paul) who is living in the flesh. When the law comes, it divided Paul into two, like a sacrifice, killing him and leaving him desperate for new life, which he found in Christ and His…

May 11, 2009

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