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Writing

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

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Apologetics

Do I Have to go to Church?

Imagine driving up to Canada and stopping at a restaurant to get a bite to eat. While you’re sitting at the table, an enthusiastic young man comes over to you and says in an excited voice, "Are you an American?" You reply, "Yes, I am." "Wonderful! I have so little…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Prayer of Manasseh

1 O Lord Almighty, God of our fathers, of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and of their righteous posterity; 2 You who have made heaven and earth with all their order; 3 who have shackled the sea by Your word ofcommand, who have confined the deep and sealed it with…

by James B. JordanOctober 4, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Apocrypha: Bel and the Dragon

Part 1: 1When King Astyages was laid with his fathers, Cyrus the Persian received his kingdom. 2 And Daniel was a companion of the king, and was the most honored of his friends. 3Now the Babylonians had an idol called Bel, and every day they spent on it twelve bushels…

by James B. JordanOctober 4, 1999
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Church Government

Ministers and Ruling Elders Do Not Occupy the Same Office

This debate has been going on for some time. But with few exceptions, almost all explanations of Presbyterian church polity claim that a “church” (meaning a single local congregation) must be ruled by “a plurality of elders” of whom one may happen to teach and work full-time doing so. This…

by Mark HorneSeptember 2, 1999
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Biblical Horizons

The Apocrypha

I hope that those who are advocating reading more of the ancient, "classical" literature of the ancient, "classical" world, are also promoting the Apocrypha. I’m afraid that many Christians don’t realize what great literature much of the Apocrypha is. It is not, of course, inspired by God, and perhaps because…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1999
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Church Government

What is Presbyterianism?

PRESBYTERIANISM is a term referring to a system of government in the Church. It is commonly contrasted with Congregationalism and Episcopalianism. Presbyter is a Greek word that is translated as “elder” in our English New Testaments. Thus, Presbyterianism is commonly defined as “rule by elders.” This is a misleading definition.…

by Mark HorneJune 5, 1999

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Literature

Sympathy for Bertram

Coleridge, on the other hand, stood up for Bertram: “I cannot agree with the solemn abuse which the critics have poured out upon Bertram in All’s Well that ends Well . He was a young nobleman in feudal times, just bursting into manhood, with all the feelings of pride of…

February 6, 2008
Literature

All’s Well?

Samuel Johnson said of Bertram in Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well : “I cannot reconcile my heart to Bertram, a man noble without generosity, and young without truth, who marries Helena as a coward and leaves her as a profligate; when she is dead by his unkindness, sneaks home…

February 6, 2008
Literature

Shakespeare the Christian

Belated help for a friend: Pastor Ralph Smith of the Mitaka Evangelical Church in Tokyo has produced an course entitled “Shakespeare the Christian.” The lectures cover Shakespeare’s debts to Christianity and his use of the Bible, and then analyze 10 of the plays in detail. Ralph has done his homework,…

February 6, 2008

Universal choir

Augustine on Psalm 149: “Chorus Christi jam totus mundus est.” Christ’s choir is now the whole world.

February 5, 2008
Theology

Augustine, postmodern cynic

Behind Varro’s classification of Roman religion into mythical, natural, and civic, Augustine discerns an interest, and a political one. Varro speaks harshly about the mythic or fabulous religions, for violating the dignity of immortal gods. Yet, the classification system serves to protect civic religion from similar condemnation. On Augustine’s reading,…

February 5, 2008
Politics

Musical city

Augustine quotes Cicero saying, “quae harmonia a musicis dicitur in cantu, eam esse in civitate concordiam.” That is, somewhat loosely, “what musicians call harmony in singing is concord in the city.”

February 5, 2008

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