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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 6

10. Do not slander [tattle on] a slave to his master, Lest he curse [denounce] you and you be found guilty. The Sojourner of Proverbs 30 is a humble man. He makes this clear in verses 2-4, where he says that he is stupider than anyone else on earth, but…

by James B. JordanMay 2, 1990
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Biblical Horizons

An Old Debate Revisited

In retrospect and at first glance, many of the issues that have plagued and divided the Church seem incredibly trivial. The Quartodecimians were branded as heretics for celebrating Easter on 14 Nisan. One of the issues that divided the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054 was the kind of bread…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1990
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Advent

Gold, Incense, and Myrrh

The gifts of the wise men have been commonly interpreted as royal gifts to the infant King of the Jews. Each of the three gifts is, indeed, connected with kings and kingship in Scripture. The Lord’s anointed is pictured wearing a crown of gold in Psalm 21:3, and the gold…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1990
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Biblical Studies

Why Should I Join A Church?

The Church is not in good shape. Nearly every week we hear about another prominent Christian leader who has fallen into scandalous sin. Many shepherds feed their flocks a diet of baby food, if not outright poison. Few Churches celebrate the Lord’s Supper regularly, and few Christians appreciate its importance.…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1990
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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 5

Two things I asked of Thee, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and words of falsehood far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches, Feed me with the food that it my portion, Lest I be full and deny Thee, And say, "Who is the LORD?"…

by James B. JordanApril 2, 1990
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Biblical Studies

Joseph, the Righteous Husband

During the Middle Ages, Joseph, the husband of Mary, was the butt of many jokes. Medieval theater and art often depicted him as something of a buffoon, decidedly marginal to the gospel story. In part, this was the unfortunate obverse of the exaltation of Mary; any man would suffer by…

by Peter LeithartMarch 13, 1990

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Music

Market Correction

In a long and informative essay review in an October issue of TNR , Richard Taruskin explains the apparent crisis of classical music as a market correction. Between the early 1960s and 1987, lots of foundation and federal money flowed to composers and performers, inflating the numbers beyond what the…

January 1, 2008

Eucharistic Meditation, First Sunday After Christmas

Isaiah 11:8: And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. As Toby has explained to us this morning, Isaiah is talking about Jesus. Jesus is the only-begotten child of His heavenly Father, the new…

December 30, 2007
Theology

Exhortation, First Sunday After Christmas

We begin a New Year on Tuesday. New Year’s Day is a time for assessment and self-evaluation, for reflecting on the past and looking toward the future. It is also a time of uncertainty. Amid all the uncertainties, we can be completely sure about two things. We can be sure…

December 30, 2007

Emotion and Responsibility

Solomon says that emotions are judgments that, like many judgments, are not necessarily deliberative, articulated, or reflective. If so, why do we feel that emotions “come on” us? Solomon explains that it’s because we focus “on the feelings and flushings that typically accompany our emotional upheavals in times of crisis.”…

December 29, 2007

Emotion and Expression

Robert Solomon notes the familiar experience of emotions that intensify ” as we express them,” adding that this requires explanation “since Freudian theory and most psychological theories since seem to think that emotions are ‘ventilated’ through expression and intensified through suppression.” Is this perhaps another sign of the overwhelming impact…

December 29, 2007

Bhutto’s Legacy

In the London Telegraph, Christopher Hitchens sums up the life of Benazir Bhutto, calling attention to her impressive courage. But Hitchens also notes that the courage had a touch of fanaticism that leaves a dangerous legacy. He recalls that during her terms as Prime Minister she pursued a pro-Taliban policy:…

December 29, 2007

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