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Biblical Studies

Thinking About Church History

This essay takes up from the essay " Thousands of Generations. " In that essay we saw that God has promised to show His faithfulness to thousands of generations of those who love Him. If God is going to do this, then human history will have to last for thousands…

by James B. JordanJune 9, 1994
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Biblical Chronology

The Chronology of the Pentateuch (Part 4)

11. The Life of Abraham 2006 – Noah dies (Gen. 9:29). 2008 – Abram is born of Terah in Ur (Gen. 11:26-32; 12:4; Acts 7:4). 2026 – Reu ben Peleg dies (Gen. 11:20-21). 2042? – Abram and Terah move to Haran (Gen. 11:31-32). 2049 – Serug ben Reu dies (Gen.…

by James B. JordanJune 9, 1994
Authority

The Second Word I: Seeing & Hearing

While this is dated June/July, this essay is actually being finalized and prepared for shipment in November. What this reflects more than anything else is my personal reluctance to take up this topic. The reason is that a number of friends and acquaintances have over the years, some rather recently,…

by James B. JordanJune 5, 1994
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Art

The Enoch Factor

After Cain murdered Abel and was driven out of the land of Eden, we read that he had a son whom he named Enoch, and that he founded a city that he also named Enoch (Genesis 4:17). The city, we are told, was named for his son. This was the…

by James B. JordanMay 25, 1994
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Art

The Importance of the Woman

Now we notice that God said that it was not good for the man to be alone in this task. God determined to make a helper suited to the man (Genesis 2:18). In context, the woman is to help the priest guard and beautify the sanctuary, home, and workplace. Two…

by James B. JordanMay 25, 1994
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Art

The Bride as Artist

Genesis 2:15 says that the first man was commissioned by God to dress and to keep the garden. The garden was located within the land of Eden, which was one among many lands on the earth according to Genesis 2:8-14. The garden was the place where God would meet with…

by James B. JordanMay 25, 1994

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Genesis 10 in Early Modernity

As Guy Stroumsa describes it ( A New Science ), comparative religion originates from a combined political and intellectual challenge to European thinkers. First, the wars of religion led some to question the primacy of Christianity and to search for some religious (or non-religious) substitute to serve as civil religion.…

July 11, 2014

The Bieber Effect

Vanessa Grigoriadis writes a lengthy profile of Justin Bieber at Vulture , analyzing along the way our “sadistic” fascination with watching young celebrities lurch their way toward adulthood. Bieber is the name of a legion: Most of today’s biggest pop stars “were teen stars, or at least made money off…

July 11, 2014

Dogmatic Descartes

Pierre Daniel Huet, seventeenth-century bishop of Soissons, was one of the most respected scholars of his time. A historian of religion and apologist, he was also one of the first critics of Descartes. As Thomas Lennon described it in The Plain Truth , one of Huet’s central criticism was that…

July 11, 2014

Where Sin Leads

John distinguishes between different degrees and sorts of sins (1 John 5): There is a sin that leads to death and another sin that does not lead to death. The substance of this distinction doesn’t concern me here, but rather the form. John’s distinction is not a pragmatic one. Sins…

July 11, 2014

Sacrifice for Sacrifice

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, liturgy for liturgy. Isaiah warns those who forsake Yahweh by preparing sacrificial feasts for Fortune and Destiny (65:11). The judgment for this sacrificial infringement is itself sacrificial. Those who worship Destiny are “destined” (65:12; the Hebrew verb is from manah, also the root of…

July 10, 2014

The Music of the Text

Yahweh will take some of the clusters from Judah to make new wine (Isaiah 65:8-9). Those who seek Yahweh will inherit land (v. 10). But those who forsake him are in danger. Isaiah ends the section with a beautifully constructed set of four contrasting beatitudes and curses (65:13-14). Each verset…

July 10, 2014

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