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

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Biblical Horizons

An Older Essay on the Gospel Order

I thought it might be good to put this up here, since it is 14 years old, and itself reflects earlier discussion. From this you can see that we at BH have been considering this notion for quite some time. Clearly, the last word has not been said. — James…

by James B. JordanFebruary 14, 2008
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Biblical Horizons

Chiasms in James

Hopefully, my commentary on James will be out later this year. But here are a few chiasms for your consideration. I think the James 5 chiasm orginally came from Doug Jordan. The entire book of James is focused on how the pastors and leaders (“brothers”) of the church use their…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 14, 2008
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Job

Parables | (Part 2)

In my first post I noted that the parables of Jesus were not simply illustrative stories. They are really nothing like the kind of simple, homely illustrations that preachers often use to explain difficult concepts to their congregations. Just to be clear: there’s nothing wrong with illustrating one’s sermonic statements.…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 14, 2008
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Ephesians

The Praise Precedes the Indicative

Ephesians is often treated as a pure type example of the Pauline method that “the indicative preceds the imperative.” But what Paul does first is pray . Simply reading verse 3 and following involves readers in a prayer of thanksgiving to God–and much more so for those listening to the…

by Mark HorneFebruary 14, 2008
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Luke

"I Came Not to Call the Righteous, but Sinners"

Yesterday, I took part with my oldest son in a church-sponsored city outreach project (not because I’m especially prone to such behavior but because my son has a Boy Scout requirement that this would help him meet). Before we were sent out on our various jobs, the leader gave a…

by Mark HorneFebruary 11, 2008
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Biblical Studies

The Sequence of the Four Gospels

There is a scene in Prince Caspian , the second in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that helps explain why it is we have four Gospels, that is four accounts of the Good News of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is the account of Lucy’s longed-for experience…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 9, 2008

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Missing Cross?

Revelation 12 is an allegory of Jesus and the church. A laboring woman clothed with the sun is stalked by a dragon. The woman gives birth, and the child is snatched away to heaven. This is Christ, but He seems a crossless Christ: A theology of glory if there ever…

May 26, 2014

Priest, King, Reader

Uche Anizor’s Kings and Priests is a useful contribution to the burgeoning library of theological interpretation. Anizor uses the biblical categories of king and priest to harmonize a stress the theological dimension of Scripture interpretation (God’s initiative in revelation) with the ethical dimension (what kinds of people make good Scripture…

May 26, 2014

Tale of Two Readings

Uche Anizor’s Kings and Priests includes a neat description of a “tale of two readings” - that of Josiah (2 Kings 22-23) and that of Jehoikim (Jeremiah 36). In both cases, a text is presented to a king, and Jeremiah wrote his account of Jehoiakim to evoke the memory of…

May 26, 2014

Eights on Eights

Uche Anizor writes ( Kings and Priests , 78-9) analyzes Psalm 119 as a “developed expression of devotion to God’s Word” and a complex literary structure: “The first is its acrostic form: each stanza is headed by a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet and each line begins with that…

May 26, 2014
Reformational Catholicism

Bible Belt Catholicity

Pastor Rich Lusk reflects on the difficulties of pursuing Reformational Catholicism in the Bible Belt at the Trinity House site .

May 26, 2014

Tears of Heaven

When John learns that there is no worthy one to open the Father’s book, he weeps greatly (Revelation 5:4). It seems a melodramatic touch, more at home in the Shepherd of Hermas or Pilgrim’s Progress than the Bible. It is an essential moment in the scene, though. For starters, John…

May 24, 2014

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