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

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Biblical Horizons

Hymn Bark #5: Healing Bad Eschatology

1. Come, Ye Thankful People, Come. This hymn by Henry Alford is found in many hymnals, including Cantus Christi . Yet, the last stanza radically contradicts the theological perspective of the historic faith and of the editors of this hymnal. It is a witness to how we tend to bounce…

by James B. JordanSeptember 20, 2011
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Biblical Studies

Biblical Theology Basics: Part 7

This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 7. The Literary Shape of the Covenant As we have seen, there is a succession of covenants in the Bible, each more glorious than the previous, each absorbing and transfiguring…

by James B. JordanSeptember 16, 2011
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Biblical Studies

Biblical Theology Basics: Part 6

This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 6. Covenant Phases in the Bible Thus far we have spoken of only three phases in the history of the one covenant. We must now divide the third phase into…

by James B. JordanSeptember 8, 2011
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Biblical Studies

Biblical Theology Basics: Part 5

This series of post were originally published at the Biblical Horizons blog. The entire paper can be downloaded HERE . 5. Priest, King, and Prophet We can begin with the phrase “prophet, priest, and king.” This is the order normally heard from preachers and theologians. But it is not really…

by James B. JordanSeptember 3, 2011
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Biblical Horizons

Hymn Bark #4: "Christian, Dost Thou See Them' & "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say"

This is a fine hymn by John Mason Neale, based on an ancient Greek church hymn. The opening question is particularly powerful: “Christian, dost thou see them on the holy ground, how the powers of darkness compass thee around?” Yes, the devil strikes in the very church and her worship…

by James B. JordanSeptember 1, 2011
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Biblical Horizons

Hymn Bark #3: It Is Well With My Soul

This syrupy piece of marijuana-haze hymnody is found in the hymnals of churches that have substituted sentiment for orthodoxy and worship. Hence you don’t find it in older Presbyterian hymnals, but in the Trinity Hymnal. Nor do you find it in Episcopal and Lutheran hymnals until very recently in some…

by James B. JordanAugust 31, 2011

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History

Twins

In the introduction to his Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism (Figurae: Reading Medieval Culture) , Daniel Boyarin reviews the history of the history of Christianity and Judaism, criticizing the common older view that Christianity is the “daughter” of Judaism. Recent scholars tell a different…

October 3, 2012
History

Martyr democracy

For Clement of Alexandria, not death but martyrdom is the great leveler: “Just as it is noble for a man to die for virtue, for freedom, and for himself, just so is it for woman. For it is not peculiar to the nature of males, but to the nature of…

October 2, 2012

Theology of the Body and Humanae Vitae

According to Michael Waldstein’s introduction, the “single main argument” that runs through Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology Of The Body (TOB) is “the teaching of Humanae Vitae about the inseparability of the unitive and procreative meaning of the conjugal act,” and the insistence of that encyclical that…

October 2, 2012

Joseph the Tattletale?

Joseph is often described as a snotty little upstart, a gossip and tattletale who brings an evil report about his brothers back to his father. I think that misses the whole tone of the story. Joseph is the “foreman” of his brothers (at the age of 17!), a younger son…

October 2, 2012

Trinity Institute: Mining the Bible

I was introduced to the work of Jim Jordan many years ago with his wonderful book “Through New Eyes.” In it, Jordan suggests there is “a real need for books that dig into the Bible and set out the Bible’s own worldview, explaining the Bible’s own language. The Biblical worldview…

October 1, 2012

Joseph’s robes

Some observations after grading a pile of student papers on the robe motif in the Joseph narratives. 1) Joseph begins the story as a recipient of a robe from his father ; he ends the story bestowing robes on his brothers, especially Benjamin. He has become “father” to his brothers…

October 1, 2012

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