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Writing

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

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Art

The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 3

The Failure of the Church Yet a third factor played an important role in this historical development, in addition to the imperial adoption of icons and the rise of the icons of the holy man. Brown writes: "The great Christian basilicas of the previous centuries tended to stand empty, except…

by James B. JordanSeptember 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

Patriarchal Dominion

The three large patriarchal narratives of Genesis concern the three aspects of the cosmos: matter, space, and time. Over these three is man given dominion. Lucifer was originally appointed to train man in this dominion, but he chose to lead man into rebellion instead. Thus, the Angel of Yahweh replaced…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

The Case Against Western Civilization, Part 6

Part 6: Living in a Dying World (continued) The "Trivium" (continued) The five stages of education are simply the five stages of the covenant as God administers it in human life and history, and in the liturgy of covenant renewal: First, God announces Himself. "I am Yahweh Your God." He…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1998
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Biblical Studies

Re-creation in the Ascension Offering

The following essay is tentative and exploratory, offered for your consideration. It seems to me that the ritual of the Ascension Offering (incorrectly translated as Burnt Offering) of Leviticus 1 is a symbolic recapitulation of Genesis 1, which thereby portrays the sacrificial ritual as way of moving from a fallen…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998
Biblical Horizons

The Framework Hypothesis: A Gnostic Heresy

Just as the vast majority of evangelical Christians in America today are Arminian and Baptist, so the vast majority do not believe in a creation around 4000 BC. I don’t expect any of these three situations to change anytime soon. Powerful presuppositions are at work in all three instances, along…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998
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Art

The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 2

The Iconoclastic Controversy Continuing Pagan Influence How did images creep in? To begin with, there was in the post-Constantinian Church a concerted effort on the part of the semi-pagans to interpret Christianity in essentially pantheistic terms. The heretics put God and man on a continuum of "being," so that God…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998

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Literature

Achilles and Coriolanus

In his study of Shakespeare’s use of the heroic tradition of classical antiquity, Hero & Saint , Reuben Brower points out that Coriolanus is modeled on the ancient heroes of Greece and Rome, particularly Achilles: “Perhaps Coriolanus is most like Achilles in his passionate pride, in his ‘choler,’ in his…

February 24, 2005

Calvin on Justification

Craig Carpenter offers a careful comparison of Calvin and Trent on justification in an article in WTJ (2002). A few specifics: 1) He summarizes the Tridentine position by following Robert Godfrey’s analysis, but perceptively suggests that Godfrey illegitimately collapses everything into an opposition of infusion/imputation: “His focus on the language…

February 24, 2005

Some Notes on 1 Kings 19

1) Jezebel sends a messenger, a mal?ak , which in Hebrew is the same word as angel, anticipating the angel of Yahweh later in the chapter. The chapter shows us contrasting angels, an angel of death and an angel that raises the ?dead?Ewith a touch and gives food. 2) Jezebel…

February 23, 2005

Translation, 1 Kings 19

And announced ?Achav to ?Iyzevel all which did ?Eliyyahu And all which he killed all the prophets by the sword. And send ?Iyzevel an angel to Eliyyahu saying, ?Thus may the Elohim do And thus may they add If according to the time tomorrow I set your soul according to…

February 23, 2005

Sermon Outline, February 27

INTRODUCTION At the end of the previous chapter, Elijah ?ran before?EAhab back to Jezreel. This is not just a sign of the Lord?s empowerment of Elijah; it is an offer to Ahab to receive Elijah as his chief advisor. As soon as Ahab tells Jezebel about it, however, that arrangement…

February 23, 2005
Theology

Mediology and Theology

A number of years ago, Regis Debray introduced the notion of “mediology” in an article in Le Monde . His intention was to break down the divisions between technology and culture, to show that the “higher” expressions of culture were shaped and even dependent upon the technologies by which they…

February 22, 2005

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