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Biblical Horizons

Are Not All These Galilaeans?

One of the curiosities of the New Testament revelation is its focus on Galilee. The region of Galilee was given to Asher, Zebulun, Naphtali, and Issachar, and the events of Judges 4-8 occurred there, so it had some importance in Israelite history. But when the tribe of Ephraim led the…

by James B. JordanMay 5, 1995
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Leviticus

Who Were the Firstborn Sons?

Numbers 3:40-51 tells us that the Levites were substituted for the firstborn of Israel. The firstborn belonged to God, as stated in Exodus 13:12-13 and 22:29. It is clear that the first group of firstborn claimed by God were those He saved at the first Passover (Ex. 12). These should…

by James B. JordanMay 4, 1995
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Biblical Horizons

Eldership and Maturity, Part 1

I have lived and worked in Presbyterian circles since I became convinced of the Reformed faith over twenty years ago. Thus, it is easiest and most appropriate for me to issue criticisms and to call for reformation in the Presbyterian churches. Both Scripture and my own experience, and my observation…

by James B. JordanMay 2, 1995
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John

And the Holy of Holies Became Flesh

And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we beheld His glory...(John 1:14) Commentaries on John, discussing the Word or Logos in John 1, routinely turn to Greek philosophy and say that John is using a term and at least part of an idea familiar in the ancient…

by James B. JordanMay 1, 1995
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Biblical Studies

Covenant Recapitulation in New Testament History

John Wenham’s Redating Matthew, Mark & Luke: A Fresh Assault on the Synoptic Problem 1 is an impressively detailed treatment of the "synoptic problem." I lack both the patience and the knowledge to evaluate Wenham’s contribution to that vexing question. My purpose instead is to summarize his conclusions concerning the…

by Peter LeithartApril 26, 1995
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Revelation

The Seven Seals of Revelation

Commentators do not agree on the contents of the Book of Seven Seals (Revelation 5:1). Some see it as the New Covenant; others as the whole Word of God; others as the book of life; and others as the record of the Old Creation that is now being brought to…

by James B. JordanApril 2, 1995

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Baptismal exhortation

Colossians 1:13: He delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. When Jesus was baptized, the Father spoke from heaven: “This is My beloved Son.” Paul refers to that event here when he describes salvation as a transfer from the authority…

January 27, 2013

Exhortation

“It was the Father’s good pleasure for the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things,” Paul writes in our sermon text. The Father sends the Son to renew all things because it pleases Him to do so. Nothing forces the Father. He doesn’t have to…

January 27, 2013

Created Difference

Near the beginning of On the Incarnation: Saint Athanasius (Popular Patrictics Series) , Athanasius reviews various theories concerning the origin of the world. It cannot be the case that matter existed eternally, since that would be a limit on God. It also cannot be the case that the world is…

January 27, 2013

WEIRD Psychology

“Traditional societies are far more diverse in many of their cultural practices than are modern industrial societies,” writes Jared Diamond in his recent The World Until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies? . Modern societies are outliers on the spectrum. So it’s rather weird that “psychologists base most…

January 26, 2013

Hairy

Esau is the original hairy ( se’ar ) man of the Bible (Genesis 25:25), and the reputation goes with the Edomites, his descendants, who live at Mount Shaggy (Seir; Genesis 14:6; 32:3; 33:14; etc.). He’s not the last hairy man. Nazirites are hairy (Numbers 6:5, 18; Judges 16:22), including the…

January 25, 2013

Trinity House Newsletter

We are nearly ready to send out the first edition of our Trinity House email newsletter, In Medias Res . In the first issue, we give updates about Trinity House, I discuss the church’s response to gay marriage, and James Jordan translates and comments on Psalm 62. Sign up at…

January 25, 2013

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