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

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Biblical Studies

A Daughter of Abraham

Some of the key ways Biblical writers draw attention to important details in their stories are by the use of key words, repetition, and structural devices like chiasms and parallel constructions. The Bible sounds different, even odd, to us sometimes because of the use of these and similar literary conventions.…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 16, 2019
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Autonomy

Rehabilitating Autonomy

It is pretty standard in conservative Christian circles to condemn unbelief for pretensions of “autonomy.” Cornelius Van Til famously (at least among those of us who knows who he is) said that “There is no alternative but that of theonomy and autonomy.” Greg Bahnsen appealed to this quotation by labeling…

by Mark HorneApril 9, 2019
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John

Jesus: Preacher of Paradox

Jesus was the greatest teacher who ever taught — the Light of the World, whose pure Truth brought sight to the blind (John 9). Almost no one — even those who speak openly against Him — disputes His reputation as a wise and good teacher of the way of love.…

by Ralph Allan SmithApril 2, 2019
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Esther

The Book of Esther in Covenant History

It is clear that the events in Esther are an integral part of the history of the formation of the Restoration Covenant Era. Amalek attacks. Amalek is spoiled. The spoils are used to build the Temple, in the sense that the crude Temple of Zerubbabel can now be glorified with…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 2019
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How to Worship

A Positive View of Music

It is not coincidental that John Calvin speaks most strongly in defense of vernacular language just after his defense of singing in church. "From this also it plainly appears that public prayers must be couched not in Greek among the Latins, nor in Latin among the French or English, as…

by John AhernMarch 26, 2019
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Biblical Theology

The Reopened Wounds of Jacob

In A Voyage Around the World , George Anson recounts the effects of scurvy upon an unfortunate man: But a most extraordinary circumstance, and what would be scarcely credible upon any single evidence, is, that the scars of wounds which had been for many years healed, were forced open again…

by Alastair RobertsMarch 19, 2019

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Hilasterion

The Greek word hilaterion has been one of the most disputed Pauline terms in the past century. Traditionally translate as “propitiation” or “propitiatory sacrifice,” many recent scholars have disputed the notion that Jesus died to appease an angry Father. In a 2000 article in the Tyndale Bulletin , Daniel P.…

March 5, 2013

Friends of God, again

My colleague Toby Sumpter offers these additional thoughts on the disciples as “friends of God”: “When Jesus tells His friends about the ‘fire falling.’ it’s hard not to think of Pentecost. Jerusalem is a new Sodom, but this time the judgment falls with even more potential for escape and mercy…

March 5, 2013

Angels

Angels are active in the book of acts, opening prisons (5:19; 12:7-11), directing preachers (8:26), assuring the Roman centurion Cornelius that his prayers are heard (10:3; 11:13). After chapter 12, angels virtually disappear. There are references to angels in 23:8-9, and Paul says that an angel assured him that he…

March 5, 2013

Friends of God

A student, Kellen Meyer, points out the Abrahamic roots of John 15:14, where Jesus calls the disciples “friends.” Abraham too was called a “friend of God” (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8). In designating the disciples as “friends,” Jesus is in effect calling them “true sons of Abraham.” As a display…

March 5, 2013

Pathway into Romans

Pastor Mark Horne shows the pathway into Romans at the Trinity House site.

March 4, 2013

Moral Arithmetic

“Conservatives are fighting a losing battle of moral arithmetic,” writes Arthur Brooks of the American Enterprise Institute. “They hand an argument with virtually 100% public support—care for the vulnerable—to progressives, and focus instead on materialistic concerns and minority moral viewpoints.” He thinks the solution is to “make improving the lives…

March 4, 2013

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