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Advent

Advent and Christmas Music Recommendations

Inspired by our recent podcast on Christmas and Advent music recommendations, we offer here a list of excellent recordings that are sure to enrich your Advent and Christmas season. Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning Paul McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort and Players Amazon | Spotify | Apple Music 2. Christmas…

by John Ahern and Paul BuckleyDecember 23, 2020
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Advent

Between the Altar and the City: Isaiah 65:17-25

In the year 1483 in the city of Nuremberg, the leaders of the renowned Saint Lawrence Church were seeking to redesign their altar, and above the table where the priests presided over the eucharist, they wanted new art installed above the prestigious Krell altar. What they decided on took everyone…

by Casey BedellDecember 22, 2020
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Advent

Why We're the Real Seventh Day Adventists

The consequences of disobedience start with exile from the garden of God and the Tree of Yahweh, but they do not end there. They cascade down through the structure of the dynastic order. Everything which had previously been given in the Kingdom of Elohim is either taken back or curtailed…

by Jerry BowyerDecember 18, 2020
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Biblical Studies

Psalm 23: A Lesson in Reading Biblical Poetry

Parallelism: A Course Correction If you have ever studied Hebrew poetry, you have probably heard its basic poetic feature described as “parallelism.” Hebrew poetry is not metered, it does not rhyme, it does not employ many of the common poetical tropes, but its distinctive (and almost universal) feature is commonly…

by Ryan HandermannDecember 15, 2020
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Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 and the Separation of Powers

In The Crown and the Courts , David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures – particularly Deuteronomy 17 – from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not…

by James R. RogersDecember 11, 2020
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Advent

Zechariah and John: A Story in Names

A curious feature of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Luke is the naming of John the Baptist. When the angel appears to Zechariah, he is instructed to give his promised son the name John (Luke 1:13). On the day of John’s circumcision, Luke tells us that “they [presumably…

by Rhys LavertyDecember 8, 2020

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The Purpose of Proverbs

INTRODUCTION This passage is part of the opening preamble and prologue of Proverbs ( Waltke’s terms ). It divides neatly into two sections: The first, verses 1-7, describe the purpose of the Proverbs as a whole, and function as an introduction to the entire book; verses 8-19 are an opening…

February 12, 2018

The Uses of Religious Freedom

Tisa Wenger's Religious Freedom recounts what her subtitle calls the “contested history of an American ideal,” focusing on the period between the Spanish-American War and World War II. She doesn’t look at the theorizing of religious freedom, or court decisions. Instead, she’s interested in the way religious freedom worked in…

February 9, 2018

Meritocracy's Demise

Americans are losing their confidence in our institutions. Why? Christopher Hayes ( Twilight of the Elites ) doesn’t think we can blame the media, the Balkanization of information sources, or ingratitude from the public. The answer is simple: “We do not trust our institutions because they have shown themselves to…

February 9, 2018

Purposeful Evolution

Lenn Goodman ( Creation and Evolution ) cites Darwin's son's claim that "One of the greatest services rendered by my father to the study of Natural History is the revival of Teleology. The evolutionist studies the purpose or meaning of organs with the zeal of the older Teleologist, but with…

February 9, 2018

Litany for Super Sunday

It's a little late, but you can save this for next year. Peter Burfeind ( Gnostic America ) quotes this Superbowl Sunday litany: "Minister: This is Superbowl Sunday, Lord. Millions will watch as the winner in each league battles for the championship and for a prized trophy. "Congregation: We thrill…

February 9, 2018

Individuality

John Gray ( Liberalisms , 224-5) offers a devastating critique of Mill’s concept of individuality. For Mill, individuality is “a form of self-realization in which the powers of autonomous thought and choice that mark the human species are exercised in living a form of life in which the needs peculiar…

February 9, 2018

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