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Writing

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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Enter into Joy

Philip Ryken and Michael LeFebvre end their Our Triune God: Living in the Love of the Three-in-One with a chapter on “the Joyous Trinity.” They close the book with this: “Eric Masall insisted that the Trinity is never merely a doctrine but always meant to be a grateful joy. To…

June 13, 2013

By His Wounds

1 Peter 2 ends with a rich little exhortation to follow the example of Christ’s trustful suffering (v. 21). For starters, we can note the word “example,” which in Greek is hupogrammos . This is a New Testament hapax legomenon , but outside the Bible it refers to a tool…

June 12, 2013

Dreams and Visions

What is Trinity House for? Three things: We aim to advance the reformation of the church and, through the church, to promote the renewal of culture; in furthering reformation, we aspire to be a site of fraternal, charitable ecumenical debate; and to deepen reformation, we want to facilitate theological scholarship,…

June 12, 2013

Surprised by hope

Bavinck ( Reformed Dogmatics: Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation ) pre-channels NT Wright: “All that is true, honorable, just, pure, pleasing, and commendable in the whole of creation, in heaven and on earth, is gathered up in the future city of God—renewed, re-created, boosted to its highest glory. The…

June 11, 2013

Sons to Yahweh

Pastor Ralph Smith continues his series of essays on Deuteronomy 14 at the Trinity House site.

June 10, 2013
Politics

Reaping the Wind

What did the sexual revolution sow? What is being reaped? John Witte ( From Sacrament to Contract: Marriage, Religion, and Law in the Western Tradition (Family, Religion, and Culture) ) summarizes with these chilling words: “The wild oats sown in the course of the American sexual revolution have brought forth…

June 8, 2013

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