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

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Biblical Studies

Gold, Silver, & Precious Stones

[This essay was originally published in 1988. Given the situation that our new national socialists are getting the world into, I thought it might be useful to reprint it here. – JBJordan] The Bible has quite a bit to say about gold, silver, and precious stones, and the Bible always…

by James B. JordanMay 19, 2009
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Biblical Horizons

The Pastoral Function

I wrote this elsewhere and was encouraged to put it here. It is a comment on what a pastor is. Today, this is not very well understood, and God’s people suffer because of it. There are four professions: medicine, education, law, and religion. Each of these, when done at a…

by James B. JordanMay 17, 2009
Biblical Horizons

The Virgin Tomb: The Womb of the New Birth

James Jordan recently pointed out in private conversation how appropriate it is, in John’s Gospel, that Nicodemus is present both to ask Jesus about being born again, and to see Jesus re-enter the womb of the mother. Nicodemus rhetorically asks, “How can a man be born when he is old?…

by Mark HorneMay 8, 2009
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Romans

Romans 7

This is a problematic and much discussed passage. I’ve been discussing it in another forum, and have decided to move it here and present some very preliminary observations about it. One large question is this: Who is the speaker here and what is his situation? Traditionally, the speaker is seen…

by James B. JordanApril 19, 2009
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Biblical Horizons

Good New Sci-Fi

1. The current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction includes a good fantasy novella by John C. Wright, who since his conversion has been writing Christianly. This is a fine fantasy with nods to C. S. Lewis and Antoine de Saint-Exupery, and probably Gene Wolfe as well.…

by James B. JordanApril 15, 2009
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American Culture

The Name of Jesus

“It is an experience of our days that the spoken name of Jesus alone exercises an unforeseen power; and the effort which it cost to speak this name is perhaps connected to some faint apprehension of the power which is inherent within it. Wherever the name of Jesus Christ is…

by Richard BledsoeMarch 20, 2009

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Hermeneutics exercise

Richard Wilbur’s “A Milkweed” has been haunting me all week. It’s a useful exercise in interpretation: Short, accessible, memorable, and profound. Today’s text: Anonymous as cherubs Over the crib of God White seeds are floating Out of my burst pod. What power had I Before I learned to yield? Shatter…

November 16, 2012

Introverted leadership

We think of leaders as large, dominant figures, whirlwinds that control every room and crowd, know what to do and tell everyone to do it. To that, Susan Cain ( Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking ) has two responses: First, that this vision…

November 16, 2012

On my bed I sought him

Beds in Scripture are sick beds (Hezekiah) or death beds (Jacob, David). Beds are also analogous to altars. In 2 Kings 4:8ff, the woman who sets up a room for Elisha quips the room with a table and a menorah and a chair and a bed. This is an upper…

November 15, 2012

Jeremiah: The movie

In a brief talk this morning, my colleague Doug Wilson highlighted the drama of the book of Jeremiah: Jeremiah stands against the religious and political elites of his time. He has a very controversial message; he doesn’t sound like a prophet; his message of surrender violates every instinct of the…

November 15, 2012

Trinity Institute: Renewing the Reformation

http://vimeo.com/53234642

November 15, 2012

Raised to Song

After beginning with the lament “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22 turns to thanksgiving and praise: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren” (v. 22). In his study of Hebrews 2:12 ( Proclamation and Praise: Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship ), Ron…

November 15, 2012

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