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History

Congregational Theocracy: That Time Theocrats Ran Puritan New England

Timon Cline wrote recently that “theonomists” didn’t run Puritan New England. 1 He is correct, in his major thesis, that the claim that “Puritanism and the natural law tradition are antithetical” is “wildly ahistorical.” Mr. Cline demonstrates that Puritans repeatedly extolled natural law. Besides the Puritan sources Mr. Cline mustered,…

by John CarpenterAugust 9, 2022
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Mark

The Land of the Walking Trees

The Church is the land of the walking trees. In Mark’s Gospel, the identity of Jesus is slowly and progressively revealed. Though St. Mark announces at the beginning of his narrative that Jesus Christ is “the Son of God” (1:1), this is a reality that must be spoon-fed to His…

by Jackson ShepardAugust 4, 2022
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Ephesians

The Significance of Ephesians (with a comparison to Romans)

All Scripture is of ultimate significance as the word of God, but it may be helpful to think about what makes a book (in this case, a letter) possibly unique within the canon. In this case, the “general” nature of Ephesians should stand out, but it often is not recognized…

by Mark HorneAugust 2, 2022
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Ecclesiastes

A Time to Kill (Ecclesiastes 3:3)

Where do we draw the lines between what is right and wrong? This question is fundamental to civilization, fundamental to a free society. To put this question in the bluntest and most offense terms: if there is a time to kill — which Solomon says there is — whom shall…

by Ralph Allan SmithJuly 28, 2022
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Biblical Horizons

Broadening Our View of the Trinity

This article was originally posted in May of 1994. We speak of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The early Church tended to speak of Him as Father, Word, and Spirit. In this short essay, I want to suggest some other ways to think of the Trinity, ways that…

by James B. JordanJuly 26, 2022
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Jonah

Journeying Prophets in Kings

Jonah’s Home The story of JONAH belongs in the book of KINGS. JONAH balances the story of the unnamed Judean prophet (1K13) in KINGS’ literary structure. Each story describes a journeying prophet that crosses land or sea to confront a wayward king. The two stories are located during the reigns…

by Scott FairbanksJuly 21, 2022

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Reorienting our Sex Talk

Matthew Mason of Capitol Hill’s Church of the Resurrection argues for using biblical language in our talk about sex at the Trinity House site.

June 19, 2013
Philosophy

Four-Dimensionalism

Time and change are persistent puzzles in metaphysics. How can something be “the same” when all of its properties have changed? A number of philosophers defend a “four-dimensional” metaphysics that incorporates temporal change into the very definition of an object. For four-dimensionalists, things have not only spatial but also temporal…

June 18, 2013

Ames on the Church

In The Marrow of Theology , William Ames describes the relationship between Christ and the Church: “The relationship is so intimate that not only is Christ the church’s and the church Christ’s, Song of Sol 2:16, but Christ is in the church and the church in him, John 15:4; 1…

June 18, 2013

Spirit and soul

Edwards writes: “Christ’s love – that is, His Spirit is actually united to the faculties of their souls. So it properly lives, acts, and exerts its nature in the exercise of their faculties.” There’s a great deal to say, and to like, and to wonder at, about that statement. Christ…

June 18, 2013

Wash, Eat, Enter

Revelation 22:14 provides a brief ordo salutis : “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” (Note: There’s a textual variant here; the Majority Text has “blessed are those who…

June 17, 2013

Mosaic servant

Isaiah 49:2 is arranged in a neat ABAB pattern: A. He has made My mouth like a sharp sword (weapon) B. In the shadow of His hand He has concealed ( chava’ ) Me (hiding); A’. And He has also made Me a select arrow (weapon), B’. He has hidden…

June 17, 2013

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