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

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Joshua

Passover and the Structure of Joshua 2

The initial chapters of Joshua demonstrate that Joshua is a new Moses, completing the task that Moses began. Moses is named ten times in the first chapter; though dead, he still dominates the scene. The book begins with the announcement of Moses’ death (1:1); Yahweh promises to fulfill what He…

by Peter LeithartNovember 27, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 3 | Knowing & Explaining What & Why You Believe

The way in which you should defend and prove the Christian Faith and the way in which you debunk alternative belief systems is not the same way that you came to know that Christianity is true and that all alternatives are false. This is important because confusing the two ways…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 2 | Attacking Atheism Without Inviting Idolatry

If we want to learn the best way to proclaim and defend the Gospel, we can do no better than to go to the Bible for guidance. Indeed, not only do we find examples for how to present God’s Word, but we also find examples of problems we will face.…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 1 | When Witnessing Becomes Prosecution

As Christians we all want to see nonchristians convert to faith in Christ by the grace of God. Even more, we probably want to be instrumental in such a conversion–for that would be a special blessing. But let’s be honest: we all hope that such an opportunity will be a…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

The Sequence of Events in the Creation Week, Part 2

Day 3 The third day completes the initial structuring work and the initial filling work. First, God separates land and sea, putting the sea below the land. This reproduces the configuration that has just been set up in heaven: land over sea. The earth is being modelled after heaven. There…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

The Structure of the Psalter, Some Observations

In this essay, I wish to present some facts not familiar to many Christians, and draw some possible inferences. My purpose is to help us all become more familiar with the Psalter as God has set it out in its final and canonical form. To begin with, let us consider…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1997

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Idols of gold, silver, brass

At the end of Revelation 9, we are informed that even the three plagues of fire, smoke, and brimstone did not drive men to repentance. Instead, they clung to their idols. Once idols are mentioned, they are described in terms of both materials and their threefold inability. They are constructed…

September 27, 2012

Ashes for breakfast

The idolater ends up eating ashes, Isaiah says (Isaiah 44:20). In context, that fits with Isaiah’s emphasis on the fact that the idols is made from the refuse of a building project. A carpenter cuts cedar, builds a fire, cooks bread and his meat, and from the leftovers he makes…

September 27, 2012

Techno-god

Isaiah’s attack on idols elaborates on the tools and technologies that the id0l-maker uses. The smith uses an iron tool and hammer (Isaiah 44:12), the carpenter a measuring line, plane, and compass (v. 13). Several of these words are used nowhere else in the Old Testament, and this is one…

September 27, 2012

Alternative temple

Idols are substitutes for the true God. But as Isaiah describes the construction of idols in his idol polemic in Isaiah 44, the idol emerges equally as an alternative temple, an alternative “meeting place” between God and man. The echoes of the temple texts are numerous. Isaiah refers to iron…

September 27, 2012

Trinity Institute Exists!

We are now certain that the Trinity Institute exists. It’s on Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheTrinityInstitute

September 26, 2012
History

Folly about Martyrdom

Lacey Baldwin Smith’s 1997 Fools, Martyrs, Traitors: The Story of Martyrdom in the Western World (CUSA) is a maddening book. On the one hand, it is peppered with insights into the dynamics and history of martyrdom. Like: “martyrdom for all of its religious and teleological overtones is at heart a…

September 26, 2012

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