Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
1. Introduction Reverend Richard Bacon is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Rowlett, Texas. He has written a tract entitled " What Mean Ye By This Service? Paedocommunion in Light of Passover, " printed by Presbyterian Heritage Publications (P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, TX 75218). I am writing this brief…
A Defense of the Use of Coordinated, Congregational Prayer in Public Worship My goal in this series of articles is to equip the members of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church to worship God intelligently on Sunday and also to help visitors understand the biblical and theological rationale for our form of…
Several implications flow from this first group of considerations. First (D1), nature and natural objects reveal God to the eye of faith. The study of nature is the study of the design of the Spirit, and from it we learn how God designs things, and how we as His images…
Does the chronology in the Bible begin with the creation of Adam or with the creation of the universe? That is the question we are exploring this year. In January and February we took up the "Framework Hypothesis" as advocated by its most scholarly and powerful exponent, Dr. Meredith G.…
In preparing an essay on Matthew 24-25 for our subscription essayletter Studies in the Revelation , I have found it necessary to consider the structure of Matthew’s gospel as a whole. The following are the fruits of my research, such as they are. This essay is not intended as the…
An Explanation of and Apology for the Use of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in Worship With the rest of the country I anxiously watched the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, but there is one image that I will always remember. It is not the firefight…
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Given its prominence in the NT, it’s striking that the LXX rarely speaks of “breaking bread.”  One of the few times the phrase occurs is in Jeremiah 16:7, where, strikingly, it is joined to a statement about a “cup of consolation.”  Broken bread and cup is Eucharistic. Jeremiah is warning…
Matthew 26:17-19 is a chiastically ordered pericope, centered on Jesus’ announcement that His “time is at hand” and that He intends to do the Passover. A. Disciples approach: prepare pascha ? B. Jesus commands: Go to city C. My time is at hand; do pascha B’. Disciples did as Jesus…
My co-pastor Toby Sumpter wondered whether Matthew was up to something in describing the first day of the feast as the “first of unleavened” ( te prote ton azumon , 26:17).  It seems so.  The other gospels don’t use the same phrase; Mark says “first day” and Luke uses the…
Through much of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus is surrounded by multitudes who marvel at His teaching and works (5:1; 7:28; 9:8; 12:23; 13:2; etc.).  They marvel all the way up to His battles in the temple (21:46; 22:33).  The last time He teaches a multitude is in chapter 23 (v. 1).…
To head off the possibility that the disciples will steal Jesus’ body, the priests and Pharisees ask Pilate for a guard at the tomb (Matthew 27:62-65).  If the disciples are successful, “the last deception will be worse than the first” (v. 64). It’s a familiar phrase: Jesus Himself uses it…
After Jesus’ Passover with His disciples, they leave singing for the Mount of Olives.  Last time they were on the Mount, Jesus predicted the destruction of a temple.  His return to the mountain marks the initial fulfillment of that prophecy: Jesus is the temple, torn down and raised again in…
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