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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

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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Sacrificial Totem

In an article published in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism , Tuomas Tepora “analyzed flag speeches given in Helsinki and published in newspapers alongside with other writings related to the subject in different media” during the years 1917-1945. Drawing on Durkheim's work on aboriginal totems, he drew a number of…

March 20, 2015
Baptism

Believe Your Baptism

Baptism is God's promise to and claim on the baptized. It demands response, a response of faith. Anything else is an insult to God. God tells the baptized, “You belong to me,” but some will say, “No, we don’t want to belong to you. We want to be our own…

March 20, 2015
Race

Franklin Graham and the Problem of Reaction

At the Theopolis site , A.K. Shauku examines Franklin Graham's response to recent racial conflicts in the US. Shauku writes in part: “Christians are called to be the peacekeepers and a redeeming influence upon society. We cannot do that so long as we allow ourselves to become partisans in a…

March 20, 2015

Apocalyptic Intertextuality

A fair bit of scholarship has been devoted recently to exploring the uses of Scripture in Revelation. This can have different focal points and effects on the reading. I am relying on Steve Moyise’s contribution to Hays and Alkier’s Revelation and the Politics of Apocalyptic Interpretation . In his commentary,…

March 19, 2015
Music

Entrainment

“Entrainment,” writes Joshua Leeds, “concerns changing the rate of brain waves, breaths, or heard-beats from one speed to another” (40). Our bodies beat to certain rhythms, and these rhythms fall into sync with one another. When an external vibration hits our bodies, it affects our internal rhythms: “individually, we entrain…

March 19, 2015

Dionysian Jesus

The Supper is bread, food for life. The Supper is also wine, a sign of rest and completion, a sign of our inclusion in a new covenant, when priests can drink wine in the presence of God. Why wine? Because Jesus is the true Dionysus, the true God of the…

March 19, 2015

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