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

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Ephesians

Law and Gospel in Presbyterianism

The Reformed Doctrine Stated & Briefly Vindicated from Scripture THE REFORMED VIEW ACCORDING TO OFFICIAL PRESBYTERIAN DOCTRINE The contrast between Law and Gospel is often treated as if it were a uniquely Lutheran idea, but Reformed doctrine also uses such a formulation. In fact, the distinction is important to understanding…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Justification

Justification is the Gospel

According to N. T. Wright : By “the gospel” Paul does not mean “justification by faith” itself. He means the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. To believe this message, to give believing allegiance to Jesus as Messiah and Lord, is to be justified in the present…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Justification

Justification & Adoption

Imagine two strangers who happen to be standing on the same subway train; we’ll call one Joe and the other Larry. Joe accidentally steps on the Larry’s foot so that he, in a flash of pain, thinking Joe did it intentionally, resorts to name calling and says something about Joe’s…

by Mark HorneMay 22, 2004
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Eucharist

Children at the Table

Imagine being a small child at an orphanage. One day, one of your caretakers comes rushing to you as you play in the common yard. “I have great news!” she tells you, excitedly. “What is it?” you ask. “A wonderful family has adopted you. They’re at the courthouse right now…

by Mark HorneMay 20, 2004
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Federal Vision

The Necessity of New Obedience

The Westminster Standards, Repentance, & Pardon REPENTANCE ENTAILS ALL OF LIFE According the Westminster Divines, “repentance to life” is an “evangelical” (WCF 15.1) and “saving” (WLC #87) “grace”. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness…

by Mark HorneMay 19, 2004
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Biblical Horizons

Liturgical Man, Liturgical Woman — Part 1

Click HERE for an audio version of this article. For Part 2, click HERE . The ordination of women to the Christian ministry, specifically the pastoral office of overseeing worship and performing preaching and the Lord’s Supper, is a recent development in Church history. From the early church until the…

by James B. JordanMay 5, 2004

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Eucharist

Cult of the Host

One chapter of Emmanuel Katongole's A Future for Africa is a critique of the Ugandan Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God (MRTCG). He argues that the movement has a “tendency toward isolation,” fails “to reimagine the nature of Christian leadership,” and exhibits a “lack of hope”…

July 21, 2015

You Are A Nanoverse

Tim Flannery's NYRB review of Paul Falkowski's Life's Engines and Peter Ward and Joe Kirschvink's A New History of Life sums up the authors' points: “our cells are comprised of a series of highly sophisticated ‘little engines' or nanomachines that carry out life’s vital functions.” These microscopic machines all work…

July 21, 2015

End of Music

The fall of Babylon brings an end to the sounds and sights of urban life. In particular it means the end of music (Revelation 18:22). Music once spread to the four corners of the city; when she is tossed into the cease, all four orchestra sections cease - harpists, musicians,…

July 20, 2015

Bound and Unbound

The verb “bind” (Greek, deo ) is used four times in John's gospel. The uses form a little chiasm: A. Lazarus emerges from the grave bound with grave clothes, 11:44. B. The Romans arrest and bind Jesus, 18:12. B'. Anna sends Jesus, still bound, to Caiaphas, 18:24. A'. Jesus is…

July 20, 2015

The Bible Teaches Us To Read It

Those who share in the first resurrection are not under the authority of the second death (Revelation 20:6). We know what the first resurrection is. John has just told us: Beheaded martyrs and those who resist the beast come to life and reign with Christ. “ This is the first…

July 20, 2015

Racism and the Modern Self

In his A Future for Africa , Emmanuel Katongole offers this brief analysis of the roots of racism. He argues that it is a specifically modern phenomenon, and that it is entrenched in “the story of the modern self, particularly the constant anxiety at the heart of the modern project.”…

July 20, 2015

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