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

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Biblical Horizons

Fun Reading

The name of Harry Turtledove is well known to readers of fantasy and science fiction. Turtledove is an historian, and most of what he writes is in the "alternative history" genre. A fine collection of short stories, available in paperback, is his Agent of Byzantium . These stories are set…

by James B. JordanAugust 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

Concerning Unicorns

In answer to a question, the following about the unicorn, a supposed "New Age" symbol: The unicorn, or monoceros (one-horn), was known around the ancient world. Some scholars believe it may have been the one-horned goat that is still bred today. Others think it may have originated in tales of…

by James B. JordanAugust 28, 1996
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Esther

Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments (VI)

3. A Brief Survey of Esther (continued from the previous issue) Haman told the king that "a certain people" were rebellious against him, and that Haman wanted to rid the king of their noxious presence. The king agreed, and the two sat down to a feast. This is the third…

by James B. JordanAugust 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

Concerning Halloween

It has become routine in October for some Christian schools to send out letters warning parents about the evils of Halloween, and it has become equally routine for me to be asked questions about this matter. "Halloween" is simply a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve. The word "hallow" means "saint,"…

by James B. JordanAugust 28, 1996
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Esther

Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments (V)

2. The Setting of the Book of Esther (continued from previous issue) Astyages E. W. Faulstich presents his arguments in his book History, Harmony, The Exile & Return . 1 To understand it, we have to have some background. The Assyrians ruled the near east. Median king Cyaxeres decided to…

by James B. JordanJuly 28, 1996
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Revelation

Jephthah’s Daughter

In my commentary on Judges, I demonstrated that Jephthah in his Spirit-led vow intended to offer to Yahweh the first person who greeted him from the doors of his house after the battle. Since it was a custom for the young women to come out dancing to greet the returning…

by James B. JordanJune 28, 1996

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Is Architecture about Space?

I t seems a given, a truism, that architecture is about space. Ali Madanipour indicates otherwise. In his Design of Urban Space, he notes that the word rarely appears in architecture texts books, and observes that “the term is relatively new, in the context of the long history of architecture,…

June 3, 2016

Surviving Apocalypse

R obert Joustra and Alissa Wilkinson want to help readers learn How to Survive the Apocalypse that seems to be looming. They see signs of apocalyptic agitation everywhere in popular culture—in Battlestar Galactica , a technological apocalypse in the film Her , a zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead ,…

June 2, 2016

Holy Cities for Holy People

F irst Chronicles begins with nine long chapters of genealogy. Little is said about where these multitudes live. There are scattered hints of territory, but no elaborate description of the borders and boundaries of the tribes, as we find in the latter chapters of Joshua. The Chronicler attends only to…

June 2, 2016

Avant Garde and the Profit Motive

N icholas Vazsonyi's Richard Wagner is subtitled “Self-Promotion and the Making of a Brand.” It's a study of the methods Wagner used to establish himself and his music as a brand: “creation of a persona, public relations, development of a niche and brand, marketing embedded in the theatrical works themselves,…

June 2, 2016

Hodge-Nevin

I n the mid-19th century, Princeton's Charles Hodge engaged in a public debate with the Mercersburg theologian John Williamson Nevin about the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. It was sparked by Nevin's book on The Mystical Presence , published in 1846, which Hodge reviewed in the Princeton Theological…

June 1, 2016

Biblical Truth

D ru Johnson's Knowledge By Ritual defends the thesis that we come to know—to recognize and to discern, to see rightly—through ritualized action. In the course of defending this thesis, Johnson devotes a few pages to explaining the biblical notion of truth. He points out that truth can apply to…

June 1, 2016

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