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Writing

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

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Biblical Horizons

Gordon Wenham on Ritual

In a brief article entitled, “The Theology of Old Testament Sacrifice," Gordon Wenham, expanding on a comment about ritual from anthropologist Monica Wilson, states: We resort to ritual when we want to express our deepest feelings. Consider the rituals used in greeting people in our society: a nod, a handshake,…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 27, 1995
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Biblical Horizons

A Postscript to the Meyers Thesis

Everyone here in Cambridge is talking about sacrifice. My supervisor, Dr. John Milbank, is working on a book on gift in which he is dealing with recent literature on sacrifice. The graduate seminar in Systematics during Michaelmas Term focused on the theme of sacrifice. The first presenter was Dr. Ian…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 27, 1995
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Baptism

Sacramental Efficacy

Protestant-Catholic debates about the sacraments have usually taken the form of debates about sacramental efficacy. Protestants claim that Catholics believe that sacraments work ex opere operato , virtually a magical view of the sacraments. A priest goes through the motions and says the hocus-pocus and "presto!" the sacraments confer grace.…

by Peter LeithartJanuary 26, 1995
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Exodus

Mansions in the Sky, The Meaning of the Tabernacle

When Israel came out of Egypt, she was a collection of tribes descended from the Tribe of Abraham. Tribalism drops out of history into the "world" by looking back to ancestors and by orienting to the spirits that govern the world. The world must not be manipulated, because to do…

by James B. JordanJanuary 7, 1995
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Revelation

The Angels of Revelation

Angels are the mediators of the Old Creation, as Eugenio Corsini has rightly pointed out in his commentary, The Apocalypse. For this reason, argues Corsini, the book of Revelation must have to do with the final end of the Old Creation order, which he associates with the work of Jesus…

by James B. JordanJanuary 7, 1995
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Biblical Horizons

Triune Revelation and Through New Eyes Volume 2

Our procedure in "Through New Eyes Volume 2" thus far has been to lay out the general overview of history and its meaning as the Bible presents it. My hope is to fill this out in four major sections, corresponding to the four ages and the four testaments in the…

by James B. JordanJanuary 7, 1995

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History

Science of Individual

One aspect of the rise of “discipline” that Foucault traces is the development of what he calls the sciences of the individual. These are dependent upon the development of a network of techniques of gathering and recording information - “the accumulation of documents, their seriation, the organization of comparative fields…

October 11, 2006

Forgetfulness

Discussing Nietzsche’s view of nobility, Alphonso Lingis emphasizes the role of forgetfulness. Though he’s not writing theology, this is (making necessary allowances) one of the best descriptions of the existential effects of justification by faith that I’ve run across. I’m sure it’s been studied by someone, but it makes me…

October 10, 2006
History

Marx and New Left

Kolakowski describes the New Left revolution of the 60s as an “explosion of academic youth” and “an aggressive movement born of frustration.” It “easily created a vocabulary for itself out of Marxist slogans, or some expressions from the Marxist story: liberation, revolution, alienation, etc.” Yet, in fact, “its ideology really…

October 10, 2006
History

What counts as history?

Marx ( German Ideology , 1845-46) objected to historians of the past for what they left out of history. The first presumption of historical study, he suggested, is “human existence,” which means that “men must be in a position to live in order to be able to ‘make history.’” Seems…

October 10, 2006

Structure of 1 John 2:18-29

The latter part of chapter 2 is chiastically arranged: A. Children, antichrists coming, they went out, 2:18-19 B. You have an anointing, knowledge, 2:20 C. I have written, truth/lie, 2:21 D. Antichrist is liar, denies Son and Father, 2:22 E. Deny Son, deny Father, 2:23 D’. Abide in what you…

October 10, 2006
Theology

Feuerbach’s inversion

What theologians was Feuerbach reading? If God is to be transcendent, he said, “the human, considered as such, is depreciated . . . . To enrich God, man must become poor; that God may be all in all, man must be nothing.” He certainly wasn’t reading Paul, or if he…

October 9, 2006

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