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Writing

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Art

The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 3

The Failure of the Church Yet a third factor played an important role in this historical development, in addition to the imperial adoption of icons and the rise of the icons of the holy man. Brown writes: "The great Christian basilicas of the previous centuries tended to stand empty, except…

by James B. JordanSeptember 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

Patriarchal Dominion

The three large patriarchal narratives of Genesis concern the three aspects of the cosmos: matter, space, and time. Over these three is man given dominion. Lucifer was originally appointed to train man in this dominion, but he chose to lead man into rebellion instead. Thus, the Angel of Yahweh replaced…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

The Case Against Western Civilization, Part 6

Part 6: Living in a Dying World (continued) The "Trivium" (continued) The five stages of education are simply the five stages of the covenant as God administers it in human life and history, and in the liturgy of covenant renewal: First, God announces Himself. "I am Yahweh Your God." He…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1998
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Biblical Studies

Re-creation in the Ascension Offering

The following essay is tentative and exploratory, offered for your consideration. It seems to me that the ritual of the Ascension Offering (incorrectly translated as Burnt Offering) of Leviticus 1 is a symbolic recapitulation of Genesis 1, which thereby portrays the sacrificial ritual as way of moving from a fallen…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998
Biblical Horizons

The Framework Hypothesis: A Gnostic Heresy

Just as the vast majority of evangelical Christians in America today are Arminian and Baptist, so the vast majority do not believe in a creation around 4000 BC. I don’t expect any of these three situations to change anytime soon. Powerful presuppositions are at work in all three instances, along…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998
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Art

The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 2

The Iconoclastic Controversy Continuing Pagan Influence How did images creep in? To begin with, there was in the post-Constantinian Church a concerted effort on the part of the semi-pagans to interpret Christianity in essentially pantheistic terms. The heretics put God and man on a continuum of "being," so that God…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1998

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History

Chivalry

CS Lewis pointed out that the critical thing about chivalry was “the double demand it makes on human nature. The knight is a man of blood and iron, a man familiar with the sight of smashed faces and the ragged stumps of lopped-off limbs; he is also a demure, almost…

October 6, 2006
Literature

Sexual Salvation in Lawrence

In his fascinating Erotic Faith , Robert M Polhemus argues that the vulgarity of D. H. Lawrence’s novels aimed at a kind of sexual redemption. Lawrence believed that modernity “has brought the deadly glorification of abstractions on the one hand (nationalism, progress, and civilization), and, on the other, inanimate matter…

October 5, 2006

Room in God

It seems that we can dwell “in” God only if He is Triune. To put it pictorially, and somewhat quaintly: Is there any space in a god like Allah where we might find a place? It seems that at best we can only come near him, but not indwell him.…

October 4, 2006
Philosophy

Lovers and Theorists

In Is There A Sabbath For Thought? William Desmond distinguishes thinkers that are “lovers” from those that are “theorists”: “When I was in love with my beloved, I sang my beloved. Now that I am not sure about my beloved, or my love, I begin to analyze my love, and…

October 3, 2006

Sermon Outline

INTRODUCTION John insists that talking that’s not backed up by walking is a form of lying (1:6). He returns to a similar point here: True knowledge of God is evident in obedience to His commandments (2:3), and the one who abides in God must walk as Jesus did (2:6). THE…

October 2, 2006

Eucharistic meditation

Jesus said, This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. John assures us several times in our sermon text that our sins will be cleansed and forgiven. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the…

October 1, 2006

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