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Writing

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

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Joshua

Passover and the Structure of Joshua 2

The initial chapters of Joshua demonstrate that Joshua is a new Moses, completing the task that Moses began. Moses is named ten times in the first chapter; though dead, he still dominates the scene. The book begins with the announcement of Moses’ death (1:1); Yahweh promises to fulfill what He…

by Peter LeithartNovember 27, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 3 | Knowing & Explaining What & Why You Believe

The way in which you should defend and prove the Christian Faith and the way in which you debunk alternative belief systems is not the same way that you came to know that Christianity is true and that all alternatives are false. This is important because confusing the two ways…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 2 | Attacking Atheism Without Inviting Idolatry

If we want to learn the best way to proclaim and defend the Gospel, we can do no better than to go to the Bible for guidance. Indeed, not only do we find examples for how to present God’s Word, but we also find examples of problems we will face.…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Apologetics

Apologetics Without Apologizing, Part 1 | When Witnessing Becomes Prosecution

As Christians we all want to see nonchristians convert to faith in Christ by the grace of God. Even more, we probably want to be instrumental in such a conversion–for that would be a special blessing. But let’s be honest: we all hope that such an opportunity will be a…

by Mark HorneNovember 15, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

The Sequence of Events in the Creation Week, Part 2

Day 3 The third day completes the initial structuring work and the initial filling work. First, God separates land and sea, putting the sea below the land. This reproduces the configuration that has just been set up in heaven: land over sea. The earth is being modelled after heaven. There…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

The Structure of the Psalter, Some Observations

In this essay, I wish to present some facts not familiar to many Christians, and draw some possible inferences. My purpose is to help us all become more familiar with the Psalter as God has set it out in its final and canonical form. To begin with, let us consider…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1997

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Reformation

Careening Toward Division

A s recounted in From Conflict to Communion , jointly produced by the Lutheran World Federation and the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Reformation was an academic dispute that careened into a division of the church. Apart from the first four theses, Luther's 95 Theses did not state…

January 10, 2017
Language

Is Language a Tool?

D aniel Everett thinks language is a tool, and has written a book about it: Language: The Cultural Tool . He develops his theory over-against the notion that language is the product of a biological “instinct.” On this Chomskyan/Pinkerian view, “language is part of our genetic endowment and that, because…

January 9, 2017

The Iago Problem

R eflecting on Daniel Craig's recent performance as Iago, Tamsin Shaw puzzles over the “Iago problem” in a secular world: “The concept of evil has fallen out of favor in our disenchanted world. Its religious and superstitious connotations are permissible in horror movies, but otherwise often deemed embarrassing. Without some…

January 6, 2017

Accidental Empire

I n a TLS retrospective on Kipling , Michael Holroyd notes the obvious: “By the time he won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907 he was well known as the private soldiers' poet, and had achieved fame for beating the drum on behalf of the British Empire. The British…

January 6, 2017

Shakespeare's Oaths

I n her TLS review of John Kerrigan's Shakespeare's Binding Language , Emma Smith calls attention to the liturgical and sacramental dimensions of Shakespearean oaths, contracts, and vows: “Binding in Measure emerges as deeply theological and sacramental (‘grounded in the Roman military oath of sacramentum,' as Kerrigan tells us in…

January 6, 2017

Beware the Smuggler

A delicious 1964 poem from Norman MacCaig ( Poems of Norman MacCaig , 165), entitled “The Smuggler”: Watch him when he opens his bulging words—justice, fraternity, freedom, internationalism, peace, peace, peace. Make it your custom to pay no heed to his frank look, his visas, his stamps and signatures. Make…

January 6, 2017

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