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

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Apologetics

A Sabbath Conversation: How Old is the Earth?

As Adam and Eve walked to the center of the Garden of Eden to meet with the LORD on their first Sabbath they conversed about the origin and age of the earth. Adam: You know, honey, we spent a lot of time yesterday making preparations for our house, and we…

by Jeff MeyersOctober 3, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Psalms for Exile: The Narrative Progression in the Fifth Book of the Psalter

Some of our forefathers believed in reading/singing the psalms in order. Today, when the psalms are even used at all, they tend to be used randomly, though sometimes tied to a church calendar or to the pastor’s sermon. The Bible does not bind us to any particular practice, but there…

by James B. JordanSeptember 4, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

The Anthropomorphic Days of C. John Collins, Part 2

Dr. Collins begins his essay with a brief statement of the Day Age view and then a brief statement of the Six Day view, focussing on the challenge to that view posed by modern "science." He ends this discussion by writing: "Two crucial points are at stake here: first, the…

by James B. JordanSeptember 4, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Paperweights and the Puzzles of Secularism

In his The Construction of Social Reality , Berkeley philosopher John Searle puzzles over the ontology of the products of human construction. Certain things – granite, platypi, weeping willows – occur naturally; while other realities – stone walls, zoos and parks, Chase Manhattan Bank – exist only as products of…

by Peter LeithartAugust 27, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

The Anthropomorphic Days of C. John Collins, Part 1

In the journal Presbyterion 20 (1994):109-130, published by Covenant Theological Seminary, Dr. C. John Collins sets forth a revision of the Day Age approach in his essay, "How Old Is the Earth? Anthropomorphic Days in Genesis 1:1–2:3." Dr. Collins’s essay has been widely accepted in evangelical Presbyterian circles as an…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

The Sin of Ham and the Curse of Canaan, Part 3 (An Exposition of Genesis 9:20-27)

The Righteousness of Shem and Japheth As noted above, the action of Shem and Japheth was purely symbolic. They did not need to cover Noah with a garment, for he was already covered by the tent. Their action was a symbolic affirmation of Noah’s authority, a symbolic rejection of Ham’s…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 1997

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Theology

Metaphysical Ascesis

Sacra doctrina, for Aquinas, involves the stripping of idols. So says Fergus Kerr: “Step by step, once we learn to read the text in this way, one idolatrous temptation after another is stripped away. The apophatic theology is designed to liberate us of the pictures of God that only too…

May 27, 2004
Theology

Derrida and Apophaticism

Denys Turner considers tradition and faith in the January 2004 issue of the IJST , but the more obvious subject is Derrida and the tradition of negative theology, particularly as expressed in Pseudo-Denys (no relation) and Eckhart. Turner deftly disposes of Derrida’s dictum that ” tout autre est tout autre…

May 26, 2004
Theology

Christ as Art

Robert Jenson continues his series of essays on Christ as Culture in the January 2004 issue of IJST , arguing that “Christ is Art.” Here are a few of the highlights: 1) Jenson defines art as experimentation with possible worlds. One of his examples is Mondrian: “Mondrian and his allies,…

May 26, 2004

Coetzee on the Classics

J. M. Coetzee, the South African novelist who won the Nobel Prize for literature last year, offers an intriguing exchange concerning the classics and faith in his novel, Elizabeth Costello (I can’t read that without thinking “Elvis.”) Costello is a highly successful novelist now in her sixties who hits the…

May 25, 2004
Theology

Beauty

It would seem that non-Trinitarian ontologies cannot secure a notion of beauty, and this seems to be the case because of the tragic ontologies that dominate non-Christian thought. 1) Beauty is fittingness, a matter of harmonics. Thus, beauty requires that there be plurality. Need at least two for things to…

May 25, 2004

Exhortation, Ascension Sunday, 2004

Thursday was Ascension Day. It is celebrated to mark Jesus’ ascent to heaven that occurred forty days after His death and resurrection at the time of Passover. Though Ascension Day is rarely emphasized in the church calendar, it is essential to the whole of Jesus?Elife and ministry and to the…

May 23, 2004

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