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Writing

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

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John

Sin Leading to Death?

First John 5.16-17: If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life–to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for…

by Mark HorneFebruary 1, 2008
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Authority

Mediated Authority

A few years back I read Lesslie Newbigin’s little book Truth and Authority in Modernity . 1 I was particularly impressed with his argument in chapter 2 “The Mediation of Divine Authority.” Now, maybe this is old hat to many of you, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it…

by Jeff MeyersJanuary 30, 2008
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Baptism

The Circumcision of Christ

Baptism is not Christian circumcision. There’s a lot of loose talk to that effect in Presbyterian circles; but it’s not accurate. The old world rite of circumcision was fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Baptism unites us to Christ and therefore makes us participate in the circumcision of…

by Jeff MeyersJanuary 29, 2008
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Biblical Horizons

Handraising in Worship: Questions

In recent years I’ve observed a number of Reformed-type churches trying to institute corporate handraising in certain sung parts of worship. This often does not seem to work very well. Some people don’t do it. Some do it half-way. Some do it with one hand. Some dramatically stretch to the…

by James B. JordanJanuary 28, 2008
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Christology

Yes, I’m a Theopaschite

Most modern scholars recognize that behind Arius’s campaign to differentiate Jesus from God was the Hellenistic theological conviction that the high God cannot suffer. Rowan Williams argues that Arius had the right idea about divine suffering, but the wrong idea of God, which “puts the unavoidable question of what the…

by Jeff MeyersJanuary 26, 2008
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Biblical Horizons

In Defense of Praising God When You Can’t Find A Parking Place

Charismatics have been much maligned for constantly “praising the Lord.” They would say if you hit your finger with a hammer, you should instantly say, “Thank you Jesus that You let me hit my finger…” This of course, as we all know, is stupid. There was once a lady who…

by Richard BledsoeJanuary 25, 2008

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Protest and its Limits

N o American needs to be told that it’s been a tumultuous, often bewildering, political season. Democrats were rocked from the left by an aging socialist; the GOP has been taken over by a politically inexperienced showman. Clearly, the natives are restless. About what? What do Trump supporters want? What…

October 11, 2016

The Amen of Action

Y ahweh promises David an enduring house. David doesn’t take it for granted, but immediately asks the Lord to keep His word (1 Chronicles 17:23). Given a promise of God, David doesn’t merely wait for it to be fulfilled. He turns the promise to prayer. The prayer has a neat…

October 10, 2016
Science

Nature Without Us

I n his The Territories of Science and Religion , Peter Harrison gives examples of the shift that took place in the understanding of the natural world. It was a shift from a “symbolic” understanding of the natural world to a utilitarian and mathematical one. He lists some titles that…

October 7, 2016

Ranking Arnie

H ow do you rank the best golfers? Tallying up the wins doesn’t tell the whole story. The quality of the competition matters, as do the number of golfers in a tournament. Using a variety of complicated metrics, the Economist ranked the late Arnold Palmer among the greats of golf…

October 7, 2016

Christianity’s Lost World

W riting in Christianity Today , Timothy C. Morgan reports on an archeological discovery in Kazakhstan, a few dozen miles from the border with China: “A team of archaeologists uncovered seven Christian gravestones late this summer in the ancient Silk Road city of Ilyn Balik near the Kazakhstan-China border. The…

October 7, 2016

On the Uses of Tardigrades

J ohn Crowe of the University of California, Davis, may not have built molecular engines, but he’s been up to some cool stuff over the past forty years. He’s been working with “water bears,” more technically “tardigrades,” described in a profile of the scientist a “speck-sized organisms that can dry…

October 7, 2016

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