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

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Biblical Horizons

A Visionary Liturgy, Part 1

In the 48th year, the third month, and the fourteenth night, while I slept in my bed, I was taken in vision to Xanadu and set upon a high hill. Looking to the west, I saw a large building, surrounded with gardens and fountains, walks and gravestones, and a bell…

by James B. JordanJanuary 4, 1998
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Advent

Celebrating a Calvinist Christmas with a Clear Conscience: Is the Holiday Un-Presbyterian?

‘Tis the season to be informed–sometimes in gentleness, often with vigor–by a variety of Christians (and others) 1 claiming that it is wrong to celebrate Christmas. I have no desire to force anyone to celebrate Christmas against their will. Indeed, it would be insulting to the high holiday to pretend…

by Mark HorneDecember 15, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

The Case Against Western Civilization, Part 2

Part 2: The Enoch Factor Back in Open Book 21 we discussed "The Enoch Factor." Because that was several years ago (May 1994) and many people have begun reading this letter since that time, we shall return to the subject here and expand what we wrote at that time. After…

by James B. JordanDecember 4, 1997
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Biblical Studies

The Sequence of Events in the Creation Week, Part 3

Day 6. The sixth day provides the creation of land animals and of humanity. As we saw above, the second day spills over to the first half of the third day, for only at that point did God say that it was good. Similarly, it seems that the fifth day…

by James B. JordanDecember 4, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Repoliticizing Jesus

During the past two decades, the "quest of the historical Jesus" has entered a new phase. The first incarnation of the quest was rudely shaken by the publication of Albert Schweitzer’s classic Quest of the Historical Jesus , easily the most devastating and funniest work of New Testament scholarship ever…

by Peter LeithartNovember 27, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Sovereignty and Self-Gift

At the 1997 Biblical Horizons Summer Conference, the Rev. Jeffrey Meyers presented a series of remarkable lectures on the gospel of Mark. Among his many insightful comments, he suggested that the second gospel continues where the first gospel ends; Matthew ends with Jesus saying "Go" (Matthew 28:19), and Mark’s shows…

by Peter LeithartNovember 27, 1997

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American PoliticsAmerican Religion

The "Mabelized" Church

This essay was first published in the May 1991 issue of First Things. Though Evangelical Protestants have become more liturgically attuned than they were in 1991, I think the article is still relevant . Exploring the influence of televangelism on American religion in his book The Struggle for America’s Soul…

May 16, 2022
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American CultureLiterature

Violence as Poetry

Paul and Jane Sinclair, protagonists of J.G. Ballard’s 2000 novel Super-Cannes , move from England to the French Riviera to live at a new high-tech business park, Eden-Olympia (!), after Jane’s friend and former lover, Dr. David Greenwood, goes on a killing spree that ends with suicide. Jane, a pediatrician,…

May 9, 2022
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Abortion

Abortion and the Horde

In a discussion of the Ten Words ( Systematic Theology, II ) argues that the "second table" applies to all polities. I have doubts about the "second table" notion, and also about the plausibility of separating the last six words from the first four. Still, Jenson has some penetrating things…

May 3, 2022
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EpistemologyLiturgy

Epistemology of Elfland

We're delighted to announce that Esther Meek will speak about feasting at the Theopolis Feast on the evening of July 19, 2022 (register here ). In anticipation, I'm re-posting a review of one of her books . At the heart of Esther Lightcap Meek’s splendid ​Little Manual for Knowing is…

May 2, 2022
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American CultureAnxiety

Safetyism Is Unsafe

During the second half of the twentieth century, concentrated efforts were made to make the world safer for children, drivers, and vulnerable people. All fifty states passed safety belt laws. Sharp objects were removed from homes and day care facilities. Toys and playgrounds became softer. It worked. Death rates for…

April 25, 2022
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Creation

All Very Good

History isn’t added to creation. Creation isn’t a stable backdrop to the action on stage. It’s not as if God first makes an immobile set of things and structures and then kicks them into gear. Quite the opposite. The first thing God speaks into being – the only thing He…

April 18, 2022

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