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Writing

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

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Authority

The Restrainer

When Samuel saw Saul, Yahweh answered him, "Behold, the man of whom I spoke to you! This one will restrain My people" (1 Samuel 9:17) Many English versions of 1 Samuel 9:17 read, "This one will rule over My people," but that is a mistranslation. The Hebrew verb is `atsar…

by James B. JordanDecember 4, 1992
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Acts

Chronology of the Gospels

We have arrived at the tentative date of A.M. 3474 for the decree of Cyrus, and we have determined to operate as if the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 are literal years. We also decided that Messiah the Prince arrives at the beginning of the 70th week, after the 69…

by James B. JordanDecember 4, 1992
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Biblical Studies

The Dramatic Structure of Proverbs

The book of Proverbs appears as a largely random collection of aphorisms drawn from experience saturated in law. Despite its random arrangement, however, the book does have an over-arching structure that reinforces its main themes. One way to gather clues regarding the structure of a biblical book (or any book)…

by Peter LeithartNovember 17, 1992
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Leviticus

Leviticus 27

I recently had the privilege and pleasure of reading the first draught of Gary North’s Economic Commentary on Leviticus , which will be out some time next year. Gary’s comments on Leviticus 27 were stimulating, and caused me to take another look at the passage. The results, which I sent…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1992
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Daniel

Bridging the Last Gap: Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Revisited

As we have seen in this series, each time there is a new covenant, there is a break in the year-by-year chronology. At the same time, each time the break is crossed by information provided in the text. Thus, the year-by-year chronology breaks down at the birth of Abraham, but…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1992
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Art

The Openness of Literature & the Mystery of Art

The Openness of Literature Let’s discuss literature for a moment. There are two ways a story or novel can close. The first is called poetic justice. When a story ends with poetic justice, the bad guys are all punished and the good guys are all rewarded. This kind of story…

by James B. JordanNovember 4, 1992

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Junk Mail Blues

Since I subscribe to a variety of magazines and journals, I get a wildly diverse range of junk mail. Some assume I’m Catholic, others than I’m Jewish, some that I’m a Democrat, others that I’m a Republican or Libertarian or have signed on with the Constitution Party. One of the…

May 14, 2004
Biblical Studies

Sermon Outline, May 16

Raising Priests and Kings, Deuteronomy 6:1-25 INTRODUCTION We have been applying the sequence of priest, king, and prophet to Israel?s history and to our own biographies. God raises us to maturity by leading us through a period of service and a period of rule into an eldership where we guide…

May 14, 2004
Theology

Enemies

Here is an address I gave at NSA graduation, May 12, 2004. Graduating Seniors, Parents, Friends of the College, Colleagues: It is a great privilege to address you all this evening, especially the graduating seniors. I am more grateful than I can express that I have had the privilege of…

May 12, 2004

Herod and Pilate

As a student, Erin Linton, pointed out to me, Herod and Pilate are typical pagan enemies: Their enmity is skin deep, and liable to change to alliance and friendship when it is to their advantage. When faced with a scapegoat, the mimetic rivals become friends. (Just so, the windy plains…

May 11, 2004
Literature

Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov , like many of Dostoevsky’s works, is partly an attack on Western rationalism. For Dostoevsky, this rationalism is manifested in the insistent question, Why? Why should a father love a son, or vice versa? Dostoevsky’s answer is partly taken from the story of Job: Why should Job…

May 11, 2004

Icons

One possible defense of the iconodule position is to draw an analogy between the use of icons in worship and the use of words in worship. The argument would be basically: 1. Venerating the word “YHWH” is superstitious. 2. But we do worship “through” the word “YHWH.” 3. Similarly, venerating…

May 10, 2004

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