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

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Advent

Advent and Christmas Music Recommendations

Inspired by our recent podcast on Christmas and Advent music recommendations, we offer here a list of excellent recordings that are sure to enrich your Advent and Christmas season. Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning Paul McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort and Players Amazon | Spotify | Apple Music 2. Christmas…

by John Ahern and Paul BuckleyDecember 23, 2020
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Advent

Between the Altar and the City: Isaiah 65:17-25

In the year 1483 in the city of Nuremberg, the leaders of the renowned Saint Lawrence Church were seeking to redesign their altar, and above the table where the priests presided over the eucharist, they wanted new art installed above the prestigious Krell altar. What they decided on took everyone…

by Casey BedellDecember 22, 2020
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Advent

Why We're the Real Seventh Day Adventists

The consequences of disobedience start with exile from the garden of God and the Tree of Yahweh, but they do not end there. They cascade down through the structure of the dynastic order. Everything which had previously been given in the Kingdom of Elohim is either taken back or curtailed…

by Jerry BowyerDecember 18, 2020
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Biblical Studies

Psalm 23: A Lesson in Reading Biblical Poetry

Parallelism: A Course Correction If you have ever studied Hebrew poetry, you have probably heard its basic poetic feature described as “parallelism.” Hebrew poetry is not metered, it does not rhyme, it does not employ many of the common poetical tropes, but its distinctive (and almost universal) feature is commonly…

by Ryan HandermannDecember 15, 2020
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Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 and the Separation of Powers

In The Crown and the Courts , David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures – particularly Deuteronomy 17 – from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not…

by James R. RogersDecember 11, 2020
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Advent

Zechariah and John: A Story in Names

A curious feature of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Luke is the naming of John the Baptist. When the angel appears to Zechariah, he is instructed to give his promised son the name John (Luke 1:13). On the day of John’s circumcision, Luke tells us that “they [presumably…

by Rhys LavertyDecember 8, 2020

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Yahweh’s Field of Battle

In his commentary on 1 Kings 17-19, M. B. Van’t Veer has this insightful comment about the difference between OT and NT: “We could say that the Lord attacked the powers of darkness, the kingdom of satan on earth [in the old covenant] within the boundaries of Canaan. The land…

February 27, 2005

Yahweh’s Field of Battle

In his commentary on 1 Kings 17-19, M. B. Van’t Veer has this insightful comment about the difference between OT and NT: “We could say that the Lord attacked the powers of darkness, the kingdom of satan on earth [in the old covenant] within the boundaries of Canaan. The land…

February 27, 2005

Law

Perhaps the central dogmatic/systematic challenge raised by the New Perspective on Paul is the claim that Paul’s concerns about “Law” do not have to do with an eternal, unchanging expression of God’s righteousness but with the contingent and temporary institutions and regulations of the Mosaic order. This really does challenge…

February 25, 2005

Regeneration and Justification in Vermigli

Frank James, translator of Vermigli’s treatises on predestination and justification, has these intriguing comments on Vermigli’s views on the relation of justification and regeneration: “Vermigli’s understanding of forensic justification is not particularly unusual. Indeed, it corresponds generally with the Reformed branch of the Reformation. What is unusual is the inclusion…

February 25, 2005

Thick Description

Peter Vermigli offers this charming and helpful comment on the definition of faith as “substance” (Greek, hypostasis ) in Hebrews 11:1: The word “is derived from the verb hyphistamai , which signifies ‘to sustain, receive, not to yield to one rushing blindly.’ Hence, a soldier is called hypostatos if he…

February 25, 2005

Justification and Sacraments

Vermigli discusses the role of works in salvation, arguing that those who do not live uprightly and practice virtue “shall not come to eternal salvation,” yet these works are the “fruits of faith and effects of justification, not causes.” He understands the fathers’ references to “something more” than faith in…

February 24, 2005

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