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Biblical Horizons

Puritans v. Reformed Worship: (Part Two of a Book Chapter Review)

Continuing through The Worship of the English Puritans by Horton Davies: The author gives some of his own appraisals rather than immediately quoting Durel, even though that is how he began his chapter. In Davies’ opinion, while the Puritans would invoke their own interpretation of Scripture in order to condemn,…

by Mark HorneFebruary 9, 2008
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Ephesians

Luther Should Have Inserted “Alone” a Second Time in Romans

What follows are from a couple of posts on my blog. I hoped to do a series. If I do follow up, I will probably want to do it here on the BH blog rather than my own. Feedback welcome: It is no secret that some have been scathingly critical…

by Mark HorneFebruary 9, 2008
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Baptism

Jesus’ Baptism and ours

Jeremy Sexton wrote this in an earlier line of discussion: “Along those lines, I think what we most often miss in our theology of baptism (though Calvin didn’t miss this) is that Christian baptism — if it “is” anything that came before — is Jesus’ water baptism. In our baptism,…

by James B. JordanFebruary 8, 2008
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Numbers

Israel was not (all of) the Church

Jeff pointed out that baptism is not Christian circumcision . Looking at the comments, I think it might be helpful to point out that Israel was not the Church . In the new creation, the idea of an “unbaptized Christian” is either very temporary or an anomaly. Those who came…

by Mark HorneFebruary 6, 2008
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Parables

Parables, Part I

Once a upon a time, one Sunday morning, a pastor mounted his pulpit for the sermon and said the following: A troubled young man walked into a downtown high-rise building. As he approached the directory on the wall, he took out a small booklet and looked back and forth from…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 5, 2008
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Exodus

What is a Prophet? (Friendship and Justification)

If you are, say, leading a Bible study in Genesis, you might notice that right after the covenant is renewed and circumcision is established (ch 17) that we see Abraham eating and drinking with God (ch 18). After that meal, God makes a point of saying the he should share…

by Mark HorneFebruary 3, 2008

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Biblical Studies

Sermon Outline, April 18

This outline is the first for a series of sermons on “seasons of life.” Most of it is taken, shamelessly, from Jim Jordan’s wonderful study, From Bread to Wine , and from other things I have learned from Jim over many years. Galatians 4:1-11 INTRODUCTION The Old Testament is the…

April 17, 2004
Literature

Green Knight as Christ Figure?

Is the Green Knight in the Sir Gawain poem some kind of divine/Christ figure? Holly (green and red) is an emblem of Christ’s life-giving shedding of blood, and the Green Knight carries holly into Arthur’s court at the beginning. In fact, he becomes “holly” when he’s beheaded (blood on his…

April 17, 2004

Some Thoughts on EP Sanders

This is an excerpt from a paper I have written for a discussion of the New Perspective for the Pacific NW Presbytery of the PCA: The NPP movement first began to take shape with the publication of Sanders?E Paul and Palestinian Judaism in 1977. The bulk of Sanders?Etreatise was an…

April 16, 2004

The Evangelicalization of Hinduism

C.A. Bayly discusses the development of “imperial religions” and their globalization in his book on the Birth of the Modern World . He points out that the major world religions other than Christianity were transformed by their encounter with Christianity, and their response to that encounter. Of Hinduism in particular…

April 16, 2004

On the Meaning of “Grace”

One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam…

April 14, 2004

On the Meaning of “Grace”

One of the issues currently being debated in the Reformed churches is the meaning of “grace.” Some have argued that the word should be restricted to specifically redemptive gifts and favors, which means that the word properly describes only God’s saving favor and gifts toward sinners. To say that Adam…

April 14, 2004

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