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Deuteronomy

Torah as Testimony (Part 2)

Cornelius Van Til offered a revolutionary exposition of the Christian worldview through the lens of Reformed theology. He argued and, I believe demonstrated, that Biblical metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics mutually presuppose and include one another. Every ethical statement of the Bible — commands about righteousness — presuppose the existence and…

by Ralph Allan SmithJune 21, 2022
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Deuteronomy

Torah as Testimony (Part 1)

In the introductory portion of Deuteronomy, Moses’ last sermons to the people of Israel — people that he regarded as his own beloved children — there is a statement that may seem paradoxical to a modern reader. It invites questions and maybe even creates problems in our understanding. Here are…

by Ralph Allan SmithJune 14, 2022
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Biblical Studies

The View from Gerar: Looking Back to Moriah (and Forward to Sinai)

In his discussion of the biblical type scene, Robert Alter speaks of the “patterns of repetition, symmetry, [and] contrast” which characterize the narratives of Scripture, patterns that give pleasure to the reader while also building up a web of meaningful connections between texts. 1 But if readers are to notice…

by Josh JensenJune 7, 2022
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Genesis

Did Eve Ruin Female Ordination?

In 1 Timothy 2, Paul writes: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression” (1 Timothy 2:12-14). This…

by Adam McIntoshMay 31, 2022
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Matthew

Warhorse Meek

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 When the above verse is read during a Lord’s Day service, no doubt, every extrovert in the room thinks to himself, “Well, that rules out me.” After all, the meek folks in the room are the ones you…

by Garrett SoucyMay 24, 2022
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Biblical Studies

Earth and Fire

The flames of the altar tell a mysterious story beyond mere atonement. The altar was a place of union, glory, worship, love and forgiveness, laughter and tears, renewal and hope. The altar is where Israel would feast with God, sacrifice to God, worship God, confess, and receive forgiveness from God.…

by Kyle LammottMay 23, 2022

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Science

End of Modernity?

Iain Provan offers this comment in his Ecclesiastes commentary: “Modern people tend to view the movement of history, as far as human beings are concerned, as being from primeval swamp to divinity. The beginning was unpromising, but quite against expectation the forces of evolution have propelled us along, to a…

January 29, 2006

Eucharistic meditation, Fourth Epiphany

Ecclesiastes 12:1: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth. Solomon ends Ecclesiastes, as we have seen, emphasizing again the brevity of life. Life is vapor, all is vapor, a vapor of vapors, most vaporous, superlatively vaporous. Solomon makes it clear at the end of the book that…

January 29, 2006

Baptismal meditation, Fourth Epiphany

Ecclesiastes 11:1: Cast your bread on the face of the waters, for you will find it after many days. We saw in this morning’s sermon Solomon’s image of casting bread on the water encourages a reckless faith, a willingness to act in spite of the risks. You don’t know whether…

January 29, 2006

Exhortation, Fourth Epiphany

What kind of guidance should we give our children? We often focus exclusively on all the things that they may not do. That is a perfectly sound approach, especially for younger children. After all, we worship and serve a God whose first words to newborn Israel were “Thou Shalt Not.”…

January 29, 2006
Philosophy

No dry light

Francis Bacon offered this wise caution, “The human understanding is no dry light but receives an infusion from the will and affections; whence proceed sciences which may be called ‘sciences as one would.’ For what a man had rather were true he more readily believes . . . . Numberless…

January 26, 2006

Notes on Freud

Some notes on Freud, mainly as background for discussion of Ernest Jones psycho-analytic treatment of Hamlet, largely based on Merold Westphal’s summary in Suspicion & Faith. FREUD AND SCIENCE Freud is an Enlightenment man who subverted the Enlightenment, an advocate of scientism whose theories rendered scientism impossible. He appears not…

January 26, 2006

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