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Writing

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

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Baptism

Analogies to Baptism

Every attempt to understand the Christian sacraments makes use of comparisons or analogies with other rituals, events, or customs. Calvin and those who followed him, for example, spoke of the sacraments as “seals,” and compared them to the “seal of approval” that an official impresses on a document. Thinking about…

by Peter LeithartMay 29, 1998
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Art

The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 1

Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy has pointed out in his essay "Hitler and Israel, or On Prayer" (available for $2.00 from Biblical Horizons ) that it is God’s word "No!" that establishes in a culture the distinction between the Creator and the creature. The Bible repeatedly says "No!" to every human attempt to…

by James B. JordanMay 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

Gattaca

If you missed Gattaca at the movie theaters, you can probably check it out from your local video store now. And you should. This is one of those relatively rare thought-provoking movies that can stand being watched with brain in gear more than once. It is also poetic, sensitive, visually…

by James B. JordanApril 4, 1998
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American Culture

The Case Against Western Civilization, Part 4

Part 4: The Nephilim Factor Western Civilization partakes of what I call "the Nephilim Factor." The Enoch Factor means that the pagans get there first. This is both a blessing and a danger. As a blessing, it means that they work out techniques of dominion over the lower creation that…

by James B. JordanApril 4, 1998
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Biblical Horizons

A Visionary Liturgy, Part 2

The Worship Service Then the one speaking with me took me by the hair and lifted me into the air in the middle of the great room. And as I watched, I saw people entering the room to the sound of the great bells outside. Then entered from all four…

by James B. JordanMarch 4, 1998
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American Culture

The Case Against Western Civilization, Part 3

Part 3: Philosophy (continued) If we realize that human beings are the images of God, and that man hates God, then we realize that all non-Christian political philosophy is founded on a fundamental hatred of other human beings, a hatred manifest in contempt. Rome, like Enoch, was founded on the…

by James B. JordanFebruary 4, 1998

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Tale of Three Cities

In his book on the gospel in Genesis, Warren Gage notes that the book tell a tale of three cities: “Cain set out to found and build an earthly city, his descendants developing a technology suited to creating an earthly paradise. Cain’s city was located in the east (4:16), which…

October 19, 2005

Eucharistic meditation, October 16

2 Kings 6:22-23: Elisha answered, You shall not kill them . . . . set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master. So he prepared a great feast for them; and when they had eaten and drunk he sent them away,…

October 16, 2005

Baptismal meditation, October 16

2 Kings 6:6-7: Then the man of God said, Where did it fall? And when he showed him the place, he cut off a stick, and threw it in there, and made the iron float. And he said, Take it up for yourself. So he put out his hand and…

October 16, 2005

Exhortation, October 16

Unlike pre-modern Christians, we think and talk little about angels. We are often functional empiricists, who instinctively believe that only visible things are real. Of course, there’s God up there somewhere, but we don’t think we have to press through a crowd of angels every time we move; we don’t…

October 16, 2005

Structure of Elijah narratives

A possible chiastic ouline for the stories of Elijah: A. Elijah appears suddenly, and leaves the land, 1 Kings 17 B. Fire from heaven in a contest of gods, 1 Kings 18 C. Elijah complains to Yahweh on Horeb, and is assured that Ahab’s house will perish, 1 Kings 19…

October 10, 2005

Sermon Outline, October 16

INTRODUCTION Since the early church, Christians have struggled against “Marcionism,” the heretical idea that the Creator-God of the Old Testament is different from the Redeemer-God of the New. The Old Testament reveals a God of wrath and law, the New a God of love and gospel. Frequently, this takes the…

October 10, 2005

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