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Church Calendar

Five Misconceptions of Reformation Day

For many people the date October 31 is significant not only for being the Eve of All Saints (All Hallows Eve, Halloween) but as the day in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg. These theses were a list of…

by Timothy LeCroyOctober 31, 2017
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Church Calendar

Concerning Halloween

It has become routine in October for some Christian schools to send out letters warning parents about the evils of Halloween, and it has become equally routine for me to be asked questions about this matter. "Halloween" is simply a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve. The word "hallow" means "saint,"…

by James B. JordanOctober 26, 2017
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Revelation

Preaching, An Art of Division

The following is an excerpt from Peter Leithart's forthcoming two-volume commentary on Revelation (T&T Clark). Y ou must prophesy again concerning many peoples and nations and tongues and kings,” a voice tells John (Rev. 10:11). Then someone gives him a “reed like a rod” and instructs him to measure (11:1).…

by Peter LeithartOctober 24, 2017
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Back To Egypt

Josiah is an ideal Davidic king in many ways. He not only “did right,” but he “walked in the ways of his father David” and “did not turn aside to the right or to the left” (2 Chronicles 34:2). At the age of 16, he began to seek Yahweh, and…

by Peter LeithartOctober 19, 2017
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Augustine

Augustine and the Music of Time

One of the best discussions of Augustine’s views on time comes from Jeremy Begbie’s Theology, Music, and Time (ch. 3). Following Paul Ricoeur, Begbie claims that Augustine’s distentio “is conceived as the three-fold present, and the threefold present as distentio . The distentio consists in the non-coincidence of the mind’s…

by Peter LeithartOctober 17, 2017
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How to Worship

The Psalter Should be Woven into the Fabric of Worship

This has always been the position of the Christian Church, and from an historical perspective the present situation in evangelicalism is appalling. The early liturgies of the Church, which are still used in Episcopal and Lutheran worship, are laced with psalm phrases. The early hymns, such as the Te Deum…

by James B. JordanOctober 12, 2017

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Turkey v. the Church

T urkey's Muslims have used the failed coup attempt last month as an excuse to attack churches. According to a report by Marco Giannengeli in the Express , on the night of the coup “Muslim Sunnis, whipped up to a frenzy, targeted Turkey’s Christian community. In Matalya, a sprawling city…

August 5, 2016

Philosophy Without Tears

R achel Aviv's New Yorker profile of philosopher Martha Nussbaum was shadowed by irony. Entitled “The Philosopher of Feelings,” the article described Nussbaum's work on the philosophy of emotions and her advocacy of human vulnerability. Philosophy itself can provide a protective shield against luck or unluck, and she has studied…

August 5, 2016

Rise and Fall of Growth

E veryone acknowledges that economic growth has stagnated for the past half-century by comparison with the previous century. Robert Gordon ( Rise and Fall of American Growth ) argues that the stagnation is more or less permanent, and the growth of the world economy between 1870 and 1970 is unrepeatable.…

August 5, 2016

He Bears His Iniquity

A ccording to the Protestant doctrine of imputation, Christ’s righteousness is reckoned as righteousness to those who believe. Typically, this creates a double identity: Though we are in ourselves guilty sinners, God sees us in Christ, and therefore regards us and treats us as righteous. It is often objected that…

August 4, 2016

Vipers' Tangle

T he title of Francois Mauriac's 1932 novel, Vipers' Tangle (French, Le Nœud de vipères , The Knot of Vipers ) evokes Jesus' assault on the Pharisees as a “brood of vipers,” spawn of the serpent. It's a fitting allusion, since the novel, mostly an autobiographical epistle written by the…

August 4, 2016

Smooth Stones

D avid meets Goliath with a stick, a sling and five stones. We're told that the stones are “smooth” and that he took them from the brook (1 Samuel 17:40). Why are we told this? When Israel first entered the land, they set stones in the midst of the Jordan…

August 3, 2016

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