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Writing

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

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Exodus

A Brief Response to Rev. Richard Bacon’s Opposition to Paedocommunion

1. Introduction Reverend Richard Bacon is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Rowlett, Texas. He has written a tract entitled " What Mean Ye By This Service? Paedocommunion in Light of Passover, " printed by Presbyterian Heritage Publications (P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, TX 75218). I am writing this brief…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 1997
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How to Worship

Formal Corporate Prayer

A Defense of the Use of Coordinated, Congregational Prayer in Public Worship My goal in this series of articles is to equip the members of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church to worship God intelligently on Sunday and also to help visitors understand the biblical and theological rationale for our form of…

by Jeff MeyersMay 20, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Twelve Fundamental Avenues of Revelation, Part 3

Several implications flow from this first group of considerations. First (D1), nature and natural objects reveal God to the eye of faith. The study of nature is the study of the design of the Spirit, and from it we learn how God designs things, and how we as His images…

by James B. JordanApril 30, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

John Sailhamer Weighs In, Part 1

Does the chronology in the Bible begin with the creation of Adam or with the creation of the universe? That is the question we are exploring this year. In January and February we took up the "Framework Hypothesis" as advocated by its most scholarly and powerful exponent, Dr. Meredith G.…

by James B. JordanApril 30, 1997
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Hermeneutics

Toward a Chiastic Understanding of the Gospel According to Matthew, Part 1

In preparing an essay on Matthew 24-25 for our subscription essayletter Studies in the Revelation , I have found it necessary to consider the structure of Matthew’s gospel as a whole. The following are the fruits of my research, such as they are. This essay is not intended as the…

by James B. JordanApril 29, 1997
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Creeds

In Whom Do You Trust?

An Explanation of and Apology for the Use of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in Worship With the rest of the country I anxiously watched the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, but there is one image that I will always remember. It is not the firefight…

by Jeff MeyersApril 20, 1997

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Biting again

Philip Esler draws on the anthropological work of Anthony Cohen to suggest that Paul’s reference to “biting” and “devouring” may describe the actual internal life of Paul’s churches: “Anthony Cohen’s argument about the persistence of liminality among persons once they have crossed a boundary to join a new group raises…

February 24, 2009

Biting

Paul contrasts fulfilling the law of loving neighbor with biting, devouring, and consuming. Love for neighbor is human behavior; anything else is feral. The verb “bite” ( dakno ) is used only in Galatians 5:15 in the NT, and only twice in the LXX (Genesis 49:17; Deuteronomy 8:15), both references…

February 24, 2009

Linguistic reversal

Galatians 5-6 turns a number of Pauline terms inside out. After spending most of the letter polemicizing against seeking justification form the “works of the law,” Paul rehabilitates both “work” (5:6) and “law” (5:14; 6:2). After announcing that in Christ we have been freed from the Egypt of Judaic managers…

February 24, 2009

Chiasm upon Chiasm in Galatians 5-6

Galatians 5-6 is organized as a chiasm, with the exhortation to bear one another’s burdens, and fulfill the law of Christ, at the center. The structure suggests that that the freedom that the Spirit grants is precisely freedom to bear the burdens of others as Christ as done for us.…

February 24, 2009
History

Neutral

Freeman again: He claims that Constantine employed the image of the sun, used in both Christianity and paganism, to maintain “his neutral position between opposing faiths.” In part, his interpretation is based on HA Drake. But the neutrality that Drake talks about is a neutrality in “public space” that enabled…

February 24, 2009
History

Not so shrewd

Freeman says that Constantine’s “conversion” was a shrewd political act, basing this conclusion, he claims, on “recent research.” (Burckhardt is recent??) One sign of his shrewdness was his ability to satisfy both Christian and pagan: “Some very careful political manoeuvring was necessary if Constantine was to avoid offending either Christian…

February 23, 2009

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