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Writing

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

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Culture

Sacred Work in a Secular World

Several weeks ago, a picture of a man working at Trader Joe’s went viral. At first glance, it was hard to tell what was worthy of note in the picture—a man simply standing near a cash register. It turns out, the picture went viral not because of what the man…

by Dustin MesserOctober 4, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Jesus on Sinai

Among the many allusions in the transfiguration story, one allusion, or rather, one group of allusions, is especially prominent — allusions to Mt. Sinai. The first and least obvious of the allusions to Mt. Sinai is the expression “high mountain” in Matthew and Mark and “the mountain” in Luke. Ancient…

by Ralph Allan SmithOctober 2, 2018
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Biblical Theology

Jesus’ Transfiguration: The Context

The revelation of Jesus’ glory at the transfiguration is one of the most important stories in the synoptic Gospels. At Jesus’ baptism — the inauguration of New Covenant baptism with the Holy Spirit and the paradigm for Christian baptism — God the Father spoke from heaven: “You are My Son,…

by Ralph Allan SmithSeptember 27, 2018
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Proverbs

Solomon's Argument against Living by Plunder

The first section of Proverbs (chapters 1-9) contains two lengthy descriptions of temptations that a young man should resist and avoid (1:10-19 and 7). The two temptations are recruitment into a robber gang and being enticed by an adulterous wife. I've argued before that these are the two perversions of…

by Mark HorneSeptember 25, 2018
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Eucharist

The Gospel Invitation

Is there a Gospel invitation? To many evangelical Christians, the answer to that question is an unqualified "yes." Some calvinists, reacting against the misleading character of the "altar call," seem less interested in inviting men to anything than they are in sending men away to think about the message they…

by James B. JordanSeptember 20, 2018
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Counseling

The Sacramental System and Counseling

Effective pastoral care helps people progress to maturity. Historically, the Christian church worked out the sacramental system to assist people with the various conversions of life. While we Protestants believe in only two sacraments, it is helpful for us to look at the sacramental system, because there is some wisdom…

by James B. JordanSeptember 18, 2018

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KMart-Sears

The Weekly Standard parody of the KMart-Sears merger (Nov 29) is too rich. The parody is a letter purporting to be from a market researcher to the KMart board of directors. Here’s a couple of samples: “We recently received the preliminary report from our $30-million, 5-year contract with ImagInc, who…

December 7, 2004

American Foreign Policy

Kenneth Minogue provides a superb summary of the case for the Bush foreign policy in the Nov 12 issue of TLS : “the United States is an open liberal democracy with which millions of Europeans are directly acquainted, and it has been our sheet-anchor against both fascist and Communist totalitarianism…

December 7, 2004
History

Alexander

Peter Green, reviewing Paul Cartledge’s new Alexander biography in TNR , cites a “remarkable anecdote told by Theophrastus, who surely had it from Aristotle when the latter was Alexander’s tutor”: “Both Philip and Olympias, he alleges, were scared that their adolescent son was showing signs of becoming a GYMNIS, that…

December 7, 2004

Eucharistic Meditation, Second Sunday in Advent

John 1:14; 6:55-56: ?And the Word became flesh . . . . [Jesus said] ?My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.?E This morning, we have been considering the incarnation of…

December 5, 2004
Theology

Exhortation, Second Sunday in Advent

Christmas is about many things, but one of the chief things revealed in the gospel of Christmas is the humility of God. We don?t often think of humility as an attribute of God. If God is glorious and exalted, we think, He must be haughty and proud and self-centered. We…

December 5, 2004

Order of Worship

This repeats some material from an earlier post. INTRODUCTION In the last several classes, we have been looking at sacrifice as it operated in the OC, both in the Mosaic and the Davidic worship. We have seen that Mosaic worship follows a sequence of purification-ascension-communion, and we have seen that…

December 5, 2004

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