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Writing

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

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Authority

Eldership and Maturity, (Part 2)

(continued from previous issue) Between 30 and 50 What did the Levites do between age 30 and 50? Numbers 4 shows us that they carried the house of God on their shoulders. Lifting up the Lord is an image of worship in the Bible, and David’s restructuring of the Levites…

by James B. JordanJuly 8, 1995
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Romans

The Great Hangover, Parts 1-2

When God created the world, He created two lands: the Throne-land of Eden (entered through the sanctuary-garden, the Garden of Eden), and the Outlying Lands, such as the lands of Havilah and Cush. This essentially bi-polar world is the world of the Old Creation, and it continued to exist until…

by James B. JordanJuly 5, 1995
Architecture

Concerning Colors, Architecture, and Sacraments

Color is inescapable, except for those who are color blind. In our church architecture, we either employ color schemes that are helpful to worship, or we employ color schemes that are not helpful. Of course, this assertion merely begs the question: What color schemes are most helpful. God showed interest…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 1995
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Baptism

Jesus’ Baptism Into Priesthood

As I noted in an earlier article in Rite Reasons , the Church Fathers Tertullian, Ambrose, and Augustine all claimed that baptism inducts the baptized person into membership in the royal priesthood of the church, and Thomas Aquinas said that baptism, by imprinting an indelible “character” on the soul, confers…

by Peter LeithartMay 26, 1995
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Baptism

Renewing Circumcision

When the Aaronic priests were ordained, the blood of the ram of "filling” was placed on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toe (Lev. 8:22-24). Similarly, the cleansing rite for a leper included smearing the right ear lobe, thumb, and big toe with…

by Peter LeithartMay 14, 1995
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Daniel

A Correction on Daniel 7

In my Preliminary Commentary on Daniel , which many of you have obtained, I argued in chapter 13 that the four monsters called up from the sea by the evangelistic work of the four winds (the saints) represented the deep hatred of God that evangelistic work brings to the fore…

by James B. JordanMay 7, 1995

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Books

Prometheus Bound

Looking at Aeschylus’s Prometheus Bound for an article, I came across this statement: Speaking of the senselessness of men before Prometheus gave them sense, he describes men as “seeing, they saw amiss, and hearing heard not.” The similarity to Jesus’ description of His reasons for telling parables is pretty striking,…

September 17, 2003
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Luke

A Man Under Authority (Luke 7)

Why does the centurion in Luke 7 say that he is a man “under” (Greek, hupo ) authority? It seems more reasonable for him to say that he is a man having authority. And what does he mean when he says “I also (Greek, kai ) am a man under…

September 17, 2003
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Politics

Br’er Rabbit

The Weekly Standard has been playing Br’er Rabbit with the Democrats, publishing several hand-wringing articles worrying over threat posed by Howard Dean to the Bush reelection. “Please, Oh, Please, NOT Howard DEAN! ANYBODY, anybody but Howard DEAN!” The entrance of Wesley Clark into the mix changes the dynamics of the…

September 17, 2003
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Theology

Back to Supra/infra

Back to supra/infra: On reflection, I think the main issue in my rethinking of this has been my hostility to any nature-grace scheme, which seems to be encouraged by the infra position. In the infra framework, creation exists (in the decree of God) as creation, without being considered as the…

September 17, 2003
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Luke

“Sinners” in Luke 6

In Jesus’ sermon in Luke 6, he contrasts the behavior of His disciples with that of “sinners” in a series of three points. Sinners love those who love themselves, but Jesus’ disciples must love enemies. Sinners do good only to those who do good to them, but Jesus’ disciples must…

September 17, 2003
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Ecclesiology

More Notes on The Stranger

( Click here to see previous notes.) Here are the rest of the notes from that upcoming lecture: 2. p 2: “Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Already today, the largest Christian communities…

September 17, 2003

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