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Writing

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

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Baptism

Baptismal Efficacy and the Reformed Tradition: Past, Present, and Future

OUR REFORMED HERITAGE When a Reformed Christian hears “baptismal regeneration,” what comes to mind? “Heresy,” most likely. Unfortunately, many in the Reformed community today have lost touch with some important aspects of their own heritage. If Reformed theology is going to continue reforming according to Scripture, we must recover the…

by Rich LuskMay 29, 2002
Theologia

Standing on the Promises | Faith and Assurance in the Bible

Faith and assurance are recurring subjects of controversy in Evangelical circles. We all agree that we are saved by the righteousness of Christ reckoned to us, which we receive through faith alone. Jesus lived and died and rose again as the representative of his people so that all of them…

by Mark HorneMay 24, 2002
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New Perspective on Paul

Getting Some Perspectiveon the “New Perspective”

What’s at stake (or not!) for Reformed Pastors regarding the contemporary discussion of Paul and “the works of the law”? There has been a great deal of talk lately about “the New Perspective on Paul” and the works of, among others, Ed Sanders, James Dunn, and N. T. Wright. Each…

by Mark HorneMay 24, 2002
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Theologia

Did Jesus Preach Gospel or Law to the Rich Young Ruler?

When Christ enjoins upon the young man the duty of following him (Mt. 19:23), he does not give a counsel, but a command to all in common because no one can have a hope of salvation unless he follows Christ (2 Pet. 2:21), although from a particular cause it is…

by Mark HorneMay 20, 2002
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New Perspective on Paul

A Short Note on N. T. WRIGHT and His Reformed Critics

This short paper is not an attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis and defense of N. T. Wright, much less the so-called “New Perspective on Paul” as a whole. Indeed, Wright’s theological project has some failings and the New Perspective as a movement must be considered a mixed bag of…

by Rich LuskMay 20, 2002
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Biblical Studies

Leviticus 1:3-4, 10

Leviticus 1:3-13, Translation 3 If his Nearbringing is an Ascension from the herd, a perfect male shall he bring him near. To the forecourt of the Tent of Meeting he shall bring him near, for his acceptance before Yahweh. 4 And he shall lean his hand on the head of…

by James B. JordanAugust 5, 2001

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History

Male Muse

In a NYT review of Arthur Phillips’s latest, Kate Christensen comments, “The male muse is an unaccountably rare thing in art, with the exception of the men who inspired the likes of Auden and O’Hara — that is, men who were as sexualized and fetishized as their female counter parts,…

April 10, 2009
History

We Were Never Modern

Carl Becker ( The Heavenly City of the Eighteenth-Century Philosophers ) writes that though the Philosophes were devoted to reason, “a skeptical lot, atheists in effect if not by profession, addicted to science and the scientific method, always ready to crush the infamous, valiant defenders of liberty, equality, fraternity, freedom…

April 10, 2009
History

House of gods

In an article on Constantine’s church-building, Gregory Alexander repeats a commonplace about the difference between pagan and Christian places of worship: “The temple is a house for the god; the church is a gathering place for communal worship.” Yes, but: Jesus says He’ll be there in our gathering, so the…

April 9, 2009
History

Freeman on Persecution

Freeman’s colossal misconceptions come out on every page. Under that patient persecution by the Romans, some Christians saw the light and offered sacrifice, but others “resisted to the point of martyrdom.” Not that it mattered much; they were eager to die, since they preferred “their reward in heaven . .…

April 8, 2009
History

Freeman’s distortions

Two instances of Freeman’s distortions (these from The Closing of the Western Mind ). First, he has a couple of pictures of the Riace warrior statue from Delphi, which “represents man at his most heroic, almost a god in his own right.” On the facing page he says “By the…

April 8, 2009
History

Christ and Caesar

Charles Freeman notes that the sarcophagus of the Roman aristocrat Junius Bassus depicts Jesus “entering Jerusalem as if he was an emperor entering a city, and above this image he is shown sitting in glory on an imperial throne set above a representation of heaven.” He cites Sabine MacCormack’s comment…

April 8, 2009

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