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

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Biblical Horizons

An Older Essay on the Gospel Order

I thought it might be good to put this up here, since it is 14 years old, and itself reflects earlier discussion. From this you can see that we at BH have been considering this notion for quite some time. Clearly, the last word has not been said. — James…

by James B. JordanFebruary 14, 2008
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Biblical Horizons

Chiasms in James

Hopefully, my commentary on James will be out later this year. But here are a few chiasms for your consideration. I think the James 5 chiasm orginally came from Doug Jordan. The entire book of James is focused on how the pastors and leaders (“brothers”) of the church use their…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 14, 2008
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Job

Parables | (Part 2)

In my first post I noted that the parables of Jesus were not simply illustrative stories. They are really nothing like the kind of simple, homely illustrations that preachers often use to explain difficult concepts to their congregations. Just to be clear: there’s nothing wrong with illustrating one’s sermonic statements.…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 14, 2008
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Ephesians

The Praise Precedes the Indicative

Ephesians is often treated as a pure type example of the Pauline method that “the indicative preceds the imperative.” But what Paul does first is pray . Simply reading verse 3 and following involves readers in a prayer of thanksgiving to God–and much more so for those listening to the…

by Mark HorneFebruary 14, 2008
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Luke

"I Came Not to Call the Righteous, but Sinners"

Yesterday, I took part with my oldest son in a church-sponsored city outreach project (not because I’m especially prone to such behavior but because my son has a Boy Scout requirement that this would help him meet). Before we were sent out on our various jobs, the leader gave a…

by Mark HorneFebruary 11, 2008
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Biblical Studies

The Sequence of the Four Gospels

There is a scene in Prince Caspian , the second in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia that helps explain why it is we have four Gospels, that is four accounts of the Good News of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. It is the account of Lucy’s longed-for experience…

by Jeff MeyersFebruary 9, 2008

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Newman on Justification

I hope to post more elaborate comments on Newman’s classic and challenging Lectures on Justification (recently reprinted by Wipf & Stock), but a few tidbits with have to suffice. 1) Newman frames the whole discussion by distinguishing between justification and faith as they are in idea and terminology, and justification…

April 15, 2005
Literature

Frederick Turner

Much of the poetry of Frederick Turner’s Paradise is traditionally rhymed and metered, and employs the veiled self-referentiality of earlier generations of poets (“the poet” appears in a number of poems). The themes of the poetry are also very traditional, focusing, as Turner points out in the concluding essay, on…

April 15, 2005

Worship and Life

Philip Kenneson has some helpful things to say about the relationship of worship and the rest of life in his contribution to the Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics . He challenges the notion that worship is a specifically religious activity, a view embodied in the modern assumption that the practices…

April 15, 2005

Luther on Law and Grace

I posted this a short time before my web site went down, and I don’t believe it’s been restored. David Yeago offers a stimulating discussion of Luther?s views on gospel and law in a 1998 article in The Thomist . Yeago challenges modern Luther interpreters who suggest that Luther, in…

April 14, 2005

And now, a word from our sponsors

I’ve been asked to post this ad for New St. Andrews, and since they be the big boss, I’d better comply. New St. Andrews College and Christ Church-Moscow seek a joint music instructor and church music director for fall 2005. Position includes teaching yearlong Music Colloquium and elective courses, conducting…

April 14, 2005

Worship and World

More lecture notes. INTRODUCTION Modern life can be characterized in many ways, but one of the central themes of modernity is that it is a revolt against ritual. This is particularly true of modern Christianity. As Hennig Graf Reventlow showed in his study of the rise of modern biblical interpretation,…

April 13, 2005

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