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Writing

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

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Esther

Genesis 1 and Genesis 8

I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Daniel

Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments (I)

The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

A Letter on Geocentricity

Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

What is God?

Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996
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Baptism

Like a Dove

The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996
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John

Jesus at Belshazzar’s Feast: Being an Explanatory Disquisition on an Aspect of the Story of the Woman Taken in Adultery

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996

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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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