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Writing

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

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Federal Vision

Zacharias Ursinus & the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousnes

While I think Zacharias Ursinus’ thinking would be profitable to consider, I am not recording his reflections in order for readers to come to agreement with his position as a whole. Rather, my interest is twofold. First, I think the way the Heidelberg Catechisms is used as a “proof” of…

by Mark HorneJune 5, 2006
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Covenant

Does the New Covenant have its own distinctive sanctions as well as blessings? We affirm

On this question Hebrews 10 is quite clear and really needs no additional argument. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume…

by Mark HorneMay 21, 2006
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Biblical Horizons

FV, NPP, PCA, AAPC, ETC.

Not all readers of this essay letter may be aware of it, but a tempest has been brewing in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), a tempest created by the liberal party in that denomination. It came about this way. In January 2002, a Pastor’s Conference on covenant theology was…

by James B. JordanAugust 5, 2005
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Biblical Horizons

The Closing of the Calvinistic Mind

Once upon a time there was such a thing as Calvinistic thought. It existed when I was younger, but seems to have largely disappeared in recent years. But let me elaborate. When I became a Calvinist, back in 1970, I bought a bunch of books. Over the next few years,…

by James B. JordanAugust 5, 2005
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Ephesians

The Centrality of Preaching

CHRIST THE PREACHER How Ephesians Shows Us Why Preaching is Essential to Salvation & Sanctification Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name. He made my mouth like a…

by Mark HorneJune 5, 2005
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Baptism

Baptismal Theology Within Reformed Evangelicalism

Tracking the informal shifts in Protestant opinion regarding Baptism can be a difficult business. For example, in 1849 Anglican clergyman William Goode published his defense of Evangelicalism against the Anglo-Catholics under the title, The Doctrine of the Church of England as to the Effects of Baptism in the Case of…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 2005

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Justification and Sacramental theology

Many Protestants today, perhaps most in the Reformed churches, believe that justification by faith is threatened by a high sacramental theology. The more efficacy you attribute to baptism, the less prominence you give to faith. While it is true that certain kinds of sacramental theology might be a threat to…

August 15, 2004

“To Obey Its Lusts”

We tend to think of desire as the antithesis of submission to authority. Saying “I ate that chocolate pie because I wanted to” is the opposite of saying “I ate my broccoli because Moma told me to.” Paul, however, recognizes the imperative force of desire. Urging the Romans to resist…

August 15, 2004

“To Obey Its Lusts”

We tend to think of desire as the antithesis of submission to authority. Saying “I ate that chocolate pie because I wanted to” is the opposite of saying “I ate my broccoli because Moma told me to.” Paul, however, recognizes the imperative force of desire. Urging the Romans to resist…

August 15, 2004

1 Kings 1

Here is a very rough, very wooden and literal, translation of 1 Kings 1. Now the king David was old, entering in days. And they covered him in clothes And it was not warm to him. And his servants said to him, ?Let them seek for my lord the king…

August 14, 2004
Philosophy

The Other Frenchman

Descartes is often credited with being the fountainhead of modern philosophy, but Robert Solomon suggess instead that the modern notion of the self comes from Rousseau: “What Rousseau discovered in the woods of France was a self so rich and substantial, so filled with good feelings and half-articulated good thoughts,…

August 13, 2004
Biblical Studies

Numerology

I continue to be very impressed with Victor Wilson’s Divine Symmetries . Here are a few excerpts from his brief discussion of numerology: 1. Abraham is 140 when Isaac and Rebekah marry. Isaac and Rebekah’s marriage lasts precisely that long, and this number is the sum of 1 squared through…

August 13, 2004

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