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

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Biblical Horizons

The Sin of Ham and the Curse of Canaan, Part 1

The history of the sin of Ham and the curse of Canaan comes in the middle of the Generations of Noah, a section of Genesis that begins at Genesis 6:9 and extends to the closing notice, Genesis 11:9. To understand the story better, it is necessary to get in mind…

by James B. JordanJune 3, 1997
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Eucharist

You and Your Son and Daughter: Christ’s Communion with Young Children

This paper was written to persuade people who were members of the Presbyterian Church in America. It should be accessible to anyone who believes in baptizing infants–especially to those who consider themselves a part of the Reformation Tradition. References to “our Confession” or “our standards” invoke the Westmeinster Confession of…

by Mark HorneJune 3, 1997
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Baptism

The Westminster Standards & Sacramental Efficacy

Version 1.2 I write this brief essay in order to address a problem I have encountered. I keep reading explanations of doctrine of the sacraments fundamentally empty of the content which was once held by virtually all Reformed confessions and formulations. Furthermore, I read explanations and commentaries on the Westminster…

by Mark HorneJune 3, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

John Sailhamer Weighs In, Part 2

We continue our analysis of John Sailhamer’s book *Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account* (Multnomah Books, 1996), which argues that Genesis 1:2ff. is not about the creation of the whole world, but about the preparation of the Land of Eden, which is also the Promised Land.…

by James B. JordanMay 31, 1997
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Matthew

Toward a Chiastic Understanding of the Gospel According to Matthew, Part 2

III. Death of God’s Firstborn in the real Egypt: This huge chiasm has as its center the betrayal of Peter, as the leader of the disciples himself rejects Jesus. Peter holds an oficial position as high priest among the disciples of the incarnate Lord. His rejection of Jesus is the…

by James B. JordanMay 31, 1997
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Eucharist

A Response to Rev. Bacon’s Argument that Manna was not a Sacrament

I wrote a response to Rev. Richard Bacon’s tract, What Mean Ye by This Service , a copy of which I borrowed from the library at Covenant Theological Seminary. However, I recently discovered that a new appendix was added to the version available on the Blue Banner’s web page. This…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 1997

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Ritual

Ritual Inventory

My Solemn Charge and Exhortation to inaugurate our 2019 Pentecost Term course . The anthropologist Mary Douglas once observed that modernity has witnessed “a wide-spread, explicit rejection of ritual as such. Ritual is become a bad word signifying empty conformity.” To which many would reply, So what? Haven’t Christians been…

May 15, 2019
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At the Feast

I offered the following remarks at the beginning of the Theopolis Feast, which we celebrated last Saturday evening . Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to the Theopolis Feast, the first of what we hope will become an annual event. I’m…

May 13, 2019
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Menial Greatness

A friend asked me to write an exhortation for a newly ordained deacon. Here’s what I wrote . In many churches, deacons seem to be menial laborers. They prepare budgets, maintain church buildings, organize work days, clean up after pot luck dinners. Pastors and elders do spiritual things; deacons worry…

May 6, 2019
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Politics Without Fear

In a column this week on David Brooks's new book, Rod Dreher admitted, “my politics are driven entirely by fear of the Left, specifically on matters of religious liberty and social policy.” As always, Rod writes with a searing honesty, but his self-assessment also exposes the weakness of his political…

May 1, 2019
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Economics

Scarcity

Once, argues Nicholas Xenos ( Scarcity and Modernity ), “scarcity” did not exist. What existed with “scarcities,” or “periods of scarcity.” He writes, “Of medieval origin, ‘scarcity’ derives from the Old Northern French escarcete . Its original usage denoted an insufficiency of supply, and by the fifteenth century the word…

April 22, 2019
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Memorial Incense

Leviticus 2 prescribes the rite for the tribute offering ( minchah ). Three general forms are described, differing mainly by the ways they are prepared before they are brought to the sanctuary. There are flour offerings (vv. 1-3), baked minchah (vv. 4-10), and grains roasted in fire (vv. 14-16). Baked…

April 18, 2019

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