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Biblical Horizons

Was the Last Supper a Passover?

Some readers of my essay, “ Strange and Glorious New Rites ,” have written to object that I have strained a gnat and swallowed a camel. I have strained out the gnat of a possible link to the memorial bread of the minchah (Lev. 2), while overlooking the camel that…

by James B. JordanMarch 22, 2011
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Biblical Horizons

Planetary Judgments

In his lectures on Comparative Religion, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy points to five fundamental gods that were over ancient man and still can dominate us today, and which must be respected. When we sin, we respect these gods more than we respect the Creator, disobeying the First Word: “You will have no…

by James B. JordanMarch 22, 2011
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Biblical Studies

Notes on the Book of Judges

A. Israel’s failure to hold land against the Canaanites. Progressive compromise, leading to judgment. 1:1–2:5. B. Israel’s idolatry, the cycle of judges, and war as God’s chastisement. 2:6–3:6. C. Northern Gentiles (Mesopotamia), and Othniel. 3:7-11. D. Lot: Moab, and Ehud. 3:12-13. E. Minor judge: Shamgar. 3:31. F. Canaanites opposed. Women…

by James B. JordanMarch 21, 2011
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Biblical Horizons

Principalities and Powers, (Part 2)

The great question for the emerging East, for Asia and other awakening third world areas, for an emerging nation like China is, “what fate awaits them?” They are now emerging from an analogous paganism that the West emerged from centuries ago. Here an amazing quotation from David Aikman, the Time…

by Richard BledsoeMarch 15, 2011
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Colossians

The Principalities and Powers, Part I

Paul contends that with the death of Christ on the Cross, there was an overcoming of the Principalities and the Powers (Col. 2:15). A great deal has been written on this subject over the last 60 years. What was for a long time either ignored, or regarded by liberal scholars…

by Richard BledsoeMarch 10, 2011
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Biblical Horizons

Eating and Drinking Together

One of the odd customs that has arisen in the 20th century is that many evangelical churches warp the rites of the Lord’s Supper by insisting that everyone wait so that they eat and drink together. Supposedly this is to emphasize the unity of the Church. This practice has no…

by James B. JordanMarch 3, 2011

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Interruptive Word

David Nelson’s The Interruptive Word is a lucid exploration of the difficult theology of Eberhard Jungel, stressing, as Nelson’s subtitle has it, “the sacramental structure of God’s relation to the world.” At the center of Jungel’s theology is the claim that, in Nelson’s words, “God comes to the world by…

March 1, 2014

Speech, Space, Time

Rosenstock-Huessy argues in Speech and Reality that speech creates space and time: “Without speech, the phenomena of time and space cannot be interpreted. Only when we speak to others (or, for that matter, to ourselves), do we delineate an inner space or circle in which we speak, from the outer…

March 1, 2014

Poetry About Nothing

Deflating postmodern irony has been a long time coming. Donald Nichol sees it aborning already in the heyday of classicism, with Alexander Pope’s third, and last, great poem. ” The Rape of the Lock represents Pope’s acknowledgement of the triumph of style over substance – a mock-salute to the spirit…

March 1, 2014

Humble Champions

“What makes this team special?” a reporter asked UVA basketball coach Tony Bennett after his Cavaliers beat Syracuse to sew up the regular-season ACC championship. “Humility,” Bennett replied, then looked down and waited for the next question. He explained a moment later: His team plays together, doesn’t care who gets…

March 1, 2014
Technology

Outsourcing Romance

Evan Selinger reports at Wired on BroApp , which helps you manage relationships by sending automated messages to the object of your eternal devotion. BroApp’s creators describe it as “a ‘clever relationship wingman’ (their words) that sends ‘automated daily text messages’ to your significant other. It offers the promise of…

February 28, 2014

Other Worlds

Astronomers keep discovering undiscovered planets: “NASA . . . announced a torrent of new planet discoveries, hailing a ‘bonanza“‘of 715 worlds now known outside the solar system thanks to the Kepler space telescope’s planet-hunting mission. A new method for verifying potential planets led to the volume of new discoveries from…

February 28, 2014

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