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Biblical Horizons

On Not Yoking an Ox and an Ass Together

5. Simeon and Levi: Brothers they destroyed. They treated violently their circumcised-covenant fellows. 6. "Into their counsel let not my soul enter. Into their assembly let not my glory join. For in their anger they killed a man, And in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. 7. Cursed is their…

by James B. JordanAugust 4, 2000
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Biblical Horizons

The Seven Edomite Kings

The fact that there is a "week" of seven kings over Edom, before we come to an eighth, hints that perhaps these have some link with the days of Genesis 1, especially as we find this list in the book of Genesis. Clearly the list of seven speaks of the…

by James B. JordanJuly 4, 2000
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Theologia

The Ethic of Eternal Schism

Remember, whatever sins are committed by those with whom you are in covenant are your sins as well. You need to fear the judgment of God if you continue to be part of this denomination. I have recently discovered that the above rationalization is floating around cyberspace to justify breaking…

by Mark HorneJune 3, 2000
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Biblical Horizons

Not Drunk As You Suppose

While Samuel’s mother Hannah prays at the tabernacle, the high priest Eli sees her lips moving silently and concludes that she is drunk (1 Samuel 1:13-14). Hannah protests that she has poured nothing into her, but is "pouring out" her soul before Yahweh; far from being giddy with wine, she…

by Peter LeithartMay 27, 2000
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Federal Vision

CREDO | Regarding Personal Justification before God

For the record: I believe that those whom God effectually calls, he also freely justifies: not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ’s sake alone;…

by Mark HorneMay 20, 2000
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Biblical Horizons

How to Chant the Psalms

Over the years, the ministry of Biblical Horizons has strongly advocated singing the psalms in worship. The Psalter is God’s hymnal, and we don’t need any prooftexts to know that as such, it should form the center of our praise to Him. To be sure, other hymns are permitted, just…

by James B. JordanJanuary 4, 2000

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Sacrifice of praise

When Hebrews 13:15 exhorts believers to offer a continuous sacrifice of praise to God, we naturally think of a continuous offering of verbal or sung praise. That is how the verse ends: “the fruit of lips that confess His name.” The sacrifice of praise is verbal, but I suspect that…

July 10, 2012

Human gods

Many OT scholars emphasize the commonalities between Ancient Near Eastern and biblical cosmologies. While recognizing a similarity, Guthrie rightly points to the radical difference in this comment on Psalm 82 and Genesis 1 ( Theology as thanksgiving: From Israel’s Psalms to the church’s Eucharist , p. 36): These passages “are…

July 9, 2012

Righteous Ones

Harvey Guthrie’s Theology as thanksgiving: From Israel’s Psalms to the church’s Eucharist has multiple problems, but I think he gets the meaning of zedek (“righteous”) just right (p. 9): “the original meaning of zedek may have been been connected with the action of a protector god toward a devotee who…

July 9, 2012
Philosophy

Reciprocity to Cult

In his Reciprocity and Ritual: Homer and Tragedy in the Developing City-State (Clarendon Paperbacks) , Richard Seaford traces a shift from Homeric interpersonal reciprocity to the impersonal cult of the Greek polis . Seaford believes this transition in the sources of power and legitimacy are reflected in the development of…

July 9, 2012
Uncategorized

Quest for Purity

A NYTBR review of White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf highlights the “Pharisaical” motives behind the push for white bread: “At the turn of the 20th century, urbanization outpaced civic infrastructure. Most bread was baked at home, but in dank city bakeries, bakers worked around the clock…

July 9, 2012

Finite and Infinite

Several friends have objected to this statement of mine from a recent post on natures and substances: “‘The finite cannot contain the infinite’ was an axiom of Greek philosophy. But the incarnation says the opposite.” My friends have said (nicely) that this statement was at least unguarded and at worst…

July 9, 2012

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