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Leviticus

The Theology of the Drink Offering

The drink offering or libation ( nesek ) is mentioned in only three places in the book of Leviticus. When the sheaf of the firstfruits was waved before the Lord, a grain offering was to be burned, along with "its libation, a fourth of a hin of wine [approx. one…

by Peter LeithartJuly 17, 2018
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Atonement

Limited Atonement & J. I. Packer

When I became a Calvinist it wasn't long before I learned that John Owen’s The Death of Death in the Death of Christ was regarded as the masterful treatise on what is known as "Limited Atonement"--the "L" in the TULIP mnemonic device for "the five points of Calvinism." This wasn't…

by Mark HorneJuly 12, 2018
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Hermeneutics

Bathsheba: The Real Story

One of the advantages of paying very close attention to the details in the Bible, especially chronological and genealogical details, is that they can shed light on situations that don’t seem to make much sense apart from them. One such situation is that of Bathsheba. It appears that Bathsheba willingly…

by James B. JordanJuly 10, 2018
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Leviticus

The Oddness of the Feast of Booths

The Feast of Ingathering in the seventh month of the Sinaitic calendar is also called the Feast of Sukkoth, of Booths, also called Feast of Tabernacles. I have usually called it by that last phrase, and it is the most common today; but there is a problem: A tabernacle is…

by James B. JordanJuly 5, 2018
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Matthew

A Universe Less Expanded

When Matthew’s Gospel was first read aloud to the fledgling Christian congregations, the experience must have been like seeing the words “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” appear afresh on cinema screens in 1999. Yet, unlike The Phantom Menace, the New Testament did not disappoint. Why?…

by Mike BullJuly 3, 2018
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Art

Seeking Integration in a Fragmented World: Kintsugi Integration

Fragmentation and integration are phenomena which artist Makoto Fujimura feels bodily, and about which he is concerned profoundly. What do these mean for him? How may we draw his insights into this ongoing consideration—itself integrative—of integration in a fragmented world? Thus far I have been acquainting you with matters already…

by Esther Lightcap MeekJune 28, 2018

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Poetry

Sleeplessness

There are, I think, two forms of sleeplessness: The fretting, turning, twisting, aged kind, With night unending, dark and death rule all. But then there is a sleeplessness that’s quiet, Delicious, calm, composed. I lie awake Like the lidless seraphim, who night and day Sing to the God who slumbers…

September 2, 2003
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Poetry

Haiku

Inspired by Gary Hotham, and by the world around me, I sometimes try my hand at haiku. (Gary, by the way, has refused to comment on the quality of my haiku, which is probably just as well.) two pillars of water in morning light — the fountain in the square

September 2, 2003
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Luke

Jesus’ Temptations

Even after spending a week mulling over Jesus’ temptations and preaching on Luke 4, I find myself puzzled by any number of details. With help from some members at Trinity Reformed Church, however, I think I’m getting a better feel for the temptation. Here are a couple of fruitful insights…

September 1, 2003
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Psychology

Suppressed Memories

Another review from the August 15 TLS summarizes the findings of Richard J. McNally’s Remembering Trauma , a study of the issue of suppressed memories. McNally’s research, by the reviewer’s account, is exhaustive and his conclusions devastating. Here are some excerpts: McNally resists the conciliatory impulse to take a middle…

September 1, 2003
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Culture

Automobiles

In his recent book, Seeds of Wealth: Four Plants that Made Men Rich , Henry Hobhouse defends the automobile as an environmental boon. Reviewing the book in the August 15 issue of the TL , Paul Levy summarizes Hobhouse’s argument: In 1900, apart from a few steam and internal combustion-driven…

September 1, 2003
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Politics

Muravchik on “Neo-Cons”

Joshua Muravchik has an entertaining critique of the current wave of “neo-con” spotting in the current issue of Commentary . He cites absurdly distorted newspaper articles claiming that the Bush administration is “rife” with neo-con Straussians, which then go on to mangle Strauss beyond recognition. Muravchik is less convincing when…

September 1, 2003

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