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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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Master of the Week

Jesus holds seven stars (Revelation 1:16). Farrer says there can be no doubt what these stars are: They are the seven planets of the ancient solar system, which lent their names to the days of the week ( Revelation of St. John Divine , 68). He elaborate: “Christ embraces [the…

February 9, 2014

The Voice

John hears a voice and turns to see it (Revelation 1:10, 12). C.E. Douglas ( The Last Word in Prophecy , 149-51) observes that this picks up on a rich vein of biblical phonology. Ezekiel heard a voice above the firmament, and what he saw was a human figure glowing…

February 9, 2014

Presence of the Past

We live in a world of novelty. Newness has never been more new, and, like the mercies of God, the new is new every morning. But a strange thing has happened on the way to a world of the never-new now. Along the way we’ve made the past more accessible…

February 8, 2014

Fangasm and Constructed Intimacy

Fans exert more influence on popular culture than ever before, or so it seems. Katherine Larsen and Lynn Zubernis, authors of Fangasm , aren’t buying it. Drawing on their work Devon Maloney observes that “creating a relationship in which producers give fans what they think they want—has become a massive,…

February 8, 2014

Sacraments and the Free Spirit

Christopher Elwood ( The Body Broken , 75) claims that Calvin’s “instrumental” view of sacramental efficacy opens up a space for critical scrutiny: “Rather than being regarded as either sacred or secular, political and social orders, by analogy with the sacramental elements, were likely seen by the attentive reader of…

February 7, 2014

Sanctuary Theology

I sketch some of the contours of sanctuary theology at the Trinity House site.

February 7, 2014

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