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Writing

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

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Biblical Chronology

Meredith G. Kline Strikes Back, Part 2

In our first essay we looked at Kline’s flawed exegesis of Genesis 2:5 as it relates to Day 3 of creation. Now we turn to Kline’s new argument against a chronological reading of Genesis 1, as found, again, in "Space and Time in the Genesis Cosmogony," Perspectives on Science and…

by James B. JordanMarch 29, 1997
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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. JordanMarch 28, 1997
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Church Calendar

Is the Church Year Biblical? | A Parking Lot Parable

Once upon a time, Jeff Meyers and Tony Rollins–old friends who had not seen each other for a few years–met in the parking lot of a neighborhood church. They were dropping off their pre-school children at the church for Mother’s Day Out. They were such conscientious and helpful fathers. As…

by Jeff MeyersMarch 20, 1997
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Daniel

The Allegory of Susanna

Years ago, when I was at the briefly-existing Geneva Divinity School, I taught a course in the Apocrypha. One thing that struck me at that time is that two of the stories are almost certainly religious allegories (as well as moral tales): Judith and Susanna. Since "Susanna" means "Lily," this…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

A Blossom of Yahweh’s Field

Peter’s essay inspires me to write up some similar thoughts about the flower of the field. Rightly does Peter associate the almond with Yahweh’s garden, because the Garden of Eden is symbolically positioned as parallel to the Holy Place of the Tabernacle and Temple. To wit: Since Aaron’s rod blossomed…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

Meredith G. Kline Strikes Back, Part 1

We have had occasion to discuss the views of Meredith G. Kline previously in these newsletters, and now it is time to do so again. Kline teaches at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and also at the Westminster Theological Seminaries (Philadelphia and San Diego). He is the author of some interesting insights…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1997

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In Thirds

When the angel blows the first trumpet, one-third of the land and one-third of the trees, along with all the grass, gets burned up by the fire coming from heaven (Revelation 8). It sets a trend. Throughout the trumpet section, things are destroyed by thirds. In part, this this is…

September 19, 2014

Give Peace A Chance

The editors of The Question of Peace in Modern Political Thought argue that peace has received more attention from philosophers than is often admitted, but they don’t think that it’s received nearly enough attention. Their collection aims to address that gap with essays on Luther, Spinoza, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant,…

September 19, 2014

Smoky

After the Lamb ascends to heaven, the living creatures and elders suddenly have bowls ( phiale ) of incense (Revelation 5:8). The incense is identified with the “prayers of the saints.” They are like the leaders of the tribes in Numbers 7, each of whom brings, among other things, “one…

September 18, 2014

Judaism and Apocalypse

Paul gives a brief summary of his advancement in Judaism in Galatians 1:13-14, but the description is surrounded by references to an unveiling of Jesus: A. The gospel came not from man, 11-12a B. but by revelation ( apokalupsis ) of Jesus, 12b B. Former life in Judaism, 13a C.…

September 18, 2014

Wrestling the Angel

Terryl Givens’s forthcoming Wrestling the Angel is the first of a two-volume study of the foundations of Mormon theology and practice. Givens admits that Mormonism, for all its roots in Christian Scriptures, diverges “radically” from traditional Christianity, and he locates the difference in “a distinctive cosmology and metaphysics” which is…

September 18, 2014

In Praise of Darwin

Born into a pious Scottish family living in Canada in 1848, George Romanes might have been destined for ministry in the Church of Scotland. Reading Darwin upended his plans, and his early adulthood was marked by public disputes about science and faith, Romanes taking up the case for Darwin and…

September 18, 2014

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