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

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Biblical Studies

Funerals and Flutes

Matthew 8-9 records three clusters of miracles, interspersed with snatches of Jesus’ teaching about various aspects of discipleship. Just as the Sermon on the Mount displays the authority of Jesus’ Word in teaching, these chapters display the authority of Jesus’ Word over sickness, uncleanness, the creation, demons, and death. In…

by Peter LeithartApril 17, 1992
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Baptism

Daddy, Why Was I Excommunicated?

Since the early 1980s, several of the conservative Reformed Churches have debated and wrestled with the issue of paedocommunion (infant communion). The PCA and the OPC assigned study committees to examine the question, both of which produced useful reports both in support of and against the position. Though the debate…

by Peter LeithartApril 13, 1992
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Biblical Chronology

Chronologies and Kings, Part 9: Jehu, Hazael, and Assyria

(This issue of Biblical Chronology concludes a discussion of the Biblical and Assyrian chronologies, begun in previous posts. Click on the category link of "Biblical Chronology" above to see previous issues. Did Shalmaneser Know Jehu? Allis writes: "The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser contains, in addition to brief accounts of the…

by James B. JordanMarch 23, 1992
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American Culture

Arts and Play, Part 4

Movies Movies as an art form have a powerful impact because they take place in a dark room, on a large screen, with no distractions, and because they entail many of the arts: music, acting, choreography, design and color, etc. A movie can be an overwhelming experience for a young…

by James B. JordanMarch 23, 1992
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Leviticus

The Ecology of the Tribute Offering

The Hebrew word translated as "grain offering" or "cereal offering" is minchah . Like the translation of `olah as "burnt offering," the translation of minchah as "grain offering" is somewhat deceiving, since minchah does not refer to grain or cereal. In liturgical contexts outside of Leviticus, in fact, the word…

by Peter LeithartMarch 13, 1992
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Ascension

Skinned and Cut

"He shall then skin the burnt offering and cut it into its pieces" (Leviticus 1:6). The normal word ( `olah ) that is translated as "burnt offering" and "whole burnt offering" has nothing to do with either burning or wholeness. It is the noun form of a verb meaning "to…

by Peter LeithartMarch 13, 1992

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Modernized Primitives

In Saving the Appearances , Owen Barfield describes the consciousness of early humanity as follows: "The human soul may be one of the 'stopping-places' for mana , but what differentiates the primitive mind from ours is, that it conceives itself to be only one of those stopping-places and not necessarily…

April 27, 2018

The Glory of Pigs

There is a glory of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars, Paul says. And star differs from star in glory. He's talking about resurrection, but Joel Salatin ( The Marvelous Pigness of Pigs ) wants to apply the principle to every created thing: "Glory speaks to uniqueness;…

April 27, 2018

Aristotle on Woman

Aristotle taught that women are defective men, with rational and moral capacities inferior to men. This is evident in generation, where the man provides the form, the fertilized seed, while the woman plays a passive role. It's sometimes argued that Aristotle's philosophy of femininity simply reflects his age, with its…

April 26, 2018

I Am

Seven times in John's Gospel, Jesus says "I am" with a predicate: 1)I am the bread of life, 6:35 2) I am the light of the world, 8:12 3) I am the door of the sheep, 10:7 4) I am the good shepherd, 10:14 5) I am the resurrection and…

April 26, 2018

The Narrative of the New Testament Canon

The following is taken, with minor adaptations, from the introduction to my commentary on the Johannine Epistles . The gospel goes to the Jew first. When they resist, Paul turns to the Gentiles, but he hopes by this to provoke the Jews to jealousy, so that in the end Jews…

April 25, 2018

Remaking NYC

In an essay exploring (in typical Marxian fashion) the cultural effects of late capitalism (specifically on architecture), Frederic Jameson tells a fascinating story about the Rockefeller Center, drawing on Robert Fitch's The Assassination of New York . Fitch's story is about the conspiracy to change New York City from a…

April 24, 2018

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