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Writing

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

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Exodus

A Brief Response to Rev. Richard Bacon’s Opposition to Paedocommunion

1. Introduction Reverend Richard Bacon is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Rowlett, Texas. He has written a tract entitled " What Mean Ye By This Service? Paedocommunion in Light of Passover, " printed by Presbyterian Heritage Publications (P.O. Box 180922, Dallas, TX 75218). I am writing this brief…

by Mark HorneMay 29, 1997
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How to Worship

Formal Corporate Prayer

A Defense of the Use of Coordinated, Congregational Prayer in Public Worship My goal in this series of articles is to equip the members of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church to worship God intelligently on Sunday and also to help visitors understand the biblical and theological rationale for our form of…

by Jeff MeyersMay 20, 1997
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Biblical Horizons

Twelve Fundamental Avenues of Revelation, Part 3

Several implications flow from this first group of considerations. First (D1), nature and natural objects reveal God to the eye of faith. The study of nature is the study of the design of the Spirit, and from it we learn how God designs things, and how we as His images…

by James B. JordanApril 30, 1997
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Biblical Chronology

John Sailhamer Weighs In, Part 1

Does the chronology in the Bible begin with the creation of Adam or with the creation of the universe? That is the question we are exploring this year. In January and February we took up the "Framework Hypothesis" as advocated by its most scholarly and powerful exponent, Dr. Meredith G.…

by James B. JordanApril 30, 1997
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Hermeneutics

Toward a Chiastic Understanding of the Gospel According to Matthew, Part 1

In preparing an essay on Matthew 24-25 for our subscription essayletter Studies in the Revelation , I have found it necessary to consider the structure of Matthew’s gospel as a whole. The following are the fruits of my research, such as they are. This essay is not intended as the…

by James B. JordanApril 29, 1997
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Creeds

In Whom Do You Trust?

An Explanation of and Apology for the Use of the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds in Worship With the rest of the country I anxiously watched the siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, but there is one image that I will always remember. It is not the firefight…

by Jeff MeyersApril 20, 1997

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Law and Mirrors

James says that the law is a mirror. We think he means that we read the law, it shows us flaws and blemishes, and we are convicted of sin. That’s not the way the image works in James. The man who looks in a mirror and turns away is not…

January 30, 2009
History

Julian the Christian

Julian “the Apostate” saw how the Christian church grew “due to philanthropy to strangers, burial of the dead and seeming purity of life.” Pagans needed to catch up, and this meant charity: “In every city,” he ordered, “numerous hostels should be established that strangers, whether or not of our faith,…

January 29, 2009
Literature

Updike

No American writer of the last fifty years even approximated the luxuriance of John Updike. In its lengthy obit, the NYT cites this from an early short story: “Snow fell against the high school all day, wet big-flake snow that did not accumulate well. Sharpening two pencils, William looked down…

January 29, 2009
History

Christians and empire

“One cannot serve God and the Emperor,” Tertullian wrote. Early Christians were anti-imperial then? Not necessarily. When Celsus charged that Christians would leave the Emperor alone against the barbarians, Origen protested: “We help the emperor in his extremities by our prayers and intercessions more effectively than do the soldiers. Just…

January 29, 2009
History

Christians and slavery

Early Christians did not call for abolition, and even after the empire became Christian much of the traditional Roman social structure remained in place. Yet, Hermann Dorries writest that Christianity provided Constantine and the Christian emperors who followed with “the possibility of gradual amelioration.” Considering the central economic importance of…

January 29, 2009
Politics

Endless campaign

In his first interview as President, Obama told Al-Arabiya that America needs to learn to listen because “all too often the United States starts by dictating.” Does anyone honestly believe that American diplomats go into the Middle East and starts by ordering everybody around? Of course, US diplomats have a…

January 27, 2009

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