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Writing

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

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Acts

No One Dared Join Them

And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. Acts 5:12-13 When Grandma needed healing, her children knew the…

by Tim NicholsAugust 31, 2021
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How to Worship

Why Sacraments?

Like certain kinds of music, the unchanging rhythm of Aquinas's Summa gets into your bones. Read a few sections and it begins to run through your head. You start drumming your fingers, humming, swaying gently to the rhythm of Videtur-Sed Contra-Responsio, Videtur-Sed Contra-Responsio, “It seems-On the contrary-I answer.” The only…

by Peter LeithartAugust 26, 2021
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Biblical Chronology

The Embarrassment of Biblical Chronology

And Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah . . . And Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber . . . and Eber lived thirty-four years and became the father of Peleg . . . and Peleg lived thirty years, and became the…

by James B. JordanAugust 24, 2021
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Hermeneutics

The Fall of Satan

Of course, the title should be something like, “The Fall of the Angel Who Came to be Satan,” but that and other more accurate titles are too cumbersome. The question is: who is Satan, and when and how did he become “Satan” (Adversary, Accuser) and the “devil” (slanderer)? By my…

by Ralph Allan SmithAugust 19, 2021
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Baptism

Baptismal Rain and the Feast of Booths

In The Oddness of the Feast of Booths , we saw that the Feast of Booths is a commemoration of the first encampment of Israel at Sukkoth (Booths) in Exodus 12:37, almost certainly the first celebration of the week of Unleavened Bread after the first Passover. The Feast of Booths…

by James B. JordanAugust 17, 2021
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Proverbs

An Antidote for Yuppie Postmillennialism

This piece was originally published in 1989. 1. The Blessed Hope "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." Titus 2:13 I was recently asked how I as a postmillennialist would preach on "The Blessed Hope." This is often…

by James B. JordanAugust 12, 2021

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New Eve

The miracle at Cana takes place on the seventh day of John’s gospel. It’s a wedding, and it’s “Sabbath.” If we assume that the fall of Adam took place on the first Sabbath, then the Johannine Sabbath provides some neat parallels and reversals. In particular, this parallel may illuminate Mary’s…

December 22, 2008

Only-Begotten Son

John’s talk of the “only-begotten” has been taken as a reference to an “eternal begetting” of the Son. I agree. But the specific “begetting” spoken of in the Old Testament is the begetting of the “Son,” the Davidic king (Psalm 2:7 with 2 Samuel 7:14 and Hebrews 1), which occurs…

December 22, 2008
Theology

Limiting Nature?

Is God limited by His nature? If we say No, we’re radical nominalists and voluntarists; God might turn ugly at a whim. If we way Yes, we have the uncomfortable feeling that we’ve constrained God. The problem is in that word “limit.” Better to avoid it altogether. It’s not as…

December 22, 2008

Sermon Notes, Sunday after Christmas

INTRODUCTION Advent has traditionally been a period of fasting in preparation for the feast of Easter, though the abstinence of Advent has usually been much less rigorous than the fast of Lent. Are regular periods of fasting appropriate in the new covenant? THE TEXT “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up…

December 22, 2008

Eucharistic meditation, Fourth Advent

1 Corinthians 10:16-17: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a communion in the blood of Christ? Is not the loaf which we break a communion in the body of Christ? Since there is one loaf, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of…

December 21, 2008

Exhortation, Fourth Advent

Christmas is all about Jesus. The angels announce Jesus’ birth, shepherds and wise men come to see Jesus, Herod wants to kill Jesus. We occasionally think of the Father who sent the Son, but we keep returning to the Son made flesh in Bethlehem’s manger. Meanwhile, as always, the Spirit…

December 21, 2008

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