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Biblical Horizons

Who Rules the Land? The Meaning of the Noahic Covenant, Part 1

It is commonly held in Reformed thought that the Noahic Covenant is given to all men equally. The Noahic Covenant concerns "man," not simply "church," and establishes civil government as an institution among "mankind" — that is the theory. Sometimes the Noahic Covenant is regarded as a "covenant of common…

by James B. JordanNovember 23, 1990
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Daniel

The Babylonian Connection

The Fall of Jerusalem we have dated (provisionally) at 3426 Anno Mundi. In current B.C. dates this is 586 B.C. From this point forward in Biblical chronology we are required to make use of prophetic numbers rather than historical ones. Jeremiah prophesied that the captivity would last 70 years, but…

by James B. JordanNovember 16, 1990
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Biblical Horizons

Taking the Situation Seriously

Evangelicals have in recent years become more interested in looking into their Bibles for wisdom to deal with modern problems. This is undoubtedly a welcome development, after many years of neglect. But there are dangers and costs as well. One of these is the tendency to fall into a modern…

by Peter LeithartOctober 19, 1990
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Hermeneutics

The Unseen Things

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The famous definition of faith with which the eleventh chapter of Hebrews opens has received a number of different interpretations. The crux of the problem is the interpretation of the words translated in…

by Peter LeithartOctober 19, 1990
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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 8

15. The leech has two daughters, "Give," "Give." There are three things that will not be satisfied, Four that will not say, "Enough": 16. Sheol, And the barren womb, Earth, that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, "Enough." We are assuming, at least for the purposes…

by James B. JordanOctober 16, 1990
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Biblical Chronology

Confusion Among the Kings

As we have seen in previous installments in this series, the Old Testament is quite concerned with chronology, and carefully records chronological data for our use. For this reason, we can assume when we come to the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel that the writers of the…

by James B. JordanOctober 2, 1990

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History

End of the Mainline

In a characteristically fascinating article in the August/September edition of First Things , Jody Bottum argues that, given the informal Protestant establishment that has existed since America’s founding, “the death of the Mainline is the central historical fact of our time: the event that distinguishes the past several decades from…

July 19, 2008

Chinese Fight Club

Mara Hvistendahl writes in the July 9 issue of TNR that increased violence is one likely result of China’s abortion policy: “After almost 30 years of the policy, China now has the largest gender imbalance in the world, with 37 million more men than women and almost 20 percent more…

July 18, 2008

Book of signs

The first 12 chapters of John are commonly seen as John’s “book of signs.” There are seven signs, which may suggest a connection with the creation week. Some starting thoughts: 1. Water to wine, ch 2: Jesus’ manifests His glory, His light in the darkness of Israel. 2. Child raised…

July 18, 2008

Johannine chiasm

Wayne Brouwer offers this chiastic analysis of John 13-17: A. Gathering, 13:1-35: unity with Jesus in mutual love B. Disciples’ denial, 13:36-38 C. Jesus departure and Father’s power, 14:1-14 D. Promise of Paraklete, 14:15-26 E. Troubling encounter with the world, 14:27-31 F. Vine and Branches, 15:1-17 E’. Troubling encounter with…

July 18, 2008
Theology

Providence and secularism

Reflecting on Thomas’s discussion of Jesus’ statement, “Without me you can do nothing,” Stephen A. Long writes, “If one denies that the human will receives not only its being, but also its natural motion and application to action from God, one makes the will a demiurgically unmoved first cause. Divine…

July 18, 2008

Limited Payoff

Cotterell and Turner spend many pages affirming Barr’s notions of meaning, in the process of which they distinguish between the lexical sense of a word and the “discourse concept,” that is, the particular connotations that might become part of the definition of a word in a particular context: “In the…

July 18, 2008

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