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Writing

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

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Angels

Michael’s Dispute with the Devil

But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you" (Jude 9). Jude 9 raises several difficulties (though not insuperable difficulties) for conservative commentators. The event that Jude…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 22, 1989
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Angels

Who Were the Angels of Jude 6?

The prophecy of Jude concerns apostasy. An illustration of apostasy and its consequences is found in verse 6, which the New American Standard Bible translates this way: "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for…

by James B. JordanJanuary 12, 1989
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Biblical Studies

The Mosaic Law and Social Issues

One of the most pressing problems facing Christians today is how the faith relates to the crises of our civilization. On all sides, Christian spokesmen are trying to offer solutions and perspectives on social issues, in order to try and reform our degenerating society. Abortion, pornography, homosexuality, immigration, war, criminal…

by James B. JordanJanuary 12, 1989
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Uncategorized

ZIKLAG BIVOUAC

In the last several months, a number of people have written or phoned to ask me why I and the other men of Geneva Ministries are remaining in a tiny Presbyterian denomination, rather than joining a large, historic, liturgical body. The question arises, it seems, because in my writings and…

by James B. JordanOctober 23, 1985
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Advent

The Menace of Chinese Food

One of the unrecognized and most deadly evils of modern life’s facets is Chinese food. Most people are wholly unaware of the critical nature of the Chinese food question, and blithely continue to participate in this wicked and dangerous activity: eating Chinese food. Of course, to speak against such a…

by James B. JordanDecember 12, 1984
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Exhortation

Most of the Beatitudes in Matthew are stated in third person. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” ” They shall be comforted,” ” they shall inherit the earth,” ” they shall be called the sons of God.” At the end, Jesus changes the…

September 2, 2007
Theology

Music, Time, and Augustine

One of the best discussions of Augustine’s views on time comes from Jeremy Begbie’s Theology, Music, and Time (ch. 3). Following Ricoeur’s discussion, Begbie claims that Augustine’s distentio “is conceived as the three-fold present, and the threefold present as distentio . The distentio consists in the non-coincidence of the mind’s…

August 30, 2007
Theology

Escaping time

John Rist offers some important insights into Augustine’s view of time. He notes, as many commentators do, that Augustine is not aiming to provide a definition of time but to answer the question of how time can be measured. The dilemma is: If the past no longer is, and the…

August 30, 2007

Distention and eschatology

In a 1957 essay in Man and Time , Gilles Quispel claims that Augustine’s views of time have been extracted from the “great struggle between a cyclical and a historical view of the world, between archaism and Christianity,” and therefore have been misunderstood. Augustine “comes to grips with the Neoplatonists…

August 30, 2007
Philosophy

Augustine’s non-Aristotelian Universe

Augustine argues in Confessions that time is not reducible to the movement of the celestial bodies. Aristotle agreed; but, as Ricoeur points out, the arguments that Augustine used departed radically from Aristotle. First, if the sun and stars stopped moving, and yet a potter’s wheel continued to move, time would…

August 30, 2007
Philosophy

Augustine’s non-Aristotelian Universe

Augustine argues in Confessions that time is not reducible to the movement of the celestial bodies. Aristotle agreed; but, as Ricoeur points out, the arguments that Augustine used departed radically from Aristotle. First, if the sun and stars stopped moving, and yet a potter’s wheel continued to move, time would…

August 30, 2007

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