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Writing

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

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Esther

Genesis 1 and Genesis 8

I mentioned last month ( BH 82) in my essay "Like a Dove" that Genesis 8 is a recapitulation of Genesis 1. Let me explicate that assertion here. Of course, the world after the Flood is a new creation, so we may expect a recapitulation of the first creation. It…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Daniel

Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments (I)

The book of Esther is one of the most neglected of the books of the Bible. To be sure, sermons are preached on it, and commentaries have occasionally been written on it, but almost without exception Esther has been interpreted in isolation from the rest of Biblical history, chronology, and…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

A Letter on Geocentricity

Dear Mr. ______, . . . Here is how I look at the geocentricity question. Since I don’t recall what I wrote you before, I may be repeating some things. 1. The Bible does not teach it. Biblical passages used to support the idea are being misinterpreted. My original paper…

by James B. JordanMarch 28, 1996
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Biblical Horizons

What is God?

Answer 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is often taken as a magnificent answer to the question, "What is God?" It reads: "God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth." Presbyterians are fond of praising this statement, preaching on it,…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996
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Baptism

Like a Dove

The gospels tell us that at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him "in bodily form like a dove" (Luke 3:22 & parallels). Biblically sensitive commentators have associated this event with three Old Testament parallels: (1) the hovering of the Spirit over the creation in Genesis 1:2; (2) the…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996
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John

Jesus at Belshazzar’s Feast: Being an Explanatory Disquisition on an Aspect of the Story of the Woman Taken in Adultery

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. (John 8:6) The story of the woman taken in adultery (John 7:53-8:11) has been part of the canonical Christian Bible from its earliest…

by James B. JordanFebruary 28, 1996

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Neuhaus’s “Pattern of defiance”

I’m just now getting around to looking at Damon Linker’s expose book on the Theocons , so’s I can find out what those First Things folks are really like. I discover that Neuhaus early developed a “pattern of defiance.” Evidence? Oh, you would ask. Well, Neuhaus said his father was…

February 15, 2007

Neuhaus’s “Pattern of defiance”

I’m just now getting around to looking at Damon Linker’s expose book on the Theocons , so’s I can find out what those First Things folks are really like. I discover that Neuhaus early developed a “pattern of defiance.” Evidence? Oh, you would ask. Well, Neuhaus said his father was…

February 15, 2007

Trinitarian concursus

In the latest IJST , Paul Nimmo of Cambridge discusses Barth’s doctrine of divine concursus, contesting the idea (advanced by George Hunsinger among others) that Barth’s concursus doctrine is “Chalcedonian.” Early in the article, he summarizes Barth’s treatment in the Church Dogmatics . As one would expect, Barth wants to…

February 15, 2007

The typology of 2 John

John, the elder, addresses a “chosen Lady,” warning her and her children about “deceivers” who might try to win them over. John especially wants to draw the line at table fellowship: Don’t eat with the deceiver, John tells the Lady. Sound familiar? It’s Eden, but not quite Eden. After all,…

February 15, 2007
Theology

Law as gospel

I recently saw the film, The End of the Spear , the story of Nate Saint and Jim Eliot’s mission to Ecuador. After the tribe spears the missionaries, one of the women from the tribe, who had left to live with the missionaries some years before, returns home to announce…

February 15, 2007

Fourfold truth

John uses the word “truth” four times in the opening three verses of 2 John. Truth is fourfold, stretching out to the four corners of the earth. It also seems possible to take “truth” here, at least at a secondary level, as a reference to Christ - especially in the…

February 15, 2007

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