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

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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 10

21. Under three things the earth quakes. And under four, it cannot bear up. 22. Under a slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food, 23. Under an odious woman when she gets a husband, And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress. The…

by James B. JordanApril 22, 1991
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Biblical Studies

The Chronology of Ezra & Nehemiah, Part 3

We have looked at the prima facie evidence for a short chronology in Ezra-Nehemiah, a chronology that assumes that the Artaxerxes of Ezra 7ff. and Nehemiah is in fact Darius. This month we examine the argument against the short chronology. There is only one argument, and that is that the…

by James B. JordanApril 22, 1991
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Ezra

The Chronology of Ezra & Nehemiah, Part 2

The Priestly Genealogy Jeshua the high priest, who returned with Zerubbabel, was not a young man at the time. We know this because his father, Jehozadak, was taken into captivity (1 Chron. 6:15). Thus was 50 years before the decree of Cyrus (2 Kings 25:18-22, by implication). Jehozadak’s father Seraiah,…

by James B. JordanMarch 22, 1991
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Biblical Horizons

The Modernity Trap

Thomas C. Oden, After Modernity . . . What? Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990. Reviewed by Rev. Jeffrey Meyers. Reading Oden’s After Modernity . . . What? was tonic. There were passages that launched me out of my chair with a hoot to pace the office floor — of course, the…

by Jeff MeyersMarch 5, 1991
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Matthew

Galilee of the Gentiles

Matthew records that Jesus "withdrew" to Galilee to begin His public ministry there after He "heard that John had been delivered up" (Mt. 4:12). Matthew’s typically matter-of-fact style veils the truly remarkable character of Jesus’ withdrawal. Matthew has been presenting Jesus as the Messiah, the Seed of Abraham and Son…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 27, 1991
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Hebrews

Just Men Made Perfect

John Brown called this one of the most difficult passages in the entire epistle to the Hebrews, and Hebrews is no easy book. Several questions confront us as we read and meditate on these verses. First, in what sense did the Old Testament saints described in verses 4-38 not receive…

by Peter LeithartFebruary 27, 1991

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Medicine of Words

In her comparative study of Julian the Apostate and Gregory Nazianzus ( Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church ), Susanna Elm devotes a long chapter to Gregory's Oration 2, which is concerned with the philosopher's practice of soul care. It is not an easy task: “As difficult as it…

November 2, 2015

In Praise of Bottom

Chesterton is nothing if not an enthusiast, and he is nothing if not enthusiastic about Bottom the Weaver, one of the “mechanicals” of A M idsummer Night's Dream . “It is difficult to approach critically so great a figure as that of Bottom the Weaver. He is greater and more…

November 2, 2015

Slavery and the Monroe Doctrine

By the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves, the US Congress decided that no more slaves were to be imported to the United States. The law passed in 1807 and went into effect in 1808. The slave trade to the Americas did not end. As Stephen Chambers notes in his…

November 2, 2015

A Consuming Fire

What does it mean to say God is jealous (Heb. qanna' )? In a recent JBL piece, Nissim Amzallag points out that it is intimately linked to Yahweh's fieriness (cf. Psalm 79:5; Ezekiel 38:19) and to “furnace remelting.” If there is a hint of volcanic power in the Old Testament…

October 30, 2015

Courage, Nature and the Supernatural

Patrick Clark's Perfection in Death is a study of Thomas's treatment of the virtue of courage, especially as expressed in martyrdom, against the background of ancient treatments of the same subject - from Homer to Socrates to Aristotle. He poses the dilemma on the first page: “If acts of virtue…

October 30, 2015
Gratitude

Gratitude and the Good Life

Discontent is one of life's most corrosive vices. When we wish we lived then , when we want our life to be taking place over there , we take no joy in what's here and the now. We cannot enjoy the present without receiving it, and we cannot receive it…

October 30, 2015

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