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Advent

Advent and Christmas Music Recommendations

Inspired by our recent podcast on Christmas and Advent music recommendations, we offer here a list of excellent recordings that are sure to enrich your Advent and Christmas season. Praetorius: Mass for Christmas Morning Paul McCreesh with the Gabrieli Consort and Players Amazon | Spotify | Apple Music 2. Christmas…

by John Ahern and Paul BuckleyDecember 23, 2020
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Advent

Between the Altar and the City: Isaiah 65:17-25

In the year 1483 in the city of Nuremberg, the leaders of the renowned Saint Lawrence Church were seeking to redesign their altar, and above the table where the priests presided over the eucharist, they wanted new art installed above the prestigious Krell altar. What they decided on took everyone…

by Casey BedellDecember 22, 2020
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Advent

Why We're the Real Seventh Day Adventists

The consequences of disobedience start with exile from the garden of God and the Tree of Yahweh, but they do not end there. They cascade down through the structure of the dynastic order. Everything which had previously been given in the Kingdom of Elohim is either taken back or curtailed…

by Jerry BowyerDecember 18, 2020
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Biblical Studies

Psalm 23: A Lesson in Reading Biblical Poetry

Parallelism: A Course Correction If you have ever studied Hebrew poetry, you have probably heard its basic poetic feature described as “parallelism.” Hebrew poetry is not metered, it does not rhyme, it does not employ many of the common poetical tropes, but its distinctive (and almost universal) feature is commonly…

by Ryan HandermannDecember 15, 2020
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Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 17 and the Separation of Powers

In The Crown and the Courts , David C. Flatto traces the development of the idea of judicial independence in Jewish commentaries on the Scriptures – particularly Deuteronomy 17 – from the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods. These periods roughly span 400 BC to 300 AD. Flatto does not…

by James R. RogersDecember 11, 2020
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Advent

Zechariah and John: A Story in Names

A curious feature of the Infancy Narratives in the Gospel of Luke is the naming of John the Baptist. When the angel appears to Zechariah, he is instructed to give his promised son the name John (Luke 1:13). On the day of John’s circumcision, Luke tells us that “they [presumably…

by Rhys LavertyDecember 8, 2020

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Leading the Choir

When John first sees the heavenly worship as he ascends to heaven, the four living creatures take the lead with an unceasing Sanctus. The twenty-four elders fall down before the One on the throne, cast their crowns before the throne, and praise God for His glory, honor, and power. They…

September 5, 2014

Full Martyrdom

When the Lamb breaks the fifth seal, martyrs cry out for vindication. That launches a thread of the plot of Revelation that continues to the end of the seven bowls. At this point, these seem to be the salient moments: 1) Martyrs cry out for vindication and are told to…

September 5, 2014
Trinity

Wesleyan Trinitarian Theology

Daniel Castelo’s Confessing the Triune God is a contribution to Cascade’s Wesleyan Doctrine Series. The Trinity is not a possession of Methodism, and much of Castelo’s book covers familiar ground - the roots of Trinitarian theology in the gospel, the early church debates about the Trinity, the danger of projection,…

September 5, 2014

Deviant Calvinism

Oliver Crisp admits that he has “been drawn to the margins of theological orthodoxy or to the doctrinally eccentric.” His reason is constructive: “those occupying such liminal places are intrinsically interesting subjects for theological exploration,” not least because “their work . . . throws light on upon the shape and…

September 5, 2014

Making Priests and Kings

Genesis is full of genealogies: A genealogy for Cain (ch. 4), for Seth (ch. 5), a table of the sons of Noah (ch 10), of Shem and Terah (ch. 11), of Ishmael (ch. 25), and of Esau (ch. 36). Besides those seven (!) genealogies, there are other lists of names…

September 4, 2014

Washed in Blood

The innumerable multitude that appears in Revelation 7:9 wears white robes, made clean by being washed in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). This cleansing gives them a sevenfold blessing: 1) They are before the throne, serving God day and night; 2) they are covered with the Lord’s tabernacle; 3)…

September 4, 2014

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