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Writing

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

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Revelation

The Seven Thunders, An Interpretive Suggestion

And He cried out with a loud voice, as when a lion roars; and when He had cried out, the seven thunders spoke their voices (Revelation 10:3). In Revelation 10 John sees Jesus come down to him from heaven with a little book in His hand. Jesus cries out with…

by James B. JordanOctober 7, 1994
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Biblical Chronology

Genesis 5 & 11: Chronological-Theological Reflections

The numbers found in Genesis 5 & 11 display characteristics that indicate a complex and meticulous symbolic schematization operating at several levels. Because these numbers are so potent symbolically, unbelieving scholars have universally (as far as I know) treated them as artificial. Believers take them literally, but believers must also…

by James B. JordanOctober 7, 1994
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Revelation

The Kings From the East

And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east [sunrising]. (Revelation 16:12) The kings from the east in Revelation 16:12 are generally assumed to be enemies of…

by James B. JordanSeptember 10, 1994
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Biblical Studies

Covenants and Dates

During my brief sojourn as a pastor during the 1980s, I had several occasions to be involved in settling disputes between men in the congregation I served. A typical dispute went like this: Two men formed a company to do business. After a few years, the business went sour, and…

by James B. JordanSeptember 10, 1994
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Revelation

The Grape Harvest of Revelation 14:17-20

The two harvests of Revelation 14:14-20, of grain and of grapes, are most often understood as symbolic of God’s judgment against the wicked, or against Babylon, as amplified in chapters 16 & 17. Some commentators, however, notice that the gospels speak of the grain harvest as a reaping of the…

by James B. JordanAugust 10, 1994
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Deuteronomy

The Chronology of the Pentateuch (Part 6)

(Conclusion of Chapter 16 in the previous Biblical Chronology Article) Month 3, 2513 According to Leviticus 23:15-16, Pentecost was to be observed 50 days after the sabbath after Passover, or 49 days after the Feast of First Fruits. I initially based my reflections on the Jewish tradition that the Law…

by James B. JordanAugust 10, 1994

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Camels

When the nations bring their treasures to Zion (Isaiah 60:6), they come with camels. It’s an unusual site. The patriarchs have camels (the word is used 18x in Genesis 24 alone, 25x in Genesis). After that, camels are typically the mounts for Gentile visitors or invaders. Midianites riding camels swarm…

January 8, 2014

Dreadful joy

When Zion sees her sons and daughters returning home in the arms of the nations, she is stunned (Isaiah 60:5). Her heart trembles ( pachad ; cf. Deuteronomy 28:66-67) and grows large ( rachab ; cf. Isaiah 54:2). In short, she has a heart attack, and a flushed face to…

January 8, 2014
Uncategorized

Transformed Enlightenment

Romanticism is often seen as a reaction against the Enlightenment. Louis Dupre thinks that’s too simplistic ( The Quest of the Absolute: Birth and Decline of European Romanticism , 4-5). Rather, Romanticism transforms the values of the Enlightenment by turning them into a sublime. Dupre writes, “Romanticism incorporates what the…

January 8, 2014

Forgetful

Augustine puzzled over the mysteries of memory and forgetfulness. Where are memories “stored”? Where do they go when we forget something? You forget where you left your phone, or forget what you were going to say, and then it comes back to you. Where was it in the meantime? Forgetfulness…

January 8, 2014
Philosophy

Kierkegaard the Catholic?

In his introduction to Kierkegaard’s Kierkegaard’s Attack Upon “Christendom” 1854-1855 , Walter Lowrie suggests that Kierkegaard was “moreevidently andmore fundamentally a Catholicor perhaps it would be better to say,more consciously in revolt against Protestantism.” His evidence: “This-appears plainlyin the Instant by his insistence upon works , and by the fact…

January 7, 2014

Final Cause

Modernity is marked by the reduction of causes to efficient causes, and the elimination of final causation, of teleology or purpose.Final causes are not so easily eliminated, Hart argues ( The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss , 78-9). Our experience is not “an immediate perception of phenomena - appearances,…

January 7, 2014

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