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Writing

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

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Art

Toward a Biblical Definition of Obscenity

My copy of Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (1976: not so new, really) defines obscene as (1) "disgusting to the senses; repulsive" and (2) "abhorrent to morality or virtue; specif: designed to incite lust or depravity." Definitions such as this serve a useful purpose only when there is agreement on what…

by Peter LeithartMay 30, 1991
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Biblical Studies

The Abomination of Desolation, Part 1

An Overview Here begins a series of studies in the Abomination of Desolation, or Desolating Sacrilege. This month and next I shall set out an overview of what I regard as the best interpretation of the phenomenon. Later essays will look at it in more detail. (The original form of…

by James B. JordanMay 22, 1991
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Biblical Studies

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 12

29. There are three things that are stately in their march, Even four that are stately when they walk: 30. The lion is mighty among beasts And does not turn back before any, 31. The strutting cock, The male goat, And a king with his army around him. 32. If…

by James B. JordanMay 22, 1991
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Biblical Studies

The Chronology of Ezra & Nehemiah, Part 4

We have seen that it is likely that the Artaxerxes of Ezra-Nehemiah is the same as Darius the Great. If this solution be correct, and I think it is, possibly there is another problem in Ezra that can be resolved by it. In Ezra 4:6 we are told that "in…

by James B. JordanMay 22, 1991
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Biblical Horizons

The Weight of Being

Czech novelist Milan Kundera, though hardly a household name in the English-speaking world, has achieved a certain notoriety in America in recent years, largely on the strength of the English translation and film version of his novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being. 1 The Unbearable Lightness of Being — the…

by Peter LeithartMay 6, 1991
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Proverbs

Advice From a Sojourner, Part 11

24. Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise; 25. The ants are not a strong folk, But they prepare their food in the summer; 26. The coneys are not a mighty folk, Yet they make their houses in the rocks; 27. The locusts have no…

by James B. JordanApril 22, 1991

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Poetry of Reconciliation

When Yahweh returns to abandoned Zion, she breaks into song. He breaks into poetry (Isaiah 54). He describes Zion as a “woman forsaken and grieved in Spirit, a wife of youth refused” (v. 6). “Forsaken” translates ‘azuvah , and “grieved” translates ‘atzuvat , and the assonance in Hebrew continues, though…

March 28, 2013

Double Duty

Isaiah sees Zion as a grieving “widow” (Isaiah 54:4). But Yahweh is her husband. Yahweh must have died if she is left in her widowhood. Then he comes back as her ba’al (54:5), her lord and husband, making her a Lady, a be’ulah (54:1). This isn’t merely a separation and…

March 28, 2013

Trinity House

Check out the new additions to the Trinity House web site .

March 28, 2013

Blessing of Forgetfulness

Because of the Servant’s work (Isaiah 53), Zion is restored to her husband (54:4-5). That restoration is marked by the outbreak of song (54:1-3) but also by a series of negations. Verse 4 begins with three clauses that all begin with the Hebrew particle lo , “not”: Do not fear,…

March 28, 2013

God is Mocked

This was first published at Credenda.org in March 2010. God is not mocked, Paul tells us. Matthew’s Passion narrative (Matthew 27:27-44), however, suggests otherwise. Matthew gives very little information about the physical sufferings of Jesus. We can imagine those sufferings from the details he records, but he directs our attention…

March 28, 2013

Deleuzian war

In a 2006 article, Israeli writer Eyal Weizman describes the Israeli military’s use of contemporary theory to revise military tactics. Weizman says that “the reading lists of contemporary military institutions include works from around 1968 (with a special emphasis on the writings of Gilles Deleuze, Félix Guattari and Guy Debord),…

March 27, 2013

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