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

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Judges

Book Review: E. John Hamlin, At Risk in the Promised Land: A Commentary on the Book of Judges

E. John Hamlin, At Risk in the Promised Land: A Commentary on the Book of Judges International Theological Commentary. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990. For anyone who has developed a taste for the rich biblical theology of Meredith Kline, James B. Jordan, Vern Poythress, and others, it is difficult to find…

by Peter LeithartJuly 17, 1993
Exodus

The Rock That Followed Them

". . . and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4). Paul’s passing comment about the rock that followed the Israelites in the wilderness has often been treated as a bit of…

by Peter LeithartJuly 17, 1993
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Biblical Studies

Elijah and Moses

Several months ago, my brief article entitled "Elijah’s Exodus" was published in Biblical Horizons . Since that time, further study has made it evident that Elijah’s exodus in 1 Kings 17 is part of a larger pattern in which Elijah’s ministry closely parallels Moses’. The following parallels are evident: Elijah…

by Peter LeithartJuly 17, 1993
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Exodus

The Footstool of His Feet

The translation and theology of the Hebrew term kapporet have long been puzzling to scholars. On the translation of the term, I have nothing new to offer. I wish instead to concentrate on the theological symbolism of the kapporet . The kapporet was the solid gold slab that laid "above"…

by Peter LeithartJune 17, 1993
Exodus

A Note on Exodus 22:31

Peter Leithart's article entitled " Prey in My House" pointed out that tearing flesh is a sign of kingly rule and dominion, and that God is portrayed as the Lion-King who tears flesh. The tithe brought to God’s house provides the money for the torn flesh of the sacrifices offered…

by James B. JordanJune 4, 1993
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Biblical Chronology

Jubilee (Part 3)

The Seventy Years of Sabbaths 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 reads: "And those who had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon; and there they were slaves to him and to his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of Yahweh by the mouth…

by James B. JordanApril 4, 1993

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Aesthetic Theory of Atonement, Again Again

Brian Leftow ends his 1995 Modern Schoolman article with this: “Anselm’s appeal to fittingness, then, might serve to undermine the claim the value of efficiency has on God’s choices. For if beauty can trump efficiency, it could be a rational virtue for a perfectly wise being to act inefficiently, if…

February 26, 2013

Rational poetry

In a couple earlier posts , I took a look at the aesthetic dimensions of Anselm’s theory of the atonement. He certainly begins with a patristic atonement theory stressing the poetic symmetry of fall and redemption, and aesthetic concepts keep cropping up all along. But it seems that he abandons…

February 25, 2013

Elegant Atonement

In a 1995 article in Modern Schoolman on Anselm’s theory of atonement, Brian Leftow offers this list of “incidental benefits” that, Anselm claims, follow from God’s choice to save through incarnation and cross. It’s a demonstration of the “elegance” of the atonement. The rest of this post is directly quoted…

February 25, 2013

Unrequired gift

According to Bavinck ( Reformed Dogmatics: Abridged in One Volume , 442-3), vicarious satisfaction means that Christ gives to God all that He demands from us, which we are incapable of giving: “The demand posed by God to fallen humanity was twofold: one, that humans would keep the law perfectly,…

February 25, 2013

Masters and slaves

A characteristically hilarious rant from Tom Shone about movie directors as “masters”: “it must be a terrific thrill to boss people around like that, and be rude to the press, and stick conversations about life, plants, astronomy into a movie on someone else’s dime just because one can, because one…

February 25, 2013

A Vision of Social Harmony

Take a look at James Jordan’s second essay in a series on “Continuing the Reformation” at the Trinity House site.

February 25, 2013

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