The History of Dort

I posted an exploration of the Synod of Dort over at the BH blog. I focused on the points of controversy between the British and the Gomarists, noting what did and did not make it into the final version.
This whole study has been enriching for me personally, and so I hope that others find [...]

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Fashion Police at Dort

George Abbot, the Archbishop of Canterbury, writing to Sir Dudley Carleton regarding the British delegates to the Synod of Dort, states:
We understand here that Mr Balcanquall doth not go here in his apparrell like a grave divine, but in his double double ruffes and his cloake lined thorough with velvett. I heare that it [...]

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Ok, So There Will Be Blood

I saw it last night. Daniel Day-Lewis was just incredible. The movie felt like a book, even if Anderson claims to have departed from Sinclair’s original.
The key conflict is between the oil company and the church. Sinclair was a commie, so money and religion competing to ruin the world isn’t terribly surprising. [...]

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I Posted at the BH Blog- Woo Hoo!

So I did a chiasm for the life of Jacob.  It is over at the Biblical Horizons Blog and can be found here.  This is more from my Genesis study.
Now we just need Joel to start posting over there.

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Payback

Leah is described as having weak eyes (Genesis 29:17). This is a strange description, and I can’t help but think that it means she just looked generally unhealthy and dull. Leah paled in comparison to Rachel. Laban tricks Jacob into marrying the weak-looking woman along with the pretty one.
In Genesis [...]

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Jacob is the Good Guy

Genesis 25:27 says that Jacob was a perfect man. Your translations likely say “mild,” “plain,” or “civil,” but the term is tam. Kohler and Baumgartner say that this word means “in general… to be complete, perfect.” It seems that the reasons for translating it mild, plain, or civil, is to contrast against [...]

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Theological Lexical Domain

The Bible’s use is always primary and proper.
Tradition’s use is always secondary and qualified.
This is how it has to be because people are sinners and their brains are usually wrong.  I always thought this was Calvinism 101.

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Kin Bride

When thinking of Rebekah as the new bride, we should also think of the Song of Solomon. The Beloved calls his bride “My sister” (SoS 4:9, 10, 12; 5:1,2). Sarah was Abraham’s sister, and now Rebekah is Isaac’s cousin.
Israel was a daughter as well as a bride, and thus all of these women [...]

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A New Woman

The fact that Isaac consummates his marriage with Rebekah in his mother’s tent shows (Genesis 24:66) that a new woman has been introduced. Rebekah is a new eve, the kin-wife. She is Isaac’s cousin, but her association with the mother shows that she is not just a new woman, but representative of [...]

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Not Just Filler

So part of how I’m going about my Genesis study is just asking “What is this here for?” Sometimes the answer is obvious. Sometimes it is not.
A good example is the space between Abraham’s test of faith with Isaac and the Jacob and Esau stories. There is a whole chapter dedicated to [...]

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