The Song of Solomon

People always talk about the Song of Solomon being explicit and graphic.
I have yet to find any such example. There is, in fact, nothing in the Song of Solomon that even so much as causes me to raise an eyebrow.
Now I do take it to be about the King (God) and the temple (Israel/Church). [...]

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Good Discussions Elsewhere

Frank Turk has employed the “What about the Mormons?” reductio to baptism and the objectivity of the covenant. I’ve tried to challenge the validity of this. I think the discussion reveals many of the larger issues involved in the paedo/credo debate.
There’s also been some really fine discussion on the intentions and [...]

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Joseph as Christ Figure

Joseph shows us Jesus in a number of ways. His going down into the pit and then being raised unto glory prefigures Christ’s resurrection. His converting the gentile empire is analogous to the growth of the Church.
His relationship with Pharaoh in Gen. 41:39-46 is also analogous to the Son’s relationship to the Father.
Joseph [...]

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Potiphar is the Head of the Prison

Genesis 39:1 tells us that Potiphar was the captain of the guard.  Genesis 40:2-3 tells us that the king’s cup-bearer and baker were thrown into the prison where Joseph was imprisoned, which was in the house of the captain of the guard.
As head of the house, Potiphar was head of the prison too.  His status [...]

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Joseph and Judah

Bruce Waltke’s commentary on Genesis is especially strong when it comes to the Joseph narratives. He points out that the entire story is built on a series of pairs. All of the dreams come in twos. Jacob’s favorite sons come in twos. Joseph goes down into two pits. He is [...]

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The Secret Revealed

Calvin writes:
For, although the will of God ought not to be judged from his secret decrees, when he reveals them to us by outward signs, yet it does not therefore follow that he has not determined with himself what he intends to do as to every individual man.
~ Commentary on 1 Tim. 2: 4
This is [...]

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Movie Ratings

Pride and Prejudice gets a PG for “mild thematic elements.”
I’m guessing it should have had strong thematic elements instead, and thus the parents are being warned that they need to guide their children’s taste.
In my movie class today we rated the Bible. It got an R for blood, guts, and most of all-
issues.

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Sign Means Miracle

At least in both Greek and Hebrew it does.
So when I say the visible is a sign of the invisible, I always follow that up with a reference to the mystical union. When you see the visible, you know that the invisible is there.
Your job is to believe it, and not, as our sinful [...]

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Jesus Centered

I want to say that there was no new creation until Jesus. This seems self-evident to me, especially when we use both systematic and biblical theology together.
I suppose there is one sense where there were all sorts of new creations: Adam to Noah to Abraham, etc. but the big one, the decisive NEW- the [...]

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Sex and Money

Doug Jones has a thought-provoking post comparing economic sins with sexual sins, arguing against the normal conservatives that economic sins are weightier than sexual ones.
I do appreciate his desire to challenge us, although I’m not sure I can really agree that we need any sort of “primacy.” His Trinitarian point is, in this regard, [...]

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