Judges: God's War Against Humanism By James B. Jordan
Judges Religion spirituality definition
A different kind of commentary than you usually find today References to metaphors and images used in Judges and the whole Bible Showing the hope in Christ through darker considered stories of Judges James B Jordan Really good Jordan is constantly referring to the scriptures to work through the stories in Judges New layers emerge from every direction when the stories are compared with other similar stories in the scriptures and Jordan does a wonderful job at this James B Jordan Useful lots of insights here even if some are speculation and I didn t see everything he was saying Worth looking up all the scriptural references to see where Jordan is coming from here I am sympathetic with his interpretation of Jephthah s daughter being consecrated to Tabernacle service James B Jordan An excellent commentary on the Book of Judges James B Jordan doesn t write in scholarly ese it s very accessible language nevertheless the content is not dumbed down Will probably read this again James B Jordan Quite good James B Jordan James B Jordan is a Calvinist theologian and author He is director of Biblical Horizons ministries a think tank in Niceville Florida that publishes books essays and other media dealing with Bible commentary Biblical Theology and liturgy. Judges 6 A in comparative literature and participated in Campus Crusade for Christ He served as a military historian in the United States Air Force and attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi but ultimately earned an M. Judges Religion spirituality meaning Litt from the C James B Jordan is a Calvinist theologian and author He is director of Biblical Horizons ministries a think tank in Niceville Florida that publishes books essays and other media dealing with Bible commentary Biblical Theology and liturgy. Judges 19 A in comparative literature and participated in Campus Crusade for Christ He served as a military historian in the United States Air Force and attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson Mississippi but ultimately earned an M. Judges 13 Litt from the Central School of Religion for his dissertation on the dietary laws of Moses From 1980 to 1990 Jordan was an associate pastor of a Presbyterian church in Tyler Texas site_link Rev Jordan examines the stories within the book of Judges answering questions as to their theological and practical meaning What has God commanded or promised and how do we respond How do these stories reveal the work of Christ and His Church Judges God s War Against HumanismJordan has an interesting approach to the Book of Judges His analysis brings meaning for this violent chapter into our current age God has been waging a war against the same forces for 4000 years The names change but it is the same old adversary He examines symbolism and Biblical numerolgy to give his commentary further depth James B Jordan In some ways Judges is one of the most accessible of all of the books of the Bible having stories about heroes of the faith like Deborah Barak Gideon and Samson Yet true and deep understanding of the book is elusive I ve never been fully satisfied with the pat moralistic interpretations that are generally given for the book. Judges list john grisham Enter James Jordan As he states in the beginning of the book he taught a Sunday School class through Judges several times to several different churches and has gathered his learning into a commentary on the book But don t be put off by the genre of commentary for this is a truly engaging and edifying work. Judges chapter 13 From the beginning Jordan has a richer deeper understanding of the book than what most within the church have likely ever heard or read Jordan is much empathetic to the judges than most interpreters He acknowledges their sins and failures but importantly respects their status as heroes of the faith for Gideon Barak Samson and Jephthah are all mentioned in Hebrews It states that they through faith conquered kingdoms enforced justice obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions quenched the power of fire escaped the edge of the sword were made strong out of weakness became mighty in war put foreign armies to flight Heb 11 32 Hebrews tells us to look up to these saints not down With this in mind he examines the book in light of what Christians ought to receive from it and there is a great deal The subtitle of the book signals to the reader that what is at stake in Judges is obedience to the laws of God and his kingdom But instead of God s kingdom early Israel desired a human king made in their image rather than a King in whose image the people were made Humanism as expressed through Baal worship is the central motif of the book God s ways or man s ways I won t give away much of the book since it is really worth reading But perhaps readers will be enticed to read it to learn about why Jordan believes that Jephthah did not in fact kill his daughter as a human sacrifice to fulfill his rash vow Jordan does make that argument and it is convincing especially when taken in light of Hebrews 11 How could God possibly commend Jephthah as a hero of the faith if he offered a human sacrifice by killing his daughter Put that way it sounds absurd But Jordan puts flesh on that argument and makes a compelling case to silence Jepthah s critics. Judges Religion spirituality This is a wonderful commentary that is unfortunately hard to find in print though available free online in PDF format Highly recommended as with anything Jordan writes James B Jordan Jordan s interpretive maximalism sometimes has me scratching my head other times raising my eyebrows but most of the time marveling at how Jordan was able to pull out the seemingly obscure verses or events that open up the Biblical text to expose its intertextuality He is truly an exegete who sticks close to the Bible itself as the best source for understanding its own message He also seems to do a good job in this book of being tentative when he hasn t as much evidence but there are a few times when I think his desire to place the text within his larger framework tends to share rather than be shaped by what the text is indicating Still this book which is available for free online is an indispensable resource on the book of Judges and one you shouldn t ignore James B Jordan Reading through the Old Testament lately I found myself entranced and bemused by the book of Judges A sprawling epic complete with war love betrayal superpowered heroics and the greatest one liner in the history of history I have a message from God STAB I found myself looking at it and thinking But what is it all supposed to mean And so I bolted down to our theology collection and helped myself to this James Jordan commentary. Judges chapter 13 I really enjoyed this book Jordan in case you don t know is one of the most outstanding commentators currently working in the topological allegorical Alexandrian interpretive maximalist school of Biblical interpretation from a Reformed perspective well maybe the only one He does a really fine job here with the Book of Judges casting it as a polemic against centralised statist human government potentially written either by Samuel or someone in his circle. Judges 11 Obviously one of the pitfalls of Alexandrian style interpretive maximalism a hermeneutical approach with a lengthy and vigorous tradition in the church just look at the second half of Augustine s City of God is how often you just sit back waggle an eyebrow at the creative commentator and say Well now you re just making things up That said Jordan is pretty convincing at least 60% of the time here and even when he isn t his perspective is thoroughly interesting and helpful even when it s only drawing our attention to the metaphors or wordplay used in the text. Judges Religion spirituality Some things I particularly liked Jordan draws out the theme of kingship and dynasty particularly through the stories of Gideon Ahimelech and Jephthah His take on Jephthah by the way is that having to dedicate his daughter to per Jordan and most other commentators I ve read lifelong service to God as a sort of nun stymied his dynastic ambitions that was why it was such a blow to him. Religion Spirituality judges 1 Jordan also isn t afraid to defend certain actions in Judges whether it s Ehud s assassin mission Jael s deception of Barak Jephthah s vow Samson s youthful attempt to marry a Philistine woman or the near annihilation of the tribe of Benjamin as having been done with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and thus entirely defensible. Judges 7 I also appreciated how the sometimes illogical seeming actions undertaken in the book of Judges are explained through a lens of the law given in the Pentateuch Again I didn t agree with every single one of Jordan s applications here but most of the time it was very helpful to be reminded for example of the rules governing Nazirite vows or the burning of a city as an offering to God. Judges 11 Finally I really enjoyed Jordan s discussion of the roles of men and women in the chapter on Deborah This is a really good example of how a metaphorical maximalist interpretive lens can pull us back and show us the big picture in explaining why women cannot lead formal worship Jordan saysGuarding is man s priestly task as shepherding is his kingly task It is precisely because it is the bride who must be guarded that the woman cannot be a priest She is not the priest rather she is what the priest imaging the Divine Bridegroom guards and protects Thus the woman may not take up a leading liturgical role in worship for she cannot represent the Groom to the Bride 1 Cor 14 34. Judges Religion spirituality meaning Good stuff I thoroughly enjoyed this commentary and found it quite readable in bite sized segments every morning Jordan has made it available for free online at Biblical Horizons James B Jordan Modern commentaries don t read like this one and as a result they re usually useless If you want to preach or understand Judges Jordan will be a significant aid because he is interpreting the text theologically This occasionally leads him into strange territory it s often said half the time Jordan is onto something and the other half the time Jordan is on something But when he s right he s way righter than the other guys and when he s wrong he s still made you think deeply about God s word James B Jordan
| Judges: God's War Against Humanism By James B. Jordan |
| 0939404109 |
| 9780939404100 |
| English |
| 334 |
| Hardcover |
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