James Burrell Jordan (born December 31, 1949) is an American Protestant theologian and author. He is the director of Biblical Horizons ministries, an organisation in Niceville, Florida that publishes books, essays and other media dealing with Bible commentary, Biblical theology, and liturgy. It adheres to biblical absolutism including Young Earth Creationism and is committed to the concept of biblical theocracy. [1]
Jordan was born in Athens, Georgia. After public school, Jordan attended the University of Georgia, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in comparative literature. While in college, he participated in the Campus Crusade for Christ and Young Americans for Freedom.
He served four years as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force, first as an Administration Management Officer and then as a military historian. He attended Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, before ultimately earning an Master's degree and Th.M. from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His master's thesis was on slavery in the Bible. In 1993, Jordan received a D. Litt. from the Central School of Religion for his dissertation on the dietary laws of Moses.
After his 1982 ordination in the Association of Reformed Churches, Jordan served for five years alongside Ray Sutton as associate pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church, in Tyler, Texas. He was also the director of Geneva Ministries and Geneva Divinity School.
After the work in Tyler unravelled into discord and internal dissension, Jordan developed his own platform for writing, Biblical Horizons, a Niceville, Florida-based research and publishing ministry. Biblical Horizons emphasizes the Trinity and biblical absolutism with a covenant-historical approach to interpretation and a focus on biblical theocracy, eschatology and worship. [2]
Jordan has also served since 2000 as head of the Department of Biblical Studies at the Biblical Theological Seminary, St. Petersburg, Russia, where he teaches Old Testament and Eschatology. [3]
In 2011, Wipf and Stock published a Festschrift in Jordan's honor. Glory of Kings: A Festschrift in Honor of James B. Jordan ( ISBN 9781608996803) was edited by Peter J. Leithart, and included contributions from Rich Lusk, Douglas Wilson and John Frame.
In 2015, Jordan moved to Birmingham, AL to join Peter Leithart in the work of Theopolis Institute. Following a stroke in 2017, he announced in 2019 the closing down of Biblical Horizons and his endorsement of Theopolis Institute as continuing his work. [4]
Bill DeJong characterizes Jordan's approach to biblical hermeneutics as "pastoral typology" - that is, seeing biblical typology as pointing not just to the work of Christ, but also to Christian worship. [5]
Jordan has written many articles and books, including:
{{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help){{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)The Book of Genesis is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit. Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and the origins of the Jewish people.
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event described in the New Testament, where Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant in glory upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels recount the occasion, and the Second Epistle of Peter also refers to it.
Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics or what is true about God and his universe. It also builds on biblical disciplines, church history, as well as biblical and historical theology. Systematic theology shares its systematic tasks with other disciplines such as constructive theology, dogmatics, ethics, apologetics, and philosophy of religion.
Christian reconstructionism is a fundamentalist Calvinist theonomic movement. It developed primarily under the direction of R. J. Rushdoony, Greg Bahnsen and Gary North and has had an important influence on the Christian right in the United States. Its central theme is that society should be reconstructed under the lordship of Jesus in all aspects of life. In keeping with the biblical cultural mandate, reconstructionists advocate for theonomy and the restoration of certain biblical laws said to have continued applicability. These include the death penalty not only for murder, but also for idolatry, homosexuality, adultery, witchcraft and blasphemy.
Covenant theology is a Biblical Theology, a conceptual overview and interpretive framework for understanding the overall structure of the Bible. It is often distinguished from dispensational theology, a competing form of biblical theology. It uses the theological concept of a covenant as an organizing principle for Christian theology. The standard form of covenant theology views the history of God's dealings with mankind, from Creation to Fall to Redemption to Consummation, under the framework of three overarching theological covenants: those of redemption, of works, and of grace.
Theonomy is a hypothetical Christian form of government in which society is ruled by divine law. Theonomists hold that divine law, particularly the judicial laws of the Old Testament, should be observed by modern societies. The chief architects of the movement are Gary North, Greg Bahnsen, and R.J. Rushdoony.
Anthony Charles Thiselton was an English Anglican priest, theologian, and academic. He wrote a number of books and articles on a range of topics in Christian theology, biblical studies, and the philosophy of religion. He served on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, appointed by the Minister of Health.
Meredith George Kline was an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. He also had degrees in Assyriology and Egyptology.
Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. is a Reformed theologian, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Presbyterian Church General Assembly. He is particularly known for his support for and publication on the topics of orthodox preterism and postmillennialism in Christian eschatology, as well as for theonomy and Young Earth creationism. He holds that each of these theological distinctives are logical and theological extensions of his foundational theology.
Douglas James Wilson is a conservative Reformed and evangelical theologian, pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, faculty member at New Saint Andrews College, and author and speaker. Wilson is known for his writing on classical Christian education, Reformed theology, as well as general cultural commentary. He is a public proponent of postmillenialism, Christian nationalism, and covenant theology. He is also featured in the documentary film Collision documenting his debates with anti-theist Christopher Hitchens on their promotional tour for the book Is Christianity Good for the World?.
The Federal Vision is a Reformed evangelical theological approach that focuses on covenant theology, Trinitarian thinking, the sacraments of baptism and communion, biblical theology and typology, justification, and postmillennialism. A controversy arose in Reformed and Presbyterian circles in response to views expressed at a 2002 conference entitled The Federal Vision: An Examination of Reformed Covenantalism. The ongoing controversy involves several Reformed denominations including the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), the United Reformed Churches in North America (URCNA), and the Reformed Presbyterian Church in the United States (RPCUS), and the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA).
Peter James Leithart is an American author, minister, and theologian, who serves as president of Theopolis Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies in Birmingham, Alabama. He previously served as Senior Fellow of Theology and Literature as well as Dean of Graduate Studies at New Saint Andrews College. He was selected by the Association of Reformed Institutions of Higher Education to be one of the organization's 2010–2012 Lecturers. He is the author of commentaries on the Book of Kings, the Book of Samuel, the Books of Chronicles, the Book of Revelation, as well as a Survey of the Old Testament. Other works include books on topics such as Dante's Inferno, Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and a biography of Constantine. He is also the author of a book of children's bedtime stories titled Wise Words based on the Book of Proverbs.
Frank Colvin Senn is an American liturgist and pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He served as pastor of five congregations: Gloria Dei in South Bend, Indiana, Fenner Memorial in Louisville, Kentucky (1975–77), Christ the Mediator in Chicago, Illinois (1981–86), Holy Spirit in Lincolnshire, Illinois (1986–90), and Immanuel in Evanston, Illinois.
Everett Ferguson currently serves as Distinguished Scholar in Residence at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. He is author of numerous books on early Christian studies and served as co-editor of the Journal of Early Christian Studies.
Esther Lightcap Meek is an American philosopher and a Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Geneva Collegein Western Pennsylvania. She is a Fellow Scholar of the Fujimura Institute with artist Makoto Fujimura, an Associate Fellow with the Kirby Laing Center for Public Theology, and a member of the Polanyi Society.
Norman Shepherd is an American theologian who served as associate professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary from 1963 to 1981. He later served for almost two decades as a minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America.
Daniel Isaac Block is a Canadian/American Old Testament scholar. He is Gunther H. Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament at Wheaton College.
Protestant theology refers to the doctrines held by various Protestant traditions, which share some things in common but differ in others. In general, Protestant theology, as a subset of Christian theology, holds to faith in the Christian Bible, the Holy Trinity, salvation, sanctification, charity, evangelism, and the four last things.
Republication is form of Christian covenant theology where the works principle of the covenant of works was republished in some way in the Mosaic covenant. The view is popular among academics of the Westminster Seminary California and was popularized by American theologian Meredith Kline. Kline taught that the Mosaic covenant included a typological republication of the covenant of works, where the Israelites had to maintain possession of the promised land by their "typological merit". Republication is similar to the Lutheran views of the Mosaic covenant.
Victor Paul Marston is a British academic known for his authorship of works and joint works on apologetics, theology, and the history and philosophy of science. He is a University Senior Lecturer and also a lay minister in the evangelical Free Methodist Church. Marston was brought up in a Christian family and became an evangelical Christian early in life.
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