Glory of Kings

The essays in this book are provocative, edgy, polarizing, sometimes radical. What else would anyone expect from a festschrift in honor of James B. Jordan?

A festschrift is a collection of essays written by friends of an intellectual in his honor. Many of the authors here are expected (members of Jordan's longstanding cadre)—Peter Leithart, John Barach, Jeffrey Myers, Rich Lusk and Doug Wilson all contribute. Others are more suprising—R. R. Reno and John Frame provide a foreward and afterward, respectively.

Jordan has built a reputation as a widely-read, knowledgeable thinker responsible for a plethora of published articles, essays, books, etc. (as the bibliography assembled by Barach amply demonstrates). His primary focuses are biblical studies, liturgical theology and the interplay of theology and culture, and so these are the primary subjects of the essays.

It's no secrect that the authors in this collection are all (to one degree or another) disciples of Jordan. The worldviews they evidence are closely tied to his, and their essays elaborate and elucidate his ideas rather than challenge them.

Trinitarianism, a literary approach to biblical exegesis, optimistic dominionist postmillennialism, and a willingness to borrow from Lutheran, Orthodox and Catholic theology as much as his own Reformed tradition are trademarks of Jordan's thought. He's also something of a provocateur, and there's no lack of shocking content here—like Leithart's essay on incest in the book of Leviticus, or Lusk's investigation of holy war in the New Testament.

Warfare, of course, is a long-time favorite topic for Jordan, at least in its spiritual context. The waging of liturgical war is one of the many ways he sees the still-infant Church marching toward ultimate victory in the face of Satanic opposition. Is it any wonder that a book in his honor is somewhat pugnacious?

The Glory of Kings aims to bring Jordan to a broader popular audience, while doing justice to his rigorous thinking. Some will be turned off immediately by Leithart's panegyric introduction in which he all but apotheosizes Jordan, but there's plenty of interesting content in the following pages. For those unfamiliar with Jordan these cogent essays (and his sometimes cantankerous, mostly generous and humble responses) make an accessible introduction, while established fans will appreciate the creativity and commitment to biblicism demonstrated throughout.

Table of Contents

Foreword — R. R. Reno

Introduction — Peter J. Leithart

PART ONE: BIBLICAL STUDIES

1. The Glory of the Son of Man: An Exposition of Psalm 8
   — John Barach
2. Judah’s Life from the Dead: The Gospel of Romans 11
   — Tim Gallant
3. The Knotted Thread of Time: The Missing Daughter in Leviticus 18
   — Peter J. Leithart
4. Holy War Fulfilled and Transformed: A Look at Some Important New Testament Texts
   — Rich Lusk
5. The Royal Priesthood in Exodus 19:6
   — Ralph Allan Smith
6. Father Storm: A Theology of Sons in the Book of Job
   — Toby J. Sumpter

PART TWO: LITURGICAL THEOLOGY

1. On Earth as It Is in Heaven: The Pastoral Typology of James B. Jordan
   — Bill DeJong
2. Why Don’t We Sing the Songs Jesus Sang? The Birth, Death, and Resurrection of English Psalm Singing
   — Duane Garner
3. Psalm 46 — William Jordan

PART 3: THEOLOGY

1. A Pedagogical Paradigm for Understanding Reformed Eschatology with Special Emphasis on Basic Characteristics of Christ’s Person
   — C. Kee Hwang
2. Light and Shadow: Confessing the Doctrine of Election in the Sixteenth Century
   — Jeffrey J. Meyers

PART FOUR: CULTURE

1. James Jordan, Rosenstock-Huessy, and Beyond
   — Richard Bledsoe
2. Theology of Beauty in Evdokimov
   — Bogumil Jarmulak
3. Empire, Sports, and War
   — Douglas Wilson

Afterword — John M. Frame

The Writings of James B. Jordan, 1975–2011 — John Barach

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.