This post is an expansion and replacement of an earlier one. Most of my summer has been sort of hectic and intense in moving house, though some down times, such as plane travel and several times waiting for car fixes, have enabled me to catch up in reading downloaded books. I have read several of Larry Hurtado’s books which cover similar, if not identical ground. … Continue reading Book(s) Review and Personal Update
Legalism. Pretty much everyone agrees that it’s bad. And in a world where Christians seem to disagree over basically everything, that’s saying … How Do You Know If Your Church Is Legalistic? Continue reading How Do You Know If Your Church Is Legalistic?
At first glance, the region often referred to in Scripture as the Negev could easily be written off as merely a land of sparcity–both in rainfall and… Negev Continue reading Negev
gath.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/maeir_philistines_in-samuel-koren-tanakh-volume_2021.pdf Continue reading Aren Maeir’s Research on the Philistines
The four centuries between the Old Testament (Tanakh) and the Gospels are sometimes called the “Silent Years”. This time period is also known as the … Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Hellenistic period Continue reading Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in the Hellenistic period
When this pestilence is abated, bible believing churches should reinstitute weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, if they haven’t done so already. I know many pastors and congregations, recently (in the past 10 years or so), have started to reincorporate this remembrance on a weekly basis. This observance seemed to be established, historically, in observance very early in the Apostolic Era. Acts 20.7: On the … Continue reading How Christians Can “Say Something About Jesus”
Jehoash was the second of four kings who descended from Jehu to reign as king of Israel (Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zechariah); he ruled from ca. 798-782 BC.1 The Bible summarizes his reign this way: In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel […] King Jehoash: An Archaeological Biography — Bible Archaeology Report Continue reading King Jehoash: An Archaeological Biography — Bible Archaeology Report
Above I have posted a seal impression from the British Museum which seems to be no longer accessible. The pixel count of the above image is much less than the original displayed content. If I am correct on my take of the scene, it refers to the judicial promise/curse of Gen.3.15. Notice the woman picking the fruit while the kingly Messiah tramples the serpent leading … Continue reading Ancient Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals
Need encouragement to pray? John Calvin once said that “Nothing is better adapted to excite us to prayer than a full conviction that we shall be heard.” That’s why Jesus said things like: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For… What Should We Make of Unanswered Prayers? — Southern Equip Continue reading What Should We Make of Unanswered Prayers? — Southern Equip
Abraham was the first and greatest of the Hebrew patriarchs; his story unfolds over 15 chapters in the book of Genesis (from Gen. 11:26-Gen. 25:8). The Lord called him out of his own country to a new land and promised to bless the earth through him (Gen. 12:1-3). In our next top ten list, we’ll […] Top Ten Discoveries Related to Abraham — Bible Archaeology Report Continue reading Top Ten Discoveries Related to Abraham — Bible Archaeology Report
If you read nothing else, read J. I. Packer’s introduction to John Owen’s work: The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. If a person is struggling in their walk with Christ, the contents of Packer’s essay will save this person much time to find the glorious truth of Christ’s power. As a testimonial, I spent too many years wandering in the wilderness not … Continue reading J. I. Packer on John Owen
Admittedly, I copied this paragraph from another site’s post who added nothing else except its attribution. The paragraph notes the complexities in ancient 2nd Temple Israel. Our own world is likewise complex. Let us not think earlier times and lives were somehow simply cut and dried and that the bible is elementary; it is not. Yet, accuracy can be achieved despite the complexity and is … Continue reading Accuracy in a Complex World
Labeling people with generalist classifications often leads to pigeonholing them wrongly. For instance, Jesus was thought to be closely aligned with the Pharisees early in His ministry. He held Pharisaical positions such as the resurrection from the dead and acceptance of the Prophets and Writings along with the Pentateuch. The other major 2nd Temple Jewish Sect, the Sadducees, believed only in earthly life and its … Continue reading Separating the Wheat From the Chaff
Peter J. Gentry has an article dealing with how and why the present shape of the Old Testament exists. The article is fairly comprehensive and technical but very readable for any layperson familiar with the bible. One does not need to analyze all his technical charts he presents, from himself or others, to fully grasp the points he is making. He writes in a very … Continue reading The Mechanisms of Establishing the Old Testament Text
Timothy N. Mitchell explains some of the issues of how the authorial text was preserved. This is a great read. I have been following his own blog for the last several years and am very sympathetic to his thesis in this article. Enjoy! https://equip.sbts.edu/publications/where-inspiration-is-found-putting-the-new-testament-autographs-in-context/ Continue reading The Accurate Transmission of the New Testament
These studies are at the college-level and are short. Often, they take ten minutes to read if one is generally familiar with the bible and its concepts. Some articles may take fifteen, or, twenty minutes with adjacent searches of terms. https://www.etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/studies-tanakh/literary-readings-tanakh/introduction-i-subtextual-reading-biblical Continue reading A Valuable Resource in Finding the Subtextual Reading of the Bible
While I may not agree with all of the following description in this Jewish site, it does help to explain the idea of the “covenant” which is rooted in ancient biblical thought and continues with the establishment of The New Covenant. A particular disagreement involves labeling the 66 books of the bible into old and new testaments, which I agree with, since they refer to … Continue reading A Refined View of the Concept of “Covenant”
A number of lectures related to the archaeology of Jerusalem have now been posted from the Cambridge Symposium held in March 2019. The official title of the gathering was “The Ancient City of David: Recent Archaeological Exploration of Jerusalem. An Academic Symposium co-organized by Megalim: The City of David Institute and Von Hugel Institute of… Cambridge Symposium Lectures Online — BiblePlaces.com Continue reading Cambridge Symposium Lectures Online — BiblePlaces.com
Jude 6 is a parallel reference to 2Pet. 2.4. Both of these passages refer to angelic judgment without any idea of human/angel sexual union. I reject any Jewish myths about angel/human cohabitation, and both Peter and Jude reject this notion as well. Also, only scripture is without error and not Jewish legendary texts, which some want to reference as authoritative, but are not. While not … Continue reading No Evidence of Angel Cohabitation in Jude 6
Brief Angel Definition Angels can be thought of as God’s assistants, Who makes his angels spirits, His ministers a fire (Ps. 104.4). Often a military aspect is observed as a vital role given angels, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways (Ps. 91.11 NRSV). Also, Michael and his angels conduct war, Then war broke out in heaven. … Continue reading The Replacement Angels
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment… 2Pet. 2.4 NIV (A personal note) Several unusual bible issues feature in some of my writings. I did not choose them, they chose me, if you will. On this issue of the angelic Fall, I was challenged in my conception of … Continue reading Simon Peter Identifies Angelic Imprisonment as Gen. 1.2-4
One of the arguments Traditionalists employ for holding to their view that the unredeemed are tortured forever, is that the church has always believed such. This is not true. Justin Martyr writing about 160 C.E. clearly rejects notions of human immortality both in his introduction and 5th chapter of his Dialogues. Jesus plainly taught human extinguishment in at least two places. Mt. 10.28 explicitly affirms … Continue reading Jesus Taught Human Conditional Immortality
1 Cor. 15.56 tells us that the strength of sin is the Law. In Rom. 4.14-15, For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. The purpose of giving the Law some 400 years after the promise was to proliferate sin, The … Continue reading Rules Were Meant to be Broken
Immersion can seem to be an impractical imposition resulting in an undignified outcome for the recipient. However, by performing this modern humiliation, the baptized is saying that he is dying to self and living in Christ. This week I have been reading John Owen and have been struck how much he diverges from scripture. John Owen was a confident and powerful rhetorician in the Cromwell … Continue reading New Testament Baptism is Believer’s Immersion
And hope will not disappoint since the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given us. (Rom. 5.5) After having established that Abraham was justified by faith, while he was still uncircumcised and without the Mosaic Law, in Romans chapter 4, Paul transitions in chapter 5 to speak about the blessings of those who are justified by … Continue reading The Arrabon – Confidence in Our Hope
It was unusual that I was listening to Christian radio, but, since I needed to travel by car for some distance, I tuned in. Usually, I’m a book person, that is a reader of print, and don’t have any audio on. So this car trip was an opportunity to surf the regional Christian radio offerings. There was this call-in program with a pastor answering callers’ … Continue reading God is Not Bored – He is Triumphant
For this reason make all effort to supplement your faith with excellence, and to excellence, knowledge, and to knowledge, self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. If you increasing practice these, they will not leave you idle or fruitless in the [personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks … Continue reading Simon’s Peter’s 7 Disciplines (2Pet. 1.5-15) Part 2
For this reason make all effort to supplement your faith with excellence, and to excellence, knowledge, and to knowledge, self control, and to self control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, love. If you practice these increasingly, they will not leave you idle or fruitless in the [personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks … Continue reading Simon Peter’s 7 Disciplines Part 1
One of the most confusing things in Christian thought is the idea of a covenant and how it relates to us. It doesn’t have to be inscrutable, however, and can easily be understood by the youngest and simplest of Christians. Different Kinds of Covenants First of all, a very basic recognition is that different kinds of covenants accomplish different things. “Covenant” is not one thing. … Continue reading A Covenant Establishes a Relationship
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