The story of Job is an intriguing one. It’s a story about a godly, kind man who encounters an immense amount of suffering. The evil inflicted upon Job takes him by surprise–a multi-layered blow to his soul. The pain that he experienced was, at the same time, physical, emotional, and spiritual. In this vein, Job’s…
The answer to this question is absolutely! But many Christians are hesitant to say so. Though the reasons vary, a lot of these folks are concerned that such thinking undermines the Bible’s authority. Some wonder, Why do I need to know the cultural background of the Bible in order to understand it? Can’t I just…
Christians are familiar with terms like god, savior, and gospel. They are part of our liturgical lingo. We use them in every Sunday service to refer to the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth. But what Christians may not know is that these terms were part of the stock vocabulary of pagans living in…
Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a Christian in the first century? Do you want to take your understanding of the New Testament to a whole new level? If so, sign up for my 6-week, online class with Eternity Bible College. The fee is only $25/student (+textbook). If you are a…
The Bible is a fascinating book. Passed down through the ages, it remains a reliable guide for the church’s faith and practice. The Bible, though, is more than a guide. It is holy Scripture—that font of truth and wellspring of life, a source of nourishment for all. If the Bible is “holy Scripture,” and if…
Over at theLAB, I have written a follow-up piece to COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast. In this new article, I offer reflections on the historical context surrounding “the beast” of Revelation, the number “666,” and a few other related items. One characteristic of many modern (popular) readings of Revelation is the tendency to…
I am thankful to the folks at The LAB (Logos Academic Blog) for sharing my post “COVID-19 and The Mark of the Beast.” With the host of rumors and odd theories floating around the internet (not least on social media platforms), many sincere Christians are becoming increasingly concerned that “the mark of the beast” is…
For all you philosophical-theological-Greek nerds out there, here’s something fun. As some have observed, Gregory of Nyssa’s On the Soul and the Resurrection is written in a way that mirrors Plato’s Phaedo.[1] A close reading of both show that this is correct. For example, Gregory utilizes the format so familiar to readers of Plato, namely, the dialogue. Gregory…
Over at his blog, Mike Bird offers his thoughts on the Lord’s Supper. Here’s a snippet: Francis Chan recently preached a sermon where he said that we’ve replaced the Lord’s Supper with “one guy and his pulpit” and he also decried the mere memorialism of such evangelical practice of the Lord’s Supper and the marginalization of the…
Part 3: The Days in Genesis 1 Do Not Have a Literal Function, but a Literary Function In my my last post, I argued that a literalistic reading of the creation story in Gen 1 contradicts the creation story of Gen 2. To alleviate the tension between these two creation stories, I suggested in that…