David Ker is concerned about section titles in your Bible. And well he should be. I frequently talk about avoiding reading the “lower half” of your Bible when you study. What I mean by the “lower half” is the study notes that so many editions put at the bottom of the page. Now this is…
Peter Kirk has a post on one of my favorite topics, order in worship, titled God is not a God of disorder but of peace. I want to call attention to a couple of points in his post. First, on the context of the passage from which his title was taken, he says: It seems…
I’m a strong advocate of Bible study by the laity, even when such study leads to errors. In fact, I think making mistakes is an important part of Christian growth. But there are a number of odd things that can happen when people apply the Bible. One of the checks on “loony” Biblical application that…
In several recent posts, especially dealing with issues of harsh passages in Hebrew scriptures (or the Old Testament), I have referred to a book, Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God? by Dr. Alden Thompson. This book was critical as I developed my own view of scripture and especially as I dealt with some of…
Jody and I are teaching Sunday School tomorrow, and the starting point is the Adult Bible Studies Uniform Series, Winter 2015-2016. Thus we start the Advent season by studying the 4th commandment (the Sabbath command; some count these differently) and related texts. If you know me, you’ll probably know that I’m not a fan of…
In my previous entry on this topic I listed several proposed method of testing prophets, specifically how does one respond when someone claims to speak for God? This assumes, of course, that one believes anyone can speak for God in any way. The second test I listed as “godliness,” but this is just a shorthand…