Continuing … !
Image via Wikipedia I’m pretty annoyed to have judges trying to make a determination of whether one is a Christian based on their knowledge. That reflects a very poor understanding of Christianity that probably comes from someone who has grown up Christian and doesn’t really understand someone who is a recent convert. The story is…
I will multiply on you people and animals, and they will increase and bear fruit. People will live on you as in the former times and I will do greater good to you than I did before. Then you will know that I am YHWH. (Ezekiel 36:11) Ezekiel here address the message to the mountains…
I always knew I was a heretic: Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted the universal primacy of the Roman Catholic Church, approving a document released Tuesday that says Orthodox churches were defective and that other Christian denominations were not true churches. (From MSNBC.com) Well, actually, I never regarded the Catholic church and the pope as having…
Continuing my notes on the daily passages from this week’s lesson, I’m looking at Proverbs 3:13-20. I assume it’s clear to all that the subject is creation. We again find ourselves looking at God’s revelation through God’s work. I like to emphasize the importance of not just reading words from the Word of God, as…
I have found what is probably the best argument for a literal translation. I have certainly used literal translations frequently in commentary, though I favor dynamic equivalence for reading ease. But Bob MacDonald, whose blog Bob’s Log has just joined the Philophronos Blogroll, does some extremely interesting work on structure in the Psalms. Now you…
No, it’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of my series. I went into my hiatus in presenting these studies one episode short of completing the series, so tonight I’ll be wrapping up the eschatology series and preparing for my next series which will be looking at Paul’s letters and their background,…
I am not an expert in Biblical criticism, but could it be that the writing in Ephesians is different from that of Galatians because Paul, not having to be in an apologetics mode, could allow his thoughts to flow through his pen onto the page without the feelings of defensiveness, without fear of counter attack? However, if Paul did not write Ephesians, it must certainly have been someone who had accepted his gospel, and been endowed with double portion of the Spirit that inspired him. In that connection I have often wondered, as I read Melancthon, what we might have learned from Martin Luther, as well as Paul, had not they been forced to always be on the front lines of battle. I think of Luther as a mighty rushing cataract, a warrior, sweeping away centuries of the false; while Melancthon, like a good shepherd, with stones forming gentle, still pools of water so that the lambs and sheep can drink safely. To me this represents the difference we see in the writings of Galatians and Ephesians.