Comments on some of the texts used to support the idea of the rapture. Ben Witherington is the author of what I consider to be the best commentary on Revelation suitable for use in preparing lessons/sermons (see below).
The first is by David W. Baker, one of three in Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (Cornerstone Biblical Commentary), which is based on the NLT text. The second is Samuel E. Balentine, Leviticus (Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching). Yes, I have been reading both of these commentaries simultaneously, though in different portions of Leviticus….
As most of my readers know, I’ve been working on revising my study guide to Hebrews. At least I keep mentioning it. I’m only about two years overdue on the project. When one deadline or another must be missed I tend to miss mine and work on other people’s stuff. So today I was reading…
I think Mark at Pseudo-Polymath is absolutely correct in his excellent post Of Scripture and Tradition. When I first decided that inerrancy didn’t work, it was because I found errors as they would be defined by the people that first taught me to regard the Bible as inerrant. At the same time I remained convinced…
For those who hold to the historicity of the story of Daniel and generally to an early dating, Daniel 1:1 is a critical text that presents some problems. As I proceed with my eschatology series, and starting going through the book of Daniel verse by verse, I’m trying to keep all the options in mind…
It’s interesting to me how we (and I definitely include myself) often read scripture. One concept can easily override another. For example, I recall a conversation in which someone was claiming that no human being was ever righteous. I brought up Job, who is described as righteous in Job 1. “Oh, but that is only…
In my experience, Hebrews has provided a wealth of texts for sermons that call for works and human effort. Pride of place, perhaps, should be held by the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection, for which one of the central texts is Hebrews 6:1. No matter how many times Wesley affirmed Christian perfection as a gift…
