Perspectives on Paul 10-28-30
I recorded this on 10-21-30 because of the approach of Hurricane Zeta on the evening of the 28th. Video PowerPoint This is an embedded Microsoft Office presentation, powered by Office. PDF
Perspectives on Paul 09.30.2020
Law Through Scripture – I Here is the video (via YouTube) and the PowerPoint slides for my study of September 30, 2020. I am taking a look at the law through scripture and looking at how that impacts Paul and his message. First, the PowerPoint: This is an embedded Microsoft Office presentation, powered by Office….
Theology and Exhortation in Hebrews
I’m continuing to read Guthrie’s commentary on Hebrews (George H. Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary, Kindle edition) and I am enjoying his approach. That doesn’t mean agreeing with everything, but I find that his approach is likely to be particularly helpful to preachers and teachers as he attempts to bridge the cultural differences. In the…
Guthrie on the Authorship of Hebrews
I took note of this quote from George Guthrie’s discussion of authorship: As with other matters of background we are almost entirely dependent on evidence internal to the book. So, what does the work reveal of its maker? George H. Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary, Kindle edition In a way, this is the key…
Authorship of (Pauline) Epistles
Evangelical Textual Criticism has a post with the following graphic: While I imagine there might be minor variations in a survey of American scholars, I think the results would be similar. It’s always fun to see the numbers on Hebrews, since I would describe myself as uncertain (with the nine and not the 100), but…
Starting Leviticus
I mentioned in my post about completing the study of Romans that our next book was Leviticus. This was by choice of the group, but it is surely driven somewhat by the number of references I have made to Leviticus. While I experienced Leviticus as a child, going to a Christian school where we read—really…
What Does It Mean to Call Jesus Lord
A commentator noted that I was not all that helpful in my post yesterday, since I hadn’t made any effort to say just what it would mean to have Jesus as the center of a doctrine, nor what it means to call Jesus Lord. In response, I obviously had to create a new, more ambitious…
Evaluating Doctrines regarding the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology)
I have encountered a few questions lately regarding the work of the Holy Spirit, particularly the manifestation(s) and gifts of the Holy Spirit as they may be observed in a church setting. There is always a problem with evaluating theology based on the visible actions of God, because this gets confused with identifying God’s actions….
But Did God Approve of That?
Last night in my Tuesday night group we were discussing the story of Hezekiah in Isaiah 36 & 37, in which King Sennacherib of Assyria attacks Judah, and things get pretty dire. Following a sneering message from the Assyrian king, Hezekiah, at the beginning of chapter 37, tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth, and goes…
Symbols, Actions, and Idolatry
I encountered a question recently that I’d like to explore a bit. The question comes in three parts, or perhaps with three perspectives. When God commanded the Israelites to look to the bronze serpent to be healed, was God commanding idolatry? Why would God give this command? Was this a good command? It’s easy to…