Perspectives on Paul: Date and Authorship of the Epistles
I will review how date and authorship is determined (or not) and how that relates to the way we will answer the question of Paul’s gospel.
Dating Biblical Books
I will be dealing frequently with issues of date and authorship while discussing Paul. The reason for this is that there is a considerable variation in what books scholars believe that Paul wrote, so while giving perspectives, I need to deal with the differences in the books attributed to Paul and what picture emerges of…
Paul’s Gospel vs. Another Gospel III
This is the unintentional third part of my discussion of this topic. Last week I talked a bit more about the initial statement of the gospel in Galatians and then began looking at how Paul talked about the gospel elsewhere, first in 2 Corinthians 5 and the ministry of reconciliation. I’ll be moving from there…
Sunday School: Thinking about Sacrifices
I’m preparing to teach tomorrow, and the main text is Hebrews 4:14-5:10. The quarterly is kind enough to stop just before the author tells his readers/hearers that the topic is difficult and they’re not very bright! Nonetheless, the idea of priesthood brings up the idea of “sacrifice” and “sacrifices,” and these are two concepts that…
Paul’s Gospel or Another Gospel, Part 2
This is the unintended second part of last week’s discussion, since I didn’t even come close to completing the material. We’ll be launching from Galatians 5:6-9, but I had already discussed the content of those verses. Now we’ll be looking through Paul’s letters, including those attributed to him, but disputed by scholars, looking for the…
Faith Made Active through Love
What groups of people do you think it’s alright to look down on? Because in Christ neither circumcision or uncircumcision matters any more, but instead faith made active through love. – Galatians 5:6 Which, in turn, reminds me of: Thus faith, if it has no works, is dead by itself. – James 2:17 It is…
Underlying Principles for Christian Education and Discipleship
… and with that pretentious title. Actually, last night I talked on the Energion Tuesday Night Hangout (I’ll embed the video at the end as well) about Christian education and how one might go about choosing curriculum. My sister, Betty Rae, asked me a question via e-mail this morning, and I thought it was so…
We Need to Quit Blaming the Media, Politicians, or the Infernal Them
I call this group of (people | entities | circumstances) the infernal “they” or “them.” They are the people who cause all the problems. They have no moral compass. They are disruptive. They lie. They are apostates, perverts, stupid, deplorable, weak, losers, socialists, libertines (sometimes intended to include libertarians!). Disgusting, all of them. They are…
Remembering Dad – 10 Years Later
Ten years ago my father passed away. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I was asked to provide the eulogy. I rarely use a prepared text when preaching but in this case I thought that my emotions might interfere so I did. I wanted to post it today in honor of dad 10 years after his homegoing,…