Thoughts on ethics, society, politics, religion, philosophy, theology, and everything in between
Apocalyptic Genre Two books of the Bible are of the literary genre known as apocalyptic literature. In the Old Testament, there is the book of Daniel. In the New Testament, there is the book of Revelation. Of the various literary genres found in Scripture, apocalyptic is one of the least well understood and most frequently … Read more
The Psalms occupy a unique place in the canon of Scripture. Most of the writings that make up the Scriptures consist of God’s prophetic words to us, or narratives about God’s dealings with human beings in salvation history. The book of Psalms, on the other hand, is a collection of human prayers addressed to God. … Read more
Theonomy or Dismissal? What does the Old Testament Law have to tell Christians about how they should live today? Christians have given a wide variety of answers to this question. On one end of the spectrum there are theonomists, who believe that the Old Testament Law should be the model for the laws of civil … Read more
One of the most prominent contemporary theological debates among Christians who believe Scripture is the Authoritative word of God revolves around the inerrancy of Scripture. According to the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture, the Bible is completely free of any errors on any topic, including science, history, and so forth (This is to be … Read more
In a previous post, I addressed a popular interpretation of the Protestant principle of sola scriptura (“Scripture alone”), arguing that Protestants still must acknowledge church tradition to be to some extent authoritative, even if Scripture is their highest theological authority. In this post, I will address a popular interpretation of the Protestant principle of sola … Read more
In my last post, I examined how paying close attention to some key Old Testament citations in the Gospel of Mark can help us better understand the theological teachings of Mark’s Gospel. In this post, I will examine how paying close attention to how the New Testament uses the Old Testament to talk about Jesus … Read more
Most Christians understand the point of the Gospel of Mark to be this: Jesus is God, and He came to die on a cross as a sacrifice for our sins so we could be forgiven (while giving us some good moral teachings along the way). All of this may be true as far as it … Read more
God is omnipresent. Many Christians understand this to mean that God is always equally present at all places at all times, and that God is not locally present at any particular place. There is certainly a sense in which God is present in all places (Psalm 139: 7-10). However, a careful study of Scripture reveals … Read more
“God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” Such is an example of an evangelistic message frequently used by contemporary Christians. There is a sense in which this statement is true. It is true that God loves us. And there is a sense in which it is true that God has a … Read more
I was at a funeral for a departed Christian friend, listening to a number of different speakers giving their reflections upon her life and what her experience would be after her death. One speaker declared that, even though she was dead, we know that right now she is dancing in the streets of heaven. Another … Read more