Today we continue our series on “How I Became a…”. Two weeks ago I discussed how I had become a Theistic-Evolutionist. That was one of my later theological “conversions.” Up for discussion today, is my one of earliest theological conversions, that is the transition to Arminianism. Before going too far down a rabbit hole, letContinue reading “How I Became … an Arminian”
Category Archives: Bible Study
Good Works Week IV: James, the Elephant
Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, “Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ!Continue reading “Good Works Week IV: James, the Elephant”
Elder Qualifications: Difficult Issues in Translation and Interpretation
I have been having a wonderful experience leading a small group through the Sermon on the Mount. We got side tracked a couple of weeks ago when we started talking about how we interpret the Bible, and so we spent one evening going through Michael Patton’s Biblical Interpretation in a Nutshell This is an excellentContinue reading “Elder Qualifications: Difficult Issues in Translation and Interpretation”
The 42 Books Beside My Bed
I have a bookcase in my bedroom. Unfortunately it is full. So books that I am reading, have recently read, or hope to read, tend to get piled up next to my bed. I did a bit of a tidy up recently and discovered much to my surprise that I had 42 books in, around,Continue reading “The 42 Books Beside My Bed”
The Resurrected Christ at Christmas
At this season of the year, when we consider Jesus’ birth and infancy narratives in the New Testament Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and are confronted once more with the fact that they differ from one another, and that the other Gospels do not include any material at all from Jesus’ early life, we invariablyContinue reading “The Resurrected Christ at Christmas”
The Perils of Wisdom
Here is the conclusion to the lesson I taught Sunday to the adult class at church. We looked at the Wisdom Psalms, those psalms that are didactic, admonishing believers to walk in God’s ways. There is, of course, a variety of wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible, including entire books, such as Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, andContinue reading “The Perils of Wisdom”
Reconsider Jesus – Moving Forward
When many of the Dead Sea Scrolls faced delay in publication, conspiracy theories started to abound: What was it in the scrolls that the Vatican wanted to keep secret? Were they harmful to the church? Did they dispute the claims of Christianity? In fact the truth is a little more boring than that. The originalContinue reading “Reconsider Jesus – Moving Forward”
Reconsider Jesus – A Status Update and Call For Help
For two years now I have been working on compiling Michael Spencer’s upcoming book: Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. On some recent Fridays we have been giving you some “sneak peeks” into this devotional commentary. Initially a lot of effort was put into finding Michael Spencer’s written studiesContinue reading “Reconsider Jesus – A Status Update and Call For Help”
How the Bible “Works” Today
In our discussion on Monday regarding Andrew Perriman’s views on eschatology, commenters asked some important questions about Perriman’s exegetical method and what it does to our understanding of the Bible. For example, Damaris wrote: Still, I see a problem in Perriman’s exegetical technique — if I’m understanding correctly: as I said above, the Bible becomesContinue reading “How the Bible “Works” Today”
Reconsider Jesus – The Sent Out
The following is an excerpt from Michael Spencer’s upcoming book: Reconsider Jesus – A fresh look at Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. This week we are looking at a part of Michael Spencer’s writing and speaking on Mark 6. I accidentally skipped ahead and will be returning to Mark 5 next week. The material being coveredContinue reading “Reconsider Jesus – The Sent Out”
The Internet Monk Archives 