What was the sin of Nadab and Abihu? The text of Leviticus 10:1-7 is ultimately unclear about this. One Pentateuch scholar aptly calls this an instance of intentional ambiguity on the part of the storyteller/author (see Schnittjer, 99, 324, 413-414). So perhaps we will never know the answer for sure. Nevertheless, many people have contemplated this question, and there are many suggestions out there. How do we evaluate the relative merits of these suggestions? Is there a way to distinguish the plausible theories from the implausible ones? I think so.
Crossway has just released a book I wrote on the doctrine of divine impassibility. The title is God is Impassible and Impassioned: Toward a Theology of Divine Emotion.
I just returned from the Evangelical Theological Society annual meetings in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I picked up a copy of D. A. Carsons new little book, Jesus the Son of God: A Christological Title Often Overlooked, Sometimes Misunderstood, and Currently Disputed (Crossway). On the taxi ride from the airport to the conference, I briefly tried to share the Lord with a taxi driver named Hassan. We were about a minute into the conversation when Hassan commented rather ardently, We Muslims believe that Jesus is a prophet, and not the son of God. I explained to him that Christians dont believe that God had physical relations with Mary that led to her pregnancy, as many Muslims assume and consider blasphemous. The problem for dialogue with Muslims like Hassan is that many Muslims think that is precisely what we Christians mean when we use the expression Son of God in reference to Jesuswhich, of course, we dont. So what if you were a Bible translator in a Muslim country and knew that many of your readers would make the same assumption that Hassan did about the expression Son of God? Perhaps you should change the words Son of God to something else that is proximate in meaning but less offensive. Or maybe you shouldnt
The colors and smells of fall have arrived, even here in southern California. Red, yellow, gold and peach-colored roses, fresh from my garden, are tucked into a round pumpkin. Homemade pumpkin bread, smelling of cinnamon and ginger is fresh from the oven and ready to be tucked into our mouths. Thanksgiving is almost here.
Bueno, pero Dios sigue estando en su trono es una frase que he escuchado bastante veces en los 炭ltimos d鱈as. Los que la pronuncian generalmente lo hacen con un tono de resignaci坦n al ver que las cosas no se han dado como inicialmente esperaban. Me da la impresi坦n que recuerdan que Dios est叩 en control de las circunstancias solamente como un premio de consolaci坦n al ver que su candidato perdi坦 las elecciones o enfrentan otras decepciones en la vida. Tristemente en estos casos, estas personas se olvidan que nuestro Dios siempre es victorioso, siempre est叩 en control y que nada ni nadie obstruye su soberan鱈a sobre todo. Dios no deber鱈a ser el premio de consolaci坦n de los perdedores sino el premio mayor de todos los d鱈as sin importar lo que est辿 sucediendo a nuestro alrededor.
Life can be busy. This just seems to be a reality of life. And especially within the Christian world, busyness sometimes seems to translate into godliness. I have known this to be true in my own life. I have the privilege to teach each week at the seminary and interact with students and colleagues regarding very important eternal matters. I also served as the lead pastor of a church on a part-time basis. Im married with two little boys who were always wanting daddys time. And I was finishing my dissertation for my doctorate. Just a little busy!
Every now and then It is good to be surrounded by people who cause us to consider the stewardship of our life. Being at the global summit, Transform World 2012, has caused me to do just that. Perhaps this can be of encouragement to you.
Are you studying Greek and need to be reminded that it is worth all the work? Or have you spent the time learning the basics of the Greek language and want to being to learn how to apply it to Scripture? There is a new book that nicely combines the study of New Testament Greek and a devotional reading of the Bible.
How would you like to be going into exile? Leaving all you have knownyour home, your beautiful yard and fields, your places of repose and safety, your income earning ability? Two of my friends are going into exile this fall. One, the pastor of a church, is being exiled by leaders who had a different vision for the church than he had. Never mind that he had served there faithfully for over a dozen yearsyes, he had preached the Word, and yes, he had visited the sickbut, well, it wasnt enough. He is facing the exile of not having a job, not knowing the future and not being able to see what God has ahead for him.
The recent statistics released by The Pew Forum on Religious & Public Life showing a decline among Americans who consider themselves religious are sure to alarm many concerned about the spiritual state of the nation. For evangelicals, the most potentially jarring of these statistics shows that for the first time in its history the United States does not have a Protestant majority. The study found that about 20% of Americans say they have no religious affiliation, an increase from 15% in the last five years. The sobering reality in all this for evangelicals is that, although our churches continue to grow, our evangelistic effectiveness has significantly lagged behind the US population growth. This study is a clear challenge to evangelicals to live up to our name and proclaim the good news in a culture where we can no longer assume common theological foundations. Evangelical Christians have to learn to preach the gospel in a culture where we are no longer part of the Protestant majority. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. A few observations about the data shows that the picture is not as bleak as it may seem.
El Esp鱈ritu Santo es esencial para la vida y ense単anza cristiana. De hecho, no creo exagerar al afirmar que sin la ayuda y poder del Esp鱈ritu Santo todos nuestros esfuerzos tanto para agradar a Dios como para ense単ar a otros a hacerlo carecen de sentido y, por lo tanto, los resultados son insignificantes. Desgraciadamente, en muchas ocasiones el Esp鱈ritu Santo es olvidado, minimizado o incluso relevado a solamente una teor鱈a teol坦gica que creemos porque se encuentra en la Biblia, pero que no tiene ninguna relevancia en nuestra vida diaria. De hecho, llegu辿 a escuchar a un profesor de un seminario afirmar que muchos cristianos de forma pr叩ctica creen que la santa trinidad est叩 compuesta por el Padre, el Hijo y las Santas Escrituras. De esta manera, la presencia del Esp鱈ritu Santo es totalmente olvidada.
Mentoring may be a buzz-word in the business world, but the practice of developing another person for specific purposes of skill or leadership development has been around since the beginning of civilization. It is evident throughout Scripture especially in the ministries of Jesus and Paul. However, the integration of mentoring for ministry preparation within academic settings has built in problems. SO WHY BOTHER? For many reasons...
Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays. Somehow I seem to be lacking the creativity gene necessary to enjoy thinking up and assembling an ingenious costume. For me that process is not enjoyable; it is a laborious chore. It wasnt always that way. Of course, as a young child, we dont have much of a choice about whether we dress up for Halloween or what we wear. Our parents make those choices, and their primary criterion for a costume seems to be cuteness. And how hard is it to make a little child look cute?
The latest news on historical Jesus research can now be found in Popular Mechanics? Im used to perusing Popular Mechanics to see flying cars, homemade submarines, and ads for power tools. But Popular Mechanics published a reconstructed picture of Jesus (quite a while ago, but I just noticed it!). Ill show you the picture and explain it in just a bit. But first, I want you to see some of my favorite portraits of Jesus. My students have become accustomed to seeing these non-traditional pictures of Jesus decorating my powerpoint lecture notes. This picture of Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (from the Via Latina catacomb, ca. 340-350) was painted by a Roman, so Jesus and the woman both have Roman hairstyles and clothing. No beard on Jesus!
A few weeks ago I put up a post with the title: Something About the Book of Romans that will Really Help You Get It. (Click HERE to read it.) I rounded out that article with a list of questions from Romans to help people see the importance of the ethnic issues going on in the background of the letter to the Romans. Some people expressed surprise that there were so many questions in the book of Romansits not something that they had noticed before. Well, there are a whole lot more questions in Romans than the ones I listed. Questions are one of the ways Paul moves his argument forward. Do you want to see how many questions there are?
This morning, I began teaching Greek sentence diagramming to my students in Introduction to Exegesis. Some students love diagramming, but probably more dread it, at least at first. I picked some sentences to diagram from John 1, mainly because the students had just translated this passage a few weeks ago. One sentence in particular, John 1:12-13, reveals that nerdy analytical approaches such as Greek diagramming can help understand passages of Scripture better. Heres the diagram (with a translation below for non-Greek readers) 畚凌旅 隆畚 畆了留硫凌僚 留畚僚, 畆隆虜竜僚 留畚凌畤 畆両凌溜留僚 劉虜僚留 慮竜凌畤 粒竜僚劉慮留旅, 凌畤 旅竜凌旅僚 竜畆囲 畚 畚僚凌亮留 留畚凌畤,
Recently I found myself thinking back to an article in Christianity Today by Philip Yancey in which he profiled the late Catholic theologian Henri Nouwen. Nouwen, a prolific and well-known spiritual writer, had taught at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard before leaving academia to be a priest in residence for a community for the disabled in Toronto called Daybreak. On the surface, Nouwens decision might seem impulsive and irrational. After all, he left teaching at some of Americas premier universities to devote his time to people who did not have the ability to appreciate his tremendous intellectual gifts, who in fact could barely understand the most basic aspects of faith. But despite his academic success, Nouwen left those prestigious academic institutions because he felt that the busy schedule and intense competition were suffocating his spiritual life.
While reaching the whole world with the gospel is the mission of the Christian faith, lifegiving churches recognize that the world is made up of many different audiences. Since different groups of people have quite different cultures, needs, and methods of communication, a church that intentionally tries to reach a specific group with the message of Christ, will normally be much more effective than one that tries to reach everyone with a general attempt. Every church should have a sign that says, "Everyone Welcome," but a deliberate strategy must be in place or they will only see accidental growth.
Insofar as Jesus Christ is emplaced in glorified resurrection embodiment at the Fathers right hand in heavenly session, that place shapes and orients all other place claims.
After a Talbot chapel some time ago, in which we struggled with three or four 'glitches' in the program, my dear colleague Dennis Gaines leaned over and said to me, "I call these things weeds". Yes, weeds...those little irritations that prevent our best efforts from being the gems of perfection we designed them to be.
He tenido el privilegio de ser profesor por m叩s de veinte a単os. A los diecinueve a単os empec辿 a ense単ar espa単ol y otras materias en una secundaria publica en Guadalajara, M辿xico. Esta aventura que empez坦 como un simple trabajo se ha convertido en mi vocaci坦n y he tenido la oportunidad de ense単ar en varios pa鱈ses, instituciones y niveles acad辿micos que van de la secundaria hasta el doctorado. La tarea de un profesor es ardua y siempre hay muchas cosas que aprender. De hecho, actualmente ense単o en un programa doctoral que se enfoca principalmente en la tarea educativa y en los procesos de ense単anza-aprendizaje en diferentes contextos cristianos.
Last week, I posted my initial take on the so-called "Gospel of Jesus' Wife." My first point was that it was "too early to tell" whether the manuscript was genuine. In the last twenty years, forgers have produced some amazingly convincing forgeries, so scholars have become cautious about all archeological finds.
Jesus often created controversy, particularly when he associated with sinners. He made it a practice of eating in the company of acknowledged sinners, a practice that was in direct contrast to that of the Pharisees. Why did He practice such an unusual form of hospitality for his day?
John 7:53-8:11, often described as The Passage of the Woman Caught in Adultery (passage de adultera), is famous for several reasons. The pleasant reason is that it is one of the most dramatic displays of the grace of God in the Bible. But there is also a more difficult reason that needs to be addressed: this passage was likely not in the original version of the Gospel of John, but was added later at an undeterminable time and for an unknown reason. How should the church treat this passage?
晩晩当際際夊消消夊2023