I believe that I can state the difference between the two primary eschatological views in the church today this way: 1. The biblical text determines one’s theology. 2. One’s theology determines one’s interpretation of the biblical text. The first view results in what is (unfortunately) called dispensational premillennialism. The second results in a variety of… Read More »
What makes Mark’s gospel different? First, it is shorter than the other Gospels. That means he doesn’t include things like Jesus’s birth and childhood. Second, Mark is action-packed, moving from one event to the next. Third, Mark doesn’t have most of the long speeches of Jesus that Matthew records (like the Sermon on the Mount).… Read More »
I heard about a Christmas card that had this verse on it: Revelation 11:10 — “Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another.” This certainly seems like an appropriate verse for Christmas celebrations as long as you ignore the context. The context… Read More »
These photos of the Mount Carmel fire bring home the devastation. About half of the forest was destroyed and they estimate it will take forty years to fully recover. If you were with me for L&B, you probably stayed at the guesthouse at Beit Oren. If you want to believe that the TSA security system… Read More »
I’ve read most of I. Howard Marshall’s New Testament Theology in the last few months as I’ve done my NT arguments because I find his insights valuable. He is a very good scholar and I certainly recommend the book to all students of Scripture. I don’t agree with him on everything, but I’m not reading… Read More »
Late last night, in a hospice in North Carolina, our friend Gloria Suess went home to be with the Lord. Our friendship with Gloria began in 1990 when Kelli and I first traveled (separately) to study in Israel. Our relationship with her developed a few years later when we returned as a married couple to… Read More »
After a break, I think it’s time to start the Bible reading guide for the New Testament. As I said before, I wrote this for one of our sons. Here’s Matthew: There are four books about Jesus, but they are not unnecessary. Each one presents not only different events in Jesus’s life, but also a… Read More »
I’m nearing the end (of the New Testament) and I’m seeing something curious. Actually it didn’t occur to me straight out, but more subtly, as I started categorizing everyone in my life as either one who walks in the truth or a false teacher. :-) It is very interesting that the last books of the… Read More »
I just thought I’d mention again, as Christmas gets closer, that I have a few dozen 2011 “Lands of the Bible” calendars remaining. I’ve received a lot of good feedback, and I think they make great gifts, especially to people who know and love Israel. Details here.
I may have mentioned here before that one of my college professors once said that there are two kinds of people: those who read commentaries and those who write commentaries. I don’t remember what my response was, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in my pride I thought that I would be one of the… Read More »