Search results

The question of spiritual growth is presently problematic for me not due to biblical teaching itself, but due to the reality of deteriorating mental capabilities resulting from various forms of dementia, mental health issues, and sheer loss of mental sharpness due to advancing age. So I often...

Marksman: "Generally, prophecy can be seen throughout scripture in various forms. As we know the birth of Jesus was prophesied in the Old Testament (see Isaiah specifically) and other passages of scripture. The word prophesy in Greek is propheteia and simply means prediction. A person predicts...

The view that the Pope is the Antichrist is a heinous lie based on culturally uninformed interpretations of Revelation that no academic commentary on this book accepts. There are 2 reasons for this: (1) "Babylon" is a symbol of secular Rome in 1 Peter 5:13, Revelation, and in Jewish...

Speaking of preaching disasters, the guy who invited me to preach that day didn't tell me that my audience was largely composed of homeless men and alcoholics who were required to sit through the service right up to the sermon, when they could leave and get their free meal across the street. So...

Unfortunately for the OP's premise, the verb "anastrophe" does not mean "conversation." The newer translations rightly correct the KJV's mistranslation. In fact, "anastrophe" means "way of life, behavior, conduct." This error is just one of countless errors made by th3e KJV. But the worst...

Sovereign: "When was the last time a crippled healed and walked by someone laying hands on them? When was the last time someone was raised from the dead by just having someone laying hands on them?" You just need to leave your myopic Fundamentalist Ghetto and get out more. Smith Wigglesworth...

Hope: "I wish the Charismatic Movement hadn't morphed into a sideshow of crazy manifestations and those who chose to follow signs and prosperity preachers as it is today. Thankfully, folks are moving away from much of that old extremism, although it still exists." Remember, Satan counterfeits...

Enoch: "However, there are well-established commentaries (such as Jamieson. Fausset, and Brown) which say exactly what I have said:" It is giggle-worthy for you to actually cite this commentary written by pastors, not scholars, in 1871 long before the age and advancements of modern biblical...

Your ghastly misinterpretation of 1 Cor. 13:8 must be dismissed as cultic heresy because it is rejected by all neutral academic book commentaries on 1 Corinthians. I challenge you to find a single academic commentary that agrees with your screed. If you had only read the next few verses! Paul...

On this topic it is important to recognize that Paul does not write systematic theology. So we can't assume that his 3 lists of spiritual gifts are exhaustive (1 Cor. 12; Rom. 12; Eph. 4). I'm thinking, for example, of a young peasant girl in China. When the Pentecostal revival was ignited...

The Lord's Prayer is offered as a structural model on how to pray ("Pray then like this.") and is provided in response to the disciples' question about "how to pray." So what this structure teach us? Well, notice that the first 3 petitions deal with God's status and realm "Thy, Thy, Thy") and...

While I was a young Harvard doctoral student, specializing in New Testament, I made some comment in a seminar about my view of how a particular verse might fit into a new view of Paul's "systematic theology." I am still haunted (if also a tad confused!) by Prof. Georgi's wry response. He...

I agree. One simple insight from Galatians 5 is that no believer can experience the 9 "fruit of the Spirit" until she regularly experiences walking in the Spirit and being led by the Spirit.

One of the most crucial but difficult issue here is the meaning and function of Paul's mystical language (e. g. his "being in Christ mysticism"), which of course is somewhat shaped by cultural precedent.--language that pioneering scholar, Albert Schweitzer tries to describe in his seminal book...

The whole premise of the OP's argument is too simplistic and displays ignorance of the history of "the East," especially of ancient Palestine. The Hebrew culture of ancient OT Israel was radically changed Alexander's conquest in the 4th century BC, after which Palenstine became gradually but...

CoreIssue: "Jesus said that before the crucifixion. Afterwords praying to the father is never mentioned again." In the 3 days between crucifixion and resurrection, the disillusioned disciples' only concern is to hide from arrest. They have no confidence that their prayers will be effective...

CoreIssue: "In the church Christ is a single mediator between us and God." You cite this as a reason for the heresy of praying directly to Jesus, but in fact that text is precisely a reason for praying directly to the Father through Jesus and thereby acknowledging Christ's mediation role. That...

Chapter and verse, please! As I said, Jesus repeatedly taught us to pray to "the Father," but I guess you don't care what Jesus taught. And why do you think you know better than the NT church who were taught by the apostles?

CoreIssue: "The Lord's prayer was for Old Testament times." An absurd cultic statement which ALL modern academic commentaries on the Lord's Prayer would reject. The NT church regularly recited the Lord's Prayer during corporate worship (see. e. g. The Didache). CoreIssue: "In the church...

It is shocking that WillieT would want to ridicule Jesus for teaching the right way to pray: "Pray then in this way (Matthew 6:9)." Jesus offers the Lord's prayer as a model for how to pray and my OP outlines in detail the path to fleshing out this model. Jesus can introduce other teaching on...