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This thread is intended to draw attention to the elusive meaning of several ambiguous but spiritually important biblical texts. Please make your case for your interpretation, resisting the temptation to pontificate without evidence on what you think the text should mean. Let me begin the...

As good academic commentaries on the Fourth Gospel point out, Jesus' theology of Eucharist refutes the notion that consumption of Communion bread and wine is a merely symbolic act: "For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink (John 6:55)." Here Jesus offends His disciples by teaching...

atpollard: "However, your response speaks volumes about you and I simply don’t care what you have to say any longer." Your ostrich approach the truth is giggle worthy. I dare you to start a new thread on Johannine authorship of the Fourth Gospel. You are obviously terrified of confronting the...

atpollard: "What a coincidence! I have a full copy of MY Gospel and all of my Letters to the Church available online, too. Is that enough to prove that I am the Apostle John? :)" Hardly, because you are apparently ignorant of the scholarly consensus that the Apostle John is not the author of...

1 Corinthians 4:19-20 may be the most important of the neglected texts on spirituality: "I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and will find out not the [God] talk of these arrogant people but their power. For the kingdom of God depends not on [God] talk but on power." Notice what...

Not right now! Just returned from a 16 day cruise from near the top of the Mississippi to the bottom (New Orleans) on the world's largest paddlewheel steamship (The American Queen). Loved the nightly Broadway caliber shows, the seafood, (grouper, walleye, bass, rainbow trout, redfish, salmon...

atpollard: "...I would prefer to pass on repeating the same old “proof texts”, arguments and counter arguments and approach this from a less travelled direction. Total Inability, the “T” in TULIP, has its roots in the “Adamic curse” and “original sin” and our “sin nature” … and the disagreement...

A few years ago, JM became the pastor of a TULIP church in our small city. I got to know Jeff through our local ministerial association. JM soon saw through a fatal flaw in the TULIP position and found himself in a faith crisis that jeopardized the future of his own ministry and the wellbeing...

Enoch: "Since you identify yourself as a Christian you should not even be asking such questions." First, as my post makes clear, I am addressing the objections of many "honest seekers" to the intellectual merits of the Christian faith. I care about their salvation, to which the closed-minded...

I commend Deborah for posing the one question that prompts so many honest seekers to reject the Christian faith. For me, the OP's question needs to be reformulated as these 4 basic questions: (1) How can anyone's death, even the death of God's Son, possibly have anything to do with my guilt...

(1) The greatest problem with the subject of spiritual maturation is this: in the churches I pastored there were so many sweet souls who loved church and worship, but were so intellectually limited that they would have no hope of passing a quiz on the basics of the Gospel, though they would be...

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...