John 8:7 is especially popular with non-Christians who resent any suggestion within Christianity that they are sinners in need of salvation. It is usually paraphrased, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.”[1] Sounds good doesn’t it?— Don’t judge me! John 8:7 is a “Get-out-of-Jail-free card” for...
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October 8, 2019 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
“I’m a New Testament Christian!” A common boast by those little interested in the Old Testament… I mean… Doesn’t that just sound defunct… OLD… Good old things get the label antique, which is cool, but other old things just get OLD… rhymes with MOLD and for good reason. ...
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April 24, 2019 Andrew Sargent
Meeting the Jesus of Mark, NT's Use of the OT
In our last episode, we introduced the bare bones essence of water baptism as an ancient covenant ratification act saturated with typical death imagery and corresponding OT interests in ordeal (the divinely ordained safe passage through the maws of death, representing divine election and/or divine decrees of innocence). ...
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April 18, 2019 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Intertestamental History & Literature, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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So you read the whole Old Testament. You read it several times. Having immersed yourself in the literature that your Bible, by its basic structure, seems to promise as the precursor to the rest, you finally turn to the New Testament. This is how it always goes isn’t...
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April 16, 2019 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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I will never forget my first Master’s paper at Regent University. I called it, “How They Got This Out of That.” I worked hard in my undergraduate programs (Yes, programs plural… I had a sordid flirtation with more than one Bible College before beginning my graduate studies.) but...
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April 15, 2019 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies, Text Criticism Issues
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There is a certain beauty in translation. It is not only a science, but also an art… some would say not even a science. There are all kinds of philosophies that govern how a given translation attempts to render one language into another, and while I don’t have...
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April 11, 2019 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Language Issues, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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To the Hebrews context mattered a good deal. Our own struggles to understand the use to which some New Testament writers put certain Old Testament texts may make us doubt that they cared about the Historical Grammatical and Literary context of a passage but we would be wrong....
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May 28, 2018 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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There are many bingo phrases that Christian’s throw around at church that I am convinced they barely understand. If you ask them what their favorite terms mean, you will, more than likely, get a rather short answer which misses the mark if, for nothing else, its very brevity....
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May 25, 2018 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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I had a professor once, gifted in languages, but not in relationships. He could not only read more than his fair share of languages even for a scholar, but he was also a fluent conversationalist in several. He decided that he wanted his wife to learn to speak...
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May 21, 2018 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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Though appearing over 1000x in Scripture, HOLY is a tricky notion to express in modern secular communities. Few raised in the modern western tradition today have the proper mental and emotional categories to contain its full weight and meaning, even when accurately defined through extended description; and we...
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May 2, 2018 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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Okay, as promised, this is the last post on the popular type-scene “Foreigner at the Well.” I hope it will be rewarding enough to warrant a gander. No, you don’t have to pay a goose to read it, just take a curious poke into it to check it...
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April 11, 2018 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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After discussing, in my recent blog post, “Hallelujah is a Sentence,” that the biblical “term” Hallelujah has grammar and that we should both be aware of that grammar and use the phrase accordingly in our worship songs, I received two types of criticism. Let’s call them sniveling and...
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March 12, 2018 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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If there is one thing I can say about the church I was raised in, indeed I can say many things about it, but this blog is rated PG-13, I suppose, so, I can’t repeat most of them in present company, it is that they had some of...
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March 5, 2018 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, NT's Use of the OT, Theology
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In my previous post “The Inanity of Nain,” I introduced the importance of the physical association of Jesus’ raising of the widow’s son with Elisha’s wondrous raising of the Shunammite’s. (2 Kings 4:36-37) Nain and Shunem, not two full miles apart, share the western edge of the hill...
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January 3, 2018 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
So in Chapter 2 verse 15, Matthew deems Joseph’s return to Israel after a quick escape from Herod by hiding out in Egypt for a time to be a fulfillment of Hosea 11:1, which says, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.” Many have suggested that such...
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May 15, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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Let’s consider the 7th of seven paths of investigation needed to unlock potential rationales behind NT authors’ use of OT texts. Matthew 2:15 says that an historical comment in Hosea 11:1 is “fulfilled” in Jesus’ childhood departure from Egypt. Does this prove that NT writers didn’t care about...
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May 12, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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Today I want to consider the 6th of seven paths of investigation that a person should take in an attempt to understand a New Testament author’s USE of an Old Testament text. Do texts like Matthew 2:15—in which an historical comment in Hosea 11:1 is said to “be...
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May 3, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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Today I want to consider the 5th of seven paths of investigation that a person should take in an attempt to understand a New Testament author’s USE of an Old Testament text. Some falsely imagine that texts like Matthew 2:15—in which an historical comment in Hosea 11:1 is...
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May 1, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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This is an edited sermon about the meaning behind Matthew’s claim that Joseph moving to Nazareth was a fulfillment of Scripture. It explores the meaning of “fulfillment” in the New Testament, the history of the city, the nature of Matthew’s use of the prophets, the problem with spelling...
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April 19, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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I am pleased to welcome Othello Mugugu back as a guest blogger today. He originally hails from Zimbabwe, has a Bachelors from Northpoint Bible College, Serves in the American Army, has completed his Masters in Religious Studies from Providence College in Providence Rhode Island. Today he has allowed me to...
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April 14, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Language Issues, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
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