Home »
Theology »
Archive by category Biblical Theology (Page 3)
When reading biblical poetry, one must learn to connect with the poem on more than one level. While it is important to carefully define the Hebrew words being employed in any passage, and to track a poem’s use of parallelism and word pairs, and to follow the overall...
Continue reading
June 28, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
When I passed inspection for receiving my ministerial license, the individual responsible for my review spread out, like a row of piano keys, the many pages of answers I gave to the theological questions I was asked to address in the process. He ummm-ed a bit, scratched his...
Continue reading
June 21, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Theology
No Comment
Ruth is one of my favorite books, but I have a serious problem with it. The problem is the name. Now, I know that the Jews also called the book “Ruth” and that I should respect that, but honestly I just can’t bring myself to do it. The...
Continue reading
June 9, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
In this edited sermon, I address the common misinterpretation of the line in Isaiah 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish. First people fail to quote the whole proverb. It goes, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is...
Continue reading
April 17, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
This is the heavily edited 6th narrative sermon in the Gospel of Mark. Here Mark uses a repeating story structure to portray Jesus as a deified man who overcomes the impossible in bigger than life miracles after the experts of the day have done all that the could...
Continue reading
April 12, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
No Comment
This is a highly edited sermon on the 5th narrative sermon of the Gospel of Mark. In it I address Mark’s depiction of Jesus’ parable telling. It is the first record of Jesus’ actual teaching since the short snippet recorded in chapter one concerning the time of kingdom...
Continue reading
April 5, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, Inductive Study Methods, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies
No Comment
This is the first of a series of sermons drawn from a course I teach on inductive study that I call, MEETING THE JESUS OF MARK. I introduce the idea of interpreting gospel stories in terms of how the authors have woven various stories into narrative sermon units....
Continue reading
April 3, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
No Comment
Consequences, pain, suffering and loss are unwelcomed gifts from a loving creator to wayward creatures. Only discomfiture drives change. Only a sense of dissatisfaction with the world causes one to look up from his or her preoccupation with it, to consider what lies beyond it. Those who strive...
Continue reading
March 17, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Worship
No Comment
When I was a child, I spent a lot of time irritating my teachers. I had the tendency to say, “What does that mean?” and “What am I supposed to do with that?” or “Why does this matter?” I was more practical back then than I am now...
Continue reading
February 27, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Society
This is a heavily edited New Years Day message that I delivered at Darlington Congregational Church in Pawtucket Rhode Island a few years ago. Being heavily edited, it is not only short, but also gets to the point without a lot of hoopla. I consider the importance that...
Continue reading
February 24, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
I love puzzles, always have. Growing up, I saw puzzles of all kinds as a natural exercise of my desire to be a detective someday, tracing out subtle clues to help me zero in on bad guys. Becoming a biblical scholar, then, has always seemed right on target...
Continue reading
January 18, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
You can question in faith. You can doubt in faith. You can also question and doubt in unbelief, in a heart deep challenge to the truths of God and His word, but questioning and doubting alone should not be sufficient to draw the accusation. One of the great...
Continue reading
January 4, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, Systematic & Historical Theology, Theology
One of the most popular quotes by Christians about Jesus on the Cross is a quote by Jesus on the Cross. In Matthew 27:46 it says, “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God,...
Continue reading
January 2, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Systematic & Historical Theology
No Comment
In my last post, I took an honest look at my early years as a biblical studies professor. I considered a handful of things I could have done better as I was developing as a biblical theologian and scholar and attempting to minister in a highly cultured context...
Continue reading
December 16, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Communication, Contexualization, Systematic & Historical Theology, Theology
No Comment
In studies of cross-cultural communication, I have never ceased to be amazed at the potential for a disconnect even between those raised together. The unique struggles between nature & nurture, between innate personality & individual experience causes people to assess shared events differently, fostering frequent misunderstanding of each...
Continue reading
December 14, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Communication, Society, Theology
No Comment
I have of late, been addressing the popularity of Word Faith teachers whose central focus in ministry (other than collecting your offerings) is to tell you that God has promised you a rose garden of a life and that if you are not living a life of perfect...
Continue reading
December 7, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Theology
No Comment
In my last post, I mentioned that Rev. Mike Caparrelli, pastor of Sacred Exchange Fellowship in East Greenwich RI, an old student of mine, recently gave a rousing example of what it looks like to preach biblical faith with all the same vigor and vim of those self-aggrandizing...
Continue reading
December 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Old Testament Studies, Theology
No Comment
In a recent set of posts on Hebrews 11:3, I was pretty brutal on Word Faith teachers… what some call Hyper-faith teachers, or the Name-it-Claim-it bunch. They teach that God HAS promised you a rose garden, and, if you aren’t living in it, that’s your fault; if you...
Continue reading
December 2, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Theology
No Comment
So, in a recent post I discussed the church’s first heresy (Judaizers/the circumcision party) who sought to require gentiles to become Jews before becoming Christians, or in addition to becoming Christian, as if a proper expression of Christianity is encapsulated in a fixation on the letter of the...
Continue reading
October 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
No Comment
So, I’ve been discussing Torah food laws and how the two main texts that Christians appeal to for ignoring them are improperly interpreted. Mark 7 is talking about Halakic regulations popular during Jesus’ day which sought to drive a wedge of hatred between Jew and Gentile, abandoning the...
Continue reading
October 3, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, Biblical Theology, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT
No Comment
