The story of the burning bush is rather famous among Sunday School aficionados. In fact, in a completely made up nation-wide survey of 5-10 year olds who attended church at least bi-monthly with their families in 2019—there were not enough kids for the 2020 study—the story of the...
Continue reading
July 29, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
The story of Cain and Abel is usually heralded as a classic tale of sibling rivalry, hate, and murder. It is a tale of persecution, the godless hating the righteous. Is this not the very perspective of none other than Jesus Himself in Matthew 23:35? While this is...
Continue reading
July 27, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Oaths are self-curses made before God or gods to establish the trustworthiness of promises or testimony. Oaths were religious tools for securing good faith between potential enemies so that they might have some relationship or safe interaction. Think of our common school yard oath, “Cross my heart and...
Continue reading
July 25, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Believe it or not, John 5 should be read in light of John 9. If you take John 5 out of the gospel and read it by itself, you will fail to gain several insights into that story that its brother story in John 9 is meant to...
Continue reading
July 22, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Pst… Psst… Pssst… Hey! You! Come over here, I want to tell you something you won’t believe about John 4. It blew my mind. Doing Old Testament Studies, sometimes you discover something wonderful about the New Testament. Not too long ago I discovered something magical about John 4...
Continue reading
July 20, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
If a Bible reader had to nominate some group in Scripture for “Most Hated,” I doubt many would name anyone other than the tax collectors. In fact, tax collectors are singled out for scorn directly or indirectly over 30 times in the synoptic gospels. Jewish hatred for tax...
Continue reading
July 18, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
If a Bible reader had to single out some group in the Bible who seemed particularly despised, I doubt many would name anyone other than the tax collectors. In fact, they are singled out for scorn directly or indirectly over 30 times in the synoptic gospels. Are we...
Continue reading
July 15, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
This Christmas, I refuse to stoke my own superior minded ego by telling you all the things we Christians get wrong about the visit of the Magi… how they don’t actually show up on the night of Jesus’ birth… how they most likely weren’t kings… how we have...
Continue reading
July 11, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Happy New Years!!! Whoopdeedoo! The calendar went back to January 1st, alert the media, break out the fireworks, dance in the streets… with coats and mittens. Why do we make such a big tadoo over it? Is it not just a calendar… just one more trip around the...
Continue reading
July 8, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
One of my favorite things to study in the Bible is the New Testament’s use of the Old Testament. I say USE because the New Testament writers do many things with the Old Testament, only one of which is to interpret it for us. They apply it, draw...
Continue reading
July 6, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
Genesis 1:27 single handedly lays down one of the most important and diverse theological concepts in all of Scripture. It says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” It is not uncommon...
Continue reading
July 4, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Uncategorized
In our last two posts on the incident at Nain, we discussed the importance of geographical study as something deeper than map investigations, and the importance of typology for an author’s theological goals, bringing meaning to his subject by portraying it in the contours and colors of meaningful...
Continue reading
July 4, 2022 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
I’m the last person who should criticize another person for writing an aggressive article that seeks to make a single point in exclusion to a myriad of other points that might soften a forceful tone. In fact, when I read the post, “The Greatest False Idol of Modern...
Continue reading
July 1, 2022 Andrew Sargent
Society
