Is Cremation a Sin?
Is it a sin to cremate the Dead? When I was a kid in Church, it was common to hear adults reference the cremation of the dead as a sin.…
When God Commanded Israel to Break His Law
There is an interesting twist, if you’ll pardon the pun, in the tassel command from Numbers 15:38-41 when it is woven (sorry I just can’t stop myself) into the new…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Good Tassels Gone Bad
The giving of the tassel to the Israelites in Numbers 15:38-41 is a powerful symbol of God’s love and acceptance, a divine gift to aid them in their struggles against…
Why This Parable?
When trying to understand one of Jesus’ parables, there are four vital questions to answer about it. Let’s go over them. Question #1: What is the nature of the details…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Jesus, The Prophet of Prophets
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…
One Man’s Reception of the Reception History Conference of the Society of Pentecostal Studies’ 2019 Annual Meeting
I have just returned from my first SPS annual meeting. As a newbie, I was less than impressed. Rats! There goes the tension spring in another understatement meter; I should…
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
What the Woman Caught in Adultery Shouldn’t Teach Us: Law, Grace & Bad Hermeneutics
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,…
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
Jesus as Gospel: Is there Emperor Typology in Mark 1:1?
Some have suggested that the “OF” case in Mark 1:1 in the phrase “Gospel of Jesus” is objective… meaning that Jesus is the gospel and not merely the preacher of…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Getting out the Pagan Within Part 1: A Biblical Theology of I Samuel 15:27-31
Even a brief scan of 1 Samuel 15 should be enough to perplex the average reader. Here YHWH commands Samuel to command Saul to utterly destroy a people called the…
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
A Baptism in Confusion: 3 Baptisms in Mark 1:2-13
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…
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
A Baptism in Baptism
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…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
So, a Donkey and an Ox Wander into a Parallel: Exodus 23:3-6
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…
One is the Loneliest Isaian Authorship theory that You’ll Ever Do: A Great Reason to Read Isaiah as the Work of One Prophet
Years ago, during my first Master’s degree, I spent on-again off-again bouts of time considering the relationship of the two stories in the middle of Isaiah to the material that…
How Many Hats Can One Prophet Wear?—A 2nd Reason to Reconsider Multiple Isaiah Theories
I always wanted a mentor when I was young. I was hungry for truth and hungry for the Scriptures, but had the misfortune to find myself in a church that…
Induction… not just for Science Nerds Anymore
When I speak of “Doing Biblical Theology” I intend the use of an arsenal of tools for ascertaining the intended theological message of a biblical unit of literature. I just…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Saul Loses the Girl and Gains a Doomed Throne
In recent posts, I’ve been considering biblical variations on the type-scene, “Foreigner at the Well.” Perhaps you are tired of reading about it… you have been reading about it haven’t…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Old Testament Studies
What’s Good for the Gander is Good for the Goose: “The Foreigner at the Well” in Ruth
In recent blogs, I’ve been considering the alluring and powerfully theological type-scene “Foreigner at the Well.” It is common for people to develop in their entertainment of any form typical…
I’ll Have One “Foreigner at the Well” with a Twist
In my recent post, “Wells: The Singles’ Bars of the Ancient Near East,”—I just call ‘em like I see ‘em Folks! Don’t judge me—I discussed the beauty of the ancient…
Mother Necessity Reads the Bible
There is little doubt in my mind that there is a constancy to human nature that maintains a vital unity and relevance for human experience from age to age and…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Without a Vision, People are Certain to Misinterpret Proverbs 29:18
I’m not sure which is worse, the constant misuse of Proverbs 29:18a (KJV) or how many times I find myself saying, “That’s not a good translation,” whenever I try to…