During my recent convalescence after surgery I received a disturbing letter from an earnest young man who was understandably distraught over his shunning from a congregation for whom he felt deep familial attachments. I know I joke around a lot, but I intend no jest here. His church...
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January 7, 2017 Andrew Sargent
Contexualization, NT's Use of the OT, Society, Theology
Matthew 27:46 reads, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Many have taken this text as preaching “the Divine Rejection of Christ on the Cross”—that Jesus “took...
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January 5, 2017 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, New Testament Studies, NT's Use of the OT, Old Testament Studies
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...
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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,...
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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
I’ve been teaching an Isaiah class of late and we had an amusing time last night considering the way the New Testament Scholars have handled the quote from Isaiah 40:3 when it appears in the gospels. I don’t suppose there is some deep and dark secret meaning to...
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December 30, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Language Issues, Biblical Studies, HAGALAH, Meeting the Jesus of Mark, NT's Use of the OT, Text Criticism Issues
I had the pleasure of attending the President’s Chapel recently at Northpoint Bible College. I co-authored the book 40 Days With the Savior with Jonathan Cashman and have been traveling with them as they minister in music to promote the book, shake babies, and kiss hands. Or something...
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December 28, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Studies, Old Testament Studies
There’s been a lot of chatter on social media of late about torture. Now, torture is a powerful weasel word… i.e. a term that comes pre-loaded with good or bad sentiment meant to manipulate the outcome of an exchange without having to resort to actual discussion, facts, or...
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December 26, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Contexualization, Ethics, Society
A few posts back, I began a discussion on the contrast between the scholarly handling of Isaiah 40:3 in the Hebrew and its appearance in both the Greek versions and each of the gospel accounts—Mark 1:3, Matthew 3:3; Luke 3:4; John 1:23. By the way, both texts appear...
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December 23, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Text Criticism Issues
I launched a few posts back into a discussion of the scholarly handling of Isaiah 40:3 in both the Hebrew texts and the Greek texts. In the Hebrew, a voice cries out for someone to prepare a path in the wilderness for the coming dignitary—God—twice. The Greek translations...
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December 21, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Text Criticism Issues
I’ve mentioned previously that I tend to be rather open to discussions about theology and the meanings of Biblical texts, but that I also have two groups running around the Evangelical community who provoke my ire—Word Faith teachers & King James Only teachers. I’ve written frequently of late...
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December 19, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Text Criticism Issues
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...
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December 16, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Communication, Contexualization, Systematic & Historical Theology, Theology
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...
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December 14, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Communication, Society, Theology
When I first saw the advertisement of the documentary advertised above, POVERTY, INC. I thought, “Great, another conspiracy piece about how nobody should ever make a profit, how all profit is theft, how the rich are rich because they’ve despoiled the poor.” I couldn’t have been wrong-er. Let...
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December 13, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society
A lot of people have terrible things happen to them. Some children are beaten, sexually assaulted, feast on a steady diet of verbally demeaning rhetoric. There is war and oppressive governments finding newer and better ways to keep the citizenry cowed in hopelessness and fear, or distracted with...
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December 12, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Ethics, Society
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...
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December 7, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Theology
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...
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December 5, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Old Testament Studies, Theology
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...
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December 2, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Biblical Theology, Contexualization, Theology
We live in a day of heartfelt excuse making for human sin. On one side, everything is your “parent’s”[1] fault… of course, their faults are their “parent’s” fault, and so on and so on, ‘til the fault in the world is entirely environment based not heart based. No...
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November 30, 2016 Andrew Sargent
Society, Theology
In my last blog I began discussing issues of grammar and word meaning in Genesis 3:8. The text is typically translated with something akin to “And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and...
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November 28, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Bible Backgrounds, Old Testament Studies
In my series, 101 Most Misunderstood Passages, there are different sorts of texts that I tackle. Some I am adamant about. Others are reasonable curiosities. The rest fill out the range between them. It reminds me of my “Historical Geography Course” at Jerusalem University College (Yes, that Jerusalem)...
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November 25, 2016 Andrew Sargent
101 Most Misunderstood Verses, Biblical Language Issues, Old Testament Studies
