101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Meeting the Jesus of Mark
New Testament Studies
Jesus May Have Declared All Foods Clean But I Still Won’t Eat Chilled Monkey Brains
I learned Hebrew from a Rabbi. Then I had to re-learn it from other sources. The Rabbi, you see, had a rather relaxed philosophy of language learning. He immersed our…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
What You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know about the “Still Small Voice” Could Fill A Blog Post
Today we have a recently engaged guest Blogger. John Donnelly is a Biblical Literacy Ministries Educator, Church Planter, & Part-year missionary to India. John has a Master’s in Old Testament…
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 1—Red to White
Isaiah 1:18—almost every Christian I know can quote it. It is a common favorite of preachers who see in this verse a solid Old Testament promise of forgiveness in Jesus,…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 2—Nasty Grammar Questions
In part 1 of this series, I focused on the tendency to make too many assumptions about color terms in the Bible. The dilemma is that while we have no…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Though Your Sins be Made White as Snow, You Still Might Goof Isaiah 1:18: Part 3—Context
In parts 1 & 2 we discussed the wide range of possibilities available to us for Isaiah 1:18 in keeping with both the flexibility of dye/color imagery in the Biblical…
Addiction, Too, Can Be a Weasel Word
Weasel words are highly emotive words that are used to manipulate perception, transferring feeling to ideas or products or policies. Weasel words take people hostage emotionally pressuring them to buy,…
Abuse Can Be a Weasel Word
In every area of life, one needs to be cautious with highly emotive words…. especially highly emotive words that, like most highly emotive words, have no clear definition, or no…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
Old Testament Studies
Text Criticism Issues
Re-imagining David and Goliath—Hey Big Boy?
We’ve been discussing the puzzle of David’s assault on Goliath, whether David hit Goliath in the head or the leg, given that the Hebrew terms for forehead and grieve are…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Studies
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath—Slings of Outrageous Proportion
In our last David and Goliath post, we considered the puzzle regarding David’s defeat of Goliath. The place where David struck Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:49 is the same Hebrew…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Bible Backgrounds
Biblical Language Issues
Biblical Theology
HAGALAH
Inductive Study Methods
Old Testament Studies
Re-imagining David and Goliath: Foreheads, Legs, and Sling Stones
Imagination has a good deal to do with how the story of David & Goliath is used in modern times, even among scholars and in commentaries. Given its status as…
12 Quick Reasons Why Christian Leaders Should Learn Biblical Languages
If you consider yourself a leader in the church, whether pastor or lay leader, you should seriously consider taking the plunge to learn biblical languages. It is easier than you…
Can Men and Women be Friends?: The Friend Zone as Danger Zone
Can men and women be friends? Of course men and women can be friends… so long as one defines the term friend properly. The real question is, can men and…
101 Most Misunderstood Verses
Biblical Studies
New Testament Studies
NT's Use of the OT
Old Testament Studies
A Tongue Lashing over Tongues
Let’s face it, the Corinthian church was a mess. They remind me of the struggles of frontier ministers, like Peter Cartwright, who once beat the crud out of some hecklers,…
An Argument for Flexible Interpretation in Isaiah 44:18
The identity of “HE” in Isaiah 44:18 is in the end a mystery, but the question itself and the journey that results from the pursuit of an answer is invaluable.…
Why I don’t Read Christian Fiction
I don’t read Christian fiction. As an Old Testament scholar, I have an affinity with message in story and, like many of the investigators in my favorite novels, I enjoy…
Who Put the Us in Genesis?
In Genesis 1:26, we find, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Genesis 3:22 reads, “Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has…
God Hates Divorce, But Should We?
Living, as Americans, in a culture of divorce makes any dialogue on divorce and the Christian difficult. Indeed, any teaching set forward on divorce and remarriage will no longer be…
Parts is Parts: Compartmentalization & Holistic Christianity
“You are attempting the impossible,” the Dean said to me in 1992. “You can’t get a PhD, be a husband, father, and employee. If you manage to get the degree,…
Becoming Like our Idols in Isaiah 44:18
We’ve been considering the identity of the grand “HE” in Isaiah 44:18. Speaking of those who make and worship idols, Isaiah says, “They do not know; they do not understand…
And Justice for All: The Theological Thrust of Psalm 82
I’ve been asked to preach Psalm 82 in a couple weeks. I was a bit wary at first. The text is rife with scholarly controversy and I was uncertain that…