DBTS Web Articles
The King James-only movement believes that only the KJV is the Word of God. All other English versions are corrupt since no modern Bible version (except the New King James Version) is translated from the Textus Receptus (TR) Greek NT, which is considered to be without...
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God" (ESV). A contested issue in John 3:5 relates to the meaning of “born of water and the Spirit.” In this post, I will argue that the best way to...
In a recent post, I suggested that the beginning of the King James-only movement can be traced to the publication of the Revised Version NT in 1881. The KJV had been the standard English version of the Bible for over 200 years, when the Church of England decided that...
One of the issues that still troubles many churches today is the King James-only error. By KJV-only, I am specifically referencing the belief that only the KJV of the Bible is the Word of God. All other versions or translations are so corrupt that they are not to be...
I received a phone call from a pastor in Florida a few weeks back who was going to be speaking in his church from the book of Ephesians. He wanted my opinion as to what I considered to be the best commentary on the epistle. I quickly told him to look at Harold...
Since its introduction last year, the 2011 update of the New International Version has been, to say the least, the subject of quite a bit of controversy. Many folks were surprised at the recent announcement that the MacArthur Study Bible with its 20,000 notes will be...
In my previous posts, here and here, I reported on a debate between Dan Wallace and Bart Ehrman during which Wallace remarked that he had information about the discovery of a fragmentary papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Mark that possibly may be from the 1st...
We received word yesterday of the death of noted New Testament scholar R. T. France on February 10. Dr. France was well known for a number of important books, including commentaries on Matthew and Mark. You can see a list here. But today I want to call attention to...
This is the title of a thought-provoking post (essay?) by Paul Rahe, Professor of History at Hillsdale College. Dr. Rahe briefly traces the history of the Roman Catholic Church's involvement in the political sphere throughout the history of Western civilization. When...
In a previous post, I noted that Dr. Dan Wallace remarked during a recent debate that he had information about the discovery of a fragmentary papyrus manuscript of the Gospel of Mark that may possibly be from the 1st century A.D. Immediately, Wallace's announcement...
Dan Wallace, in reporting on his recent debate with Bart Ehrman, says that a papyrus fragment of the Gospel of Mark that preliminarily dates from the 1st century A.D. has recently been discovered. This would make it the earliest copy of the New Testament known to...
Today is the memorial service in St. Louis for Frederick Danker, who died on Thursday. Danker was the editor of the Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich Greek lexicon (BDAG), which is the standard Greek dictionary of the New Testament. Those of us who teach New Testament Greek...
If you have been following, or trying to follow, all the discussion and controversy surrounding James MacDonald and T. D. Jakes at Elephant Room 2, Mike Riccardi over at the Cripplegate has provided us with an excellent historical survey. Justin Taylor hints that...
Most of us are familiar with how 2 Cor 5:7 reads in the KJV, "For we walk by faith, not by sight." If you do a Google search on this verse, you will find explanations of what this means, such as, "the Bible challenges us to 'walk by faith, not by sight,'" or you...
According to the latest sales figures from the CBA, three of the best-selling Bibles in the USA are the NIV (New International Version), ESV (English Standard Version), and the HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible). Back in September, Liberty University Biblical...
There is a legitimate question whether the Promised Land includes territory on the east side of the Jordan River or not. Clearly God promised to give the land of Canaan on the west side of the Jordan River to Abraham and his descendants, but should the land given to...
I am a pastor who wants to preach God’s Word faithfully. I also happen to teach preaching to seminary students who also want to preach God’s Word faithfully. I want, by God’s grace, to teach them well and help them “rightly divide the Word of truth” for God’s glory. I...
I'm a cynic and a pessimist by nature. Usually, if "everybody is doing it," I don't. I can't tell you whether it's my sin nature, my metacultural bent, or a regenerate distrust of fads and mania in general. And maybe in this case it's my affinity for the Pittsburgh...
Every three years the DBTS faculty collaborate to produce a Basic Library Booklist for pastors. Of course, books come out more frequently than every three years, so I thought it might be helpful to reflect publicly on the "must haves" in systematic theology from...
This article by Frederica Mathewes-Green has more to do with the problems of feminism and is worth reading, but I thought this section was particularly thought provoking: Take the bad idea that I’m calling "careerism." I don’t mean by this that women shouldn’t have...
The orthodox teaching of the church has always been that Christ is fully God and fully man. Christ was tempted at every point like as we are, but with one exception—unlike us he had no sin nature, and, in fact, did not sin (Heb 4:15): Christ as God could not have...
I was in the midst of working through some of Tom Nettles’s comments on a chapter of my dissertation when a small box arrived from Founders Press. It was with great anticipation that I paused to open the package. Inside was the newly released Festschrift for Tom...
The parent church of DBTS, Inter-City Baptist Church, hosts a conference every second January to stimulate and cultivate interest in foreign missions. The next Student Global Impact (SGI) conference is just two weeks away. Scheduled strategically to accommodate...
If you’re looking for a book to give for Christmas, you might consider Surprised by Oxford. This is a delightful memoir by Carolyn Weber, a Canadian from London, Ontario. It traces her first year as a graduate student at Oxford University (Oriel College). The title, I...