With this post I continue my critique of the framework interpretation of the creation week. As I stated in the previous post, three major theses support the framework view. Having looked at the first argument, I will focus on the second argument in this post. The...
There is a new web site, Early Bible, that recently came online, whose purpose is to display pictures of the New Testament papyrus manuscripts. It is very nicely done and hopefully more papyri will be coming online soon.
Previously (here, here, and here), we reported on seven new papyrus manuscript finds reported by Dan Wallace, including a first-century copy of Mark's Gospel. Below is a recent video with Dan giving a few more details.
The current popularity of the framework interpretation of the Genesis creation account is largely a result of the work of Reformed scholar Meredith G. Kline. His initial entry was an article in the late 1950s, “Because It Had Not Rained” (Westminster Theological...
The King James-only movement suggests that with the coming of the KJV there was no need for further translation work and that the proliferation of modern versions is harmful to the church. Yet the translators of the KJV faced the same objection. They note in their...
The King James-only movement refuses to recognize any other translation in English as the Word of God. As I noted in previous posts (here and here), the Preface to the 1611 KJV is an embarrassment to the KJV-only position because in the Preface the translators...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 use of the term passion has seen a huge uptick in conservative evangelical life in the past 25 years or so, roughly paralleling the sharp rise in influence of Reformed Charismatism in conservative evangelical theology and hymnody. The...
You’ve heard the mantra a dozen times: “Christianity is not a religion; it’s a relationship.” This statement is quite wrong. Firstly, because it’s a false dichotomy (can’t it be both?), but secondly because if we have to choose, Christianity is more...
In 1 Peter 2:11–12, Peter argues that believers should live “good lives among the pagans” with the goal that unbelievers would see the believers’ “good deeds and glorify God.” From 2:13–3:7, Peter lays out the various ways this can be accomplished: by citizens...
Many people are looking for excuses to do less for God. This post is not for them. This is for Christians who tend to burn the candle at both ends, for people who have a hard time saying “no.” I regularly meet with people who are overwhelmed with life. Sometimes it’s...
I knew I had a difficult task ahead of me. The next passage to teach in my Adult Bible Fellowship was 1 Peter 3:18–22. If you have ever preached or taught through 1 Peter, you got goosebumps when I mentioned that passage. In just five verses there is complexity upon...
Dealing with difficult passages requires that we keep four hermeneutical principles in mind: Principle #1: Interpreting difficult passages starts with understanding what the text says.Principle #2: Difficult passages must be interpreted in light the immediate...
The tendency among young men and women to delay marriage (or even to abandon it entirely) in contemporary Western society has given birth to a curiously parallel increase of interest in Paul’s passing comment in 1 Corinthians 7:6–9 about his own marital state...
We can endure the worst kinds of pain when there is a meaningful purpose. A cadet can endure strenuous labor and exhaustion as long as he knows that his suffering is designed to prepare him for future battle. A mother can endure severe labor pains if she knows the...
* Note this is a two-part series. The first part details my theological reservations about the book. The second details some of the insightful elements a discerning reader may nevertheless gain from the book. C.S. Lewis was a master of imagination. Most Christians...
Breaking news: We are all going to die. But prior to death, we lose our strength and energy. Old age comes with waning strength. Memory starts to slip; instability and immobility become a norm of life. Young, healthy people don't think about the later years as...
Today in the library, I stumbled upon four new students toiling away on a research and writing assignment. This encounter reminded me of when I started seminary, and what I wish I knew then that I know now in my final year. Over the past four years, numerous books...
A few weeks ago Doug Wilson outlined a solution to the “problem of prayer” in the face of divine sovereignty by championing the idea of special providence. Wilson is not, of course, the first to express this idea, but he does so uniquely and well,...
Pastor Richard A. Harris (1934–2021) was the pastor of my youth. By God’s grace and through his efforts the Bethel Baptist Church of Sellersville, PA, was chartered in 1962 in an unlikely patch of Bucks County that, despite the otherwise booming growth of that county,...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Timothy Schlater. Tim was born in Bucks County, PA, in 1986, the son of Robert and Judith Schlater. When he was 5...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Joshua Roland. Josh was born in Denver, CO, in 1984, the son of Ralph (late) and Carol Roland. He came to Christ...
Since we were not able to hold our commencement this year at DBTS, we are highlighting one of our graduates each day. Today we would like to recognize Anthony Iorillo. Tony was born in Cleveland, OH, in 1982, the son of Mark and Maria Iorillo. When he was 13 years...
NOTE: This is the second in a two-part series on one of the most significant fake letters in the history of the church. The previous essay introduced the reader to the letter, explained what it says, and showed the historical and factual problems with the narrative....
NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series on one of the most significant fake letters in the history of the church. This essay will introduce the reader to the letter, explain what it says, and show the historical and factual problems with the narrative. A future...
When I taught Old Testament Survey at a Christian University, one of my favorite assignments was having the students read Bel and the Dragon. This is a portion of apocryphal literature[1] which was written to be added to the text of Daniel (as chapter 14). I had the...
A local pastor recently asked me to recommend a reliable Greek guide for working through a New Testament text. He was planning to preach through the text, and while he had plenty of commentaries, even commentaries based on the Greek text, he was looking for something...
While talking to an acquaintance yesterday about a thorny Christological question, I made the statement that Christ was 100% God and 100% human. Pretty standard stuff. My acquaintance agreed, stating that he also believed this to be true, adding the caveat, “by...
I just got back from my church’s Good Friday service. Pastor Dave Doran preached from 2 Corinthians 13:4: “For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God's power we will live with him in our dealing...
Apparently, it was Benjamin Franklin who first said that the only thing we can be certain of is death and taxes. We are reminded of that again today, April 15, though the IRS has given us a couple of extra days this year to file our tax returns. Even the ancient...
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...