My interest in Freemasonry began a few years ago, as I was asked to complete a writing project of Baptist historian Terry Wolever, who unexpectedly died, leaving a biography of Stephen Gano (1762–1828) unfinished. ((Dr. Straub taught historical theology at Central...
Abstract After an introduction listing known TR editions, the argument of this paper proceeds in three movements. ((Dr. Ward is an academic editor for Lexham Press, and the author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press,...
A few weeks ago, Dan Wallace wrote an article on the recent trend towards online theological education. I would like to summarize his points here, and then offer a few comments. You can read his entire post at this link (and I encourage you to do so). The main point...
Introduction American approval of interracial marriage (IM) is uncomfortably recent. ((It is our privilege this year again to feature an article by an M.Div. student at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary. Mr. Francia submitted this article and was one of three...
Introduction Christians’ interest in theological subjects ebbs and flows, often depending upon the cultural and political issues of the day, provocative books or articles on debated subjects, or whatever a favorite pastor or scholar decides to spotlight. ((Dr. Pratt...
In December 2018, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville, Kentucky, released a study, Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. ((Dr. Straub taught historical theology at Central Baptist Theological...
The doctrine of biblical creation is often viewed as incidental, if not detrimental, to the task of defending the Christian faith.((Dr. Dunham is the Associate Professor of Old Testament at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.)) ((By biblical creation I mean the...
Halloween, as many of us have probably noticed, seems to have taken a darker turn in recent years. It's a stark contrast to our childhood memories, characterized by innocence, candy, and dressing up as our favorite characters. Now, we may find ourselves averting our...
A couple of weeks ago Dan Wallace wrote an article questioning whether or not online education is equal in quality to in-person education. (Tim Miller offered some of his thoughts on the article here.) I’d like to consider two of the issues he raises in comparing...
On October 31, 1517, a monk named Martin Luther (1483–1546) posted a list of topics for academic debate at the local university. With this relatively harmless act, Luther unwittingly launched a movement that would rend the religious fabric of Europe and would...
Former Olympian and gold medalist Bruce Jenner transitioned to Caitlyn Jenner. A once-decorated army soldier who leaked classified data, Bradley Manning transitioned to Chelsea Manning, who is again in the news for recently being offered a position at Harvard as a...
In my previous post considering Dan Wallace’s recent article discussing online vs. in-person education I concluded that, especially regarding theological teaching, in-person education is superior to distance education—all other things being equal. But rarely if ever...
Postmillennial eschatology is on the rise. In contrast to premillennialism, which affirms a literal, thousand year kingdom of Christ following the second coming, and amillennialism, which asserts that the kingdom of Christ is a present spiritual reality and that there...
Are science and religion/faith incompatible? The leading lights of the atheism revolution certainly believe they are: Christopher Hitchens: “All attempts to reconcile faith with science and reason are consigned to failure and ridicule.” Richard Dawkins: “I am hostile...
Giving Tuesday may be over, but there’s another way you can help DBTS financially this Christmas season and all year round. And it won’t even cost you anything. When you shop on Amazon using the link below, the prices won’t be any different, but Amazon will give DBTS...
A few weeks ago, Mark Snoeberger had a post arguing that in the matter of salvation, especially the issue of regeneration, there are only two possible options, which he labeled as Calvinism and Arminianism. As might be expected, there was some push back to the idea of...
David Instone-Brewer argues in a recent article that the Talmud’s account of Jesus’ trial contains the original Jewish charge against Jesus. The lines, as preserved in the Munich ed. (1342), read like this: It was taught: On the Eve of the Passover they hung Yeshu the...
It happens to every elementary Greek student. ((Dr. Hughes is Senior Manager of the Office of Ministerial Advancement at Bob Jones University and an adjunct professor of New Testament at BJU Seminary.)) Just when he is getting used to verbs in his vocabulary lists...
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...
Note: This post, as well as future posts concerning the Septuagint, are rough drafts for a potential upcoming book on the Septuagint. Accordingly, these posts will be removed at a future date. In regard to this article, it is the first of two which seek to analyze and...
Jesus is our King–His mission is our mission. That means that proclaiming the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches are the goals we need to focus on and strive toward. The priority of the Great Commission should affect every choice you make, including where...
A couple of weeks ago I suggested that believers would benefit from occasionally reading older books. However, just because a work was written in a previous era does not mean that it’s necessarily worth reading today. In fact, far more old books exist that any one...
Introduction Secular psychology is a popular approach to helping people with their problems that can offer utilitarian benefits even for churches. While secular psychology can offer useful observations, however, it falls short of providing complete solutions to life’s...
2010 William R. Rice Lecture Series Date: Wednesday, March 17, 2010Speaker: Dr. Michael VlachTheme: “Replacement Theology: Has the Church Superseded Israel as the People of God?” – notes Lectures:Introduction to Replacement Theology – mp3A...
Fifteen years ago, my late mentor Rolland McCune passed me a baton, namely, his class on dispensational theology. ((Dr. Snoeberger is Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics at Detroit Baptist Theological Seminary.)) Dr. McCune routinely taught that...
The Fundamental Concepts of Caregiving: Caregiving is More Than a Career; It Is a Process of Building a Relationship, by Murphy V. S. Anderson. Eugene, OR: Resource Publications, 2024. 254 pp. $31.00. Murphy Anderson is the CEO of Save...
Judgment & Salvation: A Rhetorical-Critical Reading of Noah’s Flood in Genesis, by Dustin G. Burlet. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2022. xxxv + 268 pp. $40.00. As a corollary to debates about the age of the earth, discussions about Noah’s...
Read Part 1 in this series here. Read Part 2 here. Read Part 3 here. Teaching Directly Related to Justification (cont.) The previous post in this series examined what FV has said about the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and the role of works in justification....
Read Part 1 in this series here. Read Part 2 here. Teaching Directly Related to Justification While FV is not centered around soteriology, its proponents still address issues directly related to justification in their writings. Four specific issues directly related to...
In August 1998, I ordered some of my first seminary textbooks as a student. That particular semester, one item stood out above the rest. Philip Schaff’s 8-volume History of the Christian Church stood out primarily due to its price. At the time Schaff retailed for...
As the baby boomer generation continues to age, the percentage of Americans at retirement age is expected to explode, with about 9000 reaching age 65 each day. “Forty-eight million Americans were age 65 and older in 2015, 18 percent more than just five years earlier....
Valentine's Day is this weekend (in case you have not been out of your house in weeks and missed all of the promotional reminders to show your love by spending money). In honor of this one day of love each year, I'd like to consider what love really is. A variety of...
As the world becomes more global, the increasing awareness of and interaction with different religions combined with a change in the conception of truth has caused a reevaluation of Christian missions. Questions about the propriety of conversion, methods for...
Last month Ryan Kelly and Kevin DeYoung posted an essay on The Gospel Coalition (TGC) blog (that originally appeared in the spring 2014 issue of Affinity) defending the existence of interdenominational or extra-ecclesial partnerships. Though the essay addresses a few...
In 1768 the French Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire wrote: “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” Voltaire was not trying to denigrate Christianity. Rather, he was arguing for the social benefit of belief in God. He thought that belief in God...
I heard it on the radio again the other day—a slick sounding ad depicting happy sounding people talking about how much fun it is to win “the big one.” It was an ad for the Michigan Lottery, and it left one with the impression that most people who play the lottery...
We’ve all heard it, and most of us have either thought it or even prayed it. “God, if You [do this thing I currently want], then I’ll [do something I probably should do but haven’t].” We find ourselves in a situation we don’t like or lacking something we crave, yet we...
Despite all the jokes about Wikipedia’s SOPA blackout on Wednesday being hard on college students, the truth is many students do need to improve their online research skills. We live in an amazing day. Within seconds one can use the internet to locate an electronic...
If you have been in ministry for a number of years since seminary, you know how easy it can be to get into a ministry routine and allow other things in your life to become your first love, whether it is a hobby, a recreational pursuit, or other amusement. We as...
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.
One of the inevitabilities of working in a seminary community is that you’re likely to lose quite a few dear friends over the course of your tenure. It’s not because seminaries require vows of friendlessness, alongside those of poverty and humility. Rather, it’s...
2012 William R. Rice Lecture Series Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012Speaker: Dr. Bryant G. WoodTheme: “Archaeology and the Conquest: New Evidence on an Old Problem” Lectures:Lecture 1: Background and Chronology of the Exodus and Conquest...
Introduction and Preliminary Thesis A few years ago, a colleague alerted me to the humorous rumor that I had formally denied the existence of natural revelation.((Dr. Snoeberger, who writes the extended introduction of this article, is Professor of Systematic Theology...
Poor translators! It is not an easy job.((Dr. Compton is Associate Professor of NT and Biblical Theology at Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minneapolis, MN. This essay lightly revises his earlier “Where There’s Not a Will: The Covenant Theology of Hebrews 9,”...
For hundreds of years the word “book” has suggested a stack of printed pages bound together along one edge and filled with ideas in the form of ink. But this is quickly changing. Today we live in a world where the phrase “reading a book” no longer necessarily invokes...
A few weeks ago I drew attention to the AI movement and its complications with education. Namely, to what degree can students use AI and still consider the product their own work. Just recently, ChatGPT launched and now has over one million users. If you try to use...
As a professor and occasional interim pastor, I routinely hear a question (or something like it): “Is __________ (fill in the blank with any popular author, radio/TV preacher, apologist, musician) a good guy or a bad guy?” Often the question is asked in passing with...
As we embark on a new decade, it can be helpful to consider what has occurred over the previous decade(s) to consider what we might expect in the coming one. I recently read a thought-provoking argument that may have some insight into apologetics efforts in the coming...
Jesus shocked His listeners by His seemingly ludicrous claim about righteousness. He argued that they needed a greater righteousness than the Scribes and Pharisees (S&P). I am not sure if Israel has crickets, but if so they could be heard after that bombshell....