I know its easy to skip genealogies when reading to Bible. Loads of detail with little yield. Thought this might not be immediately apparent, the genealogies in the Gospels are rich with theological significance. Names such as Judah, Ruth, David, Uzziah, Hezekiah and Josiah that occur in the genealogy would surely have evoked many stories [...]
I am not from Texas. I am not from anywhere remotely in the South. I am a Yankee to the core. Nevertheless, I believe one of the primary deficiencies of the formal English language is the lack of a word like “y’all.”
The Greek language (like many languages) has (at least) two forms of the word [...]
I intend to give a brief and fairly unnuanced answered to this question, by way of analogy. I have often heard the question, “Can I be saved (or alternately phrased, “Can I go heaven”) without speaking in tongues?” By this it is meant, is one able to be a true member of the family of [...]
I’m unsure if you’ll believe me, but I am not preparing to launch into a discussion on bodily processes, but rather, New Testament Greek and the New Testament concept of love. I have often heard sincere Christian people define love as something like “acting to promote the well-being of others.” I can understand, both the perspective [...]
Jesus is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. Jesus is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. What is the relationship between these two ascriptions of worthiness? Why precisely is Jesus worthy? In Revelation 4 and 5 we see a dramatic scene of [...]
The word eternity never occurs in the New Testament. Neither does the word forever.
This is the third part in a series attempting to show some of the difference it makes in reading or studying the New Testament using Greek rather than only English. Since I teach NT Greek, I am often asked regarding the purpose [...]
“Being in Christ” is not simply an opportunity for a fresh start or a new chance to get things right (as great as that is). Being in the Messiah means that one is a participant in the eschatological life of the restored and renewed heavens and earth even now.
Since I teach New Testament Greek, I am often asked why one should invest the time to learn a whole language just to study the Bible. It is commonly phrased as, “do actually need to learn that to understand the Bible?” This will be the beginning of a series of (hopefully short) posts which will look at specific texts and explain why its helpful, illuminating and/or exhilarating to know whats “going on under the hood.”
