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How inaccurate words hinder our evangelistic efforts with women
For months Sharon prayed that her co-worker Stephanie might accept her invitation to visit her church. Sharon was sure that if her friend experienced the beauty and depth of their authentic fellowship, she might look deeper and find Jesus. For months Stephanie resisted, giving all kinds of reasons. Church people were phony, judgmental, hierarchical, and too political. But when Stephanie's mother passed away suddenly, she decided to accept Sharon's invitation. Sharon was elated, and during the first part of the service her friend seemed open and interested. She sang; she prayed. But then the pastor read Philippians 4:1: Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy…
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Helping Your Children Learn to Read the Bible on Their Own
Teaching our children to love and value the Word of God is a noble desire. But how do we do so when so many things seem to fight for their attention? The newest iPhone app, TV shows, video games, et cetera! In a world that’s so busy, how do we teach our children to quiet their hearts before the Lord? There are no fool proof methods to short circuiting the Spirit’s work in their hearts, but here are some helpful practices: 1.) Lead by Example—The number one reason I developed a consistent personal devotion time as a young child is because I saw other family members doing it. They never…
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Responding to Newsweek’s Take on the Bible, Part 4 More Claims of Contradictions and Conclusion
We now come to the fourth and final part of my assessment of the Newsweek article on the Bible. It deals with more claims of contradictions, the role of women in Scripture, and homosexuality. Remaining Claims of Contradiction On Differing Creation stories and JE theory: Again we see here the general skeptical formula “difference equals contradiction” is applied. It is not the only option. Genesis 1 is an overview account as seen in its symmetry. Genesis 2 has more detail. This contention is an old one that prefers critical source theory to a sensitive literary reading and seeing distinct ways of summarizing dependent on the form being literarily applied. Only…
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Responding to Newsweek’s Take on the Bible, Part 3 On Three Kings and Claims about Differences and Contradictions
We now turn to the third section of the Newsweek article that makes various claims about contradictions in the New Testament. On Three Kings and Other Differences •On the Nativity: Yes, there are two stories of Jesus’ birth. These are not contradictions as is claimed but two perspectives on one event. Again sensitive literary reading helps. Matthew is told from Joseph’s angle, while Luke is told from Mary’s. If you ask almost any couple how they came together, each will have their own take on what took place and select their own details with some overlap and some difference in the selection. One can play the stories against each other…
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Responding to Newsweek’s Take on the Bible, Part 2 Translation Issues and Constantine
We now tackle the next section in Eichenwald's article on Translation Issues and Constantine's impact. •On translation differences: The reasons translations differ is not because Koine, as Eichenwald claims, can’t be expressed in English, but because (1) one has choices to make about some terms, (2) Greek order is more flexible than English (for NT), and (3) there are often a variety of ways to express the same idea (as translators often have good choices between synonyms). Beyond this sometimes there is a real question on (4) how to best translate a term to get the contextual meaning and (5) there can be differences in the manuscripts that make a…
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Responding To Newsweek’s Take on the Bible, Part 1 On the Base Biblical Text- Do We Really Know What We Have?
First of all, it has been a while. My travel and end of semester responsibilities kept me fairly busy the last few months, but I am back. Let me begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Year and Blessed 2015. I let a week pass before deciding to write about Newsweek's latest take on the Bible, an article called THE BIBLE SO MISUNDERSTOOD IT'S A SIN, by Kurt Eichenwald, a former investigative reporter for the New York Times. I have been asked about it by email. I have decided to go one section at a time through the article, so this will start a series of responses coming over the…
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The “Ice Bucket Challenge” and the Bible
I love it when popular culture validates the truth of God’s own word. Right now the world around us is on fire; from riots in Ferguson to beheadings in Iraq to war between Israel and Palestine, and throw in a 6.0 Earthquake in Northern California. If you want a guaranteed headache, spend too much time watching the nightly news. Then sweeping the social media scene along comes the “ice bucket challenge.” Perhaps you’ve already soaked your head for the cause of research for ALS. Folks from every walk of life have joined the fun including our just past President, George W. Bush. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJaDBzaAPAc He concludes his challenge by inviting someone…
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What Does The Bible SAY…..
By now, you may have heard the song, “What Does the Fox Say.” Yes, the words were written about a fox and the sound that it makes, or doesn’t make. According to the lyrics no one knows the sound of a fox and if you have watched the hilarious video, the vocalists make odd noises to portray the possible sounds of a fox. Two Norwegian brothers put the lyrics to a catchy beat, dressed up in fox costumes, and made one of the funniest videos ever. According to some sources this video has gained such popularity that they have over 360,000,000 people who have watched and laughed to their humor online. Old MacDonald, move…
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More on the Camels Updated (2/18/2014)
Here is a solid interview with Dr. Andrew Steinmann on the camel issue. http://issuesetc.org/2014/02/11/1-archaeologists-dispute-camels-in-genesis-dr-andrew-steinmann-21114/ Check it out. I now add a definitive study in this area by Martin Heide. This summarizes his detailed work on this issue fromt he University of Marburg in Germany. He argues the Bible does not claim domesticated camels are widespread in the Patriarchal period. Their use is selectively noted and is tied to people with associations with Mesopotamia. So the assumptions in the media hype are exaggerated. Here is the link: https://www.academia.edu/2065314/_The_Domestication_of_the_Camel_Biological_Archaeological_and_Inscriptional_Evidence_from_Mesopotamia_Egypt_Israel_and_Arabia_and_Literary_Evidence_from_the_Hebrew_Bible_in_Ugarit_Forschungen_42_2010_Munster_Ugarit-Verlag_2011_331-384 I never thought the study of camels would be such a big deal!
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Camels Disprove the Bible: Am I Missing Something?
This week has seen op-ed pieces in CNN and other locales saying that recent discoveries about domesticated camels in Israel prove the Bible has erred. I have seen two such articles in the last week, one on CNN and the other in the Huffington Post. The gist of the claim is that there has been a recent discovery that shows that domesticated camels in Israel go back to the 10th century BC. The alleged error is that the Bible claims that such camels went back to the partriarchs several centuries earlier. Thus, it is said that the find proves a biblical mistake. Some of the writing has been quite cute.…