Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
The Second World War is not just battles between Allied and Axis armies. It is also the story of the Holocaust. It is not subject that we enjoy learning about and yet this knowledge is essential. There are two ways to learn about the Holocaust. One is through books about the Holocaust by scholars who … Read More “Night – Review” »
There has been much development in our understanding of Paul since Martin Luther reintroduced us to justification by faith five hundred years ago. One of the major developments is something called the New Perspective on Paul. One of the aspects of the New Perspective is the idea that Paul is dealing more with identity markers … Read More “Thoughts on the Radical Perspective on Paul” »
You may or may not have heard of Tobit. Tobit is one of my favourite books in the Apocrypha and I would like to share with you why. Although the book is named after Tobit, he does not actually make an appearance in much of the book. There are two people in the book who … Read More “What is the Book of Tobit?” »
I have had evangelicals ask about the Apocrypha, seemingly concerned about their nature. Should Christians read the Apocrypha? My short answer is yes, but more information is needed. I have heard people describe the Apocrypha as “those Roman Catholic books.” Let me be clear, the Roman Catholic Church had nothing to do with the creation of … Read More “Should Christians Read the Apocrypha?” »
Fairly regularly, I hear skeptics mention Philo’s silence regarding Jesus as being devastating to claims about the historical Jesus. If Jesus really lived, then surely Philo would have mentioned him. The truth is, aside from the New Testament, the main writings of any length that we have are those of Philo and Josephus. Of those … Read More “The Apologetic Value of Philo Not Mentioning Jesus” »
One of the problems with conservative Christians is that they are intolerant of other religions. The religious right insists that their beliefs are correct and all the other religions are wrong. In our pluralistic society, that is unacceptable. This makes Christianity dangerous and creates some anger on the part of Christianity’s critics. It is true … Read More “When It’s Wrong to Be Right: Other Religions” »
One of the criticisms of the Gospels is that they reflect details of a later period rather than 30-33 AD that they claim to be describing. One of these “errors” in detail is the description of synagogues. Ben Witherington gives a detailed discussion of the presence of synagogues during the time of Jesus that you … Read More “Synagogues and the Accuracy of the New Testament” »
One of the things that I have encountered from time to time is the claim that Jesus received his divinity by vote at the Council of Nicaea (325 AD). For many Christians it seems preposterous that anyone could become a god by a decree. On this, the critics are not completely wrong. In the Roman Empire, … Read More “Divinity By Decree: Part One” »
