Closing the Canon
Athanasius (296-373 AD) had a remarkable but tumultuous life. His physical appearance was apparently quite striking: he was very short with a dark complexion and black hair. His opponents dubbed…
Heresy and the Canon
Around 140 AD, a wealthy shipowner named Marcion arrived in Rome. He was originally from Sinope, a city in Asia Minor on the coast of the Black Sea. Although he…
The Things Fulfilled Among Us
"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the…
Translation of the Seventy
The last few weeks we've been tracing the formation of the Old Testament. Let's summarize what we've learned so far. The key criterion for inclusion in the sacred writings was…
The Children of Abraham
We've recently examined the life of Abraham, the Patriarch of Israel. The promises God made to Abraham are foundational for Christianity. The Almighty pledged to bless Abraham and through his…
A Portrait of Salvation
Many of us grew up singing about Zacchaeus - the "wee little man"- in Sunday School. His story is found in Luke chapter 19. Jesus was passing through the city…
The Day of Calamity
Two weeks ago, we began to assess the biblical foundations of the rapture. Many Christians believe that Jesus will suddenly snatch his people safely away to heaven while those who…
The God of Second Chances
In 1958, a small town pastor from central Pennsylvania named David Wilkerson was deeply disturbed by an article he read in Life magazine. The article described the lives of seven…
The Ultimate Power Struggle
We learned in last week's blog that Christmas is all about the confluence of religion and politics. Christmas is of course religious in that it's a part of the unfolding…
A Voice in the Desert
In seeking to better understand the Biblical term "gospel," we've made excellent progress by working our way through the Old Testament. We've also taken our first steps into the New…