A “doxology,” etymologically speaking, is “a word of glory.” It is an eruptive statement of praise to the God who is worthy of all glory-words, and more.
Even on a first reading of the Lord’s Prayer, it’s striking that Jesus views himself as distinct from the Father who is hearing his prayer. How is it possible for the Son to communicate and interact with the Father unless the Son is distinct from...
In Acts 13:9 we learn for the first time that Saul of Tarsus was also known as “Paul”; and almost without exception he is known as Paul thereafter. In the Pauline letters, there is no indication that he ever bore any other name than Paul. So what’s...
God chose a small group of women to share the greatest news of all time. Why did Jesus appear to the women first instead of the disciples? On Saturday, they rested. But early Sunday morning, the women leaped into action. Motivated by love, they...
What is the Trinity? We can define the “Trinity” or “Triune God” in this way: There is only one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are three distinct persons. When we see these...
Artificial intelligence (AI) and technologies such as ChatGPT have forced educators to urgently confront difficult questions. Consider the following pedagogical concerns: Can these technologies be used effectively without compromising the...
Is the Trinity a holy hierarchy, a triarchy, with God the Father as the boss, Jesus as his deputy, and the Holy Spirit as the Son’s assistant or delegate? The short answer is no. Historical Christianity—whether Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant—has...
Even the best metaphors fail to capture the complexities of God’s being. In fact, when Christians attempt to explain the Trinity, they often stumble into metaphors that sound suspiciously like the very heresies Trinitarian theology was...
Sometimes readers of Scripture are encouraged to “read the Bible like any other book.” This suggestion can arise from a desire to read the Bible as literature—that is, to read books of the Bible according to the rules of their respective genres. For...
Are there good reasons to believe that the Bible is true? Are there good reasons to believe that the Bible is the Word of God? Maybe you already believe that the Bible is true and that the Bible is God’s Word, but you’re not sure how to explain your...
My wife and I are missionaries in Cambodia, where I work as a Bible translation advisor for a local language, Jarai, and we both teach the Bible in various contexts. The Bible is important to us: not only how it is translated, but how it is used and...
Studying the Bible is not as hard as it might seem—in fact, there are so many benefits that the task can quickly become a joy. Through Bible study, we draw closer to the Author of our faith, begin to discern his voice as he speaks to us in a deeply...
I have the privilege of teaching Greek. It’s one of my favorite classes to teach. But for many of my students, it is one of the hardest classes they take for their degree. Thus, one of my primary pedagogical goals is to instill a conviction in my...
The significance of Palm Sunday was lost on me as a child. I suspect it’s lost on most Christian adults, too. My first memories of Palm Sunday were of sitting patiently in Sunday school next to my friends, holding palm fronds.
I’ve been using Logos for nearly a decade now and helped others learn how to use it for almost as long. If I had a dollar for each time I was asked if we could make our print books searchable in Logos, I’d be a rich man. Unfortunately, there hasn’t...
Hebrews 11:6 says “without faith it is impossible to please him.” Not unlikely. Not difficult. Impossible. Thomas a Kempis, author of The Imitation of Christ, wrote, “Faith is required of you, and a sincere life, not a lofty...
A friend of mine recently polled his church—both members and pastors—to see which Bible study resources they used. Independently, every single one of them named Strong’s Concordance. Many mentioned nothing else. Strong’s was their only Bible study...
People have been asking, “Which Bible commentary is best?” for as long as anyone can remember. Learn what an exegetical commentary is—and seven exceptional selections.
With sixty-six books of the Bible written over two thousand years, the Bible is the most diverse collection of literature in the world. Those books contain some of the most famous stories, most respected wisdom, and most powerful prose (and poetry)...
Throughout the Bible there is a theme that you might call “choosing between two ways.” It starts with the two trees in the Garden of Eden narrative: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil produced death, while the Tree of Life was a source of...
Every morning and every evening I pray for my children. I pray the words God has placed over my children and over me. Because God’s Word interprets the world, these words are how God wants me to see my children. In baptism, God has given my...
The most important lexicographer of the Greek of the New Testament had this to say about Greek lexicons: It is a mistake to shun the lexicon as a graveyard haunted by columns of semantic ghosts or simply fall back on it as on a codebook identifying...
This post will offer a fresh perspective on the grammar of a much-debated, and theologically loaded, verse in the Hebrew Bible: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד Listen, Israel! YHWH is our God. YHWH is the one. My interpretation is a...
Ever wondered, “When did Jesus die?” It’s a perfectly reasonable question as we near the celebration of Easter. The good news is there’s a fairly straightforward answer. The Bible and historical records suggest Jesus died at...
God has a name, and it’s not “God.” However, God’s proper name has come to us “damaged”—linguistically damaged. Sadly, we have inherited this name with consonants, but not vowels. I consider the loss of these vowels as one of the sociological and...
During my ten years in our seminary dean’s office, one of my responsibilities was observing faculty members in the classroom. It was an encouraging activity, because I was visiting classes in different disciplines and was observing excellent...
The other day, my brother-in-law gave my children a gift that awoke many of my childhood memories. Indeed, Where’s Waldo? books apparently haven’t changed much since my childhood. The goal remains: find Waldo amidst an overwhelming sea...
Bible study is the practice—whether individually or within a group—of reading, interpreting, and applying Scripture to daily life. Christians don’t study the Bible simply to amass information they won’t use. The point of Bible study is to know God...
We are familiar with God’s calls in Scripture to be marked by a tender heart. Paul commands Christians, “Be … tenderhearted” (Eph 4:32), and Peter tells believers to “have … a tender heart” (1 Pet 3:8). These teachings clearly show what God expects...
Effective Bible study practices Studying the Bible is an important part of the Christian life, but it’s a part that all too often gets swept under the rug and pushed off until a later date. Even if you take the time to read the Bible every day, how...
