Category: New Testament

  • Some People Drink and Some People Don't …

    But regardless what you do, someone is going to find fault with you: For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’…

  • Free Course on the New Testament

    I’m way behind on getting this one out there but here is a link to a free New Testament course from Yale University.  Saw it on the Biblical Studies Carnival for this month.  Now, you can study both the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and the New Testament through Yale University, though no credit of course.  You…

  • Crying Abba – Inspired by Romans 8.15 (Part 3)

    Update – For a note from an academic perspective from James McGrath see below.  But, please enjoy the cute videos anyway. Today’s New Testament lectionary reading is from Romans 8 including Romans 8.15, which reads “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of…

  • Crying Abba – Inspired by Romans 8.15 (Part 2)

    Update – I am adding a note from an academic perspective from James McGrath “‘Abba’ is the ordinary Aramaic word for father in the absolute state, and not child-talk or “daddy” as some have at times wrongly claimed.”  But, please enjoy the cute videos anyway. Today’s New Testament lectionary reading is from Romans 8 including…

  • Crying Abba – Inspired by Romans 8.15 (Part 1)

    Update – I am adding a note from an academic perspective from James McGrath “‘Abba’ is the ordinary Aramaic word for father in the absolute state, and not child-talk or “daddy” as some have at times wrongly claimed.”  But, please enjoy the cute videos anyway. Today’s New Testament lectionary reading is from Romans 8 including…

  • "Bible" in Modern Usage

    Here is a quote from John Riches in The Bible: A Very Short Introduction, which I think is instructive for those who throw the term Bible around: So, to put it simply, the term ‘Bible’, as a collection of sacred texts, is first used for the Christian scriptures, in their different versions. Only later is…

  • Old Testament Vs. New Testament

    Sounds like a boxing match doesn’t it, but it’s more of a recurrent theme at a popular level.  I’ve posted on this issue a number of times (HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE), namely to point out that there is a serious lack of understanding involved from people who phrase the problem as Old Testament Vs.…

  • Mark Goodacre on Comedy in the Gospels

    HERE is an interesting post by Mark Goodacre on humor in the Gospels and how it is often lost on modern readers who do not know how the audience reacted.  If nothing else, I think at least one sentence in the post is quotable, and I will try to remember.  Mark states: Unfortunately, the narrator…

  • Reiterating a Point about Faith and Works

    The other day I posted a thought about the relationship between faith and works.  I’ll repeat it again here: It is one thing to say that the Bible teaches that justification is by faith alone or begins with faith and continues through works.  And, it is quite another thing to say that a person must…

  • Romans 1.17 – As it is Written Where?

    Today’s first reading is Romans 1.16-25.  Verse 17 of this chapter is one of the most significant verses in the history of Christian theology.  It reads as follows: For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by…