While past studies on apostasy in Hebrews have disproportionately focused on the warnings in Hebrews 6:4–12 and, to a lesser extent, Hebrews 10:26–31, I argue that the use of Deuteronomy 29:18–19 in Hebrews 12:15, the last of the book’s five warning passages, is uniquely illuminating to the author’s theology of perseverance and apostasy. This becomes … Read more
Hebrews scholars have noted the significance of the Christological titles, ἀρχηγός and πρόδρομος, in the author’s argument (2:10; 6:19; 12:2). However, an Old Testament background has remained elusive, leading many to favor a Hellenistic origin for the terms. This study argues that the story of the Kadesh rebellion (Numbers 13–14) is the background for both … Read more
In most translations of Galatians 6.1, Paul directs the “spiritual” (οἱ πνευματικοί) among the Christ-followers in Galatia to restore transgressors in their midst “in a spirit of gentleness” (ἐν πνεύματι πραΰτητος). Such translations, and those like it, have often led interpreters to think that Paul is here being sarcastic or polemical with the designation “spiritual.” … Read more
The Book of Revelation is often described as perplexing, bewildering, or even impenetrable—terms that signal what cognitive pragmatics would call a “pragmatic failure.” Readers encounter moments of interpretive impasse, or aporias, in which the text seems to contradict itself or defy coherence. These aporias are not accidental. Rather, I argue that they function as deliberate … Read more
The present paper discusses extrinsic and intrinsic textual dimensions involved in the emergence of the canonical sub-units that formed the New Testament, and the respective relationships between these dimensions. After an introductory section on how notions of ‘canon’ or ‘authoritative texts’ are in play in the NT documents, the paper explores (i) the relationship between … Read more
A clear and definitive understanding of the genealogical ancestry of Jesus and his parents, the Virgin Mary and his earthly father Joseph, has been of great theological interest to scholars over the centuries, but somewhat of an enigma to determine. An exhaustive review of all genealogies in the Bible shows that, almost without exception, they … Read more