Eating children as food is a tragic and grotesque undertaking, even in a famine. The author of the Elisha narratives is not reticent to show how acts of cannibalism can come out of desperate mothers in 2 Kings 6:28, 29. However, despite being in a famine, Elisha is often depicted as one living in abundance. … Read more
On most accounts, the Biblical Counseling movement began with the writings of Jay Adams (1929-2020) in the 1960s, and was continued by authors such as David Powlison and Ed Welch. Already in the writings of Adams, and later in the writings of Powlison, we find an antipathy towards the psychoanalysis developed by Freud and his … Read more
The Harrowing of Hell, also known as the Visit of Christ to Hades is certainly one of the most intriguingly enigmatic passages in 1 Peter, perhaps the entire New Testament. From early times (the first century), writers have elaborated and expanded on the event. The earliest form (after the New Testament period) occurs in the … Read more
New Testament fulfillment, as indicated by the term πληρόω, has received considerable attention. It is often assumed that when the biblical authors used the term πληρόω, they intended to indicate the fulfillment of predictive prophecy or messianic-predictive fulfillment (e.g., Guthrie, Longenecker, Menken, Konradt, Hays, among many others). This assumption about predictive prophecy and fulfillment is … Read more
The concept of a “new covenant” (Luke 22:20) in early Christianity naturally brought to the fore a host of questions concerning the nature of the church, Israel, and how to interpret Scripture—questions that remain relevant to this day. This paper will examine the approach to this problem in the fourth century writer known as “Macarius.” … Read more
Chronic anxiety, affecting over 40 million U.S. adults annually (National Institute of Mental Health), distorts worldview, convincing sufferers that hope is futile, suffering lacks purpose, and God is distant, leading to despair and isolation. Interventional methods, such as therapy and medication, aimed at regulating the body and calming neural patterns, cannot fully reorient these perceptions … Read more
The dominant view regarding Septuagint origins posits that the Pentateuch was the first portion of the Hebrew Bible to be translated into Greek. Significant consensus also exists that after the creation of the Greek Pentateuch, the translators of the post-Pentateuchal books utilized many of the linguistic and literary features of the Greek Pentateuch for their … Read more
The Gospels uniformly identify John the Baptist’s precursory role ahead of “the one coming after.” All four Gospel writers also emphasize John’s role as herald in this precursory role, each including the reference to Isaiah 40:3, “the voice of one calling in the wilderness.” In Matthew’s Gospel in particular, however, John’s role extends well beyond … Read more
On the night of April 18, 1775, the sexton of the Old North Church in Boston lit two lanterns in the church tower, alerting Paul Revere and William Dawes of the movement of British troops up the Charles River toward Cambridge. The expeditionary force of British regulars was under orders to march from Cambridge to … Read more
This paper considers whether memory provides knowledge of the historical event itself or only to the author’s mind. Is it a matter of only how it was remembered, or can we postulate what likely happened? The example of whether Jesus was crucified is considered in conjunction with the epistemic theory of remembering. It is argued … Read more