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The cosmic conflict between good and evil is one of the themes of the Bible and culminates in the book of Revelation. Scholars studying the struggle between good and evil mainly focus on Rev 12-14, which depicts the war in heaven. In this article, I show that the letters to the seven churches are an … Read more
Textual witnesses are divided in Colossians 4:15 on whether the personal pronoun in the text should read “Nympha (or, Nymphas) and the church in (1) “her house (αὐτῆς),” (2) “his house (αὐτοῦ),” or (3) “their house (αὐτῶν).” Codexes Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, and Claramontanus are split with each supporting one of the readings. The difficulty of a … Read more
Scripture contains extensive genealogical records that were preserved for countless generations. Collectively, they form a highly valued, written record that documents the messianic thread of redemption, the heritage of individuals, families, clans, and tribes of Israel, as well as Gentiles who come into the covenant family of faith. Some biblical genealogies are difficult to understand. … Read more
In 2022, the Center for House Church Theology released an important anthology of essays on Church and State (“Faithful Disobedience”), with prominent contributions from Pastor Wang Yi. His work deserves, as this publication intended, a wider broadcast. Moreover, his thought agrees in key sectors with previous ground-breaking political theorists and provides a global witness to … Read more
This paper advocates for increased awareness and inclusion of global scholarship in evangelical biblical hermeneutics, using the Letter to the Ephesians as an example. While articles and monographs by soundly evangelical Majority World scholars are increasingly available, to date there is little representation of global perspectives in ‘mainstream’ western evangelical thought such as major commentaries … Read more
Historiography relates to history in a manner similar to how theological method relates to theology. Though implicit in most studies, historiography sits in the background of any given historical study. Understanding one’s historiographical approach to the task of doing history answers questions related to how one receives, understands, interprets, and retells the story of the … Read more
In the discourse of John 4, John’s disclosure of the Samaritan woman’s verbalization of five references to the identity of Jesus can be connected to rhetorical parallels utilized throughout the Gospel. First, she refers to him as a “prophet προφήτης εἶ σύ” (John 4:19). Second, she refers to “knowing the Μεσσίας is coming, Οἶδα ὅτι … Read more
Protestants have wrestled with how to interpret the epistle of James in a distinctly Christian way since Martin Luther famously described it as “an epistle of straw.” Luther struggled to detect the gospel in the letter, concluding, “It has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.” A survey of contemporary evangelical commentaries reveals … Read more
Nathan Hatch’s respected and contested 1989 work The Democratization of Early Christianity argues that similar components of antiauthoritarianism and diffused governance between American Evangelicalism and democracy allowed both to flourish together as the new nation developed its own identity. Much has been written to nuance, complicate, and even upend his thesis in the twenty-five years … Read more
While John 14, especially vv.1–3, is often interpreted as Jesus’ teaching on “going to heaven,” a contextual investigation suggests that the message of John 14 is one of exhortation, by which the Lord urges his followers to emulate his pattern of obedience. As Christ walked in obedience to the Father, he modeled a new halakha. … Read more