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It has become a commonplace in books about the historical Jesus to refer to Jesus as a peasant in prominent, rhetorically charged places. Indeed, in many prominent works in the past 30 years, by such scholars as Crossan, Fredriksen, and Ehrman, this designation appears on the very first page of the introduction or body of … Read more
Among proponents of the covenant of redemption, there has not been unity of understanding regarding the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the pactum. David Dickson, often credited with the original formulation of the pactum as a doctrine, understood the Holy Spirit to be a witness to the covenant, rather than a party to it. He was … Read more
Studies of diachronic linguistic change within biblical Hebrew have entered evangelical discussions of the Old Testament’s inspiration, composition, and transmission. Some have levied helpful critiques against the previously assumed dating paradigms in critical scholarship, while others have given some doctrinal accounting of the phenomena of literary updating, which should presuppose linguistic updating. Nevertheless, at large, … Read more
This paper argues that introducing combat sports for women within Christian higher education is inconsistent with a Biblical Worldview. The thesis contends that such sports conflict with the biblical vision of womanhood and undermine the theological commitments of Christian universities. By analyzing relevant biblical texts, including Proverbs 31, 1 Peter 3, Titus 2, and Nehemiah … Read more
As Christians navigate the contemporary ethical landscape, there is probably no topic that arises more frequently than that of sexuality and gender. Amid Christian attempts to navigate these contemporary issues with biblical fidelity, there have been a variety of recent scholars who utilize some form of a “trajectory” or “redemptive-movement” hermeneutic to argue for a … Read more
Using Richard Hays’ criteria for intertextuality, this paper examines the likelihood of a reference to Sirach in Hebrews. While the criteria are not resoundingly in favor of an intertextual allusion, they do likely suggest a relationship, albeit a highly complex one. In order to understand this relationship, this paper considers the overlap of themes and … Read more
Jay Lemke contends that the meaning of the text can be better understood by analyzing its relationship with the intertextual discourses of its time. In what thematic discourses is the Gospel of John situated? The approach that portrays the Gospel of John as opposing Judaism, as proposed by Louis Martyn and Raymond Brown, has been … Read more
Peter’s vision and subsequent evangelism at Cornelius’ house (10:1-48) marks a significant shift in the narrative of Acts, which prepares the church for its mission to the Gentiles. Luke prefaces this pivotal episode with two miracle accounts in 9:32-43. These two accounts, along with Peter’s ministry to Cornelius, echo three distinct episodes in Jesus’ ministry: … Read more
This paper explores the relationship between emotionally rooted hesitations and belief in Christian theism. I will address how toying with sin, the moral failure of an authority figure, an absent or abusive father figure, divorce and family dysfunction, harboring bitterness, and unfiltered worry can trigger a potential breeding ground for religious doubt. Grasping how these … Read more
Modern estimates of the number of variants in the New Testament have ranged from 400,000 to 750,000, but nobody has actually counted them to know. Considering that there are only about 140,000 words in the New Testament, those estimates often invoke skepticism for that would mean that on average there are about three to five … Read more