What is God? – ‘God is love’. What are the greatest commandments? – ‘Love God with everything you have, and love your neighbout as yourself’. What is the greatest thing? – ‘Love’.
Armed with such majestic statements, it is easy to slip into a mentality which says, ‘Love is not only the greatest thing: it is the only thing (that really matters)’.
One practical consequence is that evangelism is reduced to ‘sharing the love of God/Jesus’. …
1 Chron 4:9 Jabez was more respected than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, for she said, “I experienced pain when I gave birth to him.” 4:10 Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only you would greatly bless me and expand my territory! May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm so I might not endure pain!” God answered his prayer.
The prayer of Jabez has been made famous by the publication in 2000 of Bruce Wilkinson’s book of the same name.…
The traditional view is that the ‘Beloved Disciple’ of the Fourth Gospel is the John, the son of Zebedee, who also wrote (or at least was a major source for) that Gospel.
At first glance, the theory that Lazarus was the Beloved Disciple and author of (or major contributor to) the Fourth Gospel was Lazarus seems far-fetched.
But consider the following, which considers the internal evidence.
The Fourth Gospel and the Synoptics
The writer of the Fourth Gospel seems to belong to a different theological world than that of the other Evangelists,. …
At the beginning of his book, Authentic Masculinity (Moody Publishers, 2026) Seth Troutt, S. (2026) suggests:
How can I have confidence that I am a true Christian, and have passed from condemnation into eternal life?
Kevin DeYoung offers a threefold answer from 1 John.
I summarise:
1. Theological
I can have confidence that I am a true believer if I believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God (1 Jn 4:14-16; 5:1, 5; 5:11-13). I believe that he is the Christ or the Messiah (1 Jn 2:22), that he is the Son of God (1 Jn 5:10), and that he has come in the flesh (1 Jn 4:2).…
According to 2 Chron 17:13-19, Jehoshaphat had an army of 1,160,000 men stationed in Jerusalem. This number is over and above those mentioned in v2.
This number suggests that there were more Judahites fighting for King Jehoshaphat than there were Russian soliders in the Battle of Kursk (the largest battle in military history).
Various attempts have been made to make sense of this number.
(a) Some take the number literally
JFB appear to accept the number without hesitation, remarking:
…‘No monarch, since the time of Solomon, equalled Jehoshaphat in the extent of his revenue, in the strength of his fortifications, and in the number of his troops.’
For Gary Brady, this account is a ‘hidden gem’, teaching us how to conduct ourselves in our own warfare against the world, the flesh and the devil.
Summary:
1. We may seem to be outnumbered, but are not
Whatever we make of the large numbers in this chapter, it is clear that Abijah faced an army twice the size of his own.
But ‘one plus God’ is a majority.
The odds against Christians may seem overwhelming. …
I would like to understand why, in Anglican and many other traditions, it is the custom for clergy to conduct their liturgical duties while wearing special clothing.
I was interested, then, to read this short article…
Angela Tilby (‘How Clergy Dress Sends a Message’, Church Times, 26 June 2026) explores the meaning and significance of clergy dress.
…and this longer one…
Ian Paul (‘How clergy dress sends a message—but which one, and why?’) Online.…
[An updated version of an article first posted in November 2019]
27:52f And tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had died were raised. (They came out of the tombs after his resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.)
The main issue to be discussed here is the historicity (or otherwise) of this account.
1. Historicity doubted
So-called ‘mainstream’ critical scholarship regards it as ‘legendary’. According to Harper’s Bible Commentary, for example,
…‘One wonders what the resurrected saints were doing between Good Friday and Easter.
The book of Jonah is sometimes regarded as an allegory, in which:
‘Jonah represents disobedient Israel; the sea represents the Gentiles; the great fish is Babylon; and the three days in the fish’s belly symbolizes the Babylonian captivity of the Jews.’ (Ryrie, who does not think that the book is an allegory)
Most conservative scholars reject this interpretation on the grounds that the book is historical, and not fictional, in nature:
According to 2 Kings 14:25, Jonah was a real prophet.…
