Hebrews 8:9 “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.”
There is an translational issue here.
This is one of a handful of places in this quotation from Jeremiah where the LXX differs from the MT.…
Does the Bible anticipate modern science?
One of the go-to verses for ultraconservative readers of the Bible is Job 26:7 –
‘He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.’
This, of course, is a clear and beautiful assertion of God’s sovereignty over his creation.
But does it anticipate modern science by picturing the Earth as a globe floating in space?
According to the Apologetics Study Bible,
…‘Some scholars suggest that Job wrote better than he knew, for his observation approached the knowledge that the earth is suspended in space supported only by gravitational forces.’
The ‘beloved disciple’ is an unnamed individual mentioned only in the Fourth Gospel. He first appears at the Last Supper, where he reclines on Jesus’ bosom. He asks about Jesus’ betrayer, is entrusted with the care of Jesus’ mother, discovers the empty tomb of Jesus, and identifies the risen Jesus in Galilee. He appears to have been a close companion not only of Jesus but of Peter. References to the ‘other disciple’ may also refer to the beloved disciple. …
In Christian Theology (3rd ed. Baker Academic, 2013), Millard J. Erickson (2013) outlines a number of approaches to biblical inerrancy.
I summarise:
1. Absolute inerrancy. The Bible is completely true in all of its utterances, whether historical, scientific or theological.
2. Full inerrancy. The Bible is completely true. However, scientific and historical data are conveyed phenomenally, as they appear to the human eye. They include approximations, couched in popular, rather than scientific language.
3. Limited inerrancy regards the Bible unfailingly true in its teaching on all matters that pertain to salvation and the spiritual life. …
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.…
Lk 16:19 “There was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 16:20 But at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus whose body was covered with sores, 16:21 who longed to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. In addition, the dogs came and licked his sores.
16:22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.…
Mt 1:17 – ‘So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations.’
The differences between Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogy of Jesus have been discussed elsewhere.
But what should we make of Matthew’s division of his genealogy into three groups of fourteen?
Matthew says that between Abraham and David were fourteen generations; between David and Exile were another fourteen generations; and between the Exile and Jesus were yet another fourteen generations.…
Hugh Ross, a Christian apologist trained in astrophysics, has long claimed that established scientific facts are supported by specific texts of the Bible.
In this post, he surveys various kinds of evidence that indicate that physical laws have reamined unchanging since the earliest moments of the universe.
Ross concludes his article by stating that:
…‘Astronomers and physicists have affirmed the clear and repeated biblical claim that throughout the whole history of the universe and Earth, the laws of physics have remained fixed, that is, unchanged.
Yes! There are some perils in reading the Bible. However, the most common dangers are also the most elementary, and with a little thought can readily be recognized and guarded against.
1. The peril of coming to the Bible with a mind already made up
No doubt we are all guilty at times of reading into the Bible our own favourite opinions and prejudices, rather than letting God’s word speak for itself. An early edition of the Living Bible (a modern paraphrase) gave Acts 13: 48 as follows: “—as many as wanted eternal life, believed.”…
55b “The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’ ”
56:4 For this is what the LORD says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to my covenant,
56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument for them that will remain.”
The issues to be explored here are (a) whether this inclusion of eunuchs among the people of God represents a change of mind from earlier biblical teaching, and (b) whether this signals the inclusion of other groups who might be considered similar to eunuchs (especially transgender persons).…
