Read more about the article 5 Cognitive Biases That Can Affect Our Theology
How to Read the Bible

5 Cognitive Biases That Can Affect Our Theology

It can be frustrating to share your faith with your "orthodox" friends and family, only to have them reject your beliefs.  Many tenaciously cling to their interpretations in the face of Biblical evidence to the contrary. Why are some people so reluctant to change their theology?  It may very well be that cognitive biases are keeping them from objectively processing the information. Biases help our brains work by streamlining the decision making process.[1]  However, cognitive biases can cause us to make faulty instead of informed…

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June 11, 2020
Read more about the article The Importance of Reading the Bible as a Jewish Book
How to Read the Bible / Church History

The Importance of Reading the Bible as a Jewish Book

The Bible is a Jewish book.  Although we read it, study it and memorize it in English, it is not an American book.  All but one of its forty or so authors was Jewish, and it was written from a decidedly Hebraic perspective.  Therefore, in order for us to understand its meaning, we must read it in the way its authors and God intended it to be read.  What were they trying to communicate to their original audience?  How would they have understood it?  These…

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August 18, 2019
Read more about the article The Principle of Agency in the New Testament
How to Read the Bible / Principle of Agency

The Principle of Agency in the New Testament

The Principle of Agency in the New Testament As we learned in The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament, an agent is one who has been "authorized to act for or in the place of another."[1] In Hebraic terms, the agent or the "one sent" is called the shaliah.[2]  Its New Testament equivalent is the term apostle or apostolos in the Greek, and it means: a messenger, one sent on a mission.[3]  Regarding agency, James McGrath, professor and New Testament scholar writes: Agency was…

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July 9, 2019
Read more about the article The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament
How to Read the Bible / Principle of Agency

The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament

The Principle of Agency in the Old TestamentThe principle of agency, also known as the law of agency, is an important precept that helps us better understand, not only Scripture as a whole, but more specifically, who Jesus is, his ministry, and his relationship to God.  Those who traverse the halls of academia have long known about this principle.  Unfortunately, those charged with instructing the Christian in the pew either do not know about it, or they have neglected to share it with those in…

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July 5, 2019
Read more about the article Jesus Came Down From Heaven
Proof Texts for the Deity of Christ / How to Read the Bible / Preexistence

Jesus Came Down From Heaven

The Importance of Understanding Jewish Idioms What could be more clear?  When Jesus said he came down from heaven, it's obvious proof that he preexisted in heaven. John 6:38 (NASB) "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (emphasis added) But is this what Jesus was trying to convey?  Is it possible that the first century Jewish audience would have understood his statement to mean something other than a literal pre-existence in…

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May 14, 2019
Read more about the article Jesus Came Into the World
Who is Jesus / How to Read the Bible / Preexistence

Jesus Came Into the World

The Importance of Understanding Jewish Idioms In order to properly understand a foreign language it is important to understand the idioms that are common to that culture.  You can imagine how someone who isn't from America might react if they were told they needed to "butter someone up" in order to gain their favor, or that dinner at an expensive restaurant was going to cost them an "arm and a leg." Without knowing the true meaning of such phrases, the uninitiated is left to take…

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May 9, 2019
Read more about the article John 1:1 – Fifty Plus English Translations
Proof Texts for the Deity of Christ / Guest Posts / How to Read the Bible / Preexistence

John 1:1 – Fifty Plus English Translations

by Sir Anthony Buzzard Reprinted with permission: FocusOnTheKingdom.org     John 1:1 - Fifty Plus English Translations The opening verses of the Gospel of John have proven to be, unfortunately, a veritable battleground and storm center of theological argument. Translators have often edited John to make him fit much later systems of theology. John had never heard of the “Trinity,” the mystifying proposition that God is one and yet three. Jesus knew nothing of that teaching. Jesus was a Jew and he publicly affirmed, as…

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April 23, 2019