Dr Paul Allen

  Joshua 2. The story of Rahab the harlot is a remarkable account of a woman who knew little about the God of Israel, but who applied the little she knew. Rahab took the risk of protecting the two Israelite spies who came to investigate the city of Jericho.  When she hid them on the roof of her house on the city wall, she acknowledged to them that the “the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” She asked for the reward of protection when Israel overtook her city, and they instructed her to bind a line of scarlet cord in her window as a token against that day.  She and her household were spared (Joshua 6). She is mentioned in Matthew 1 as being a part of the Messianic line and in Hebrews 11 and James 2 as an example of faith in action.

We can illustrate the need for text criticism by examining a particular text,   Psalm 104:6a . תְּהוֹם כַּלְּבוּשׁ כִּסִּיתוֹ A wooden translation would be, “The deep like the  garment you covered it.” This text, though, contains a grammatical problem and a theological problem. The grammatical problem is in the final form  כִּסִּיתוֹ ,, which is typically translated, “You co vered it.” There is no masculine singular antecedent for the suffix. The logical antecedent is  אֶרֶץ  (“the earth”) in verse  5 , but  אֶרֶץ  is feminine.  The  LXX  has,  περιβόλαιον αὐτοῦ  (“his garment” ), and the Vulgate follows suit with  amictus eius  (“his garment”), providing evidence for the masculine, singular suffix, but apparently reading  כְּסוּתוֹ  (“his garment”) for  כִּסִּיתוֹ  (“you covered  it”). Other witnesses give evidence of a feminine, singular suffix, which the context seems to requ...

  Romans 15:13   May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Powered by the Holy Spirit The fifth and last of the great biblical words found in Romans 15:13 is power, in the phrase “by the power of the Holy Spirit.” In Greek, the word is dynamis, not exousia (which is sometimes also translated as power, but actually means authority). It is a power that gets things done. This phrase reminds us that nothing of any spiritual value is possible in and of ourselves since, as Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We cannot believe unless we are enabled to believe by God (Eph. 2:8). We cannot find peace unless we submit our requests to God by prayer and earnest petition (Phil. 4:6–7). Joy comes only from God and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit’s work within (Gal. 5:22). Hope is impossible (Eph. 2:12). But while these blessings are impossible for any of us to achieve by ...

What is the incarnation? What do Christians mean by incarnation? The incarnation comes from Latin and means “in the flesh.” Put briefly, the incarnation is the doctrine that God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, became truly human without ceasing to be truly God. In Jesus Christ, we have two natures, divine and human, united in one and the same person, the Son of God. Jesus is not half-God and half-man, nor a blend of God and man, but both truly God and truly man. The importance of the hypostatic union Related to the doctrine of the incarnation is the hypostatic union. The term hypostatic union comes from the Greek word hypostasis, often translated into English as person. Thus, the “hypostatic union” refers to the union of a truly human nature and a truly divine nature in the one person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why does this matter?  In the fifth century, some taught that the incarnation meant a divine person taking on a human person, resulting in two persons in Christ lo...

Dr Andreas Kostenberger argues that before the Bible was written, the Holy Spirit authenticated the Apostles' teaching with signs. He then states that once the Bible canon was closed, the scriptures became the abiding authoritative norm for all believers. The need for signs and wonders ceased, because any such additional miracles would only distract from the uniqueness of the person and work of Jesus, and the apostles' role as the foundation of the church, along with the prophets "With the writing of the New Testament documents and the closing of the biblical canon, the need for miracles ceased."   Andreas Kostenberger My Response:  No—there is no explicit biblical teaching that miracles ceased once the canon was closed. That claim comes from a theological inference , not a statement of Scripture. Below is a careful, fair explanation. 1. What the cessationist argument actually says Classical cessationism argues that signs and wonders had a specific, temporary fu...

  The Evangelical View of Water Baptism In evangelical Christianity, water baptism is an ordinance, not a sacrament —that is, it is an act of obedience commanded by Christ, but it does not convey saving grace by itself. Core points: Follows conversion: Baptism comes after personal repentance and faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38–41; Acts 8:12). Symbol, not cause, of salvation: It outwardly symbolizes what God has already done inwardly—cleansing from sin and new life in Christ (Romans 6:3–4; Colossians 2:12). Public confession: It is a visible declaration of allegiance to Christ before the church and the world (Matthew 10:32). Identification with Christ: The believer testifies to sharing in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Normally by immersion: Evangelicals generally prefer immersion as it best reflects the biblical imagery of burial and resurrection. Linked to discipleship: Baptism marks entry into the visible community of believers and the begi...

One of the realities we face as people living in a fallen world is that tragedy and sadness surround us. This seems especially true each Christmas, as we reflect on the many acts of violence that marked the past year—acts that reveal deep truths about our culture and the spiritual condition of our nation. No sooner does one tragedy fade than another begins. We open our phones to check the news and are bombarded with story after story: shootings, kidnappings, robberies, or arrests for heinous crimes. It’s gut-wrenching to realize that people have lost loved ones during what should be a joyous holiday season—all because of the wicked acts of wicked men. Yet the sad reality is that our world is not so different from the one into which Jesus was born. In Matthew’s Gospel, we read of a wicked ruler, Herod, who ordered the death of all male children two years old and under in and around Bethlehem (Matthew 2). He committed this atrocity out of fear of losing power, driven by his own ego and ...