Dr Paul Allen

  Mark Jones One will find the word used in the King James Version in a few places: “But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence” ( Rom 7:8 ); “Not in the lust of concupiscence …” ( 1 Thess 4:5 ; see also Col 3:5 ). The translators used “concupiscence” to translate the Greek word ἐπιθυμία. In brief, concupiscence ( concupiscentia ) originates from the Latin verb concupisco , which means “to ardently desire.” There are proper, non-sinful forms of desire, which we would call “non-sinful concupiscence.” For example, Jesus said to his disciples, “I have earnestly desired [ἐπεθύμησα] to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Luke 22:15).  But because we live in a fallen world, concupiscence typically has in view sinful desire, and usually in reference to sinful sexual desires. Because sin is the privation (lack) of righteousness and proneness to evil, concupiscence involves not just the acts but the desire of the person. Sinful con...

  A PERSON'S QUESTION: What happened to the people who were in Paul’s entourage? Did they also see Jesus, and did any of them go blind, or was Paul travelling alone on the Damascus Road? HARFIELD'S ANSWER: The author of Acts saw no reason to maintain consistency across the three accounts of Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus so, although substantially similar, there are some interesting differences. In each account in Acts, there was a blinding light: Paul saw the light in in the version at Acts 9:3-8, but Paul’s men did not. The whole entourage heard Jesus’ voice. At Acts 22:6-11, Paul’s men saw the light but did not hear Jesus’ voice. Paul’s men probably saw the light at Acts 26:13-19, as they fell down; we are not told if they heard Jesus’ voice. In the account of Paul's conversion, Jesus is supposed to have remarked to Paul as he lay on the ground, "It hurts you to kick against the goad [or 'pricks']" (Acts 9:5, 26:14). This should give a good...

In the mid-20th century, some evangelical Christians believed we were on the cusp of fulfilling the Great Commission because there were Christians located in almost every country in the world.  But at the First International Congress on World Evangelisation in July 1974 in Lausanne, Switzerland, Ralph Winter warned triumphant Christians about “people-blindness” and “hidden peoples.” He recognised that some geographic countries simultaneously contain both very evangelised and completely unevangelised groups of people (e.g., China). Winter’s recognition prompted a significant paradigm shift in missions strategy that placed the focus on so-called “unreached people groups” (UPGs) around the world. More than 40 years after his strategy-altering address at Lausanne, the conversation continues today. I want to provide some historical context, express some caution, and highlight a corrective to the unreached-people-group strategy that dictates so much global-mission strategy today. Contex...

The famous Australian phrase "Buckley’s chance" —which famously means "no chance at all"—ironically commemorates a man who beat the ultimate odds. While the saying implies a hopeless situation, the real-life story of William Buckley is one of the most astonishing tales of survival and cross-cultural integration in colonial history. The Great Escap e In 1803, William Buckley, a towering former British soldier turned convict, arrived at Port Phillip Bay (near modern-day Sorrento, Victoria) to help establish a new penal colony. The settlement quickly fell into misery due to a severe lack of fresh water. On a hot night later that year, Buckley and a few other prisoners decided to risk everything and escaped into the rugged, unfamiliar Australian bush. The group's sense of geography was so poor that they initially believed they could walk all the way to China. Ill-equipped and starving, Buckley's companions eventually lost hope and turned back, never to be heard...

Robert R. Cargill, PhD .  Bible & Archaeology (University of Iowa) People ask about the problematic nature of this census, its historicity and its failure to align well with the birth narrative in Matthew's Gospel. First, know that biblical scholars have wrestled with this census issue for over a century. But let me explain it as best I can here. Luke 2:1–3 reads: (1) In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.  (2) This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.  (3) All went to their own towns to be registered. The census has a couple of problems. First, Quirinius and Herod the Great did not rule at the same time. Herod the Great died in 4 BCE. Anyway, Herod the Great died in 4 BCE, and yet Publius Sulpicius Quirinius wasn’t appointed as the governor of Syria until 6 CE, that is, well after Herod the Great died and after Herod’s son and successor, Archelaus, was banished as ruler...