Dr Paul Allen

This is someone's question: In the book of Job, which begins with Satan and the sons of Elohim meeting with Yahweh, we have the story of the great sea monster scaring God. Is this an example of traces of henotheism in the Bible? This is Harfield's answer : In Job 41:25, “the gods” are afraid. The Hebrew word used here is elim, a plural form of el, which translates to ‘gods’, but which is commonly translated into English as ‘the mighty’ in order to preserve biblical monotheism. Translated literally, it is evidence of early Jewish henotheism. The leviathan (Job 41:1) was a multi-headed chaos monster mentioned in other Ancient Near Eastern religions. God had to defeat the leviathan in order to continue with creation. In this context, ‘mighty’ — if this is intended to refer to mighty humans — makes no sense if they have not even yet been created, but other henotheistic gods do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is my answer:   This...

  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...