Dr Paul Allen

The question of free will has plagued the minds of philosophers, theologians, and ordinary people for millennia. The debate over what free will is and whether we as humans possess such a trait has not abated. If anything, it has increased in recent years. But what does the Bible say?  Can we find any help in God’s Word to answer the question of what it means to freely choose our actions and to be responsible for them? Since the time of the Reformation, the two basic answers that Christians have provided to this question have primarily centred on the theological legacies of Calvinism and Arminianism. The view of free agency associated with Calvinism is called compatibilism. The view advanced by Arminians and others, known as free-will theists, is called libertarian free will. Proponents of libertarian free will offer two planks to their definition of free will. First, for any choice to be truly free, it must be sufficiently unmoored from the constraints of outside causal forces. Tha...

 What does the once-glorious city of ancient Babylon look like today? Have the prophecies of Isaiah 13:19-22 and Jeremiah 50:39 come true? Watch Expedition Bible’s video to see for yourself!

  Here is what Chat GDP said: 1. Why is there suffering and evil in the world? "Why do bad things happen to good people?" "Where are you suffering?" "Why did this happen to me/my loved ones?" This is perhaps the most universal and emotionally charged question Christians bring to God, especially in times of grief or tragedy. 2. What is your will for my life? "What should I do next?" "What is my calling or purpose?" "Am I on the right path?" Christians often seek divine guidance for big life decisions—career, relationships, ministry, etc.—hoping for clarity and direction. 3. Do you really love me / have you forgiven me? "Am I truly accepted?" "Can you forgive what I’ve done?" "Why do I still feel distant from you?" This taps into core concerns about grace, guilt, shame, and assurance—especially in traditions that emphasize personal salvation. 4. Why do you f...

Did Mark write the story of the pigs called Legion to have a go at the Romans?  Mark has the event mistakenly at Gerasa, which is over nine kilometres from the Sea of Galilee. Can pigs run that far? But was this intentional? In our world, we want everything to line up for the gospel to say the exact thing, but that was not a necessity of the gospel writer.  Matthew’s Gospel has the pigs at “the region of the Gerasenes” (τὴν χώραν τῶν Γερασηνῶν) to “the region of the Gadarenes” (τὴν χώραν τῶν Γαδαρηνῶν). Nicholas Elder says, in Mark at the Borderland of Orality and Textuality, that Mark’s author wrote this anecdote as a disguised criticism of the Roman legions during the Roman-Jewish War of 66–70 CE. He explains why the demons purportedly said their name was ‘Legion’ and why the tale had to take place near Gerasa: Vespasian’s military actions in Gerasa in the years preceding 70 CE will have made the city culturally significant for Mark’s audience. In J.W. 4.487–489, Josephus re...

Why do some historians like Tallus and Phlegon mention unusual events like eclipses during Jesus' crucifixion, and what do these accounts add to the narrative? We do not have any actual writings from Thallus, although some of his work was quoted by later writers. One such writer was Sextus Julius Africanus, a Christian who lived in the early third century. He said that Thallus reported darkness at about the time of the crucifixion but dismissed it as a solar eclipse.  As Africanus points out, solar eclipses never occur at the time of the full moon. Origen reported, in Against Celsus 2.xiv, that Phlegon wrote about "the greatest eclipse of the sun" at the sixth hour.  William Lane Craig, a theologian and Christian apologist, has written a lengthy article (Thallus on the Darkness at Noon) in which he accepts that Thallus wrote the account attributed to him and demonstrates that there was, in fact, a darkness at the time Jesus was crucified. As we only have references to wha...

I was a sophomore in college when I took my first class devoted to the scholarly study of the Bible. It was a course on the New Testament that covered the background of the Christian Scriptures and dealt with matters such as the authorship of the New Testament books. It was the first class for my major in religious studies, and I was excited to take it. My professor was a kind and very encouraging man, so I was glad to have him as my instructor. However, the subject matter of the class was occasionally jarring. It was my introduction to the world of biblical scholarship, and it was the first time I saw how many professional Bible scholars did not treat the biblical text as the Word of God. That was not in itself especially surprising to me; before taking the class, I had known many people who did not treat the Bible as God’s Word. No, what was surprising to me was seeing how scholars would outright reject statements made in the Bible that should not be objectionable, even to those who ...

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:1–2) Christ does not get flustered and frustrated when we come to him for fresh forgiveness, for renewed pardon, with distress and need and emptiness. That’s the whole point. It’s what he came to heal. He went down into the horror of death and plunged out through the other side to provide a limitless supply of mercy and grace to his people. When you come to Christ for mercy and love and help in your anguish and perplexity and sinfulness, you are going with the flow of his own deepest wishes, not against them.  We tend to think that when we approach Jesus for help in our need and mercy ami...

  1. Prosecuting fellow believers through online platforms without ecclesial process The Apostle Paul instructed the church in Corinth to judge matters internally (1 Cor. 6). Today, however, the church has outsourced judgment to the Twittersphere. Believers now play judge, jury, and executioner without due process or any semblance of ecclesial order. Social media has become a tribunal, and reputations can be assassinated with a single click. This practice not only bypasses biblical structures of accountability but also reveals how biblically illiterate and spiritually reckless much of the body has become. The church is not a mob. It is a family governed by elders, not online outrage. 2. Presumptuously calling for a 'court of Heaven' For over a decade, the “courts of Heaven” teaching has gained traction in certain charismatic circles. The idea is that one can summon a heavenly court to break generational curses and demonic strongholds. While there are kernels of truth — God is a...

Cherubim first appear in Genesis 3, when God places them east of the Garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life, and they continue to make appearances throughout the pages of Scripture. There were numerous representations of cherubim in the tabernacle and in the temple.  Cherubim were given varied descriptions and primarily signified God’s presence, serving as a visible reminder of the majesty and glory of the Almighty God who reigns on His throne and abides with His people. Read commentary from Iain Duguid, Jay Sklar, Gary Millar, and Thomas Schreiner, who trace the appearances of cherubim through the Bible and help us understand who these figures are. Cherubim in Genesis He drove out the man, and to the east of the Garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. —Genesis 3:24 Adam and Eve’s sin has immediate and tragic consequences, as they are driven out of the garden. The entrance to the garden of E...

Fruit of the Spirit, we took a general look at the list to begin to uncover the meaning of the Apostle Paul’s words to the Galatians. Now we will examine each of these slices of the Spirit’s fruit, starting with love. What is this love produced by the Spirit?  Defining love is not an easy task, but here’s one that attempts to sum up the biblical nature of love: Love is a holy, divine affection toward others produced by the Spirit of God in all believers. This is spiritual love – produced, wrought, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. So, what does this love truly mean? First, spiritual love is not a natural phenomenon. Spiritual love is not the natural affection of the world. The world might be capable of love in the human sense of the term. We know there are unbelievers who have good marriages. Some unbelievers are willing to sacrifice for the greater good of humanity. It is possible to do these things without having true love as God defines it. As Paul says, a person can be a great ...

The fourth scroll or seal in the Book of Revelation appears in Revelation 6:7-8, and its opening releases the pale horse and its rider. Here's the key passage: "When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They gained control over a quarter of the planet, enabling them to eliminate threats such as swords, famines, plagues, and wild beasts. (Revelation 6:7–8, NIV) Symbolic Elements • Pale horse (Greek: chloros–pale green, the colour of decay) • Rider: Death, followed by Hades • Power over ¼ of the earth • Four methods of death: sword (violence/war), famine, plague (pestilence/disease), and wild beasts Practical Prophetic Application There are different interpretive lenses for Revelation, but here’s a practical prophetic application that blends biblical theology with contemporary relevance: 1. A Warning...

A little over ten years ago, the book "The Shack" became an unexpected bestseller, sparking debate and garnering appreciation from across the evangelical landscape. Although the author originally wrote the book for his children and had it copied at Kinko’s, it reached number one on the New York Times fiction best-seller list after its release. In 2017, a major motion picture based on the book returned to the top spot once again. The themes of the book are heavy, at times harrowing, and inescapably theological, though they are presented in such a way that the reader can forget it is indeed a work of theology. The theological themes touched on include the character of the church, the problem of evil (theodicy), the nature of revelation, the depiction of God, and our understanding of the Trinity. I want to speak to an element of this last theme because the novel assumes something we are all tempted to assume: in reference to God, ”Father” is ultimately a metaphor and, as such, c...

In chapter 17 of the first book of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin expresses his delight in this passage written by the fourth-century Cappadocian church father Gregory of Nazianzus. Specifically, Calvin points to the following sentence: “No sooner do I conceive of the One than I am illumined by the Splendour of the Three; no sooner do I distinguish them than I am carried back to the One.” Why does John Calvin find joy in these words? Calvin understands that contemplating our triune God exposes us to a truth that surpasses our total comprehension. He knew that to avoid error in our thoughts and words about God, we must be careful. Gregory of Nazianzus (AD 329–390) was one of the greatest theologians of the early church. He was instrumental in the resolution of the fourth-century Trinitarian crisis that engulfed the church. Certain of his writings, particularly Orations 20, 23, 25 and the five theological orations (27–31), are foundational works in the history of T...