Dr Paul Allen

In 1963, when Andy Williams released his song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” he had the Christmas season in mind. Despite the song not mentioning Jesus Christ or his birth—which I see as a departure from the “reason for the season”—I do agree with Him: Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. When rightly appropriated, it is a blessing that there is a time that is set apart for remembering a pivotal moment in history, the incarnation of our Savior. It’s the time when, as John says in John 1:14, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” There is such value in marveling at the weight and gravity of verses like Paul’s, where he writes, “Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:5–7 What a balm this is for our souls when we consider the cond...

  “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb . . . ” These words from a breathless Mary Magdalene were the first breaking of the news that Sunday morning. “. . . and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2). Just as Mary herself had run to inform Peter and “the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved,” they then ran together to check for themselves. That Jesus’s body was gone, they now believed. But somehow, even with Jesus’s words to them, on multiple occasions, about his coming death and resurrection (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34), they, like Mary, “did not understand” (Mark 9:32). On this world-changing Sunday morning, Jesus’s closest disciples first assumed his body had been taken and laid elsewhere. “As yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (John 20:9). Must rise. In Jesus’s mind, and in the courts of heaven, and in the pages of holy Scripture, the suffering and subsequent resurrection of the Messiah were not just possibilities or...

It’s Debunking Season. Every year, twice a year, in the weeks before Christmas and Easter, someone comes along telling Christians it’s time to pack it in. “Jesus is a myth, He’s always been a myth, and unless you want to keep on believing in fairy tales, you need to give up pretending He’s real.” The ABC in Australia promotes Ramadan and other Muslim events, ANZAC Day but posts NOTHING about Easter even Christmas. When they do, they are so lazy they grab a Getty picture and say people went to church. As far as the ABC is concerned Jesus has been debunked, is irrelevant, and is of no interest to anybody. None of these debunkings ever work, but they do raise a fair question: What would it take to disprove Jesus’ resurrection? What kind of evidence would do the job? Here’s one answer I hear Christians give : “If someone brings me the bones of Jesus, that’s when I’ll believe He didn’t rise from the dead.”  It’s a fair answer in theory, but I’m afraid I don’t think much of it. Everyone ...

Are the origins of Easter pagan?  If so, why do Christians celebrate this day while others don’t? The Word Easter The Old English word Easter originates from the word “Ēastrun” and also “Ēastru” which comes from a pagan image called “Eastre” who is the mythological goddess of spring celebrated by Northern European Saxons. This celebration was to honor her and was always held during the spring equinox.  Some of the associated symbols used today are steeped in paganism.  The bunny represents fertility while the eggs picture a period of new birth.   Today, Easter is completely commercialized over much of the world by celebrating with painted Easter eggs and the Easter bunny, neither of which has any connection with Christianity.   In some Christian circles, this celebration is often called Pascha and is connected to the Hebrew “Pesach” and is related to the word Passover which commemorates the Exodus of Israel and the Passover feast.  The timing of t...

Easter is a bad translation of a word that does not appear in the original language.… Easter is a carryover from the Greco-Roman world; which was engulfed in sun-worship…. The holiday and the word should be changed back to Passover. This was one of the best comments from the say-no-to-Easter perspective: it was clear, avoided ad hominem, and was written in lower case. Is Easter a pagan holiday? We as believers don’t want our holy days to be sullied by association with idolatry. And I want to state at the outset that no one should call Easter Easter against his or her conscience. But I don’t think we ought to be upset about the word Easter. Here’s why. 1. We’re not sure that “Easter” was a pagan word. The soberest and reliable source out there, the Oxford English Dictionary, dutifully cites the Venerable Bede’s contention from 1,300 years ago that Easter is derived from a pagan holiday. But that holiday was not Greco-Roman; it was Anglo-Saxon—Easter (Bede says) was the goddess of spring...

At this time of the year, we often reflect on the events surrounding the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. One such event is Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1–11; Mark 11:1–10; Luke 19:29–40; John 12:12–19). The gospel accounts of Christ’s triumphal entry point us back to the prophecy of Zechariah, a prophecy made hundreds of years before this event took place. In Zechariah 9:9–17, the prophet tells God’s people what to expect of their King when He comes. Zechariah prophesied wonderful things about the character of this coming King. First, this King would be a righteous King, one who does God’s will as a faithful covenant keeper. Jesus comes as a perfectly righteous King, who serves His Father in heaven with absolute and perfect righteousness. Second, Zechariah describes this coming King as having salvation . We could also translate this phrase to mean “showing himself a savior.” Jesus entered Jerusalem having already shown Himself a powerful Savior. In J...

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus’ crucifixion and death occur in stages of mockery and humiliation. The story is propelled by those who scorn—the soldiers, the chief priests and scribes, and even those who pass by. Jesus is spat on, stripped of His clothing, and mockingly forced to wear a purple robe with a crown of thorns. Throughout, He silently receives His undue punishment. It’s not until Jesus nears death that Mark slows the narrative: “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?’ (which is translated, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’)” ( Mark 15:34 ). These words have been spoken before, and this pain and humiliation has previously been told. In Psalm 22, the psalmist cries out to God in the midst of being mocked and scorned by his enemies.  The song of lament relates the bitter anguish the psalmist experiences at the hands of enemies. “He trusts Yahweh,” the psalmist’s enemies jeer, “Let him deliver him because he delights ...

During the trial of Jesus, Pontius Pilate asked a question that has resounded through the ages: " What is truth? " That is the key question for today, when the idea of absolute truth is increasingly and soundly rejected in our culture. To help us understand what is at stake, we are examining the conversation between Jesus and Pilate in John 18 . In the first post, we looked at the  rejection  of God 's truth as that which lies behind all sorts of evil in society today, and in the second post, we looked at the  reality  of truth. This post will look at the  reception  of truth. Let us review our passage: Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm." Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been ...

But who are you, O man, to talk back to God ? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’ ” (Romans 9:20). The Bible tells us that man is a creation of God. How ironic it is then that if there is anything we humans deny and resist with all our power, it is the fact that we are creatures. When Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the garden, it was to deceive them into rejecting the limitations of creaturehood and make them think they could become gods. The atheistic German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said that man’s lust for power is what makes him different from all other creatures. History has demonstrated that man cannot stand the fact that he is a creature. Take an honest look at yourself. Do you have trouble with authority? With humility? We have these problems because we do not like being creatures. We want to be gods. We do not want to concede our dependence on anything or anyone else, and we do not want to be subordinate to anyone ...

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen (Romans 11:36). Why did God create the world? One of the most foolish answers advanced is that God was lonely and needed to create someone with whom to have fellowship. The Christian doctrine of the tri-unity of God stands completely against any such idea. God has eternal fellowship within Himself, and has no need to create anything. Creation results completely from His sovereign will. Some have said the purpose of creation was to prepare the way for redemption: God created it and predestined the fall of man so Jesus could redeem the world. At first glance this notion looks very pious, since it focuses on Jesus and His work. As we shall see, however, it is inadequate to explain God’s purposes as the Bible sets them out. Looking at Genesis 1 , some have said that the purpose of creation was to provide a world for man’s glory and happiness. Man, after all, is the crown of creation, a...