Dr Paul Allen

Previously, we looked at the word “modest” in the New Testament and walked through  1 Cor. 12:23  and  1 Tim. 2:9  and ended up closing the post with a little discussion of what “ not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire ” meant.   The question arose as to what braided hair with gold and pearls indicated in ancient Roman culture , and the comment was made there is an evangelical myth that such things indicated that a woman was a  prostitute .   I suggested that such was not the case, and today’s post will be the first part of a two-part answer to that question.  In this post we’ll take a look at women’s clothing in Roman culture, and the following post will take a look at women’s hairstyles . Hopefully the next two posts will lay to rest some evangelical myths about hair and clothes in the New Testament era. In Roman culture, one didn’t find the same sort of wild variety in clothing, and little changes in style....

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?” ( Galatians 3:1 ) The Greek word for “bewitched” is used only this once in the New Testament and does not necessarily refer to witchcraft as such. The connotation is “fascinated” or “deceived.” Unlike most of his other epistles, the book of Galatians includes no commendations from Paul, nor even any prayer requests. Paul evidently was very disappointed in this church and its ministry. He had clearly preached the gospel to them, setting forth “Jesus Christ, and him crucified” ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ) among them, and they had apparently believed and started out well. They seemed to understand the great doctrines of salvation by grace and of liberty in Christ, and it was hard for Paul to understand how they had been so quickly led astray. If anything, this is even a greater problem today than in Paul’s day. Professin...

“But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” ( Titus 3:4 ) Six times in the pastoral epistles Paul refers to God (evidently meaning the Father) as our Savior ( 1 Timothy 1:1 ; 2:3; 4:10; Titus 1:3 ; 2:10; 3:4). Usually, however, he and the other New Testament writers identify Jesus Christ as our Savior. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” ( 2 Peter 3:18 , for example). In the same fashion, Paul relates that his commission to preach the gospel came from “God our Saviour” ( Titus 1:3 ), while elsewhere he says his commission came “by the revelation of Jesus Christ” ( Galatians 1:12 ). Is this a contradiction? No! In fact, references to God as our Savior should not surprise us, for it is found in numerous places in the Old Testament . (See, for example, Psalm 106:21 .) Furthermore, our understanding of the Trinity insists that all three persons of the Godhead are One in God. Of course, Christ made many r...

Unfortunately, many Christians love the idea of the Bible, but not really the Bible itself. We love having a Bible close by, even within reach, but don’t make time to open it on an average day. We talk about Bible reading like we talk about cutting calories or cleaning our house. We’re grateful for the results, but we don’t wake up dying to do it again. It sounds like a fine thing to do, until we have to choose what we won’t do in order to make time for it. If that’s you, you probably also know a Christian who loves reading their Bible. They can’t get enough of it. As far as you know, they would just as likely go a whole day without food as without the Bible. Their happy discipline convicts and, if you’re honest, sometimes even annoys you. Who is it in your life who is most likely to pray like this? “I enjoy reading the Bible more than the wealthy enjoy all their houses, cars, technology, and vacations. God , your word will be my first priority and focus each day. I will read ...

Jesus Himself established the importance of understanding how faith operates, when He said, “According to your faith let it be to you” (Matt. 9:29). Faith that believes is called to become faith that appropriates. The present day has seen a rise of understanding on this subject but mixed with a confusing and distracting flurry of ideas that have often brought misunderstanding and criticism. Is there a biblically balanced approach to “confessing God ’s Word in faith“? The writer of this study has moved within the circles of both movements—classical Pentecostal and Charismatic “ word of faith ” fellowships, and invites examination of a study that may bring hope for such balance. 1. The Words We Speak (Gen. 17:5) God spoke a new name to Abram and thus was arranging that Abram would remember God’s promise each time he heard his new name, “ Abraham .“ 2. Faith When Facing Delays (Num. 13:30; 14:69) Caleb knew they could enter the land God gave them; and thus, forty years later, ...

English: From frontpiece of Legendary Tales of the Australian Aborigines (1924) by David Unaipon at the State Library of New South Wales (http://image.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/ebindshow.pl?doc=a1929/a1191;thumbs=1) Category:Images of Australian people (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The first adult Christian at the Point MacLeay Mission, near the mouth of the Murray River in South Australia , was James Ngunaitponi, a Ngarrindjeri man whose name was Anglicised to ‘Unaipon’ by white people who could not pronounce it. The mission, technically non-denominational, was conservatively evangelical and ruled by the stern George Taplin. James Unaipon , born about 1830, came to Christ in 1862 through the teaching of a far gentler itinerant missionary, James Reid of the Free Church of Scotland , whose name James took at baptism. He chose to accompany Reid, acting as a translator and taking his own first steps towards evangelism. He had an immense knowledge of the Bible, the King James Bible of cou...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church : Wikipedia ) The apostle Paul starts all of his letters with the prayer that “grace and peace” will come to the reader. But he never uses a verb . He never says, “ Grace and peace  be  to you,” or, “Grace and peace  come  to you.” He assumes the verb. Peter makes it explicit. He begins both his letters, “May grace and peace  be multiplied  to you.” Paul would be very happy with this verb. It’s what he means when he says thirteen times, “Grace to you and peace.” The verb behind “be multiplied” is used twelve times in the New Testament and always means “increase” — move from lesser to greater. There are at least seven important implications in these words for our lives. 1. Grace and peace are experienced. Grace and peace are not only the objective status we enjoy before God . They are also the experiential enjoyment of that status. It is gloriously true that God made an  objective ...

Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator), a 6th-century encaustic icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai. NB - slightly cut down - for full size see here (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) X can mean so many things. For example, when we want to denote an unknown quantity, we use the symbol X. It can refer to an obscene level of films, something that is X-rated or M15+ rated. People seem to express chagrin about seeing Christ 's name dropped and replaced by this symbol for an unknown quantity X. Every year you see the signs and the bumper stickers saying, "Put Christ back into Christmas " as a response to this substitution of the letter X for the name of Christ. There's no X in Christmas First of all, you have to understand that it is not the letter X that is put into Christmas. We see the English letter X there, but actually what it involves is the first letter of the Greek name for Christ. Christos is the New Testament Greek for Christ. The first letter of the...