Dr Paul Allen

Stanley E. Porter argues in his specialised essays and book chapters on the subject (such as "Paul's Bible, His Education and His Access to the Scriptures of Israel") that Paul’s primary Bible was the Septuagint (LXX), and interpreters should default to assuming he relied upon it.  Key Insights on Paul and His Bible • The Septuagint Baseline: Porter contends that Paul's thought and scriptural quotations are most accurately read against the Greek Septuagint tradition rather than dynamically shifting back and forth to the Hebrew Masoretic Text without clear textual indicators. • Education and Access: Co-authored work by Porter and Andrew Pitts explores how Paul's Hellenistic and Jewish background shaped his access to texts, balancing traditional Jewish training with Greco-Roman rhetorical and grammatical milieu.  • Consistency in Citations: Porter advocates for rigorous, methodical consistency when identifying and cataloguing how New Testament writers quote or echo ...

Sometimes when a New Testament writer quotes the Old Testament, the two passages do not match precisely. Is the New Testament writer misquoting the Old Testament? Or is there another explanation? https://hopecollege.com Luke records that when Jesus began his ministry, he went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day . When he stood up to read the Scriptures, “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him” (Luke  4:17 ). Jesus read the description of a climactic arrival of the anointed one from Isaiah 61:1–2, excluding the last half of verse two. That omission is understandable, but if you look at Luke  4:18 –19 and Isaiah 61:1–2 side by side, several dissimilarities in what Jesus read are readily apparent. In the original Old Testament passage, there is no reference to making the blind see. Conversely, Isaiah speaks of “binding up the brokenhearted,” a phrase absent in Luke. Since Luke is clear that Jesus was reading from a scroll, the divergence is...

English: Jesus and the Samaritan woman. A miniature from the 12th-century Jruchi Gospels II MSS from Georgia. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Mark 9:30–32 “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise” ( v. 31 ). Peter’s great confession at Caesarea Philippi ( 16:16 ) proclaims our Lord as the “Son of the living God.” The transfiguration (17:1–8), in particular, is a striking illustration of the majesty of our Savior. In order that we might better understand and praise the majesty of the second person of the Trinity , especially as He is revealed in the names given to Him in Scripture. The various titles ascribed to Jesus in the New Testament give us insight into His majesty. Were we to sit down and count the frequency of each, we would find that the Greek title christos, which we translate as “ Christ ,” is the title most often used of Jesus in the New Testament.  Christ is not ...

English: "The Deluge", Frontispiece to Doré's illustrated edition of the Bible. Based on the story of Noah's Ark, this shows humans and a tiger doomed by the flood futilely attempting to save their children and cubs. Français : "Le Déluge", Frontispice de l'édition illustrée par Gustave Doré de la Bible. Basé sur l'histoire de l'Arche de Noé, la gravure montre des humains et un tigre tentant en vain de sauver leur progéniture. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Darren Aronofsky ’s film  Noah   has created quite the stir. Regardless of whether we agree with his portrayal of Noah, we must admit he does raise some interesting questions about this important biblical account. After seeing the movie, I left the theater wanting to know more—wanting to find answers to these tough questions. I’m sure others did, too. But where can we find all the best scholarship and interpretations collected in one place? The  Lexham Bible Guide: Genesis 1–11  is our answe...

Mary Writing the Magnificat (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 1:22–25 “This took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name ‘ Immanuel ’” (vv. 22–23). Liberals have long scrutinized Matthew 1:22–23 and the passage it quotes, Isaiah 7:14, leading them to deny the virgin birth. They say that since Isaiah uses almah, a Hebrew term literally translated as “maiden,” he is not affirming the virgin birth. This argument has no merit, for almah almost always refers to a young woman who is also a virgin. Also, the Septuagint , an ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament , understands that Isaiah is talking about a virgin as it renders almah with parthenos, the normal Greek word for “virgin.” We wholeheartedly affirm the virgin birth of Jesus based on today’s passage and Luke 1:26–38. But let us note that Matthew may not be reading Isaiah as...

The Bibliotheca Laurentiana at Florence is a repository for ancient writing. It contains a vast collection of more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. None is more precious than the fine volume labeled  Codex Amiatinus . This is the most celebrated of the myriad manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate Bible and an important witness to the history of the Christian church. It is the fifth of the twenty-five objects through which we are tracing the history of Christianity. As the Christian church grew and matured and moved beyond its infancy, early believers had to grapple with many theological questions and controversies. Creeds and councils were convened. Debates raged. Every Christian turned to the Bible to support his beliefs and yet a foundational question remained: What was the Bible? Codex Amiatinus is an important part of the answer. In 382, Pope Damascus I concluded that the church was in desperate need of a new translation of the S...

English: Dead Sea Scroll - part of Isaiah Scroll (Isa 57:17 - 59:9), 1QIsa b (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Wellhausen . The relative dates for these four sources are disputed. The order could be PEJD or EJDP. In his 1878 “Documentary Hypothesis” (Prolegomena to the History of Ancient Israel), Wellhausen proposed that the J Source was composed in the mid- 10th century BC ; the E Source in mid- ninth century BC ; the D Source in the late-seventh century BC; and the P Source at the end of the sixth century BC.  He argued that editors (redactors) first combined JE, then JED, and finally JEDP by the mid-fifth century. He also examined Exodus, concluding that J and E are presented separately in parts of Exod 1–19 and merged with each other and/or P in parts of Exod 1–19. He argued that P is dominant in the legal portions and tabernacle accounts of Exod 20–40. Criticisms of Wellhausen. Wellhausen’s hypothesis was widely—but not universally—accepted. Sayce, Keil, Delitzsch, Cassuto...

The Holy Spirit depicted as a dove, surrounded by angels, by Giaquinto, 1750s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) He that is spiritual --literally, " the  spiritual (man)." In  1 Corinthians 2:14  , it is " A  [not ' the, ' as English Version ] natural man."  The spiritual  is  the  man distinguished above his fellow men, as he in whom the Spirit rules. In the unregenerate, the spirit which ought to be the organ of the Holy Spirit (and which is so in the regenerate), is overridden by the animal soul, and is in abeyance, so that such a one is never called "spiritual."  You are able to ....judgeth all things --and persons, by their true standard (compare  1 Corinthians 6:2-4  ,  1 John 4:1 ), in so far as he is spiritual. "Discerneth . . . is discerned," would better accord with the translation of the same  Greek  (  1 Corinthians 2:14  ). Otherwise for "discerned," in  1...