Dr Paul Allen

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13) Read Philippians 4:13 (without reading the surrounding verses yet). Think about some conclusions you might draw about what this verse is saying if you ignore the context. In this verse, Paul is saying that he can do “all things” through Christ, who strengthens him. You probably have seen this verse used in the context of athletics or some other kind of competition.  Some people have even made it their “life verse” as they think about Jesus helping them do amazing things. In other words, when we totally ignore the context that surrounds this verse, it becomes all about accomplishment.  We can take it as a promise that Jesus will strengthen us to do the things that we want to do—win a game, pass a test, make a lot of money, or achieve an outstanding award. We can be tempted to use this verse as a kind of motivational slogan for our lives. But when we look at the context, we begin to see that we cannot really tak...

G.K.Beale EXACTLY WHAT FIGHT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? The expression “fight the good fight” is often used in Christian circles and Western culture. Indeed, while perusing Amazon.com I found at least thirty-one books with the title “The Good Fight” and at least ten books with the fuller title “Fighting the Good Fight,” some of which were overtly Christian but many of which were not.  The origin of the phrase is 1 Timothy 1:18 (and perhaps in 1 Tim. 6:12 and 2 Tim. 4:7). In 1 Timothy 1:18 and 6:12, Timothy is exhorted to “fight the good fight”; in 2 Timothy 4:7, Paul says that he “has fought the good fight.” I am writing a commentary on 1 Timothy (for the Zondervan Exegetical Commentary Series). When I came to 1 Timothy 1:18, I noticed that the phrase “fight the good fight” is composed of a verb (strateuō) and a noun (strateia) that is a cognate word with the verb. The use of the noun “fight” after the verb “to fight” in this phrase is a figure of speech whereby there “is a repetition o...

Ardel Caneday Would a reasonable Christian read John Bunyan’s allegory The Pilgrim’s Progress allegorically or figuratively? The answer is Neither because the adverbs “allegorically” and “figuratively” describe not how to read his similitude but how Bunyan wrote it.  Thus, he requires us to read it for what it actually is, an allegory. Authors of literature, not readers, have authority over their texts to assign symbolic or figurative properties to settings, events, persons, and things they embed within their texts.  Readers are obligated to comprehend how an author represents the world being portrayed textually, whether the realm portrayed is fictional or real. Thus, we are not at liberty to read The Pilgrim’s Progress according to our whims. We are not free to assign our own arbitrary meanings to the author’s text. Bunyan wrote it as an allegory. He assigned figurative representational significances to the settings, events, persons, and things. Readers do not have that role....

Ideas have consequences. Since the dawn of Western philosophy, we have witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly of this axiom. From the influence of John Locke upon the founders of America to the disastrous results of the influence of Karl Marx in Communist Russia and Friedrich Nietzsche in Hitler’s Germany, it can hardly be argued that ideas don’t have consequences. Yet, not only do ideas have consequences but so too does exegesis. The danger of erroneous interpretation of Scripture is not new in our day. The Apostle Paul instructed a young Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). There is a right way and a wrong way to handle the Word of God. Unfortunately, our era continues to be littered with those who may find themselves ashamed because they have mishandled the Word of Truth. Take, for example, Mark 16:17–18: And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my ...