This is another book that I read because it was cited in Ross Douthat’s recent and excellent Believe. After this book’s 15-page introduction, there follows the author’s new translation of Mark’s Gospel and his and verse-by-verse (more or less) commentary on it. Since there are sixteen chapters in Mark, the book is divided into sixteen … [Read more…]
There’s a new Blaise Pascal biography out, and I’m looking forward to reading it. You can listen to the author, Graham Tomlin, discuss it and, especially, its subject here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFeo0LTQONA . The full title of the new book, by the way, is Blaise Pascal: The Man Who Made the Modern World.
In all three synoptic Gospels, Jesus is asked by Pontius Pilate if He is king of the Jews, and He responds (KJV), “Thou sayest it” (though Matthew for some reason does not supply the word “it” the way that Mark and Luke do). See Matthew 27:11, Mark 15:2, and Luke 23:3. This is generally understood … [Read more…]
This is another book I read thanks to its endorsement in Ross Douthat’s Believe. It’s excellent! And more good news (so to speak): The whole book is available online here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/64c13fbd86667f166b3c5901/t/6605a833f6068e6a27855728/1711646775902/Can%2BWe%2BTrust%2BThe%2BGospels.pdf The book is fairly recent (2018), short (140 pages of text), and with good footnotes (and both a general and a Scripture index). There’s … [Read more…]
In Luke 24:25, Jesus laments those “foolish and slow of heart to believe in all the things the prophets have spoken.” And Luke, who was apparently a physician and who was of course the one doing the quoting, writes in Greek “bradeis ti cardia” for “slow of heart” — quite close to “bradycardia,” the medical … [Read more…]
This book was recommended by Ross Douthat in his recent book, and an excellent recommendation it was! *** I’ll begin with an overview of the book, starting with the author’s definition of the eponymous “undesigned coincidence” (12): An undesigned coincidence is a notable connection between two or more accounts or texts that doesn’t seem to … [Read more…]
I recently ran across this nicely presented chiasm for Hebrews 12:1-2 (page 207 of David Alan Black’s Learn To Read New Testament Greek): A [H]aving SEATED around us such a great cloud of witnesses >>B SETTING ASIDE every weight and clinging sin >>>>C with PATIENT ENDURANCE >>>>>>D let us run the race THAT IS SET … [Read more…]
It is exciting to have a book of Christian apologetics on the New York Times best seller list — debuting at number eight among nonfiction hardbacks! I will give you a quick summary and my bottom line first: The book begins with chapters on how recent science on fine-tuning, human consciousness, and supernatural events like … [Read more…]
June is the most romantic month, the month rhyming with moon and the bride’s choice for many weddings. And as it happens our church just finished a four-week sermon series “From This Day Forward,” focusing on marriage. The Scriptural bases were primarily Genesis 1-3 and Ephesians 2, 4, and especially 5. Here are a few … [Read more…]
Here’s a happy thought I had this spring as I drank my morning coffee: What is the natural sound people most often hear — that is, the sound people most often hear that is not manmade? The answer is birds singing, is it not? And that is a very pleasant sound, is it not? The … [Read more…]