Introduction Happy Easter! He is risen! This post’s title is adapted from a valuable section of my NIV study Bible, “250 Events in the Life of Christ / A Harmony of the Gospels.” And I want to acknowledge upfront that I will be using it and drawing from it in this post. I’d also like … [Read more…]
I was surprised to discover in my googling today that there does not appear to be an easy and common mnemonic device for remembering the 27 books of the New Testament. (When you finish reciting your list, by the way, you can remember that the number of books should add up to 27, because that’s … [Read more…]
According to my NIV study Bible, Jesus performed 35 miracles. You can read the list at pages 13-14 of this link. (He also told 32 parables, by the way — see page 12 of the same link.) As I count them, 26 of those miracles involved healing of one sort or the other. That’s 74 … [Read more…]
Recently our pastor spoke on Matthew 18:23-36, and the next evening our small group discussed it. From this, a few thoughts. Forgiveness is important. Consider: It made the cut for inclusion in the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus did not explicitly list everything we are supposed to do in His short prayer, and He chose to include … [Read more…]
I like N.T. Wright, and a good friend recommended this book, so I read it. It’s quite short — 89 pages with no index or notes or headings — divided into six chapters that, as their titles suggest, march us sequentially through the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in Heaven,” “Thy Kingdom Come,” “Give Us This … [Read more…]
This is a prize-winning book, including an award from Christianity Today, and I read it because of endorsements by Lee Strobel (in The Case for the Real Jesus) and N.T. Wright (“a remarkable piece of detective work”). The key theme — as the title suggests — is that the Gospels are based on eyewitness testimony. … [Read more…]
How unified is the Bible text? At one extreme, you could argue that, since the whole text is inspired by God and since He knew from the beginning what text He would inspire and how it would and should be arranged, then the whole Bible — including every book, Old and New Testament alike — … [Read more…]
This short (only 114 pages of text) book is part of a series on a wide variety of topics published by Oxford University Press. I sought it out because I was impressed by the author’s much longer Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (discussed elsewhere on this blogsite), which I found valuable but daunting in its length … [Read more…]
The worst Bible couple, of course, was Jezebel and Ahab. But which was the best? It’s an interesting question to consider even if, at the end of the day, the answer turns out to have been pretty obvious. I’m looking for two things. First, both husband and wife should have strong and good character; a … [Read more…]
I deliberately sought out a book in this series on one of the gospels because I enjoyed its volume on Acts (by a different author) so much. And I’m glad I did: Professor Jeffrey is unfailingly insightful and judicious. I enjoyed, for example, his periodic observations on Luke’s likely source for this or that passage; recall … [Read more…]