Dr. Platypus

Check out Rick Mansfield’s post on Understanding Matthew 5:28. It’s one of those verses everyone thinks they understand (even former U.S. presidents), but there is a bit of grammatical detail that casts the verse in a whole new light.

We’re moved, sort of. Everything is under a roof. Many things have been removed from boxes.
While we’re finishing the transition, I note that Caleb’s Cafe (an online small groups tool from Smyth & Helwys) posted an old piece I wrote about lectio divina as a “Teachable Moments” article. Check out Praying the Scriptures, and I’ll […]

Tony Cartledge notes that Southern Baptist laypeople are not as gung-ho about inerrancy as their pastors are. I’m not convinced, however, that the phrase “totally accurate in all that it teaches” is strictly equivalent to the word “inerrant.” Does the Bible “teach,” for example, that the earth is covered with a dome of water and […]

Class was rudely interrupted by tornado sirens yesterday, so I didn’t get to finish talking about Judaism in the first century. Here is a nutshell version of what I would have said.
1. Four sects.
According to the Jewish historian Josephus, there were four “philosophies” of Judaism. Most Jews in the time of Jesus would not have […]

Peter Enns on tradition:
A lot has happened since the nineteenth century. New issues in biblical scholarship have arisen, and older “liberal†positions have gained general acceptance, so much so that many evangelical scholars accept positions today that would have been branded heterodox several generations earlier (e.g., the viability of source criticism, the importance of ANE […]

BestCommentaries.com is a clearinghouse of information about commentaries on various books of the Bible, including purchasing information and Amazon.com reviews. If you’re looking to build or expand your theological library—or buy a present for your favorite pastor or Bible teacher—you might want to give it a look-see.
By the way, my birthday is November 6, just […]

Peter Enns has begun a new blog series responding to criticisms of his Inspiration and Incarnation. I look forward to what he has to say, having thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Thomas Nelson is putting out a Bible with all the part rearranged in what is supposed to be chronological order. There are at least three things utterly wrongheaded with this idea.
First, it destroys the literary integrity of each individual book. Like it or not, the Evangelists produced four distinct Gospels each with its own distinct […]

One of my two favorite class days when I’m teaching New Testament intro is the Parables. (The other is the Kingdom of God, for many of the same reasons). In that light, and with only a couple of weeks before classes resume at Mercer University, I note that Ben Myers is contemplating How (not) to […]

I previously blogged about the Old Testament canon. Now I’d like to jot down some thoughts about the New Testament.
1. The Church Has Always Had a Bible.
Jesus and all of his original followers were Jews. As such, they were heirs of a centuries-long tradition of studying, preaching, debating, and praying the Scriptures of Israel. The […]