Gospels | TLG Christian News

Why Be Anglican: Lectionary

23/01/2017 0 Comment

I am doing a series on the blog about why I became Anglican, and thefirst week I looked at the church calendar and last week at worship, and this week I want to dip into “worship,” by which I mean Sunday morning worship service. (I do not equate worship with Sunday morning worship, but Sunday morning worship is worship.) This week I look at the Lectionary.
Image used with permission.
I’m not a historian of the lectionary, and it is common property to a wide range of churches and that is why toda..

The First Question to Ask of an Ancient, Holy Book: Is It Ancient?

23/01/2017 0 Comment

Many of the world’s best known religious texts are silent when it comes to claims about history. Many Eastern religious scriptures, for example, describe spiritual principles devoid of historical location or setting. Texts such as these are proverbial in nature, proclaiming ancient wisdom without any connection to historical context. The Abrahamic religions are very different, however. Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Mormonism make claims about ancient history. For this reason, these religious ..

Who Is the Greatest?

13/01/2017 0 Comment

It’s fun to laugh at the disciples sometimes, isn’t it? Read the gospels and you’ll find them providing us plenty of opportunity. Like in Mark 9 when they have arrived in Capernaum and have settled into a home for a meal and a rest. Jesus asks a simple question: “What were you discussing on the way?” They had obviously been in deep debate during that long walk and Jesus is interested to know what it was all about. But there is no response. “They kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.” Ouch.

This argument sounds absurd to Western ears. Who would actually debate their own status? Who would actually have the chutzpah to say, “I’m greater than you and here’s why”? But in that culture, this kind of ranking was important, a means of ensuring social hierarchy. Literature from the time was full of explanations of who should enter rooms first, second, third, and last. Other literature predicted who would be be closest to God in Paradise. Status..

Does the Description of the Demoniac(s) Demonstrate a Dilemma?

11/01/2017 0 Comment

When skeptics challenge the reliability of the Gospels, they often point to apparent contradictions in the accounts to make their case. One example of this can be found by comparing the demoniacs of Gadara mentioned in Matthew 8:28-34 to the demoniac of Gerasa described in Mark 5:1-20. Both Mark and Matthew appear to be describing the same healing, yet there are two immediate differences in the accounts:

Matthew 8:28
When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who ..

N. T. Wright’s The Day the Revolution Began: A Few Reflections

10/01/2017 0 Comment

“I pretty much agree with Mike Horton’s review though I thought he was too easy on the book. I’d like to add three thoughts to Mike’s review. I’m not going to do any summary, just critique. For summary read what Mike wrote.”

This week I read Wright’s new book on the crucifixion, The Day the Revolution Began. I’m not a Wright-hater. I owe him a lot. Some of his writings have been instrumental for my own development in understanding the Bible. At least one article of mine spawned from ideas he ga..

A La Carte (January 3)

03/01/2017 0 Comment

Today’s Kindle deals include a biography that has been highly recommended as well as a book by Tim Keller.

Free from Logos this month is volume 1 of the Bulletin for Biblical Research from the Institute for Biblical Research.

John MacArthur’s Ten Crucial Lessons to Teach Our Children
Here are ten crucial lessons John MacArthur says we must teach our children.

Death, The New Year And The Hope of Christ
This is an encouraging article. “People are shocked by tragedy and tragedies are supposed to be shocking. But tragedies are not surprises. They are reminders. Tragedies help to awaken us out of an illusion of what is not to what is actually the norm in this world. There is nothing more normal to history than evil and death. It is not strange. It is tragically normal.”

10 Things You Should Know about the Lordship Salvation Controversy
Though this may seem like an older controversy, it continues to exist today. Sam Storms offers an explanation.

The Hauntingly Stoic Vacancy of Civil War..

Why Didn’t Jesus Get Married While On Earth?

02/01/2017 0 Comment

Why didn’t Jesus ever get married while He was here on earth?

Born into Flesh
There are so many false beliefs about Jesus that are being taught today that it borders on the ridiculous. One theory is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had two children. This is mentioned in the fictional book “The Da Vinci Code” too, however there are also false gospels that claim Jesus did much more than the Scriptures reveal, but once we begin to look outside of Scripture for truth, we find that there is no ..

To All Nations – Matthew 1:1-6a

02/01/2017 0 Comment

Key PassageThis is the family history of Jesus Christ. He came from the family of David and Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah. (Their mother was Tamar.) Perez was the father of Hezron. Hezron was the father of Ram. Ram was the father of Amminadab. Amminadab was the father of Nahshon. Nahshon was the father of Salmon. Salmon was the father of Boaz. (Boaz' mother was ..

The top ten posts at FilmChat in 2016

01/01/2017 0 Comment

Happy New Year!
Last year, for the first time, I compiled two lists of my most-viewed blog posts from the year that had just ended: one list covered the top ten posts from this blog’s entire archive, while the other covered the top ten posts that had been written in 2015.
Now it’s time for the 2016 lists. And here they are:
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The 10 most-viewed posts in 2016, regardless of when they were written:
1. History and tradition in movie depictions of the cross (April 2013)
This one’s a perennial, and t..

The Top 10 Cold-Case Christianity Broadcasts from 2016

30/12/2016 0 Comment

Happy New Year (a bit early) and thanks again for a GREAT 2016! We are slowly growing the number of unique visitors to the ColdCaseChristianity.com website, and we met our goal of over one million unique visitors in 2016. Thanks for making us a regular part of your Internet experience. We posted over 200 new articles, videos or podcasts on the website this year, and I pray these efforts have helped you become a better Christian Case Maker. I’d love to see you in person in 2017; we’ve created a n..