The New NIV: Popular English Translation Updated
Biblica (formerly known as the International Bible Society) has announced an update for the New International Version. Since the NIV…
The Nicene Creed
Ancient Greeks believed in a wide variety of gods and goddesses – beings who fought one another, were immoral, dishonest…
The Nicene Creed’s Incarnational Trinitarian Roots
As noted by TF Torrance in The Trinitarian Faith, the Nicene Creed is the work of the Greek-speaking early church fathers in carefully expressing crucial points of the Gospel where it was being seriously misrepresented under the influence of a dualistic Greek (Hellenized) philosophy. That philosophy posited that God, being one, perfect and unchangeable, must, necessarily, be separate from and have nothing to do with physical matter (including flawed human beings).
The Nightingales of Bangladesh
Dr. John Biswas, founder of Bengali Evangelical Association (BEA), has worked for more than 20 years to bring the gospel…
The Numbers Game
Some people insist on forcing contrived numerical patterns into the biblical text, which lead to spectacular, but unwarranted, conclusions. Such…
The Object of Worship
The law given to ancient Israel was designed to last only until Christ came, and it should not be confused…
The Old Covenant and the Law of Moses
There are three major foundations for understanding the covenants and the Old Testament law. All three give the same conclusion….
The Origins of Sunday Worship in the Early Church
Introduction This article examines the evidence that some Christian communities began meeting on the first day of the week after…
The Parable of the Ugly Cat
Jesus drew lessons from lilies, trees, sparrows and fish and even has some complimentary things to say about dogs. I…
The Passover-Easter-Quartodeciman Controversy
Early church history contains records of an obscure, but once quite heated controversy — the Quartodeciman controversy. (Quartodeciman refers to…
The Pastor’s Calling
Many people have no idea what pastors do, and it’s not unusual for pastors to feel inadequate in their role….
The Perfect Communicator
Speaking and listening are not ends in themselves. They are means to an end. The real goal of communications is…
The Power of Intent
Many people want to understand how to respond to Christ’s command that we are part of his Great Commission. They…
The Power of the Atom
On August 6, 1945, a single atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, devastating most of the city (below). Photo…
The Power of the Resurrection
Christians accept the resurrection accounts on faith, but it is a faith sealed by the inward testimony of the Holy…
The Prayer God Always Answers
How can you be confident God will listen and reply to your prayer? The answer is simply to pray a…
The Present and Future Kingdom of God
“Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” John the Baptist and Jesus proclaimed the nearness of God’s kingdom…
The Prince of Peace
When Jesus Christ was born, a company of angels proclaimed, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace…
The Prince Who Smells Good
Different cultures use a great variety of words and expressions for “God.” In Madagascar, an island country off the southeast…
The Problem of Evil – a Biblical Theodicy
If God is great and God is good, then why would he allow evil to exist? Evil is a daily reality….
The Problem of Forgiveness
In my city a few years ago, a woman started out from home with her two young sons to visit…
The Prominence of Women in the Gospel of Luke
Women were prominent in Luke’s portrayal of Jesus’ life. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist: Elizabeth was the mother of…
The Prophetic Meaning of Daniel 2 and 7
Do Daniel 2 and 7 predict events of our day, such as the rise of the European Community? Where might…
The Prophets
The Prophetic Meaning of Daniel 2 and 7 Hosea: The Great Reversal of the Great I-Am The Message of Hosea…
The Prophets and the Sabbath
Let’s now consider two facts about the Sabbath in the Old Testament: The Israelites were punished severely for breaking the…
The Protestant Church in Hitler’s Germany and the Barmen Declaration
On January 30, 1933, German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler Chancellor of Germany. Less than two months later,…
The Purpose of Blessings
People often ask why God allows trials. When we are in a trial, we want to know why. Why has…
The Purpose of Freedom (Galatians 5:1-25)
Paul has vigorously argued that Christians are not enslaved to sin and not enslaved to law. How then do we…
The Quest for the Ideal Church
Are you on a quest to find The Ideal Church? Perhaps you know the one I mean. It is the church…
The Question of Christ’s Prayers
Some people ask: Since God is one, why did Jesus have to pray to the Father? Behind this question lies…
The Radical Consequences of Justification
The article “The Radical Consequences of Justification” is Part III of Thomas F. Torrance’s longer article “Justification: its Radical Nature…
The Rain Won’t Stop Until…
A friend from the Chewa tribe taught me a proverb from the Eastern Province in Zambia that goes like this: “Mvula…
The Real Christmas Miracle Story
Every Christmas season, Christians give thanks to our heavenly Father for his love and grace, showered upon us through the birth…
The Reflection of God’s Glory (Hebrews 1:1-12)
In the first century, some Jews believed in Jesus as the Messiah and yet still wanted all the rituals of…
The religion of atheism
Shakespeare’s line from Hamlet, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” often is quoted to describe someone who seeks to…
The Resurrection Body (1 Corinthians 15:35-50)
Ancient Greek philosophers believed that the world of spirit is perfect, whereas the world of matter is bad. The human…
The Resurrection of Jesus: A History of Interpretation
The resurrection of Jesus has traditionally been a central claim of Christianity. The New Testament documents report that his disciples…
The Resurrection of Jesus: A History of Interpretation – Endnotes
1 1 Cor 15:14. New Revised Standard used throughout. 2 Mark 16:11. Although this verse was apparently not in the…
The Resurrection of the Body and Why It Matters
When Christ returns, the dead will be resurrected. “With what body do they come?” some ask. Will their atoms be…
The Resurrection: Our Hope for the Future
The apostle Paul tells us, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised….
The Return of the Prodigal Son
The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen Reviewed by Terry Akers Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch Catholic priest,…
The Rewards of Following Christ
Peter once asked Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (Matthew 19:27)….
The Right Hand of Fellowship
Transformed by Truth, by Joseph Tkach Chapter 4 When word first started to circulate about the transformation taking place in…
The Right Place at the Right Time
At a meeting on how to attract more customers in our direct-selling business, one woman shared her strategy: to be…
The Road to Nicea, and Beyond
Henry Ford is supposed to have said “History is bunk!” Abraham Lincoln’s insight, “we cannot escape history,” is much closer…
The Role of the Decalogue in Christian Ethics
How are Christians to evaluate the laws of the Torah? How are we to use these writings, some of which…
The Role of the Law in Christian Life
In Paul’s theology, near the center of his good news message about Jesus Christ, is the doctrine of justification by…
The Role of the Ten Commandments in Christian Life
The Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandments. If the Sabbath can be done away, at least in its literal…
The Sabbath and the Ten Commandments
The Sabbath was commanded before Sinai — only a few weeks before. We find it in Exodus 16. There, Moses…
The Sabbath in Acts and the Epistles
1. In Antioch, what did Paul do on the Sabbath? Acts 13:14. In Corinth, what did he do? Acts 18:1-4. Did…
The Sabbath: Hebrews 4:9 and Other Questions
Does Hebrews 4:9 command Christians to keep the Sabbath? The epistle to the Hebrews may have been written to Jewish believers who…
The Sacred-Name Question
Some people claim that God must be addressed by the Hebrew name YHWH, and that unless we call him Yahweh we are…
The Scarred Frog Blanket
My 4-year-old son stomped into the kitchen and announced, “Mommy, I was playing, and a hole ripped in my frog…
The Search for the Real Words of Jesus
Some scholars think the Gospels attribute sayings to Jesus he never made. The Gospel writers denied that they put their own…
The Second-Best Christmas Gift
Sam wakes slowly as the sun breaks through the window. It is a Saturday morning in January. Sam smiles, remembering…
The Serpent and You
In the paradise of Eden, Adam and Eve had all they needed. They were content at first. God had given…
The Shepherd’s Story
“And there were in the same country shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night.” A…
The Single-Parenting Challenge
There were no chairs, so we sat on the floor. Elaine (not her real name) shared the three-room, basement apartment…
The Skill of the Writers
Biblical authors put much thought and effort into composing God’s Word. They wanted to make sure that the reader would…