Posts made in August, 2006

The Gift of Singleness (Part 2)

Posted by on Aug 25, 2006 in Blog | 20 comments

My post on the gift of singleness has generated many responses, some favorable, some negative. Of the latter, some said I misrepresented Debbie Maken’s book; others took issue with my proposed biblical trajectory regarding singleness. I should clarify that my post was not intended as a book review of Maken’s book; I mentioned her only in the first and final paragraph to relate my comments to the contemporary scene. My primary purpose was to set forth the biblical teaching on singleness by way of a digest from the chapter on singleness in my book, God, Marriage & Family. I should also... Read More

Jesus and the Bible

Posted by on Aug 25, 2006 in Blog | 5 comments

It seems strange why anyone would want to pit Jesus against the Bible, but in recent weeks the question which of these two is primary, Jesus or the Bible, has once again taken center stage in many circles. I am hesitant to weigh in on this issue since I have not published any major monographs on the subject, but the debate is important enough for me to venture a few thoughts to address the current debate. Just as many argued when this issue was debated in the Southern Baptist Convention in recent years (where some argued that Jesus is properly at the center somehow apart from Scripture), so... Read More

The Gift of Singleness

Posted by on Aug 18, 2006 in Blog | 26 comments

“30 and Single? It’s Your Own Fault”—a Christianity Today review summarizes the message, at least in part, of a controversial book, Getting Serious About Getting Married: Rethinking the Gift of Singleness, by Debbie Maken. The author herself got serious about getting married at age 28, signed up with a Christian web agency, and shortly thereafter entered marital bliss. Maken’s contention, however, that women who are in their late 20s or in their 30s and still unmarried have only themselves to blame for listening to erroneous evangelical teaching on the subject has created quite a... Read More

Johannine Chronology

Posted by on Aug 11, 2006 in Blog | 4 comments

In my BECNT commentary on John’s Gospel, I propose that John follows a chronological arrangement in his Gospel. The specific dates listed below are predicated upon a A.D. 33 date for [tag]Jesus[/tag]’ crucifixion. As is well known, the two major possibilities for the crucifixion are A.D. 30 (the traditional date) and A.D. 33. Harold Hohner, among others, in Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ and in his Dictionary of Jesus & the Gospels entry on chronology, has set forth (in my view) highly persuasive arguments for the latter, A.D. 33, date, including the fact that Luke’s... Read More

Do We Know Jesus?

Posted by on Aug 4, 2006 in Blog | 1 comment

In his final work, provocatively titled Kennen wir Jesus?, Adolf Schlatter challenged his readers one final time with the greatest pursuit of all—knowing Jesus, that is, pursuing an ever-closer spiritual relationship with our Lord based on a growing and increasingly thorough understanding of who he is and what he came to do, and how each of us fits into his divine plan. This is contrary to our natural, sinful bent of fitting God into our plans; what God wants the regenerate believer to do instead is reorient our lives so we increasingly fit into his plan, which, in any case, is far superior... Read More