The dates that are given to Paul’s conversion and the years following are as follows: 1. 33–36 are the years of his conversion on the way to Damascus and a short excursion to Arabia 2. At the end of the three years (approx. 36), he flees Damascus because of persecution; visits Jerusalem and meets with…
Pagan religions worshipped Noah under a variety of names. The ancient Romans worshipped him under the name of Janus. Janus was the god with two faces, one facing in each direction. This Roman version of Noah described the man who lived in two worlds, the world before the flood, and the world after the flood….
After sixteen hundred years of human history, mankind had become so corrupt that God determined to destroy all of the human race except for Noah and his family. Gen. 6:5-8 reads, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was…
Among many other things, the Bible is the ultimate history of the human race. It establishes clear landmarks against which all other histories can be tested. There is some truth to the statement that history is a system of agreed-upon myths. Historians deal with the information that is available to them. But, if the information…
Hippolytus, a Roman clergyman, composed a manual of church order and worship known as the Apostolic Tradition around AD 200. Hippolytus describes a Eucharist in two settings: one after the consecration of a bishop, and one after baptism and confirmation. We see the slow progression of church tradition very early in the second century. By…
After trying various pagan philosophies, Justin embraced the Christian faith of his day. He composed his First Apology in Rome about AD 155 to the Roman Emperor. The document defended the Christian faith against attacks on legal and moral grounds. Justin was later put to death for his faith and is therefore known to history…
Pliny the Younger (Gaius Plinius Caecelius Secundus, circa 61-113) was a Roman administrator during the reign of Emperor Trajan. Tragan had sent him to Bithynia to reform their finances and court system. Around AD 112 he wrote to Trajan reporting how he had dealt with Christians but asked for the Emperor’s advice regarding them. The…
1 Corinthians 11:2-16 focuses on head-covering, not on women speaking in the public assembly. Speaking is addressed in chapter 14 within a different context than is seen in today’s church gatherings, but chapter 11 does not address it. One problem in interpreting these texts for our application is that chapter 14 is in the context…
Following First Corinthians 11:2-16, Paul writes to the saints in Corinth about their abuse of the Lord’s Supper in which the context is clearly when the called-out gather in one place to eat the Lord’s Supper (11:17-34). Notice the following references to their “coming together.” 11:17 “… you are regularly coming together ….” 11:18 “……
It is amazing how these two topics are so similar. They are the two things no one is to openly discuss in a workplace because of the rift that it would cause between the employees. Both have advocates that are so strongly attached that no one dare criticize without a fight. Emotions run high when…