How Historical is the Bible?

Excavations of ancient Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee The Bible is not all history, but all the Bible is history. That first phrase is pretty much straightforward. The Bible is composed of much more than straight history—what happened, when, by whom, etc. It contains poetry, parables, prophetic...

Voices in the Bible

The Bible is different than the Koran or the Book of Mormon. Just not in the way you are probably supposing. According to Muhammad, God spoke to him through the angel Gabriel over the course of 23 years, dictating the various parts of the Koran. Muhammad isn’t the author, nor Gabriel; God is the author....

The Only Real Reason to Read the Bible: Part Seven of “How I Read the Bible, And So Can You!”

When I interpret Scripture I go through a process, almost second-nature by now, that includes, suspending my assumptions about the nature of the Bible; not letting my previous instruction about a passage inhibit something new and different coming out; letting the original writers have their voice and their...

Jesus, Inspiration, and Revelation: Part 6 of “How I Interpret the Bible, and So Can You!”

In the last post in this series on interpreting the Bible, I noted that the New Testament writers are all in agreement that Jesus is the fullest revelation of the nature and character of God. This naturally raises questions regarding the nature of Scripture, inspiration, and Jesus’ relationship to the Old...

How Do You Decide Which Bible Verses Apply?

I recently did an exercise with my Wednesday Bible class in which I gave them a few dozens verses of Scripture and asked them to mark each one according to whether it is applicable for us today as written, applicable but with some modification according to the underlying principle, or no longer applicable...

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