“What’s your favorite Gospel?” As a New Testament scholar, I get this question all the time. Sometimes people are just curious about what I think. Sometimes they are wanting to study a Gospel themselves and don’t know where to start. And sometimes they are trying to reach a non-Christian friend and want to know which Gospel is most effective. Before I answer, we should begin by acknowledging all four Gospels are wonderful. They all tell the same overall story of redemption through Christ, they all are fully inspired by God, and they all have been loved by the church for generations. The Gospel ..read more

… Continue reading... The post What’s the Earliest Record of Jesus’s Childhood? appeared first on Canon Fodder ..read more

In the 1979 film Rocky II, the newly famous Rocky Balboa, fresh off his split-decision loss to Apollo Creed, is hired to do a TV commercial. During the filming of the commercial it quickly becomes clear that he can’t read the cue cards. The director, frustrated by how long the filming is taking, ruthlessly mocks Rocky: “You cost us thousands of dollars because you can’t read!” Rocky is humiliated and embarrassed. Why? Because in our modern, western society most people can read. Reading is the norm. Illiteracy is the exception. It doesn’t matter how famous you are, or how talented you are. If y ..read more

… Continue reading... The post Recognizing and Resisting Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Session 2) appeared first on Canon Fodder ..read more

… Continue reading... The post Recognizing and Resisting Spiritual Abuse in the Church (Session 1) appeared first on Canon Fodder ..read more

One year ago on this day, we said goodbye to Tim Keller. In honor of his passing, I am reposting my original tribute to him below. ______________________ By now, you have heard the sad news. Tim Keller has just passed away. I still remember the first time I heard a Tim Keller sermon. It was the mid-90’s, and I happened to be in New York City. Having just graduated from seminary, I had heard all the buzz about this new pastor in Manhattan who had (incredibly) built a thriving, growing church in the midst of one of the world’s most liberal cities. Since it was a Sunday, I figured I … Continue r ..read more

Ever since I became the president of the Charlotte campus of Reformed Theological Seminary (RTS)—now more than a decade ago—I’ve been committed to a basic practice. It might not seem like much. It’s not anything extraordinary. But I think it has proven to be one of the most meaningful things I do. Here’s my practice: I have a sit-down, face-to-face meeting with every single prospective student that visits our campus. Sure, there are more efficient ways to connect with prospective students. I could dash off an email, or send them a form letter, or point them to the website to learn more. And gi ..read more

Marriage has fallen on hard times of late. As of 2020, US News and World Report documented how the US marriage rates have dropped to historic lows. Indeed, since records were kept from the early 1800’s, at no point in our history have people been married so infrequently. But it’s not just declining rates—the people who are getting married are getting married later. Just let these numbers sink in: In 1978, the number of people between 18 and 34 who were married was nearly 60%. As of 2018, that number felt to 29%. Now, it would be all too easy to look at these numbers and declare we just live ..read more

Well, soon it will be Easter. That wonderful time of the year when we remember (and celebrate) the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. But, not all will be celebrating. There are many that find Easter to be a senseless holiday—apart from, perhaps, the joys of Sunday brunch or chocolate eggs. After all, it is argued, we all know that people don’t rise from the dead. And there are no reasons to think it happened in the case of Jesus of Nazareth. In response to such skepticism, apologists have been making their best arguments for the resurrection. There’s the empty tomb. There’s the fact that wo ..read more

When we want to know how the New Testament canon developed, we have a number of sources at our disposal. Most fundamentally, we have patristic sources—the writings of the church fathers—which can show us when books were known, read, and cited. We also have archaeological evidence at our disposal. We continue to find manuscripts of the New Testament, particularly at the site of Oxyrhynchus among other places, showing that early Christians knew and used these books in some fashion. But what do we do when a particular book is missing from either of these sources? For example, Irenaeus does not me ..read more