Tuesdays Are for the Old Testament 4/16/24 Lessing, R. Reed, & Steinmann, Andrew E. (2014). "Chapter Fifteen: Esther." In Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. (pp. 267-278). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.  Lessing and Steinmann observe the striking differences between Esther and the other Old Testament books. In particular, Esther never mentions worship or God, and is absent from the works discovered in the Dead Sea scrolls (Lessing & Steinmann 2014, p. 267). The author of Esther is not identified. However, the knowledge of the setting sugg ..read more

Mondays are for Church History 4/15/24 Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter III.Alliance of Church and State and Its Influence on Public Morals and Religion." In  History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 1856-1908). (Original work published 1889).  Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library). "§21. Abolition of Gladiatorial Shows." (pp. 1885-1887). Schaff counts gladiatorial contests as barbaric and bloody (Schaff 2014, p. 1885). They normally pi ..read more

4/12/24 Scholarly Reflections Koukl, Gregory. (2019). "Chapter Eight: Perfecting Columbo." In Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (updated and expanded). pp. 115-125. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Koukl notes that as a way of managing a conversation his Columbo tactic is effective. However, keeping it working takes practice (Koukl 2019, p. 115). In particular, readily finding a workable response in a real-time conversation may be difficult. The best ideas come to us before or after the conversation (Koukl 2019, p. 116). Koukl recommends purposely anticipating situations ..read more

Praying with the Lord's Prayer 4/11/24 Matthew 6:7 cautions not to "heap up empty phrases" (ESV) in prayer. Some people take this as a caution against using prayers which have been prepared. However, Jesus moves on in verse nine to say, "Pray then like this" and he gives the prayer we generally refer to as The Lord's Prayer. Many Christians from the earliest times have used the Lord's Prayer as a center of their prayer life, communicating with God. Lutherans in particular have a long history of repeating the prayer, as well as using it as a framework for additional prayers. How do you do tha ..read more

Wednesdays are for the New Testament 4/10/24 Bruce, F.F. (1988). "Antioch Becomes a Christian Base (11:19-30)." In The Book of Acts (Revised). (pp. 223-231). William B. Eerdmans Publishing,  Acts 11:19 is a reflection of the same status as seen in Acts 8:4, where Christians were dispersed following the death of Stephen (Bruce 1988, p. 223). In chapter 11, Luke follows people who went north toward Antioch. Bruce observes that Antioch, "as the capital of the Seleucide monarch" grew in importance quickly after its founding in 300 BC (Bruce 1988, p. 224). By the middle of the first century ..read more

Tuesdays Are for the Old Testament 4/9/24 Lessing, R. Reed, & Steinmann, Andrew E. (2014). "Chapter Fourteen: Ezra and Nehemiah." In Prepare the Way of the Lord: An Introduction to the Old Testament. (pp. 243-266). St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House.  In introducing Ezra and Nehemiah, Lessing and Steinmann remark on the leadership and cooperative work shown in the books, rather than seeking t o view everything in terms of rebuilding a city and a temple (Lessing & Steinmann 2014, p. 243). Lessing and Steinmann identify four theories of authorship for the works. First, an earl ..read more

Mondays are for Church History 4/8/24 Schaff, Philip. (2014). "Chapter III, Alliance of Church and State and Its Influence on Public Morals and Religion." In  History of the Christian Church. (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. (pp. 1856-1908). (Original work published 1889).  Amazon Kindle Edition. (Personal Library). "§19. Elevation of Woman and the Family." (pp. 1876-1878). § 20. Social Reforms. The Institution of Slavery." (pp. 1878-1885)." Schaff says clearly that rai ..read more

4/5/24 Scholarly Reflections Koukl, Gregory. (2019). "Chapter Seven: Columbo Step 3: Using Questions to Make a Point." In Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (updated and expanded). pp. 96-114. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. While Koukl has previously discussed using questions to gather information about a viewpoint and reasons for it, here he observes that questioning can also be used to move toward a particular outcome, as leading questions (Koukl 2019, p.96). Now, as the questions lead to a particular target, it is important to have a clear target in mind. In Koukl's ..read more

Why Are Pastors Men? 4/4/24 Leave it to those international scholars to pick up on a distinctive and ask a sensitive question! This time, it was during a visit with an Asian person who had noticed that the pastors in churches she observed as being biblically oriented were all men. Why is this? I called it a "sensitive" question. Americans are very much into the idea that male and female is an irrelevant factor, at least in most instances. And certainly being a pastor doesn't require the physical traits often seen more in men - height, shoulder size, and upper body strength are generally unim ..read more

Wednesdays are for the New Testament 4/3/24 Bruce, F.F. (1988). "Peter's Action Endorsed at Jerusalem (11:1-18)." In The Book of Acts (Revised). (pp. 219-223). William B. Eerdmans Publishing,  Peter's actions in Acts 10 were not typical of any established Jewish customs. When he left Caesarea and returned to Jerusalem it is not surprising to Bruce that there would be questions (Bruce 1988, p. 219). His entering into a Gentile household and eating with them was a significant breach of protocol. Bruce briefly mentions the persecution of James, an arrest of Peter, and the fact that a non-a ..read more