Today’s post is a fine-tuning of how we use the term, “the Antichrist.” No doctrinal issues are in jeopardy that I am aware of, but Zane Hodges proposed that the term, “the Antichrist,” refers to the coming false prophet of Revelation 13:11, not to the first beast of Revelation 13:1. Here is Zane’s argument from his commentary on 1 John:[Read More]
history
Harvard Yesterday and Today
Harvard University was established in 1636 to train Christian ministers. Here are two points from the Harvard “Rules and Precepts” from 1646 that express the original sentiment:
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On Reconciliation, Soteriology, and All that Jazz (2 Cor. 5:18–20)
Jesus did some things for everybody and some things for believers only. It is important to understand this to maintain a consistent theology of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. If we confuse the work done for everyone with the benefits given to believers, then we could mistakenly think that faith alone in Christ alone is unnecessary. Likewise, if we confuse what Jesus did for believers and what Jesus expects from believers, then we could mistake faith alone in Christ alone as insufficient.[Read More]
The Prophet of Deut. 18:15 (TL;DR; it’s Messiah)
There is a debate as to whether Deuteronomy 18:15 refers to the Messiah, or Joshua, or maybe even both or more. It seems to me that Messiah is in view here.[Read More]
Ancient Forerunners to Theistic Evolution: The Cosmological Compromise and Ramifications of רקיע in the LXX
We had our first event for the International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics. It was a webinar on “Topics in Cosmology.” I spoke on the raqia of Genesis. You can watch the presentation above. We will be posting it to a future ISBH website, so stay tuned!
Greek for People Who Don’t Know Greek: James 2:21–24
James 2 has become a proof text for a concept that is known in Russian as “Salvation Through Lordship,” which supposes that saving faith must be accompanied by works (or submission to the lordship of Christ) in order to be truly salvific. There are several problems with this view, but one problem in this context is that James 2 is saying precisely the opposite, that it is possible to be saved through faith alone, not through lordship, and still lack works. Obviously, James wants his audience to have both faith and works, so in James 2:21–24, he appeals to the life of Abraham to distinguish between faith and works and to show that faith and works have two different results.[Read More]
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