The Mileses

Paul and Olena Miles with Grace Abroad Ministries

patriarch

Retranslating James 2:14–26

People make James 2:14–26 harder than it should be. I think that the main problem is that man naturally wants to earn his own righteousness, so there is a tendency for men to misread biblical texts to make their salvation dependent on themselves.

There are some particularities to the English language that have become difficult in James, so I am offering a retranslation with a few oddities that I think are justified. This translation is part of a soteriology class that I am taking and I will include a commentary in a paper for that class (in other words, I want my professor to poke holes in the commentary it before I share it publicly).[Read More]

Three Arguments not to Make in the Chronology Debate

The Patterns of Evidence documentary series has become popular with evangelicals in recent years. It proposes a revised chronology based on David Rohl’s work that shortens the Egyptian timeline such that the Exodus weakened Egypt’s army, making them vulnerable for an invasion and occupation that’s known as the Hyksos Period (aka the Second Intermediate Period). Others who accept the historicity of the Exodus will typically say that Israel was enslaved during the Hyksos Period and left sometime afterwards during the Eighteenth Dynasty.
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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]

Animal Sacrifice in the Bible

Let’s talk about animal sacrifice in the Bible and why we don’t do animal sacrifices today. When we mention animal sacrifice, the first thing people often think about is the Mosaic Law, but the Mosaic economy is not the only one that featured sacrifices. Sacrifices also occurred immediately after the fall (Gen 3:21), in the first generation after the fall in the dispensation of conscience (Gen 4:4), after the flood in the dispensation of human government (Gen 8:20), and in the dispensation of patriarchs (Job 1:5). So, before Christ, were people saved by offering animal sacrifices? The short answer is “No.” The long answer is “Noooooooooooooo!”

Here’s an excerpt from a paper I’m working on that has been modified for your viewing pleasure:[Read More]

The Days of Peleg: Babel or Continental Drift?

​And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. (Gen 10:25 KJV)

I think that when Moses wrote, “in his days was the earth divided,” he was referring to the division of languages and nations at the Tower of Babel, but others believe he was talking about the Continental Drift. Here is a humble presentation of why I’m right and they’re wrong.
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