Author: Skip Moen, Ph.D.

  • Savings Account

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  2 Timothy 3:16  NASB Profitable – When Paul writes that the Tanakh is profitable, what does he mean?  Before we take a run at this question, we should probably remind ourselves of a few obvious things: (1) in this…

  • The Canon

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    I recently read a paper by Kristofer Carlson on the development of the canon.  As you probably already know, the real history of the Bible is nothing like the usual Sunday school teaching, and is often at odds with theological educators.  Carlson’s work traces the details of the controversies and decisions that brought about our…

  • The Feeling God

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    “Speak this word to them: ‘Let my eyes overflow with tears night and day without ceasing; for the Virgin Daughter, my people, has suffered a grievous wound, a crushing blow.’” Jeremiah 14:17 NIV Without ceasing – Theology has a deep, intrinsic problem.  The Bible doesn’t have this problem because the Bible isn’t theology.  Theology is the…

  • Reading Without Vowels

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  Exodus 14:30  NASB Saved – A language without vowels is a language in a state of constant interpretation.  Every time it is read, vowels must be inserted.  That means every act of reading is a personal…

  • Santa Maria

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    The images of Mary are ubiquitous in Italy.  She occupies a more important place than either God or Jesus.  Perhaps that’s because Mary is actually human like us whereas neither God nor Jesus is really like us according to Trinitarian ideas.  This image is from the ceiling of a very small chapel in Parma named…

  • The Millennial Temple

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  Revelation 21:22  NASB No temple – As you know, I rarely write about verses from John’s apocalyptic vision.  The reason is simple:  Apocalyptic literature is filled with ambiguous images, symbolic words, and suggestions.  This is intentional since apocalyptic literature is not predictive…

  • The Sin of Stagnation

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    “Riposo a casa” said the banner hanging from the balcony on Via Goito in Parma.  “I rest at home.”  The world on hold.  Annoying, disturbing, disruptive, perhaps deadly, we experienced the results of a pandemic of fear.  Isolation is not a fundamental human condition.  In fact, enforced isolation is a method used in torture.  Brené…

  • Rabbinic Translation

    BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

    Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.  Exodus 12:21  NASB Go and take for yourselves – You probably didn’t know this, but translators of the Hebrew text into English make decisions about which rabbi they will follow.  That’s…