Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27 NASB Religion – thrēskeía is the Greek term James uses in this verse. But our translation obscures some of the odd history of…
Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:13 NASB Sound words – Systematic theology, so essential for doctrine, was simply impossible before Alexander the Great. Why? Because systematic theology requires a special kind of theological dualism, that is, the separation of mind from…
When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, but they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. Acts 25:18-19 NASB Religion – Did you see the Tom…
So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. Acts 17:22 NASB Religious – We realize, of course, that Paul didn’t use the word “religious.” Why? Because the word “religion” didn’t exist in the first century. It came into being…
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, Ephesians 4:5 NASB One faith – “‘Religion’ comes from the Latin ligare, meaning to join or bind. Religion binds people within a group – Christian to Christian, Muslim to Muslin, Jew to Jew. More specifically, since some of the most bitter conflicts take place within a faith, it bonds…
You shall have no other gods before Me. Exodus 20:3 ESV Before – “But it is only in the modern societies of the West that nonreligious man has developed fully. Modern nonreligious man assumes a new existential situation; he regards himself solely as the subject and agent of history, and he refuses all appeal to…
When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Deuteronomy 8:10 NASB Satisfied – What do you do when you’re hungry? You eat, and the hunger goes away. Hunger is the natural physical symptom accompanying the bodily need for nourishment. Hunger…
Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days. Proverbs 19:20 NASB Be wise – I have recently been reading the early speeches of Abraham Heschel. Fifty years ago his prophetic insight into our culture sounded the warning. Fifty years later it seems as though we didn’t listen…
Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days. Proverbs 19:20 NASB Be wise – I have recently been reading the early speeches of Abraham Heschel. Fifty years ago his prophetic insight into our culture sounded the warning. Fifty years later it seems as though we didn’t listen…
This is pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father, to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. James 1:27 NASB Religion – John Gager points out that the word “religion” did not exist before the Christian era. The idea is worth investigation. …
