Early Christian Writings: The Didache–Circa Late First Century AD (Chapter 5-16)

The Didache is one of the earliest Christian writings after the Apostolic period (i.e. the first century) that we possess, and it gives us a glimpse into early Christianity–what was emphasized and taught–immediately after the Apostolic period came to a close. To read the first four chapters of the Didache, click here. Here, in chapters…

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Early Christian Writings: The Didache–Circa Late First Century AD (Chapters 1-4)

For the next few posts, I am going to share a more “reader-friendly” version of The Didache. It is one of the earliest Christian writings after the Apostolic period (i.e. the first century) that we possess, and it therefore gives us a glimpse into early Christianity–what was emphasized and taught–immediately after the Apostolic period came…

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The Writings of the Early Church: The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (Part 3: Chapters 11-12)

To read chapters 1-5, click here. To read chapters 6-10, click here. Chapter 11: These Things are Worthy to be Known and Believed Just so you know, I’m not speaking about anything I don’t know about. I’m no stranger to these things, and nothing I’m speaking about is inconsistent with proper reason. I have been…

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The Writings of the Early Church: The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (Part 2: Chapters 6-10)

For Part 1, check here. Chapter 6: The Revelation of Christians to the World If I were to sum up all this in one word, I’d say that the Christians are to the world what the soul is to the body. Just as the soul of a person is dispersed throughout all the members of…

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The Writings of the Early Church: The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus (130 AD) (Part 1: Chapters 1-5)

***Chances are, if you ever have tried to read the writings of the early Church Fathers, you have found them to be quite difficult to understand. Even the English translations are not exactly the easiest to read. Therefore, more out of a desire to understand these writings better myself, over the next year or so,…

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In the End, Only Two Things are Certain: Death, and the Ark Encounter’s Attempt to Avoid Taxes

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I’ve written quite a bit about Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis over the past two years. My focus, though, has always been specifically on what he and AiG teaches, and how it does not reflect good biblical exegesis or good science, and how the claims of AiG…

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Joshua’s Conquest of Canaan, Genocide, Biblical Reliability…and the big point where I disagree with Peter Enns

Ever since the writing of his book, Inspiration and Incarnation, Peter Enns has been somewhat of a lightning rod in many Evangelical circles. I have always enjoyed his book, be it Inspiration and Incarnation, The Evolution of Adam, The Bible Tells Me So, or The Sin of Certainty, and although I am certainly aware of…

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A Book Review of Peter Enns’ “Inspiration and Incarnation” (Part 5): The Old Testament and Its Interpretation in the New Testament

In his final chapter of Inspiration and Incarnation, Peter Enns devotes his time addressing a topic that most Christians, if they admit it, really don’t get: how the New Testament writers used the Old Testament. Now, many Christians may think they know how the New Testament writers used the Old Testament, but I’m sorry to…

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A Book Review of “Inspiration and Incarnation” by Pete Enns (Part 4): The Theological Diversity in the Old Testament

In chapter 3 of Pete Enns’ book, Inspiration and Incarnation, he deals with another topic that can tend to make Evangelicals rather uneasy. Simply put, Enns says, “Listen, when you read the Old Testament, there is a wide range of theological diversity in it—it doesn’t all fit together in a nice and neat picture. There…

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A Book Review of Peter Enns’ “Inspiration and Incarnation” (Part 3): Reading the Old Testament in its Ancient Near Eastern Context

In my opinion, the best chapter in Pete Enns’ book, Inspiration and Incarnation, was Chapter 2, when he discussed the importance of reading and understanding the Old Testament within its ancient Near Eastern (ANE) context. This chapter affirmed so many things I had come to realize about the Old Testament, in both of my MA…

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