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The Coming of Jesus: The Olivet Discourse – Part 2

Welcome to Part Two of the Olivet Discourse! It’s been a while, so we’ll pick up right where we left off with Matthew 24 verse 15 onwards, after a small recap of the chapter so far. The Olivet Discourse begins with the disciples admiring the architecture of the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus responds to this by telling them that it will all be thrown down and destroyed, to the point that not one stone will be left on another. Later on, when they are sat on the Mount of Olives, Jesus’ disciples come to him and ask “when will this happen?” and “what will be the sign” that all of this is about to commence? If we look at the accou...

Raised in the Heavenlies!

Easter is upon us once again! Lent is over, Good Friday has passed and now the time for mourning and fasting is complete. It's a time to feast, a time to remember and celebrate the resurrection of Christ as we look forward to our own final resurrection!But what really is the resurrection? How will we be resurrected, and what does it mean for us that Jesus rose again? Let’s explore what this means for us as Christians, and see what the Scriptures say. The resurrection is spiritual! That heading may cause some reading this to question me, but do read on – this is actually what the New Testament teaches us (though not only this type of resurrection). Many ti...

The Coming of Jesus: Our Future Hope - What Now?

...nnium and New Jerusalem: things which are spoken of in a physical sense, but are conveying heavenly events.   After reading many various writings from the earliest Christians and their views and interpretations on all these events, I can affirm that many of the early writers believed Daniel's 70 weeks ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and that they saw the fulfilment in that. But that they also still looked forward to an actual millennium reign with a total culmination of world events. Later in Christian history, the millennium came to be viewed as metaphorical of spiritual realities, and the earlier views pertaining to 70 AD were forgotten it seems. Fu...

Support Israel? OK, which Israel?

..."We interrupt your regularly scheduled programme to bring you this..." Sorry if you were waiting for part 3 of the Coming of Jesus series, but what with all that's going on in the News lately, I felt that this needed to be written first. "Support Israel's right to defend itself from terror." Images like this really don't help anything. If you've been on Facebook, or any other social media no doubt, I'm sure you will have seen (or even said) words to this effect in status' or memes. I keep seeing memes and images posted by people, often from Christians, about "supporting Israel" and each time it makes me stop and question that statement and/or sentiment....

Scientist Uncovers Hidden 1,750-Year-Old New Testament Translation with Ultraviolet Imaging

...A scientist has reportedly uncovered an ancient translation containing sections of the Gospel of Matthew, believed to be the sole surviving evidence of the fourth manuscript supporting the Old Syriac version of the Gospels. The research team, which includes medieval expert Grigory Kessel from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW), employed ultraviolet imaging to reveal the ancient translation concealed beneath three layers of text. The research, published last month in the journal New Testament Studies, presents an interpretation of Matthew 11:30 to Matthew 12:26, initially translated as part of the Old Syriac translations around 1,500 years ago. According...

BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...to enter New Jerusalem by Rev. 21-22. In sum, he champions in such passages “post-damnation salvation for all.” (124) Parry ends the essay philosophically defending the role of human freedom within this CU scenario: “Universalists are not suggesting that God saves anyone against their will.” (125, italics his) Rather he thinks that God will manoeuvre matters “to elicit a free response” (125). Sprinkle speaks for many when he responds: “If I can be completely honest, I hope that Parry is right.”49 Yet his biblical ‘radar’ will not let him buy into this scheme; for one thing: “I do not think he has successfully explained all of the many...