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BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...criptural silence on purgatory. Burk notices the sparseness of his scriptural argumentation64, saying that “he gives the reader no reason to believe that the doctrine emerges from Scripture.” (Burk, Four Views, 175) Then he points out its other main flaw: “The doctrine of progressive sanctification after death is deeply unbiblical too.”65 Stackhouse too homes in on Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice, as he complains: “Protestants are repelled by the notion that any further atonement of any sort is needed for those justified before God through faith.”66 He too emphasizes the absence of biblical support for Walls, further pointing out the Protestant...

Support Israel? OK, which Israel?

...venant… silence. And again; Let’s say modern Israel IS a continuation of the Old Testament kingdom (with the noticeable absence of a king) ... How do we conclude from any of this that it’s not OK to criticize the Israeli state—especially when so much of the Hebrew Scriptures are themselves a prophetic critique of Israel?    Let me say it another way: the nation of Israel in the Middle East which we know of today, is not the same Israel of the New Covenant. So who is Israel then, according to the New Testament? In a word: Jesus. Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to offspr...

The Coming Kingdom of the Son of Man

...ciples to silence until after the resurrection (Matt 17:9). Still, there are some Bible teachers who would use a "slice and dice" Futurist hermeneutic. What I mean by this is that sometimes certain scholars will "slice" up a passage of Scripture, in arbitrary places like mid-sentence, to make it fit a particular theological interpretation (the same thing is often done with parts of Matt 24). For example, some would say verses 27 and 28 are not dealing with the same subject, and that verse 27 is about the end of time but suddenly verse 28 is about the transfiguration! But we can see from examples like John 21:20-23 that Jesus' followers believed that some o...

Great Lent: The Season of Fasting

...on God in silence until you become aware of His presence and His voice (in whatever form that takes, i.e. visions, pictures, words etc.), and are filled with the Spirit who can reveal the deeper things of God and Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:10). You can read m�ore on this type of prayer, and its Scriptural basis, in my other article, here.� Pray the ancient “Jesus Prayer”: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” When words fail you and your mind is busy and cluttered, I have found this to be most helpful in stilling and focusing the mind completely on God. This practise dates back to around the 4th century when monks endeavou...