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BOOK REVIEW: Four Views on Hell 2nd edition

...“In the Old Testament, the idea of an ‘unquenchable fire’ in contexts of judgment communicates that God’s wrath cannot be prevented or reversed, not that it is poured out unendingly…Standing in parallel to the unquenchable fire, the worms probably underscore the strength and surety of God’s judgment, very much like the scavenging beasts and birds of Jeremiah 7:33 that won’t be frightened away from the dead bodies upon which they feed.”17 Burk turns to 2 Thess 1:9 to urge that the wicked will “be in the presence of God’s wrath in their eternal destruction” (35) while still being ‘alienated from his power’, citing Isa 2:10 and Gordon...

How Old Was Jesus When He Died? A Fresh Look At The Historical Clues

...We often hear that Jesus was “about 33 years Old” when he was crucified and only had a three-year ministry. But have you ever wondered how precise that number is, or why we assume that was his age, especially when Scripture doesn’t specify? Table of Contents The Gospel of Luke: “About Thirty” Early Church Testimony: Irenaeus and the Longer Ministry Historical Anchors: Birth, Pilate, and the Crucifixion Window The Death of Herod Cross-referencing with Pilate, Caiaphas, and Jesus When Did Tiberius Begin to Reign? 1. From his co-regency with Augustus (AD 11–12) 2. From the death of Augustus (AD 14) How Does This Affect Jesus’ Ag...

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

...h various Old Testament prophecies showed that this type of apocalyptic language of coming with clouds, darkening the skies and falling stars, was often used by God through His prophets when pronouncing judgement on the nations. This judgement came by the hand of other nations with their armies, used by God for His purposes – and what Jesus spoke of was no different. God used the Roman armies to sack Jerusalem and burn the temple to the ground, as prophesied, and did this as punishment upon His own people for the rejection and death of the Messiah (Mark 12:1-9) and for all the blood of the prophets the nation of Israel killed over the centuries (Luke 11:49-51)...

The Relationship Between Jesus and Sophia

...en in the Old Testament Scriptures, was well established in Jewish thought by the time of Christ, so obviously the earliest followers of Jesus made the connection, which also followed through into the Early Church exegesis and teaching about Christ as the Wisdom of God, as we have just seen. John’s Gospel is the one that most closely makes the link between the contemporary thought of Wisdom and the Word of God in the opening words of his Gospel: John 1:1–3In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. Cast y...

New Covenant Israel is no longer physical (nor literal)!

...If you've read my previous two articles on Israel, then this will probably seem familiar. This is a combination of the previous two combined into one study, focussing more on who Israel is under the New Covenant rather than the geopolitical/war situation of the Middle East. So Who is Israel? No doubt what I'm about to say will cause some knee-jerk reactions, but to properly understand the New Covenant, we need to address the issue of who is Israel, Biblically speaking? Yes, there is a modern nation known as "Israel" now since 1948, but is that the same Israel of the Bible? The same Israel to whom God made his promises? If so, does that mean...

Raised in the Heavenlies!

...y various Old Testament passages which speak of Sheol (the “grave”/underworld) as not necessarily being asleep, but as having some limited activity (Isa 14:9), despite it being described as a shadowy and sobre place, with no light nor joy (Job 10:20-22; Psalms 88:6). New Testament theologian, N.T. Wright, describes this intermediate stage as being "conscious," but "compared to being bodily alive, it will be like being asleep". So sort of like a ‘dream state’ in that the level of awareness is limited; in God’s presence but not active in our own bodies and will. By the time of Jesus, this doctrine or belief about the afterlife had developed, and Sheol...