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The Deity of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew - Part 1

...re of the book, specifically the way that Matthew chooses to begin and end his Gospel. Matthew, quite reasonably, begins his account of the life of Jesus by describing the circumstances of his birth (1:18). We are told that before having relations with Joseph to whom she was betrothed, Mary was found to be pregnant, Matthew tells us this was through the Holy Spirit, although this, of course, was unknown to Joseph, her husband to be. Certain questions arise immediately. First, we may note that Jesus being the Son of God in a unique sense (only-begotten) cannot be the result of his conception as a human by Mary as it is the Holy Spirit who begat Jesus as a man, r...

Who is the New Jerusalem?

...Lamb’s book of life.   Ephesians 5:5Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.   Revelation 22:14-15Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.   It’s worth pointing out here that if the New Jerusalem really is a literal city on a brand new planet Earth, after the judgement etc. – then who are the people outside of it?  ...

The Resurrection as a historical event

...ll in his book Contra Celsus; “After his resurrection, Christ existed in an intermediate state, as it were. For it was somewhere between the physicalness of the body He had before his sufferings and the appearance of a soul uncovered by such a body. It was for this reason that … Jesus came and stood in [the disciples] midst, even though the doors were shut.” – Origen, Contra Celsus, book II, ch.62   So what is the resurrection? It is a mystery of something which is deeply spiritual, yet also joined in the flesh of renewed bodies. It is hope for our future and peace over death, and encouragement for those who have had people they love die (1 Thes...

Free Early Church Resources

...Free Early Church Resources I've created a few resources to aid with your studies or interest in the Early Church. The below maps are converted from the appendices in my book. I'll also soon add some hi-res versions as A3 poster size to purchase as well. Below the maps is an interactive chronological timeline of when the New Testament and Early Church texts were written. At the time of writing, I have covered most of the Ante-Nicene (pre-325 AD) period. Geographical Locations of Early Church Texts Approximate locations of where the NT and Ante-Nicene texts were written (or sent). Blue book icons represent the New Testament books, the red crosses are a selec...

Hello

...  Hello, this is a blog that I've been intending to create for too long now. So today I finally decided to sit down and do it. I've been compiling notes and thoughts, and have been writing on topics I'm exploring and grappling with for well over a year now - maybe even two. And then I stuff them in a digital folder to gather dust, so to speak. A lot of the discussion and ideas from these notes have come from being active in an Apologetics group on Facebook, which has helped to wrestle out some points and subjects by having about 20+ different opinions thrown into the mix! I'm planning to cover some big topics in small parts over a period of time and post...

Does The UN Statue Resemble The End Times Beast From Daniel And Revelation?

...There’s been a lot of fuss on the internet lately about this new statue that the UN has erected outside their headquarters on the Visitor’s Plaza. I’ve seen screenshots of the original tweet shared on Facebook and other social media platforms, as well as copious articles flooding my newsfeed, all suggesting the same thing: this is the beast from Daniel 7. This of course carries with it the implication that it is also a fulfilment of that prophecy and therefore we should expect something more to happen soon, like “the antichrist” to rise up and consume the world. Or something along those lines. I don’t follow the Dispensational “end times” view a...