For more than a decade popular TV personality Bill Maher has made a cottage industry out of ridiculing Christianity. Maher has gone so far as to dogmatically pontificate that the Bible was “written in parables. It’s the idiots today who take it literally.” Even a cursory reading reveals that Scripture is a treasury replete with [...]
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Biblical Interpretation Archive
Nov
12
Recognizing and Interpreting Anthropomorphic Language
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 33, number 02 (2010). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org The term “anthropomorphism,” in its restricted sense, refers to the representation of God with the forms of humanity (such as an arm [...]
Oct
08
How Was Jesus “Made” Sin?
A verse commonly misinterpreted by cultists is 2 Corinthians 5:21, where the apostle Paul tells us that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (NASB, emphasis added). Based on this verse, for example, the Christadelphians argue that Jesus [...]
Aug
20
Do James and Paul Contradict Concerning Grace?
Scripture is a song, borne of the Spirit, repeated over time and countless generations, a gift of precious worth to those whose hearts are in tune to its underlying faith-inspiring tones. No matter how closely we may examine any one text, we must remember that it is but one movement in the symphony that is [...]
Jun
12
Firstborn: How to Do a Word Study
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume27, number6 (2004). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org If someone were to ask you, “What does the word dog mean?” you might respond, “Well, use it in a sentence!” Most words have [...]
Jun
11
Psalm 2:7
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 28, number 3 (2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten [...]
Jun
11
Confronting Literary Realism in the Bible
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume30, number5 (2007). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org A Christian writer adduces what he considers “just a cursory list” of the atrocities that the Bible depicts, in the following paragraph: …blasphemy (2Kings18:28–19:5), [...]
Jun
11
Be Still and Observe the Text
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 28, number 4 (2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation, appeals to Psalm46:10 to support his teaching that “God-realization” is the answer to suffering: [...]
Jun
11
What Are We Teaching about how to Handle Scripture Correctly?
This article first appeared in the From the Editor column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 28, number 3 (2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org Any student of Christian apologetics knows that cults and aberrant groups that are offshoots of Christianity thrive on misinterpretations and misapplications [...]
Jun
11
Presumed Innocent until Proven Guilty
This article first appeared in the Practical Hermeneutics column of the Christian Research Journal, volume29, number5 (2006). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org The Bible’s contact with history is one of its greatest strengths. Its accounts are unlike the folklore and myth of the sacred writings of [...]
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