Galatians Overview
A downloadable synthetic overview of Paul's Letter to the Galatians.
Biblical Organizational Principles Applied: Safeguarding the Organization
Can you safeguard the organization and guarantee it doesn’t depart from core values? The Biblical example of the church at Ephesus says “no.” The church at Ephesus apparently got its start during Paul’s third missionary journey (Acts 18:21ff) and was influenced early...
Why I Am Not A Calvinist…Or an Arminian, Part 3
The Calvinism/Arminianism debate considers three essential issues: (1) The degree of God’s activity in human salvation, (2) the degree of human culpability, and (3) the degree of human activity in salvation. Historically Calvin placed strongest emphasis on God’s...
“The most effective leadership, management, and efficiency models share traits common with each other, and traits that are ultimately traceable to the pages of the Bible. While these models are often not intentionally rooted in Biblical concepts by those that promote the models, the models illustrate how applying Biblical principles can set a trajectory of success in enterprise and in life. Led By a Lion is designed to introduce some of these leadership, management, and efficiency models, but goes a step further in identifying the Biblical genesis of many of the core traits that fuel the success of these models.”
Which Comes First, Metaphysics or Epistemology?
Epistemology is the study of knowledge and seeks to answer the question of how we can have knowledge and certainty. Metaphysics is the study of reality and responds to questions regarding whether there is anything beyond the physical or natural. While I have often...
Is the Messiah Given to the Gentiles as a Covenant?
Question: In Isaiah 42:6, doesn’t the phrase “I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations” (NASB) indicate that the Messiah was given to the Gentiles as a covenant, and thus the New Covenant is also extended to the Gentiles and the church...
Why I Am Not a Calvinist…Or an Arminian, Part 2
The Remonstrance of 1610, by followers of Jacobus Arminius, counters five points of doctrine that were understood to be Calvinistic teachings. The Remonstrance first denies the five Calvinistic tenets, and then positively asserts five articles of doctrine that present...
“This approach has the advantage of seeking to view all knowledge through the lens of Scripture, and to subject all knowledge to the authority of Scripture. It encourages science and research within the field of psychology. It offers a Biblical balance of description and prescription. Of course, if the Bible is unreliable, then the refractive power of Scripture is distortive rather than corrective, but the epistemological premise of this approach is that God’s word is authoritative and sufficient for our understanding, for our equipping, and for our practice. There are many extra-biblical resources that we can employ, but in seeking out how and when to do that, we mustn’t lose sight of the one reliable constant that God has provided for us – the Bible.” –Chapter 9
Why I Am Not a Calvinist…Or an Arminian, Part 1
I am often asked whether I am a Calvinist or an Arminian. Honestly, it is not a simple question because these are not simply defined theological categories that can be chosen as one would choose from a menu at a restaurant. I certainly understand the importance of the...
Epistemological Foundations for a Biblical Theology
or, Bob’s Crazy Day With The Dandelions Presented to the Chafer Theological Seminary Conference, March 12, 2014. (video link) Epistemology is the study of knowledge. It attempts to answer questions regarding the origin of human knowledge, and considers especially how...
Stepping Down As Tyndale’s President: Time To Pass The Baton
The following is the letter I presented to the Tyndale family on March 2nd, announcing my decision to step down as Tyndale's president. --- March 2, 2014 Dear Tyndale Family, Within the past year, my family and I have thoughtfully and prayerfully arrived at a very...
“The Green Tree is an exceptional work…provides a vital tool for every Bible interpreter…Just as the root system is the foundation of a tree and directly impacts the health of a tree, hermeneutic method is at the root of one’s worldview. This illustration demonstrates that the hermeneutic method that an interpreter of the Bible employs will significantly affect the outcome. The tree will either be healthy, or it will not be healthy…The authors provide a unique examination of Revelation, Genesis, and Job that demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is derived from within Scripture, something that other hermeneutical methods fail to demonstrate. This is perhaps the most crucial principle demonstrated in The Green Tree, and it effectively demonstrates that the LGH hermeneutic is also the Biblical hermeneutic.” – Andrew Friend (Amazon Review)
Wikipedia, the Meaning of Life, and How Philosophy Still Matters
“The unexamined life,” said Socrates, “isn’t worth living.” And apparently, Wikipedia proves that we still agree with his sentiment 2400 years later. The Epicurean Dealmaker performed an interesting experiment to demonstrate the intellectual proximity of philosophy to...
Thoughts on the Creation Evolution Debate Between Ken Ham and Bill Nye
I appreciated that both Ken Ham and Bill Nye were willing to engage in a dialogue, as I think such discussions – including this one – help to clarify and test positions. I personally found the two men enjoyable to listen to, and I thought both presented their cases...
Hopelessness, Drugs, and The Deceptive Promise of the Altered State
I haven’t seen many of his films, but even a small sampling shows Philip Seymour Hoffman to be an extraordinary actor with undeniable skill. Sadly, we learn that Hoffman is gone, apparently falling prey to a drug habit that he couldn’t shake. My deepest condolences to...
Answering Richard Dawkins, Part 2
Dawkins Argument #2: There are of course gaps in the fossil record. In the case of the Turbellaria, a large, flourishing and beautiful group of free-living flatworms, the fossil record is one big gap – there are no fossils – and not even a Young Earth Creationist...
Answering Richard Dawkins
I appreciate Dr. Richard Dawkins’ impassioned arguments against creationism, as he challenges his listeners and readers to think through their positions and to offer sound reasons for their conclusions. My focus here is not to argue against his atheism, but is to...
What Was Nietzsche Thinking?
The flow of Nietzsche’s thought is notably distinct from more systematic philosophers (e.g., Kant) in that his perspective on moral value does not advance from previously defined epistemological and metaphysical conceptions. In fact, a reverse progression is evident...
The Descendants of Abraham: Do Church-Age Believers Become “Spiritual Jews?”
Based on Romans 2:28-29, some have concluded that being Jewish is a spiritual rather than ethnic matter, and that people become “spiritual Jews” when they become Christians. Romans 2:28-29 reads, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly neither is circumcision that...
The Sovereignty of God and Political Responsibilities of the Believer
The Bible teaches that God is sovereign – even going so far as to say that all authority is appointed by Him: “For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans 13:1). That does not suggest that God is necessarily pleased...
Dualism, Ontology and Pauline Authority
Republished with permission from JODT, 12:36. The origin of the Pauline project is not an unimportant question. Paul represents his doctrines as emerging not from human agency (Gal. 1:1,11) but from divinity, claiming an apostolic commission by way of direct encounter...
A Time to Kill: Self-Defense and Just War
An Excerpt from The Bible in Government and Society (by Christopher Cone, TSP, 2012), republished with permission. ___ On March 6, 1927 Bertrand Russell presented a lecture to the South London Branch of the National Secular Society. Throughout the talk, which he...