In recent decades the question has taken on new urgency because of movements that ordain modern-day "apostles" and "prophets" with governing authority over networks of churches, sometimes claiming fresh revelation on par with, or supplementary to, the Scriptures the first apostles left behind.
"Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do... If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it" gets treated, in much popular prayer practice, as a nearly magical chant or spell — the phrase "in Jesus' name" tacked onto the end
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." — John 1:14 (NASB 1995) Both titles Scripture gives to Jesus of Nazareth — Son of God and Son of Man
"What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." — Mark 1:27 (NASB95) The crowd in the Capernaum synagogue was not amazed that a demon came out of a man. Exorcists were a known quantity in the first-century
Part 6 of six in the series Son of God vs Son of Man: The Two Titles of Christ. Having walked both titles through the whole New Testament, the question that remains is how they fit together in one person — and what breaks when the answer is gotten wrong. The
Part 5 of six in the series Son of God vs Son of Man: The Two Titles of Christ. Everything in the second half of the Son of Man material bends toward one scene: a figure coming on the clouds, seated on a throne of glory, with the nations gathered
Part 4 of six in the series Son of God vs Son of Man: The Two Titles of Christ. Son of Man is the name Jesus used for Himself more than eighty times, and almost no one else in the New Testament uses it of Him. That asymmetry is worth
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." — Matthew 28:19 (NASB95) Most arguments for the Trinity are cumulative. You establish that the Father is God, then that the Son is God,
"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" — Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB95) This is the objection that carries the most weight, and it deserves a straight answer rather than a clever one. Israel confessed one God for roughly fifteen centuries without confessing three persons.
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." — John 14:16 (NASB95) The Watch Tower's New World Translation renders every occurrence of the term in lowercase — "holy spirit" — and the organization teaches that
"But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son… Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!'" — Galatians 4:4, 6 (NASB95) The Trinity is often taught as a puzzle to
The faith centered on Jesus Christ and the good news of salvation through His death and resurrection. This category explores Christian doctrine, practice, history, and lived experience—including core beliefs, the Gospels, church tradition, spiritual disciplines, community, and what it means to follow Christ across cultures and generations.
Exploring the nature, character, and attributes of God revealed through Scripture. This category examines God's existence, omnipotence, omniscience, holiness, justice, mercy, and love. Includes studies on God's names and titles, His relationship to creation and humanity, how He reveals Himself through Scripture and creation, and theological reflection on knowing and experiencing God through Jesus Christ.
Exploring the person, work, and significance of Jesus Christ—God's Son and humanity's Savior. This category examines His incarnation, teachings, miracles, redemptive work through His death and resurrection, and ongoing reign. Includes studies on His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, His return, and His centrality to Christian faith and practice.
The theological study of Jesus Christ—His nature, identity, and person. This category explores the biblical and doctrinal understanding of Christ as both fully divine and fully human, examines how Christian tradition has understood the Incarnation, and addresses key questions about His divine attributes, His work of redemption, and His relationship to the Father and Holy Spirit.
This post stands over the whole Biblical Context series of blog posts as its foundation. Every other post takes a single verse that has been pulled loose from its moorings — Jeremiah 29:11 off a coffee mug, Malachi 3:10 turned into a tithing dare, Psalm 105:15 weaponized to
Purgatory is not, in Catholic teaching, a third eternal destiny. That misunderstanding wrecks most Protestant objections before they start. Rome teaches two final destinies — heaven and hell — and holds purgatory to be a temporary condition of purification through which some of the saved pass on their way to heaven. Everyone
"And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire." — Qur'an 55:15 "And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day." — Jude
Kemet — Kmt, "the Black Land," named for the dark alluvial soil of the Nile floodplain — is the indigenous name for ancient Egypt, and Kemetic spirituality is the modern movement that seeks to recover and practice its religion. Two distinct things travel under the name, and both need to
The Seventh-day Adventist Church emerged from the Millerite movement of the 1840s and was formally organized in 1863. It reports over 23 million baptized members worldwide, operates one of the largest Protestant-style education and healthcare networks on earth (including Loma Linda University and thousands of schools and hospitals)
The claim that the god of Islam is not merely a different concept of God but the direct work of the adversary is one of the oldest charges Christians have laid against Islam, and it is one of the most frequently mishandled. The usual version of the argument assembles a
"Have You come here to torment us before the time?" — Matthew 8:29 (NASB95) Read that question again, because the demons have given away more than they intended. They do not ask whether they will be tormented. They do not argue their case, protest their innocence, or dispute
No biblical doctrine is more sobering, and none rests more directly on the recorded words of Jesus — who spoke of hell more than any other person in Scripture, and always as warning, never as relish.
The Bible does not end with souls floating up to heaven; it ends with heaven coming down to a renewed earth. The story that opens with "God created the heavens and the earth" Genesis 1:1 closes with "a new heaven and a new earth" Revelation 21:1 — creation not discarded but reborn.
The crucified and resurrected Son administers judgment, which either completes salvation or confirms a rejection previously chosen: the believer, judged in his Substitute, proceeds to reward evaluation; the rejecter meets his denied word as judge.
Raised in a Christian home, I came to faith later in life. A family crisis in 2019 drove me to study Scripture deeply, and by 2021 I answered my calling to ministry and teaching God's Word.
