Monthly Archives: June 2011

New Evidence that the Gospels Were Based on Eyewitness Testimony

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Joe Carter writes: Last night I stumbled across an example that shows how, when used creatively, such techniques can expand our knowledge and appreciation of a text. a Senior Lecturer in New Testament at the University of Aberdeen, has conducted what I’d call an “algorithm-enhanced close reading” of the canonical gospels and compared them to the apocryphal testimonies about Jesus.

Normally, my attention span for videos on the web is limited to about 2 minutes. But when I started watching this video last night I got sucked in by Dr. Williams engaging style and watched the entire lecture. As Evangel blogger Tom Gilson says, it’s a “talk on apologetics like you’ve never heard before.”

Friday Round Up

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(1) With the technical help of a gentleman named JJ, the two recent one hour radio programs I hosted on the theme of Divine election are now posted. You can access them by clicking I’ve been putting some thoughts together and posted an updated article here earlier this morning.

(3) Ligonier has some SUPER deals today in this week’s $5 Friday sale here. I especially recommend the Far West Area Conference 2008 DVD series. It was my privilege to attend this Conference and for today only (starting at 8 AM EST), the normal price of $44 is slashed to $5. Remember, if you decide to purchase material, you can claim a further 10% discount on these and on ALL Ligonier products (as a reader of this blog) by using the coupon code EGRACE10.

(4) Please keep our evangelistic outreach to Kerala, India in your prayers. Update here.

(5) “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” If every soccer goalkeeper would take a class in physics, they would all know that a penalty kick isn’t over until the ball has come to a complete stop or is safely cleared from the vicinity of the net. The latest goaltender to learn this lesson was Loris Angeli of Italian seventh division club Dro. During a shootout in a playoff game against Termeno to decide which club would be promoted to the sixth division, Termeno’s Michael Palma watched his shot ricochet square off the crossbar and land several meters in front of the net. But after falling to his knees in disbelief and watching the opposing goalkeeper run to his teammates in celebration, the ball took a wicked bounce backwards and slowly rolled past the goal line. The referees watched it all transpire and after having a few words with each other, they decided it was a good goal. Termeno’s goalkeeper stopped the following shot, sealing the victory and their club’s promotion to the sixth division.

1 John 2:2 (Revisited)

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You say that Christ died for His people, His sheep, His friends, for His Church and yet 1 John 2:2, speaking of Jesus, states, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” How do you explain that?

I can certainly see how someone would use this verse to undermine the reformed doctrine of Particular Redemption, yet Scripture, I believe, is not contradictory to itself. There is one Divine Author of Scripture and He does not contradict Himself. So how are we to understand 1 John 2:2?

I have written elsewhere about the principles of correct interpretation of scripture. There is only one correct interpretation of scripture. Though there may be many applications of a verse, it only means what it was intended to mean when it was written.

In my article entitled “Playing Marbles with Diamonds” I refer to a number of principles of biblical interpretation (hermeneutics), three of which would apply here:

1. Consider the Author – who wrote the book? (what was his background, language, culture, vocation, concerns, education, circumstance, what stage of life?)

2. Consider the Audience (why was the book written? who was the audience? what would these words have meant to its original recipients?) Continue reading →