Give Me That Book! A Primer for the Practice of Inductive Bible Study is a new ebook by T. Michael W. Halcomb that guides a person through moving from the biblical text all the way through to sermon preparation. Enjoy the introduction to the book in today’s post.
Who is the Beast of Revelation 13, which is sometimes conflated with the term “antichrist” from John’s epistles? In this Seven Minute Seminary video, Dr. Ben Witherington responds with important Bible background, suggesting that there is good reason to think it referred to a Roman emperor.
Does Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4 teach the Rapture? Last week Ben Witherington shared on the origins of rapture theology. This week, watch him explain the Bible background and historical imagery behind two popular proof texts for rapture theology.
Has the site of Jesus’ baptism been discovered? In this video, Ben Witherington III shares about a new archaeological site where early Christians would go to get baptized. It is possible that this was a special site for the early church because it is also where Jesus was baptized by John.
In light of this weekend’s Left Behind movie release, Dr. Michael Halcomb addresses the question, “Is the rapture in the Bible?” by taking a look at three different core verses that sensationalists use to support the rapture. As Dr. Halcomb shows us, Matthew 24:37-41, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, and Revelation 4:1-2 mean something different than Left Behind enthusiasts like to believe.
So much poor interpretation exists related to the book of Revelation because we try to apply our modern context to ancient images. In this Seven Minute Seminary, Dr. Robert Mulholland explains key aspects of the work that must be kept in mind in order to properly understand it.
The Old Testament describes three major feasts that became part of the Jewish annual calendar, each having its own unique theological significance for the community. In this article, Jeremiah Garrett summarizes their history and locates them in the Bible’s story.
We have no record of Jesus ever writing anything down, so how did what Jesus said and did make it to written form? In his Seven Minute Seminary, Dr. Terence C. Mournet suggests that the process of moving from oral teaching to written texts involved both stability and flexibility, and this should teach us something about the ideal of contextualization.
Most of what we know about the Old Testament can feel like a grab bag of people, books, events, and ideas, and usually, it’s hard for us make sense of it and see how it connects to God’s bigger story at all. In this 12-week video & discussion Bible study, Sandra Richter weaves the story together like never before.
Knowing historical background related to the Bible makes the book come alive for contemporary Christians and also helps us understand it as the original audience would have. Andrew Dragos highlights 4 images from the book of Revelation that are brought to light by historical background.
Bible promise cards, memorizing verses, and KJV translations have all led us to mistakenly believe that every verse is independent from the rest. In this primer on reading the Bible in context, Timothy J. Jenney reminds us that the paragraph, not the verse, is the fundamental unit of interpretation in the Bible.
Books on Jesus abound—why the need for another one? Aren’t the four Gospels and subsequent letters of the New Testament sufficient for us to understand him? Well, not necessarily so, claims N. T. Wright in his book Simply Jesus. Andrew Dragos offers a summary and takeaways in this book review.
