Biblical Studies

Christian apologetics is the study of the philosophy and method of defending the Christian faith.  Since taking apologetics courses in seminary, and over 35 years of pastoral ministry, I have found these books to be the most helpful to me.  Admittedly, they range from presuppositional to evidential in their approach -- but I have discovered that God freely uses a variety of means in bringing people to himself.  Blomberg, Craig L. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels (IVP Academic, 2007).  This is a very good, scholarly overview on that topic.    Geisler, Norman L., and Turek, Frank. I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Crossway, 2004). An excellent walk-through of the evidences for, and reasons why, we believe.    Groothuis, Douglas. Christian Apologetics: A Comprehensive Case for Biblical Faith (IVP Academic, 2011). This is a larger reference work, and very worthwhile to have; it covers many of the issues and topics related to a...

 "...who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father..." (Galatians 1:4) In commenting on this verse, Martin Luther wrote the following... "Human reason wants sin to have no greater power than we imagine it has. That is why hypocrites, being ignorant of Christ, feel the remorse of sin but think they can easily get rid of it by their good works and merits. Secretly, in their hearts, they wish that these words, who gave himself for our sins, were words of overstatement; they want their sins not to be true and real sins but light and small matters. In short, human reason wants to present to God not a real sinner but a pretend one, unafraid of anything, without any feeling of sin. It wants to bring to God one who is well, not one who needs a physician; and when it feels no sin, then it wants to believe that Christ was given for our sins… "True Christian wisdom regards these words of Paul as most true, ef...

Jesus replied, "Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him. (John 8:55-59 NIV) [This is a repost from 2009, giving the outline and quotes shared by Dr. David Kingston from his October 4 sermon that year. He stated that much of the outline came from John Stott's excellent little book, Basic Christianity (Eerdmans, 1999).] 1. The Importance of the Doctrine A. It is central to Christian faith. B. The fact that Jesus Christ is God distinguishes Christianity from other major religions C. If Jesus was not God, then His death had no special significance, and we are still the objects of God’s wrath. D. If Jesus was not God, then He is not coming back again to establish His kingdom. The Nicene Cree...

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." (Matthew 5:6 ESV) Geerhardus Vos served as Professor of Biblical Theology at Princeton Seminary from 1892 to 1932. A collection of the sermons he gave in chapel between 1896 and 1913 is available as Grace and Glory , now being published by Banner of Truth (2020).  Below are some excerpts from his sermon, "Hungering and Thirsting for Righteousness", taken from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter five... "It is God's inalienable right as God to impress his character upon us, to make and keep us reflectors of his infinite glory. But in a state of sin this can only intensify a thousand times the consciousness of man's utter inability even to begin to realize what nevertheless is the very core of his end in life, the sole ultimate reason for his existence." "[T]he purpose of this demand of God-likeness is not to be primarily sought in the desirability for ma...

"I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the LORD!'" (Psalm 122:1) THE SONGS OF ASCENTS  are Psalms 120--134. These fifteen psalms are called the psalms of ascents, because traditionally they were recited on the way to the temple on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem. Each psalm has a particular theme related to being a pilgrim on the way to God's house.  Why are these psalms in the Bible? I believe that it is because we need to know that we, like the ancient Israelites, are citizens of the kingdom of God, sojourning in this world as resident aliens. We're on our way to God's glorious eternal kingdom in the new heaven and new earth (Matt 6:33; Heb 11:16; 1 Pet 2:9-12; 2 Pet 3:13). Here are the fifteen themes.  DEPARTURE (120). The psalmist does not literally dwell in Meshech (to the far north of Israel) or Kedar (far to the east) but feels as if he lives among barbarian people who do not care about the God of Israel. Their lives are characteriz...

In the preface to his book To Be Near Unto God , Abraham Kuyper has these comments about having a proper mystical sense in our relationship with God...  As in everything that risks itself in the depth of mysticism, so in the preparation of these Meditations, lurked undeniable danger. The soul that seeks God involuntarily inclines to step across the boundary appointed of God, defined by the word "near," and to force an entrance into His Being. From the first I was on guard against this danger, and I believe I have escaped it. On the other hand, fear of this danger could not be allowed to repress that fervor and that spiritual warmth, which refreshes the soul only when the feelings are aroused and the imagination awakened. Mere thinking is not meditation, this is something quite different, and, in view of the wide-awake preparedness necessary to withstand the constant onslaught waged from the gates of hell against the Church of the living God, with a fierceness that neither res...