A well-regarded California megachurch was recently expelled from its evangelical denomination because it ordained women as pastors. “The issue of women serving in the pastorate is an issue of fundamental biblical authority,” one minister said in defense of the expulsion … Continue reading Women In Ministry
What were New Testament women really like? The conventional opinion is that they were powerless. “Women were subject to men and unable to wield real authority,” writes Susan E. Hylen, summarizing this view. “They did not own property or participate … Continue reading Review of ‘Finding Phoebe’ by Susan E. Helen
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction,” wrote the atheist Richard Dawkins. He went on to describe God as “jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty … Continue reading Is God a Vindictive Bully? | Influence Podcast
Many Gospels circulated in early Christianity. Everyone knows about Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but what about the Gospel of Peter or the Gospel of Thomas? Why were some Gospels included in the New Testament but not others? Scholars such … Continue reading Canonical Gospels vs. Apocryphal Gospels | Influence Podcast
When were the books of the New Testament written? Contemporary New Testament scholars agree that Paul’s seven undisputed letters — Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon — date to the 50s. They disagree about the … Continue reading Rethinking the Dates of the New Testament | Book Review
Is The Acts of the Apostles a source of authentic historical information about earliest Christianity? Colin J. Hemer answers that question affirmatively in The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History, published after his untimely 1987 death and … Continue reading The Book of Acts in the Setting of Hellenistic History | Book Review
Ministry of Women in the New Testament Dorothy A. Lee (Baker Academic) Does Scripture limit the ministries of Christian women based on their sex? According to this book, it does not. Instead, writes the author, the New Testament teaches that “women should have full access to the church’s ministry, whether in lay or ordained ministries, and that this access needs to depend not on gender but rather on a sense of vocation and on the church’s discernment of calling.” In an era of rising complementarianism among some evangelicals, this book offers a much-needed corrective. P.S. If you liked this recommendation, … Continue reading Three Books on Women in Leadership | Book Recommendations
Nearly 30 years past my seminary education, I found that my facility with the Greek New Testament was much diminished. I purchased the NIV Greek and English New Testament to remedy that situation. It presents the Greek text underlying the … Continue reading NIV Greek and English New Testament | Book Review
“The past is never dead,” wrote famed American author William Faulkner. “It’s not even past.” Faulkner’s quip came to mind repeatedly while reading Michael J. Kruger’s new book, Christianity at the Crossroads: How the Second Century Shaped the Future of … Continue reading Christianity at the Crossroads | Book Review
Lydia McGrew, Hidden in Plain View: Undesigned Coincidences in the Gospels and Acts (Chillicothe, Ohio: DeWard, 2017). Are the Gospels and the Book of Acts historically reliable? Its authors certainly thought so. For example, Luke stated that his Gospel narrated … Continue reading Review of ‘Hidden in Plain View’ by Lydia McGrew
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