No. Rahab in Joshua is the personal name of the woman in Jericho who protected Israel’s spies. The similar English spelling in Job, Psalms, and Isaiah can represent different Hebrew terms or poetic uses rather than the same person. In passages such as Job 26 and Psalm 89, Rahab is imagery for chaos and the …
Pastor Mike recommends F. F. Bruce’s commentary on Hebrews in the New International Commentary series as a classic, substantial resource. He relied heavily on Bruce’s insights while teaching through the book. Other useful works include Peter O’Brien’s contribution to the Pillar series, Simon Kistemaker’s Hebrews volume in the Hendriksen–Kistemaker set, and Leon Morris’s exposition in …
No usable English Bible is literally word-for-word in every place. Hebrew and Greek grammar, word order, and idioms differ from English, so every translation must make interpretive decisions. The goal is to balance readability with faithfulness to the wording, grammar, and meaning of the original text. Thought-for-thought translations emphasize natural English and can be easy …
Jordan Peterson has expressed ideas about personal responsibility, truth, culture, and the Bible that overlap with Christian convictions. His work has encouraged some people to reconsider Scripture, and Christians may learn useful observations from non-Christian thinkers just as they may learn mathematics, history, or politics from them. He should not, however, function as a Bible …
Christians did not create the biblical canon by arbitrarily choosing preferred books. The canon was recognized among God’s people as inspired writings were received, preserved, and used. The Old Testament books were kept within Israel’s covenant community, while the New Testament books were recognized through their apostolic authority and widespread reception in the early church. …
The existence of an Ethiopian canon with additional books does not mean that books were removed from the familiar 66-book Bible. The Old Testament canon was preserved within Israel’s centralized worship and scribal community, while the New Testament books were recognized early as apostolic writings circulated among the churches. Early Christian sermons and writings repeatedly …
The New Testament books were written in the first century, not assembled as new compositions hundreds of years after Jesus. Several independent lines of historical evidence make a fourth- or fifth-century origin impossible. Early Christian leaders in the late first, second, and third centuries preached from and quoted New Testament books. Their surviving writings—often collected …
Interpret a biblical parable or illustration by paying attention to the comparisons the inspired text actually makes. Do not build doctrine from details the passage never mentions or from features that are absent. For example, Ephesians 6 identifies particular parts of a soldier’s armor and explains what they represent: the sword is the word of …
The letter was written by James, the half-brother of Jesus and a leader in the early Jerusalem church. The Greek name behind the English “James” is closely related to the name Jacob; the different English form does not identify a different person. James is called Jesus’ half-brother because Jesus was conceived through the virgin birth, …
No. Romans explains how a sinner is justified in God’s sight: by faith apart from works. Abraham was counted righteous before circumcision or any later act of obedience, so works did not earn his standing before God. James addresses how genuine faith is shown to be real. His repeated language asks what others can “see” …
After completing the verse-by-verse studies of Luke and Hebrews, I recommend studying Romans. The Romans series contains about one hundred sermons and works carefully through one of the most important books of the New Testament. It is a natural and valuable study to undertake after Hebrews. Do not stop after Romans 1–8, where many readers …
A Bible study should have a prepared teacher who has done the work of interpreting the passage accurately. The group should not begin with everyone offering a different opinion about what the text means. There are three stages in handling Scripture: interpretation, forming timeless principles from the text, and application. The teacher should study the …