5. Certainly there was Some Joy in the Roman Empire. Without it, Evangelism would be Impossible.

            We are leading to the notion that...

4. A Government and Society and Culture that Thwarts “Joy.”

            What about the Roman Empire? Beard wrote a chapter titled...

3. A Way to Understand “Joy” that Avoids the Tangle of Vocabulary.

As we seek to discuss the concept of “joy,” we will not seek a definition, but we will seek a way to...

One of the biggest problems when reading the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) is that Christians too often don't have any kind of historical sense about apocalyptic thinking or apocalyptic...

2. Seeking to Understand “Joy.”

What is joy? We would like to know how joyful the society and the individual people were. The problem with this question is finding a good definition of...

1. Could People in the Roman Empire Trust One Another?

In the New Testament we find few professions (or occupations) mentioned. The first of these few to come to mind is that of Paul, Priscilla,...

I talked about Supportive Engagement in a previous post. I would like to build on those comments now. It is very interesting to contrast two types of conversation: 

supportive engagement...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

I say again: I believe in the inspiration of our scriptures!  But that is not the same thing as saying...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

I believe in the inspiration of our scriptures!  I believe it so strongly, that I feel the need...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

Of course, many will regard what I wrote in Part 1 as incredibly "weak." I have a very dear preacher friend...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

Q: Is "Biblical Inspiration" like Ulysses S. Grant Writing His Memoirs? 

A reader has asked this...

Book Review (by Dr. Mike Parker)

I recently came across a book authored by Nicholas Taleb by the title of The Black Swan.  The title describes a highly improbable event.  When you are...

While reading in the LXX (Septuagint: the Greek OT), I ran across a Proverb, and I thought of a dear friend. He is currently tending to his father (grave in illness), to his own family, and to the...

Just in case you haven't seen the "4 Decisions" video yet, the billing on it is correct:  it could literally change your Bible reading life.  This might challenge you; it certainly ...

It is very sad to say that, among Christians, "blenderizing the Bible" is the most popular method on the planet for reading the Bible . 

The point here is not that we cannot compare...

Easter eggs, bunnies, pastel colors, family gatherings. I'm not here to decry any of these fun things. And my title is not about removing such things from the holiday. It goes a little deeper than...

This post is about logging in so that you can make comments to posts in this Blog.  It is not talking about logging in to the website per se. 

In order to make comments on these blog...

With this post, the IABC blog, Biblical Conversation, begins a new phase. The intention is to begin posting weekly from this point on. If you will Subscribe to this Blog (in the...

Reading the Bible Is not Rocket Science.  Or Is It?

By now it is an old statement, but every once in a while, someone still makes it:  “You don’t have to be a scholar to read...

Does the Bible Even Belong in This Discussion?

In the 1951 movie, People Will Talk, Cary Grant (as a medical doctor)  makes the following rather bleak  statement: "If old Mother...

(This post was originally a private letter to a friend. It has been modified for this post.)

Especially in times like ours, with all the serious concern over life and quality of life, I want to...

In my previous post, I introduced my visit to the Creation Museum (CM). Now I turn to some critical remarks.

Critical Comments: 

For all of my enjoyment, CM is not really a natural...

The Creation Museum (CM) in Kentucky has received a great deal of public attention, and I have previously written detailed comments on  a debate that took place there as...