7 Things That Make the Gospel of John Unique
“One of these things is not like the others.” That was a classic segment on Sesame Street, as well as the title of a popular children’s book. It proves again that everything you need to know in life you probably learned in Kindergarten.
After all, when it comes to the four gospels, it has been long recognized that “one of these things is not like the others.” There are three Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—with very similar content, tone, and pacing. And then there’s the gospel of John.
From the very beginning, the church fathers even recognized that John was notably different than the others. In fact, Clement of Alexandria … Continue reading...
Is the Book of James Really ‘An Epistle of Straw’?
We have a lot of books in our New Testament. All of them, we believe, are divinely inspired. And yet we don’t spend equal amounts of time reading them. For most of us, our reading pattern is profoundly lopsided, focusing mostly on Paul (especially Romans and Galatians) and the Gospels (with John leading the way). Indeed, some books (like 3 John) hardly get read at all.
This trend raises intriguing questions about why certain books were even included in the New Testament. What purpose do these less famous books serve? This becomes particularly acute with the book of James. Although 500 years have passed since Martin Luther called it … Continue reading...
Three Reasons the Old Testament is More Important than You Think
When it comes to the reasons people reject the Bible, the Old Testament might just rank near the top of the list. Whether it’s just something confusing (the book of Leviticus), or something historically hard to believe (the “giants” of Genesis 6), or even something offensive (God’s supposed condoning of genocide), the Old Testament has it covered.
A number of years ago, Kristin Swenson published A Most Peculiar Book: The Inherent Strangeness of the Bible. She covered a lot of ground in terms of what makes the Bible peculiar, and certainly some examples came from the New Testament. But most examples were overwhelmingly from the Old Testament. (For more, … Continue reading...
Think You Know the Christmas Story?
Bah, humbug.
That’s probably one of the most well-known lines in literary (and now, cinematic) history. Everybody immediately recognizes the curmudgeonly voice of Ebeneezer Scrooge as he pours cold water all over our Christmas spirit.
And his point is still made today by some, albeit in different words. It’s that the Christmas story just isn’t true. It’s rubbish. It’s made up. It’s all in our heads.
While now is not the time for a full-scale defense of the historicity of the Christmas story, Scrooge’s skepticism does prompt us to wonder whether we’ve gotten the story right. Are we telling the story that really was, or are we just telling the
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6 Ways that Christian Students Can Prepare for College: #2 You Won’t Have All the Answers
Last week I began a new 6-part series helping Christian students think through how to prepare for life at a big university. The series is based on a recent lecture I gave to the Regents School in Austin, Texas, where I laid out 6 principles designed to help rising college students think more clearly about what’s ahead. It’s also based on my book, Surviving Religion 101.
In the first installment my advice was simple: “Take this transition seriously.” Yes, students can be overly skeptical about their future college experience—what I call a “martyr complex”—where they begin to think everyone is out to get them. But the opposite is a … Continue reading...