Lee Harmon's Blog, page 44
November 1, 2013
Romans 16:21, Who Wrote the Gospel of Luke? Part I of II
Timothy, my co-worker, sends his greetings to you, as do Loukion, Jason and Sosipater, my fellow Jews.
//Tradition tells us that a physician and companion of Paul named Luke wrote the third gospel and the book of Acts. Our earliest extant manuscript titles these works “the Gospel according to Luke,” and is dated sometime between 175 and 225 CE. The Muratorian canon, dated at around the same time, refers to “Luke the physician and companion of Paul” as the author. Irenaeus in Against Heresies a...
October 31, 2013
Book review: Battles of the Bible
by Martin J. Dougherty
★★★★★
As a teenager, I was enthralled with wargaming. Though I outgrew the tendency of boys to glorify battle, I never did outgrow my interest in military strategy. Well, here is a book for battle aficionados, with a Biblical setting.
I picked this book up from the bargain shelf at a Barnes and Noble, and really, it’s a fun read. It covers battles in Palestine from 1400 BC to 73 AD. Some are in the Christian Bible and some are not. For example, the Seleucid wars will be fo...
October 30, 2013
Mark 9:7, The Three-Fold Revelation
And there was a cloud that overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son hear him.
//I recently came across an absolutely fascinating discovery in the Gospel of Mark, provided by Ched Myers (Binding the Strong Man, 1988, pp 390-392). Mark, in presenting the evidence of Jesus’ God-given authority, repeats five themes three times, during what may be considered the three most important events in the life of Jesus. This little chart is worth studying, I promis...
October 29, 2013
Acts 1:9, Where Did Jesus Go?
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
//The doctrine of the Ascension is fascinating to me. Before we get to this verse in Acts, let’s review what the earlier Gospels have to say on the topic.
Mark tells us that some women went to the Tomb on Sunday and found it empty. They ran away afraid, and told no one. That is how the original Gospel ends (verses 16:9 through the end of the book are not original to the Gospel, and were added later...
October 28, 2013
John 1:1, Why Does John Think Jesus Is God?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
//It’s clear from the context of John’s prologue that the “Word” in today’s verse refers to Jesus. Johnexplicitlyclaims something extraordinary: Jesus is God.
What makes John think this is so, when this claim differs so much from the Synoptic Gospels, which all present Jesus and God as two distinct beings? Well, here is some wild speculation for you.
In my latest book, I suggest that the Beloved Disciple of John’s Go...
October 27, 2013
Luke 22:38, Two Swords: It Is Enough
And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.
//Just as Jesus is about to be captured and led into Jerusalem for his trial, he tells his disciples to sell their garments and buy swords. They reply that they have two swords already, and Jesus says that’s enough.
So what’s the story with these two swords? Why did Jesus make sure swords were available, only to never use them? We do read of Peter cutting off the ear of an opponent, but Jesus admonished Peter...
October 26, 2013
Book review: The End of Apologetics
by Myron Bradley Penner
★★★
As we transitioned from a premodern to modern world, as the Enlightenment opened our eyes, and as more and more atheists came out of the closet, Christian apologetics thrived. In this new world, we Christians feel it is our inherent responsibility to prove the truth of our Christian worldview. We feel the need to justify our beliefs. But, when it comes to spreading the Gospel, has apologetics become more hostile than helpful? Does it edify, or does it tear down?
Penne...
October 25, 2013
Luke 2:2, The Problem with Quirinius
This was the first census that took place whileQuirinius was governor of Syria.
//Jesus, says the Gospel of Luke, was born while Quirinius was governor of Syria. But there’s a problem with this: Quirinius didn’t become governor until 6 AD,and Luke also claims that Herod the Great was still alive (see Luke 1:5). Herod died in 4 BC.
I got into a heated discussion about this on a forum, and though this sort of first-century history is a bit dry to most of you, I decided to set the record straight...
October 24, 2013
Luke 16:11, The Unrighteousness of Money
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
//Mammon means money, and this is Jesus speaking, calling money unrighteous.
What’s wrong with money? It’s a good question. So reliant are we upon money that we can’t imagine Jesus preaching against it. We take that verse in Timothy about the love of money being the root of all evil, and overemphasize the words “love of;” thus it’s not money that’s evil, but our love of it that’s ev...
October 23, 2013
Book review: Doubting Stephen
by Anne Borrowdale
★★★★★
What if everything you’ve built your life on turns out to be a lie? From marriage relations to religious convictions, Borrowdale takes her readers on a journey from happy naivete to open-eyed acceptance of the truth.
This book’s draw, for me, was its extremes of character development—whether the nauseatingly religious or the flaky crystal healers—while managing to present everyone as normal, next-door-neighbor types. Thirty pages into the book, I was already convinced of...
