On a recent episode of The Briefing, Al Mohler discussed New York’s plan to spend $9 billion on building new prisons. Mohler included a brief discussion of the history of prisons which inspired me to do a little more research on the issue. Throughout most of human history, prisons were meant...

In the last post we talked about the common identifications of Darius the Mede. Although the previous post discussed the popular interpretations of Darius, as stated in that post, I think there are some problems with those identifications. Further, as I have been introduced to the work of Steven...

In Daniel 5:31 we are introduced to Darius the Mede, who is said to rule after Belshazzar when Babylon falls to the Persian kingdom under Cyrus (cf. 2 Chron 36:22). Darius also shows up in Daniel 6 as the king who puts Daniel in the lion’s den. Finally, the vision of Daniel 9 is also said to...

The Bible says David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Acts 13:22). Most people want to take this phrase as a reference to the moral character of David. As such, David was a man after God’s own heart in that he was committed to God’s ways and demonstrated fidelity to...

Both men and women are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27). This is why human life is sacred and protected (Gen 9:5-6). This is in contrast to the rest of creation (even our beloved pets). Only humanity has the privilege and honor of being created in the image of God. Hence humanity’s value...

LGBT and gender issues continue to be on the cultural forefront. Each day the headlines bring us arguments for gender-neutral bathrooms, news about transgender athletes, or a doctor who loses his job because he holds to a biblical view of gender. The biblical view of gender is antiquated according...

Accusations of racism and racist behavior are commonplace in the news today. Many view racism as on the rise in America. Poll data from Gallup indicates that at least some Americans view race relations between whites and blacks at a current low point over a 20 year span. Because racism is a subject...

Periodically I get questions that relate to bible codes and a secret message in Scripture. The belief in a secret message in the Bible is seductive and has a long history with many Christian and Jewish proponents. Is there any evidence that the Bible contains a secret message that will yield fruit...

A common objection to the young earth creation position is the distant starlight problem. This starlight problem is usually framed with the following information. First, starlight travels approximately 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, the distance starlight can travel in a year is approximately...

There are many reasons to believe that social media is here to stay. Social media provides an incredible opportunity to connect with family and friends, or to keep an eye on the news, sports, and weather. It is estimated that this year, 2.82 billion people will be involved on social media. Social...

Socialism is becoming popular in the United States, especially among the younger generations. One poll noted that 61% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 thought positively of socialism. Another poll said that 43% of Americans thought some form of socialism would be a good thing for the United...

One of the most perplexing verses in the New Testament is 1 Timothy 2:15, “Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control” (ESV). Although this is a difficult text to understand, the application of this text is...

I thought it would be helpful to list all of the posts I have written about the King James Version for easy accessibility. Thus, the following posts deal with various issues pertaining to the King James Version and Bible translation in general.

1. Thou Shalt Not Only Use the King James Version

This...

We can’t talk about the KJV without talking about the Received Text (often called the Textus Receptus, or TR for short). The Received Text is the Greek text which underlies the KJV. This text is largely different from the Greek text which underlies the modern versions (NASB, ESV, NIV,...

In the last two posts we have discussed some of the problems with holding to the KJV as the only translation that should be used today. The first post addressed the general background of the translators who worked on the KJV. The second post looked at differences between the and the modern...

Last time we looked at some of the reasons why one should not hold to a view that the KJV is the only version Christians should use. Today we want to go deeper into the issue and look at the KJV itself. We will note some of the corrections that have been made from the original publication to the...

My first Bible growing up was the King James version. I did not only use the KJV, but I memorized all my verses in the King James version and I learned much reading through its stories. Then, one day my parents got me the New King James version. It was a lot easier to read, and I memorized more...

When King James commissioned the King James Version, he approved 15 principles of translation which were instituted by Richard Bancroft, the bishop of London in 1604. These translation principles are as follows:

1. The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called the Bishops Bible, to be...

Jesus is to be recognized as sovereign Lord in the church. But, is it justified to start with Jesus when it comes to forming theology? Many Christians affirm just that. For example, I was once listening to a podcast and the subject was raised about how we formulate our theology. One speaker said...

I recently was pointed to an article by Desiring God which encourages the believer to wrestle with God like Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel/Mahanaim (Gen 32:1-32). The implication of the article is that Jacob’s wrestling match with God is a pattern for us to follow—we too ought to...

Slavery reparations are all the rage right now. This week there was a House hearing on reparations, and there were a variety of celebrity testimonies, including Danny Glover and Burgess Owens arguing for or against reparations.

This conversation has really ignited over the last year. When the...

The names of Hosea’s children surely raised quite a few eyebrows in Hebrew kindergarten. The name Jezreel means, “May God sow.” But more shockingly, the Jezreel valley was well known as the location of much fighting and bloodshed (1 Sam 29:1; 2 Sam 2:8; 1 Kgs 21:1; 2 Kgs 9:24ff)....

Happy Mother’s Day! This Sunday marks a special day as we commemorate the value of mothers in the lives of our families. In a culture which attempts to mitigate the differences between males and females, these are special opportunities to point out that children relate differently to fathers...

Easter weekend is upon us, and so we celebrate the most important part of Christianity–the fact that Jesus is alive! This is the essence of our hope as believers. Because of Christ’s resurrection we have hope of our own resurrection.

I saw an online discussion recently about how many...

Recently Matt Walsh, conservative blogger and devout Catholic, wrote an article entitled, “When Christians Shouldn’t Quote the Bible.” In his article, he made a fairly bold statement:

I contend that Christians should not appeal to the Bible when arguing with unbelievers about...