bible
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There’s a phrase that gets passed around in churches like a peace offering: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” People quote it like it dropped out of Paul’s beard. It didn’t. It’s not Scripture. It’s not apostolic. It’s not even ancient. It came from a 17th-century theologian trying to calm down…
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Somewhere along the way, “Sola Scriptura” stopped meaning Scripture is our highest authority and started meaning I don’t need to listen to anyone, anywhere, ever. Because apparently all it takes to interpret the Bible correctly is: • A leatherbound ESV, • A podcast pastor, • And whatever we feel while sitting in traffic with worship music on. Meanwhile, the early…
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Modern readers often approach the New Testament as if it contains multiple theological “schools.” Paul is cast as the theologian of grace, Peter the theologian of suffering, John the theologian of love. But the earliest churches didn’t hear the faith in separate voices like that. They received one gospel carried through many hands. And when…
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People used to wait for a word from the Lord. Now they refresh the screen. For all the talk of “revival” and “fresh fire,” Evangelical and Charismatic circles have always had a soft spot for shortcuts to revelation. It’s not a new temptation—it’s just better packaged now. Every generation invents its own spiritual vending machine.…
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Why the questions around versions, manuscripts, and preservation matter — and what they don’t mean. Introduction It’s common today to hear questions like: “If the Bible has so many manuscripts and translations, can we really trust it?” or “Is the Bible still infallible, or did errors creep in?” These are good questions. The goal here is not to undermine…
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Introduction: The Brackets We Can’t Pretend Not to See Open a critical Greek New Testament to John 7 and you’ll meet two honest brackets around 7:53–8:11. They’re not a wink; they’re a warning light. The earliest Greek evidence for John moves from 7:52 straight to 8:12. That’s not a conspiracy; that’s the manuscript record. Yet…
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It is not an uncommon thing in today’s church that I hear a pastor’s use of scripture or reference be outside the actual context. If I have a relationship with them, I do what the modern culture deems appropriate—send an Email. Not because I am offended. Not because I want to be “that guy.” But…
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Textual criticism isn’t about criticizing the Bible in a hostile way. It’s about reconstructing the earliest text of Scripture as accurately as humanly possible. That’s it. It deals with this unavoidable fact: • We don’t have the original manuscripts (the autographs) written by Paul, John, Moses, etc. • What we do have are thousands of handwritten…
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Before the Filters For the first three centuries, Christians didn’t talk about “getting saved” the way most sermons do now. There was no sinner’s prayer, no courtroom where you were declared innocent and then sent home unchanged. The gospel was not a legal loophole—it was an invitation to be remade. Salvation meant being healed, adopted,…
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Why the Bible Feels Silent for So Many—And How to Hear It Again Most people don’t walk away from Scripture because they hate it. They walk away because it never seems to answer the questions they’re asking. But what if the problem isn’t the Bible? What if it’s the questions we inherited? Scripture Shows Us…
Restoring Apostolic Faith 