by Robert Angle | Feb 19, 2012 | Exegesis, Preterism
This post is based on a discussion I had with someone who finds the preterist approach to eschatology to be very intriguing.
What is Preterism?
Eschatology (from ἔσχατος meaning “last” and -logy meaning “study of”) is a part of theology concerned with what are believed to be the final events of history commonly referred to as the end of the world.
Christian eschatology is a major branch of study within Christian theology. Eschatology, from two Greek words meaning last (ἔσχατος, last) and study (λογία, lit. discourse), is the study of the end of things, whether the end of an individual life, the end of the age, or the end of the world. (more…)
by Robert Angle | Feb 6, 2012 | John 8:58, Translation
The following is a partial transcript of a discussion I had on this subject in a Biblical discussion and debate group. The real names of other participants have been changed, and some of their spelling and punctuation have been corrected. The purpose of posting it here is simply to preserve my efforts expended in the discussion.
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by Robert Angle | Feb 3, 2012 | Exegesis, Organized Religion
What does the Bible say about the organizational structure of the first century congregation?
Is Organized Religion a Choice? Or a Requirement?
There are some who claim that the congregations throughout the known world in the first century were completely autonomous, to which such claims are made usually with the intent of justifying a personal dismissal of all denominations today, or negating the need to assemble for worship with others altogether. “I just wanna worship God in the way that I personally want to” they say, which for many is often a clever way of minimizing the worship of God as a whole in favor of self-indulgence. Though for others, it is because organized religion has proved to be disappointing to them, at least to the degree in which they have sincerely and with fairness investigated them. This can be understandable, as the majority of organized religions are disappointing! But what do the scriptures teach us about the organization of first century Christianity? Was the first century Christian congregation an organization, or not? (more…)
