Bible Study MagazineReformation Day is October 31. In remembrance, keep reading to explore with David P. Barshinger how the Reformers offer us a model for Bible study. (Or dig deeper into Reformation exegesis with Reading Scripture with the Reformers or The Martin...
If you want to interpret the Bible correctly, you’ll need to use the right tools, and use them rightly. This is surely true for Paul’s letter to the Romans, which is long, complex, and very important to Christian faith and doctrine. Let’s take a...
In the new book Faith in the Wilderness: Words of Exhortation from the Chinese Church (Kirkdale Press, 2022; foreword by Tim Keller), Chinese house church pastor Paul Peng urges Western Christians to look to the future “sea of glass” (Revelation 15)...
In this excerpt adapted from the March/April issue of Bible Study Magazine, Jared Garcia explores the terrible events leading to Jesus’ resurrection—and why we can call his crucifixion the “glory of the cross.” *** Just days before his death, Jesus...
The Dead Sea Scrolls have impacted our understanding of the history of the biblical text—learn how in this article by Jeremy D. Lyon.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, depending on how you count it. (The January-February issue of Bible Study Magazine tells the story of their discovery if you’re not familiar with it—it’s worth the read.)...
In this excerpt adapted from the November/December issue of Bible Study Magazine, Stephen G. Dempster, author of Dominion and Dynasty: A Biblical Theology of the Hebrew Bible, provides a big-picture overview of the story of the Old Testament.
Colossians 3:8 leaves many believers hesitant to merge the worlds of philosophy and Christianity: See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world...
What happens when a scholar dies in the middle of writing a New Testament commentary? Lexham Press’s Scott Corbin talked with New Testament scholar and Regent College (Vancouver, BC) professor George Guthrie about the well-loved Osborne Commentary...
We see our pastors each week on-screen or up front. We typically recognize key ministry leaders. We know (and ask God to bless abundantly) our children’s nursery workers who graciously receive our crying babies each week with smiles on their faces...
By Duane Garrett Speaking up for biblical principles is a dangerous thing. People may abuse you or accuse you, saying that you are a fool or even that you are evil. But Proverbs 9:7–8 gives us wise counsel in the face of such hostility: Whoever...
Many of the 150 canonical psalms have superscriptions or titles, like: “Of David,” “For the choirmaster,” and “According to the lilies.” Are these superscriptions in the psalms original? Or were they added at a later time? In this excerpt...
Christians pray for their enemies—but should they also pray against them? Consider two verses. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). But David says—of an enemy—“Let there be none who extend to him loyal...
Pastor H. B. Charles Jr. began ministry at age 17 when he inherited the pulpit at his father’s church. Now with more than 30 years of ministry experience, Charles has written books on prayer, preaching, and ministry. He is a popular conference...
In this excerpt from the May/June 2019 edition of Bible Study Magazine, Bronwyn Lea shares why author and Bible study teacher Jen Wilkin refuses to leave biblical literacy to the experts—and why she’s passionate about teaching others how to study...
Who was Paul’s audience in Romans? Paul’s writings and the book of Acts give us more data about him than they do about the Roman church. We know nothing about its origins and only a little about its history. Some have claimed that Peter...
Can we learn how to pray like Jesus? We know he prayed in the wilderness and in the garden of Gethsemane. We hear snippets of his conversation with the Father in John 11 when he raised Lazarus from the dead and in Luke 23 when he hung from the cross...
We can learn a lot from others about prayer, but often we forget to seek out the Bible and how others throughout biblical history prayed. Yet we can glean much from Old Testament prayers and those faithful few who prayed them and approached God...
Hezekiah’s tunnel, where archaeologists found an inscription describing the completion of the tunnel (source: commons.wikimedia.org) The work of archaeologists often overlaps with places, people, and events we read about in the Bible. Some of...
Because Christianity is built upon certain historical events, discussions about Scripture’s historical truthfulness are constant. Regarding Genesis, such discussions revolve around several issues, including the flood and patriarchal narratives...
Dreams dominate the story of Joseph, but their importance in the narrative derives from the significance of dreams in the culture and theology of the ancient Near East.
In the Bible, dreams are sources of divine revelation that indicate what someone should do, reveal what is going to happen, or explain current events. The Bible uses different Hebrew and Greek words when it talks about dreams and visions...
Our family has made several major transitions in the past few months—from our home in the Middle East to Europe briefly and then to the United States—while also considering new options abroad for the near future. There has been so much change that...
Shiloh, an ancient city in Samaria, was the major Israelite place of worship before the First Temple was built in Jerusalem. By Scott Stripling The ruins of ancient Shiloh, first identified by the American explorer Edward Robinson in 1838, lie 18...
From Timothy (2 Tim 1:5) to Augustine to John and Charles Wesley and many, many more, God has used mothers to bring people to faith—and to set them afire for the gospel. To that number, we’ll add Faithlife’s founder and CEO, Bob Pritchett...
By Robert Kinney Though often passed over as short and insignificant, Paul’s letter to Philemon might actually be the perfect message for a moment in history consumed with questions of identity and self-realization, social justice, the assertion of...
In this post, excerpted from the March/April 2017 edition of Bible Study Magazine, John D. Barry discusses the prologue to the passion of Jesus—his anguish in the garden—by considering what the Gospels collectively say about it. By doing so, he...
By Bronwyn Lea Russell Moore is a man with big credentials, big responsibility, and a surprisingly big laugh. As president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (the public engagement arm of the Southern Baptist Convention), Moore is...
The pool of Siloam at the end of Hezekiah’s tunnel on the southern slope of the City of David, Jerusalem By David B. Schreiner Israel is bursting with biblical archaeology excavation sites, and flocks of graduate students, professional...
By Todd R. Hains Things are not the way they’re supposed to be. We live in a world filled with suffering and injustice, where the wicked often prosper and the righteous often languish. Scripture assumes this basic truth. Yet it doesn’t provide a...