Ryan LyttonFew issues in Christianity today are more controversial than speaking in tongues. The Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary defines tongues speaking as: The act of speaking a language one did not acquire by natural means. This is often related to either...
Kirk E. MillerThe baptism of the Holy Spirit has been a subject of debate and much discussion among Christians over the years. What exactly does it mean to be baptized in the Spirit? Is it a distinct event that occurs after conversion, as some maintain, or an...
What is the role of the Holy Spirit in worship? I often tell my students that my default answer to theological questions is, “It’s more complicated than you think.” A guiding framework for me in that regard is Gregory the Great, who describes the...
Zach HollifieldThe spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.—Matthew 26:41; Mark 14:38 Every year as a kid I looked forward to New Year’s Eve because it was the one time a year when all bets were off when it came to bedtime. The mysterious happenings of the...
Brian CollinsAn immense list of the best books on the Holy Spirit could easily be overwhelming. So start here! Your study of the Spirit through these selections will be time well spent. Table of contents1. St Basil the Great, On the Holy Spirit2. John Owen...
Bryan BlazoskyWhile serving in a small church plant during my first year of college, I remember being given for the first time something called a spiritual gifts test. I don’t remember the specific questions on the test, but I do remember the result. For the...
Drew LongacreThe New Testament was originally written in Greek. This claim is not particularly controversial among biblical scholars, though some have argued that parts of the New Testament were originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. Some popular writers and...
The Decalogue (or Ten Commandments) has a prominent place in the Christian tradition. Many catechisms expound, from a wide range of theological traditions, make sure to expound upon it. At some point, most pastors will find themselves preaching or...
Mark WardIn my previous article in this two-part series, I offered my thoughts on John Piper’s recent off-hand comments about Logos and BDAG. While very appreciative of Piper’s love for Logos, I argued that BDAG may be more useful to more people than his...
Have you ever looked closely at Jesus’s story of the Good Samaritan? All knowledge begins with asking basic questions, and through the magic of internet technology, I know what people out there are asking about the Sermon on the Mount. I see...
David P. BarshingerIn 1521 Martin Luther stood before Emperor Charles V at the Diet of Worms and made his famous statement refusing to renounce his writings. Shortly thereafter, he was stolen away to the Wartburg Castle, and while in hiding as a marked man, he...
Gregg AllisonCan we, or can we not, pray to the Holy Spirit? Augustine (354–430) composed this prayer to the Holy Spirit: Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy; Act in me O Holy Spirit that my works, too, may be holy; Draw my heart O Holy...
Andy NaselliIs it wrong to call the Holy Spirit an “it”? Contemporary English speakers use the words “it” and “he” in distinctly different ways. As a general rule, a person is a “who,” and a thing is an “it.” A spoon is an “it.” Your mom is a “she.” A spoon is...
Harold L. SenkbeilMost everyone knows the Great Commission by heart: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). But why make disciples, and why baptize using that...
Katherine DrummWhat does the Bible say about friendship? A great deal. Below are some Bible verses that discuss the topic or are relevant to it. They’re organized according to some themes you may find helpful. Living in community We were created to live in...
Joel ArnoldEven on a first reading of the Lord’s Prayer, it’s striking that Jesus views himself as distinct from the Father who is hearing his prayer. How is it possible for the Son to communicate and interact with the Father unless the Son is distinct from...
Sometimes readers of Scripture are encouraged to “read the Bible like any other book.” This suggestion can arise from a desire to read the Bible as literature—that is, to read books of the Bible according to the rules of their respective genres. For...
A friend of mine recently polled his church—both members and pastors—to see which Bible study resources they used. Independently, every single one of them named Strong’s Concordance. Many mentioned nothing else. Strong’s was their only Bible study...
Keith N. Smith Jr.Throughout the Bible there is a theme that you might call “choosing between two ways.” It starts with the two trees in the Garden of Eden narrative: the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil produced death, while the Tree of Life was a source of...
We are familiar with God’s calls in Scripture to be marked by a tender heart. Paul commands Christians, “Be … tenderhearted” (Eph 4:32), and Peter tells believers to “have … a tender heart” (1 Pet 3:8). These teachings clearly show what God expects...
Mark StraussSince the mid-1980s, the New International Version (NIV) has been the best-selling English-language Bible, both in the United States and worldwide. The NIV was a trans-denominational effort by over a hundred scholars, sponsored by the nonprofit New...
John KleinigGive me life, O Lord, according to your word! (Ps 119:107) Recently, I had a lively conversation with a well-educated young man whom I know quite well. We were both eager to catch up. In the course of our discussion, I asked him whether he still...
A recent review of Mac OS Ventura began with an all-too-common admission: the features the reviewer had been excited about in previous versions of Mac OS turned out to receive little use. I don’t think that will be the case with Logos’s killer...
Ryland BrownThe Bible is a big book. More accurately, the Bible is a collection of books written at different times to different people by different authors. Readers will find that the Bible contains literary genres including history, narrative, law, poetry...
Peter MontoroScribes & Scripture: The Amazing Story of How We Got the Bible, is a love letter from the academy to the church, a truly excellent book that will surely become a staple in churches and seminaries all over the English-speaking world. Authors...
Virtually all Christians practice some form of baptism. In fact, Paul mentions our universally experienced baptism among those things that demonstrate our unity as believers: “one body and one Spirit … one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism...
Commentaries are tools in the toolbox of Bible teachers and preachers. But just as a woodworker will use a table saw, miter saw, and band saw for different purposes, Bible teachers will turn to different types of commentaries for different purposes...
Mary Jahnke“Is this worship?” That’s not a thought I expected to have nearing the end of my first 15K race, but there it was. As I watched seagulls soaring overhead and one foot fell in front of the other, my reasoning went like this:...
Matthew L. HalstedLet me get straight to the point: I think biblical scholars and theologians should talk more about UFOs. Sounds crazy, right? But I’m not kidding. Admittedly, this topic is a strange one. A person can hardly think of UFOs without hearing the eerie X...
Timothy BergA common YouTube pastime is the Wired “Autocorrect Interviews.” A public figure holds a board hiding a series of commonly googled questions behind paper strips. They peel the strips one by one and answer the sometimes absurd, always...