Messiah in the Temple Project

Leen Ritmeyer has posted here on the progress being made on the Messiah in the Temple project.

The Guidance of the Spirit

"The first Christians were most conscious of the guidance of the Holy Spirit when they met for common worship and common deliberation. No one who has experienced this unifying process can remain in doubt about the power of the Holy Spirit. So remarkable can the agreement of the Christian fellowship be that at a famous church meeting at Jerusalem [Acts 15:28] a momentous decision was recorded in these words: "it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.""

G. B. Caird, The Truth of the Gospel (London: Oxford University Press, 1950), 107.

Another Article on the Last Supper and Passover

I suppose it is inevitable this time of year, but Slate has an article asking whether the Last Supper was a Passover. See this previous post for a previous article that I referenced.

Ben Witherington on the Dogs of Philippians 3:2

See Ben Witherington's post on the dogs of Philippians 3:2 here.

Concerns Over Christian Seders

Interesting article in the Houston Chronicle entitled "Christian marking of Passover concerns some Jews."

The Archaeology of Christianity

Some might be interested in this slideshow on the archaeology of Christianity here.

Article on the Rise of Pentecostalism

See this article related to a Barna survey detailing the rise of Pentecostalism. Here are few bits from the article.

• 29 percent of those aged 26 to 44 are most likely to claim the Holy Spirit-filled identity compared to other age groups
• 26 percent of Protestants and 20 percent of Catholics identify as part of the charismatic or Pentecostal segment
• 56 percent of those aged 18 to 25 believe that the gifts, including speaking in tongues and healing, are active and valid today. But only7 percent in this group say they had ever spoken in tongues.
• 68 percent of those aged 18 to 25 believe that the third person of the Trinity is just “a symbol of God’s power or presence.”
• Young Charismatics are less likely to adopt their beliefs and practices based on deep, considered theological reflection.

Newsweek Article on Heaven

Some might be interested in this article in Newsweek on heaven.

The Pastor's Worst Enemy

See David Murray's post on the pastor's worst enemy.

Köstenberger on Timothy and Titus as Apostolic Delegates

Andreas Köstenberger has a post and link here on Timothy and Titus as apostolic delegates.

T. C. Smith on Acts 15

"Chapter 15 is one of the most important chapters in the book of Acts. Obviously, the purpose if Luke is to explain to Theophilus how the Gentiles came to recognized as the worthy acceptance by the Jewish believers in Jerusalem. In less than 700 words the author shows us how and agreement was reached by the church in Jerusalem that would be acceptable to the ultra-Judaistic party and the more liberal wing of the church in Antioch. We would like to know more about the events leading up to the council and the details about the meeting itself, yet in his concise report Luke has given us a masterful presentation."

T. C. Smith, "Acts," in The Broadman Bible Commentary, Volume 10: Acts-1 Corinthians, ed. Clifton J. Allen (Nashville: Broadman,1979), 90.

Extra-Biblical Evidence for a Millennial Kingdom

"The idea of a millennial kingdom is attested in at least three Jewish apocalyptic works basically contemporaneous with the New Testament:1 Enoch 93:3-17 (ca. 167 B.C.); 7:26-44/12:31-34 (ca. A.D. 90); and 4 Ezra2 Baruch 29:3-30:1/40:1-4/72:2-74:3 (ca. A.D. 100). Each of these writings envisions the following scenario: this age-temporary messianic kingdom-eternal age to come/kingdom of God. In each instance, the Messiah will come and form a transitional kingdom between this age and the age to come. Some ancient rabbis held to the same belief (Akiba, ca. A.D. 135; Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, ca. A.D. 90; Jehoshua, ca. A.D. 90)."

J. Daniel Hays, J. Scott Duvall, C. Marvin Pate, Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2007), 287.