The Early Church's Textual Commitment

Larry Hurtado provides a good reminder here of how the early church was willing to go through the costly and time-consuming process of producing and disseminating Scripture. We are relatively spoiled in our age. I probably have 30-50 Bibles of various kinds, three versions of Bible software on my computer, two apps on my phone, etc. Yet I still find myself failing at times to heed the call "take up and read."

Early Christianity and Infanticide and Exposure

In Louise Gosbell's article,"'As long as it's healthy': What can we learn from early Christianity's resistance to infanticide and exposure?"she notes that "the New Testament is silent on the issues of infanticide and exposure."

However, David Instone-Brewer has argued that a prohibition against infanticide can be found in Acts 15 (“Infanticide and the Apostolic Decree of Acts 15,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 52 [2009]: 301-321). I argued last November at the annual Evangelical Theological Society that Instone-Brewer's argument is not ultimately persuasive so I think Gosbell is correct.

Gosbell's article is worth a read in any case.

Pets in Heaven?

John Piper gives a fairly reasoned response to the question here.

Why Do so Many Egyptian Statues Have Broken Noses?

An answer is provided here. This article provides further insight on how counter-cultural the Decalogue's prohibition of "graven images" actually was.

Egypt and Ancient Israel

If you are in the Fort Worth area on March 26, you might be interested in a free lecture by Egyptologist Dr. Hoffmeier at 5:00-6:30 PM. Or you can attend an entire all-day conference entitled "Egypt and Ancient Israel: Merneptah's Canaanite Campaign - History or Propaganda" at a modest cost (see below).

Both events are hosted by the Tandy Center for Archaeology and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.For more information or to register use this link.

Peter Williams on the Words of Jesus and God

Peter Williams was recently the speaker of the Sizemore Lectures at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can access his two messages using the links below.

Can we Know the Exact Words of God?
Can We Know the Exact Words of Jesus?

HT: Daniel Watson