Parchment & Pen Blog

The noted philosopher of religion Marilyn McCord Adams makes the mystifying assertion that “the Paul of Acts does not pursue his mission to the Athenians, for the simple reason that he was not a philosopher.”[1]  Au contraire!  His departing Athens was by no means due to insufficient philosophical skills.   In Douglas Groothuis’s book On Jesus [...]

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul affirms the goal of becoming “all things to all people” when communicating the gospel.  Providentially, Paul’s own cultural background enabled him to speak with credibility in Athens—one of the Roman Empire’s cultural centers (Alexandria and Tarsus being the other key cultural hubs at this time). According to Ben Witherington, “Paul [...]

When I was in college, I remember reading F.F. Bruce’s superb work, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free.  I recall, however, Bruce’s suggestion that Paul’s preaching at Athens (Acts 17) had been something of a failure. Why? He hadn’t preached the “word of the cross.”[1] Similarly, the late William Ramsay claimed that Paul, because [...]

 We’ve seen them in all manner of places—on street corners, in parking lots, at craft fairs, outside stadiums. Sometimes they’re on wearing placards, admonishing hearers to “turn or burn.” Or perhaps they’re warning America of coming judgment and doom. Others may prefer challenging individual “sinners” on the street, exposing them to their failure to live [...]

One of my students graduated recently from Palm Beach Atlantic University, and he is heading into seminary and then the pastorate. He took a full platter of classes from me, and we had excellent discussions in and outside the classroom. As a graduation gift, his girlfriend asked another professor and me to write him a [...]

I’m excited about a new book that was delivered to my door two days ago, God Is Great, God Is Good, co-edited by William Lane Craig and Chad Meister (InterVarsity Press).  Of course, I’m pleased to have contributed an essay for the volume, “Are Old Testament Laws Evil?”  The book contains a wide-ranging response to [...]

 (I thought I’d include something of a different nature on my blog—a sermon I preached on Christian slavery.) Galatians 5:13: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” A lot of you may be familiar with the Andy [...]

The past few weeks I’ve been teaching an adult Sunday school class on the relationship between the Christian faith and science. We’ve reviewed what the Genesis text says—and what it doesn’t say. We’ve also noted how two twentieth-century discoveries—the universe’s beginning at the Big Bang and the universe’s astonishing fine-tuning for life—offer dramatic support for [...]