Parchment & Pen Blog

The Need for Contextual Exegesis A notable feature of this debate has been the contrast between the exegetical methodologies of both sides. Rob favours an approach that places great stress on the NT texts and interprets these in a Hellenistic way that frequently steps outside the first-century milieu, whereas I take a holistic approach which [...]

I turn now to some major Christological passages in the epistles. Regrettably, I wrote a full treatment of Colossians 1:12-20 but have had to cut it for sake of space. Romans 10:8-13 Verses 8-10: Paul states that the saving confession is that “Jesus is Lord” (kurios) and “that God raised him from the dead.” As [...]

Jesus Christ: Prefigured and Prophesied Last week I finished my opening argument with a reference to Genesis: Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments from skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. This is Christianity’s foundation teaching: Sin deserves death Sacrifice offers a covering for sin Only God can provide a sin-covering sacrifice; [...]

Even with two of the six weeks of this debate devoted to discussing the person of Jesus Christ, we have an embarrassing wealth of riches from Scripture on the subject and cannot possibly do all of it justice in the space and time allotted. I have written a book on the subject, co-authored with my [...]

Jesus Christ: Son of God; Son of Man Jesus of Nazareth is the most important man who has ever lived. Christians are indebted to him for the hope that he offers, the sacrifice he offered on our behalf, and the special relationship with God that is made possible through him. This post explains how Biblical [...]

The Reclaiming the Mind Ministries staff will be responding to all comments allowing David and Rob the time to focus on their debate. If you wish to post questions and/or comments directly to them please wait until the open Q&A time following Part 6. ************************************************************************************************************ Introduction I would like to begin by thanking Rob Bowman [...]

The Reclaiming the Mind Ministries staff will be responding to all comments allowing David and Rob the time to focus on their debate. If you wish to post questions and/or comments directly to them please wait until the open Q&A time following Part 6. ************************************************************************************************************ Once again, I wish to express my gratitude to David [...]

In two days, The Great Trinity Debate begins here on Parchment and Pen! I am grateful to David Burke for the privilege of engaging in this important debate with him. Our purpose in this debate is to compare and contrast two different theological models or descriptions of the being of God, with specific reference to the Father, [...]

Dave Burke, a well-known Christadelphian, and I will be debating the doctrine of the Trinity for six weeks beginning Sunday, April 11, 2010, here on Parchment and Pen. Over a thousand people voted for Dave to be the non-Trinitarian in this debate. He and I have agreed to limit our weekly statements to 5,000 words [...]

If you consider yourself a non-Trinitarian believer in Jesus, do I have a challenge for you! With the permission and support of Michael Patton, I am proposing a formal debate on this blog on the subject of the doctrine of the Trinity, to be conducted over a six-week period (beginning sometime after the New Year; scheduling is [...]

In Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007), Ed Komoszewski and I argued that one evidence that Jesus is God is that he is properly the object of prayer (John 14:14; Acts 1:24-25; 7:59-60; 9:14; 22:16; Rom. 10:12-13; 1 Cor. 1:2; 16:22; 2 Cor. 12:8-9; Rev. [...]

I just received the third edition of Greg Stafford’s book Jehovah’s Witnesses Defended: An Answer to Scholars and Critics (Murietta, CA: Elihu Books, 2009). For those who are not familiar with Stafford, he is an unusually sophisticated Jehovah’s Witness who debated both me and James White earlier in the decade. The first edition of the [...]