Christian Publishing House Blog
Apologetic Defense of the faith, the Bible, and Christianity
The origin of the word “Bible”; determining which books truly and legitimately belong in the Bible as the inspired Word of God; rejection of the Apocrypha. Looking at many of the divine pieces of evidence that have determined the canonicity of the rightful books of the Bible.
There are 320 Greek New Testament direct quotations passages from the Hebrew Scriptures. According to a listing published by Westcott and Hort, the combined total of quotations and references is some 890. (The New Testament in the Original Greek, Graz, 1974, Vol. I, pp. 581-595)
Hands down, the Greek Septuagint version is the most important of the early versions of the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, it is the first translation from The Greek Septuagint LXX (meaning, “Seventy”). The translation from Hebrew into Greek began about 280 B.C.E.* According to tradition (more on this below), there were 72 Jewish scholars of... Continue Reading →
What did the Bible authors mean by the words that they used? How can Christians determine this instead of imposing their modern-day opinions into the text? What implications does a text have for Christians today? How can Christians rightly apply the Bible in their lives?
Poetry Song of Songs This book, also known as The Song of Solomon, it extols the beauty of romantic and sexual love. Some parts of the Bible are much better known than others. One of the more neglected parts of the Bible is the Song of Songs. It is rarely read and hardly ever used... Continue Reading →
Principles There are many principles that assist the interpreter in understanding the biblical text. For example, the covenant principle differentiates between the various contracts that God has made with his people, specifically their provisions, their parties and their purposes. The Christocentric principle helps us to understand that the mind of deity is eternally centered in... Continue Reading →
Until the Enlightenment, biblical hermeneutics was usually seen as a form of special hermeneutics. It was thought that Scripture required a special form of interpretation. In the nineteenth century, it became increasingly common to read Scripture just like any other writing. Schleiermacher argued against a distinction between “general” and “special” hermeneutics. He proposed a general... Continue Reading →
Many people assume that the prophet’s ministry was primarily concerned with predicting future events. However, the Old Testament reveals that prophetic revelation was much broader than this. There is certainly a foretelling of future events, but there is also a forth-telling of the revealed mind and heart of God. This is a very important dimension... Continue Reading →
Recognize the Christocentric focus of the Bible The New Testament writers primarily viewed the Old Testament as Christological documents. They understood the Hebrew Scriptures as ultimately pointing to the person of Christ and the redemptive-historical fulfillment that he would bring: And He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up... Continue Reading →
Does the book of Acts simply record the history of the early church? Or does it also provide a blueprint for the church today? Do we read Acts as an interesting true story of how Christianity began, a story that gives us our roots and our identity or is it still normative for today? A... Continue Reading →