Christmas and Christianity: Are Its Roots Really Pagan?
Should a Christian celebrate Christmas, or do its later traditions make the whole day pagan? I have heard confident claims on both sides, but…
Explore Church History
Choose a study below and keep following the subject through Scripture.
Read Study
Original Sin: What Does the Bible Teach?
What do we mean when we say that people are born with “original sin”? Scripture clearly teaches that Adam's fall changed the human condition,…
America’s Christian Heritage: A Biblical Examination
How should Christians speak about America’s Christian heritage without turning patriotism into worship? I believe we can tell the truth about the nation’s biblical…
‘Let the Women Keep Silent’: What Does It Mean?
What did Paul mean when he wrote, “Let your women keep silent in the churches”? Some people use that sentence to silence women in…
Majority Text and Textus Receptus: Can We Trust the New Testament?
When a Bible footnote says that some manuscripts read differently, I do not think we need to panic or pretend the note is not…
John the Baptist’s Death and His Question for Jesus
Why was John the Baptist imprisoned and killed, and what should we make of the question he sent to Jesus from prison? John’s whole…
The Book of Acts: What It Teaches About the Early Church
Acts picks up where Luke’s Gospel ends, but it is more than a list of what happened next. It shows the risen Jesus continuing…
The Gift of Tongues: What the Bible Actually Teaches
What does the Bible mean by the gift of tongues, and how should a church respond when someone claims to have it? This subject…
The Number 12 in the Bible: What Does It Mean?
Twelve shows up often enough in Scripture that I want to know whether the passages are connected. They are, but the Bible also uses…
The Septuagint (LXX): What It Is and How Christians Should Use It
I have heard people call the Septuagint the Bible of the apostles. I have also heard it dismissed as a corrupt rival to the…
Paul and Silas in Prison: Why Their Chains Broke
People often remember Acts 16 as the night Paul and Silas sang and their chains fell off. Luke tells a fuller story: after an…
Zealots and Tax Collectors: How Jesus Brought Opposites Together
When I picture Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector sitting at the same table with Jesus, I have to stop and think…