Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

Between two and three years ago, I had the opportunity to stand with Jason Gaines in the watery grave of baptism. Days before, I had sat down and talked with him and his family. I went through the Scriptures with them and we discussed what baptism and life in Christ meant. Then, I got to submerge this fellow--who is easily twice my size--right after he made the confession, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ and I accept Him as Lord and Savior." What a great moment! Not long after that, I began helping Jason read and understand the Bible. Soon after this, he enrolled in Bible College. Not too much later, I stepped out of the teacher role for one of my Bible classes and let him have it. Following this, I urged the leadership to bring him on board as youth minister. Eventually, he took the encouragement and started blogging--which he is doing much more frequently now. I say all that to say that, where Jason is at this point in his life is encouraging because it is a dramatic ch...

I took Scott McKnight's " Hermeneutic Quiz " and here are my results (quite accurate, I'd say). Let me know what you scored. Score: 75 / A Progressive Hermeneutic

I can't remember where I first found out about this, but there's an interesting book being written that takes a survey of jokes found in ancient, Roman literature. A few snippets can be found at the following link: Roman Jokes . Enjoy!

Well, the whole diablogue has died down over the last few days. After I clarified myself, the conversation seemed to come to a screeching halt. In fact, in an attempt to keep the convo going, I asked James, Drew and others to clarify themselves. In particular, I asked them to each give their position on "confession". In other words, each of them were willing to take the stance (all to a different degree) that one did not have to hold any certain belief about Jesus and confess it to partake of salvation through Christ. I totally disagreed with all of them. I do think both of these are necesarry. Still, nobody has responded to my challenge. In the meantime, I've read a couple of posts by persons not part of the diablogue, that I agree with to a large extent (though, I don't adopt everything each of them says). The first one is found at Parchment and Pen: Orthodoxy: Should We Define Who is 'In' and Who is 'Out'? . The second one is located at Between Two ...

It happened in 1912 and you've probably never heard of it. If you're an American, you should know that this story has been conveniently left out of our school's history books. Why? Because whites don't want to own up to their arrogance, ignorance, insolence and negligence. Don't get me wrong, not all whites have embodied these characteristics nor do all whites today do so. But the sad fact is: many did and many still do. As if our war-mongering, prison-covered, bomb-dropping, blood-thirsty, Roman-arena-like history isn't enough, we also have the despicable act of ethnic cleansing. The worst case happened just under 100 years ago in the state of Georgia. The name of the town, where there is still not a black presence by the way, is Forsyth. In just the span of two to three months, the black population of Forsyth was wiped out by whites. Records show that at one point, there were 1,098 blacks in the city and almost over night, that dropped down to 30. This happene...

Okay, today was kind of the last straw for me. I got another forward in my e-mail box about U.S. soldiers. I'm sick and tired of hearing about the U.S. military and how I'm supposed to act like it's personnel are my heroes. Even more than that, I'm sick of hearing the following phrase over and over: It is the military that gives you, as an American, the right to accept or reject Christ. This is patently false, no, this is just plain bullcrap. Does the military in some sense, protect the American's freedom of speech? Yes, in some sense. But that is not the same thing as saying they are the ones who procure the possibility for me to freely proclaim Christ. Honestly, it just pisses me off when people say this!!! Here's the thing, whether or not there was a United States military and whether or not I lived in this country or one where Christianity was banned, I would still confess Christ. In other words, I am willing to lay down my own life for my beliefs and my con...

I am quite enjoying the diablogue with James McGrath, Ken Brown and Drew Tatusko. It has been fun so far. I feel that at this point, I need to clarify some of my statements and perhaps, in the process of this crystallization, make a few more arguments concerning the topic at hand. Firstly, I never accused James of being a Universalist. Instead, I was arguing that given what he's said in the diablogue up to this point, he appears to be on the "fringes" of Universalism. Secondly, I have never argued against Abraham's salvation. In fact, I've noted a few times that he probably was saved. This becomes even more clear when I note that in God's mind, it is quite possible (theologically speaking) that the cross was as good as done before the foundations of the world. This is, of course, a debatable theological tenet that I'm proposing. More will be said about this in point 11. Thirdly, I disagree with both Ken and Drew that one can worship Christ or be a Christ-...

There's no doubt about it, Tupac was prone to objectifying women. Actually, it might be more correct to suggest that he glamourized his sexual encounters with various ladies. Indeed, this is a large part of what rap music talks about and a large part of what rap culture has identified itself with. But behind the sexual smokescreens, Tupac had a deep appreciation for women, not least his mother, Afeni Shakur whom he raps about in Dear Mama and other songs. Ironically, while one part of rap culture objectifies women, another part lifts them up. It is young, single women who are sexual objects but the mothers, especially single ones, who are heroes. Common sense would seem to say that if there former didn't exist, then perhaps all women would have the latter applied to them. Who knows, though? Anyways, I say all that to say that there is a certain matriarchy that coarses through the veins of many of Pac's lyrics. Every time I listen to his "Keep Ya Head" up, I am mov...

If you want to follow the conversation/debate, Ken Brown has compiled an in-order list. Click the following link to get there: Inclusivism Bloggersation . I want to start off by saying that my attempt to “label” James here is not pejorative. Instead, I am simply trying to use labels to clarify—not create division or anger. I trust James’ confession that he is a born-again, Jesus-loving, Christian. However, I do question some of his views and as you know, that’s why we are having this discussion in the first place (he also questions some of mine!). If anything, I hope that our diablogue exemplifies Christian civility while also showing that we can vehemently disagree with one another, even to the point of not accepting one another’s views. However, lest we get to the point where anything goes in Christianity, I am quite willing to say that there are things that do not go; I am quite willing to say that there are things that make Christianity distinct and that those things must be held o...

Here's the 7th episode of Exege TV . The lesson teaches Greek diphthongs as well as one's first 7 Greek terms. As this was done a while back, when I was just teaching myself Greek, forgive me if there are some slight mispronunciations. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

I'll reply in the next day or two with a more serious post but for now (to add some fun to our diablogue) here something a bit more lightweight: (Pic HT: Locusts&Honey ) The conversation thus far: Where This Diablogue Started: Michael ( When Politicians Say They're Christian ) Initial Reply: James ( Flaming Meteorite Challenge ) Second Reply: Michael ( A Response to James ) Third Response: James ( Community of the Saved or Salvation of the Community ) Fourth Reply: Michael ( A Rejoinder To James ) Fifth Response: James ( Continuing Diablogue About Salvation ) Sixth Reply: Michael ( The Ensuing Riposte with James ) Seventh Response: James ( A Brief Reply ) Eighth Reply: Michael (the current post) Some others who have joined in the convo: Ken Brown ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) and Drew Tatusko ( 1 ) ( 2 ).

The conversation thus far: Where This Diablogue Started: Michael ( When Politicians Say They're Christian ) Initial Reply: James ( Flaming Meteorite Challenge ) Second Reply: Michael ( A Response to James ) Third Response: James ( Community of the Saved or Salvation of the Community ) Fourth Reply: Michael ( A Rejoinder To James ) Fifth Response: James ( Continuing Diablogue About Salvation ) Sixth Reply: Michael (current post below) Some others who have joined in the convo: Ken Brown ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) and Drew Tatusko ( 1 ) ( 2 ). So, I should note at the start that I was not intending to make you out, James, to be one who holds the view that this was “only” a social matter. I was just suggesting that you were letting the “social” define what Paul says. I do not. I think the issue, in the main, is theological and that the social implications are a result. Thus, the theology is central while issues such as identity, boundaries, etc., are social and resultant. I hope I’m stating thi...

So, here's the order of the conversation thus far: Initial Post: James ( Flaming Meteorite Challenge ) First Reply: Michael ( A Response to James ) Second Response: James ( Community of the Saved or Salvation of the Community ) Third Reply: The current post (contents below) Some others who have joined in the convo: Ken Brown ( 1 ) ( 2 ) *[update] ( 3 ) and Drew Tatusko ( 1 ) *[update] ( 2 ). In his latest addition to our “blogalogue” or as McGrath calls it, a “blogversation”, James posits the idea that, “…it is not that Christianity is a group that one enters because only therein one can find salvation, but one enters it (either?) because it offers a community of those who have had a particular experience of God and are united by it, and invite others to have it.” Fundamentally, I disagree with this. Let me explain why. Firstly, while there is a communal aspect to the Church/Christianity, I think it a travesty to say that this is why one enters. The Body of Christ is more than a so...

I stopped into Half-Price Books today and picked up a collection of works from one of my favorite authors, certainly my favorite Jewish author, Chaim Potok. If you've yet read any of his books, I would highly encourage you to get ahold of a few. A good starter is his work The Chosen . It's a very fun, thought-provoking, academic, easy-read. It can also shed tremendous light on how to deal with loved ones who have different views or who may seemed to have strayed from the family's faith. It also offers some insights into the struggle students often face when they go off to college or become more critical thinkers and begin to ask questions of their faith (e.g. evolution/creation, biblical interpretation, etc.). Anyway, after sitting in the doctor's office for 2 and 1/2 hours this morning, I went and picked up some books to make me feel better. Indeed, I do feel better as this was $20 well spent. Here's what I picked up:

In his initial post , James asked readers to take the “Flaming Meteorite Challenge”. He posited the following theory (in sum): If, just before Peter had reached Cornelius (a non-Jew; see Acts 10) a flaming meteor had struck him dead, would Cornelius, having already been “righteous enough to be noticed by God”, be included among or excluded from the saved? Probably, most of us have heard this question in one form or another. Usually, it tends to come up in debates between those who have high and low views of baptism. The one with the low view will ask the one with the high view, “So, if John Doe made a confession to Christ but didn’t have the chance to be baptized, you’re saying he wouldn’t be saved?” Personally, I don’t think the Scriptures answer this specific question. Probably, it would have been closer to the context to ask: If Cornelius’ chariot wheels came off and he wrecked and died, would he still be saved? (joking) Anyway… For Paul, salvation was a process (present, past and f...

Last year, as I was getting familiar with Greek myself, I started teaching it in one of my classes at the Church where I serve. I gave the attendees a dvd to take home that would help them get started with Greek. I'm going to offer those two lessons here as installments of Exege TV . Forgive some of the slight mispronunciations. I hope you find these helpful; here's the first one. Currently, I'm still trying to figure out ways--from a multimedia perspective--to design biblical languages courses that are easy to use and understand (mainly for congregants/laity). Any thoughts, ideas, comments, etc. are welcome.

For those of you who watch American Idol, you're probably familiar with Josiah Lemming. It was crazy that he didn't make the top 24 (especially after seeing how awful 9 of the 12 who did make it performed last night). But this Lemming kid isn't just a good singer, he's an incredible song writer too. I'm a writer myself and I know a good one when I see and hear one. I uploaded a video of him to YouTube where he is performing one of his originals (as seen on the Ellen talk show yesterday). Great stuff. It's only a matter of time before this kid is big, mark my words!!!

Christianity is a huge "playing card" in the upcoming election, just like it was in the previous two. I'm not saying that we have to elect a Christian president (though, they're all claiming allegiances to the Church). Yet, for those of you who are holding to that view, let this video be either a reminder or an eye-opener: HT: Leaven

I have compiled all three of my alphabet modules into one bundle and thought that I would post it for you to take and share. The bundle includes my Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek modules. The modules are interactive and contain audio for each alphabet; they are quite handy. The software or better yet, tellware, is free. If you download it, I simply ask that you tell at least two other people about it, whether it be through your site, blog, every day conversations, etc. The bundle can be downloaded by clicking the icon below. It is (and will be from here on out) also located on the "My Free Bible Resources" page. Enjoy! My Free Software Bundle Bundle contains: *Free Interactive/Audio Greek Alphabet *Free Interactive/Audio Hebrew Alphabet *Free Interactive/Audio Aramaic Alphabet

It is probably safe to say that if we were to compare today's practice of communion to that of the earliest Christians, we would realizes that it is strikingly different. Unlike us, they probably would not have had seats at the front of the sanctuary (they didn't have sanctuaries, they met in homes), there would have been more women involved and there wouldn't have been arguments about who can give communion thoughts or even serve the emblems. There would have been no piano and no organ playing. There would have been all kinds of food, not just a small cracker and some grape juice. When they took the emblems, it was during an all-out meal; comparative to our suppers or dinners. Indeed, we've made communion quite different than it originally was and actually, about things that they probably never would have dreamed of. In many ways, they might be stunned or even upset by what we've done with thier ancient practice. But let me return to the issue of women for a moment...

Here are some NT occurrences of the word Pisteuomen (πιστευομεν), the title of this site which means "we believe". Want some translation practice? Give them a read: 1. τῇ τε γυναικὶ ἔλεγον ὅτι οὐκέτι διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλιὰν πιστεύομεν, αὐτοὶ γὰρ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ἀληθῶς ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου. (Jn. 4.42) 2. νῦν οἴδαμεν ὅτι οἶδας πάντα καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχεις ἵνα τίς σε ἐρωτᾷ ἐν τούτῳ πιστεύομεν ὅτι ἀπὸ θεοῦ ἐξῆλθες. (Jn. 16.30) 3. ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ πιστεύομεν σωθῆναι καθ' ὃν τρόπον κἀκεῖνοι. (Acts 15.11) 4. εἰ δὲ ἀπεθάνομεν σὺν Χριστῷ, πιστεύομεν ὅτι καὶ συζήσομεν αὐτῷ, (Rom. 6.8) 5. ἔχοντες δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πίστεως κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον· ἐπίστευσα, διὸ ἐλάλησα, καὶ ἡμεῖς πιστεύομεν, διὸ καὶ λαλοῦμεν, (2. Cor. 4.13) 6. εἰ γὰρ πιστεύομεν ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἀπέθανεν καὶ ἀνέστη, οὕτως καὶ ὁ θεὸς τοὺς κοιμηθέντας διὰ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἄξει σὺν αὐτῷ. (1 Thess. 4.14)

In this session of Images of Antiquity, coinciding with my pictures above, I want to offer some commentary on ancient Delphi. In the first photo, what we're looking it is actually a beautiful model of what ancient Delphi would have looked like. This city, where the Delphian Olympics were held was truly magnificent. It had a nice theater, a sizeable stadium, a treasury, some temples and was quite wealthy. I can honestly say that of all the places I visited in Turkey and Greece, Delphi was one of my favorite. In the second picture we are looking at a close-up of an altar at the front of (Pythean) Apollo's Temple. This is where persons would lay their sacrifices before entering the temple. It reminds me of a chopping block! Many of the temple's columns are gone today but the foundation is actually in pretty good shape. We know that women from the Pythean cult would burn incense (and strong herbs!), dance and attempt to predict the future, much of which took place in this very ...

As far as my research interests go, I am a NT scholar at heart. Over the last few years, my approach to the NT has primarily been a social one (e.g. social-sciences, anthropology, etc.). I love social experiments, case studies and researching cultural backgrounds. That is also why I love--odd as it may sound--the television show Wife Swap. Contrary to stigmas, this is not a hokey, homemaker's show; this is a telvision series that dabbles in social and cultural tests. The premise of the show is to take two families, mix them up and see how they deal with one another. It is quite ingenious really. This week, the two families were both Christian. One of the families was fundamentalist and the other was liberal. As you might expect, there were times when the fundamentalist family viewed the liberals as satan but there were also times when the liberals just couldn't tolerate the ultra-conservatives. If you missed the episode, I would encourage you to find it somehow; it is a great e...

Tomorrow (Thursday: 02/14), also known as Valentines Day, I will be having surgery. The operation will be on my right hand, in particular, my pointer finger. The surgeon says that the bone will have to be permanently cut down and thus, the finger permanently shortened. As you can imagine, I'm not too thrilled about that. After six months of wrapping my finger with bandaids, though, I'm kind of ready for it (my finger got smashed over the summer, that's what led to all of this). Anyways, I will continue posting the next few days but I may not be responding. However, I'd still appreciate any comments and I will respond to them once I can. I'd also appreciate your prayers. Please pray that the doctors have all the wisdom and insight they need and that all goes smooth. You might also pray that once the surgery begins, the doctors will actually realize that they don't need to do as dramatic of a surgery as they initially planned. Thanks ahead of time. --Michael

In a few weeks I will be presenting a paper at the annual Stone-Campbell Journal Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. The title of my paper is "Innovations & Galatians: A Social-Science Reading". The list of other papers and presenters has recently been listed. If you're interested in skimming through them, click the following link: SJC 2008 Sessions . I'm especially interested in hearing the papers to be presented by David Fiensy, Beth McCabe (keep an eye out for her work; I heard her speak last year and she has some great things to say and insights to offer!!!) and Tom Thatcher.

When I first became a Christian, I was part of the Southern Baptist denomination. The Sr. Minister took me to his Southern Baptist alma mater when I was visiting colleges and he strongly advised me to go there. I declined. When I went outside of the denomination's selected schools, my home (Baptist) Church would not help me like they helped Baptist college students; oh well. I love the Baptist Church. It is where I laid down my roots and got excited about Christianity. But, I must say, I'm not too excited about some of the leading Southern Baptists these days. My disinterest in these leaders has mainly to do with what they say about natural disasters. Take Franklin Graham, for instance, a leading voice among Baptists. He was one of the first to suggest that when Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, that God sent it. Moreover, God sent it because those places were sinful and needed wiped out and cleansed. This is patently absurd! I might clarify myself here. I ...

As Gordon Fee has reminded us, biblical scholars can be an odd lot. Heck, even our loved ones often have a hard time understanding us, what we're about and what we do. So, in order to curtail that issue, I've written a very, very short book (only 8 pages, double-spaced; includes pictures). The book is yours for the taking. In fact, share it freely with those close to you. You might even print it off and give it as a Valentines Day gift. Enjoy. Thoughts and comments appreciated! My Short (knock-off) Book: Loving the Biblical Scholar in Your Life: For Dummies

(No spoilers) I grew up watching Rocky and Rambo movies. However, when I went to see the latest Rambo flick, I was shocked. Not only was this different than the Rambos I had previously seen, it was nothing like it (the Rambo website was spot-on when it said, "This Rambo makes all the others seem enchanted.")! Well, the plot and premise of the film were similar but no Rambo flick, or any other movie I have ever seen, were or are as graphic and violent as this one. The movie starts off a little slow but picks up really fast and from there, it never slows down. Once Rambo starts killing, well, that's all that happens. The violence in this film is unmatchable. The close-ups of beheadings, murders, stabbings, gunshots, bomb blasts, lynchings, etc. are straight gory. After the show I told my buddy who went along with me, "It's pretty bad when Rambo can wipe out half of the theather too." It's true, many people who were in the theater cleared out halfway throug...

It's that time again (actually, it's about a week late)! January's "Bible Belt" goes to: Chris Tilling of Chrisendom . See his ingenious post here: When Asked . In order, here were my other January favorites. 2. MetaCatholic: Making Political Music (Okay, this was posted on Feb. 3rd but I couldn't resist including it here.) 3. Things On Bryan's Mind: 2Pac One of the Greatest Rappers Ever 4. Kudos to the Rt. Rev. Bird for his creativity in this post: The Society of Baseball Literature (A Parody) 5. Ben Witherington: Akedah

Whenever my wife and I travel to North to see her family, we always pass the gigantic Jesus statue seen in the picture here. It is right off the interstate and really, it just towers over everything. Well, someone wrote a song about it. You must give it a listen; you'll have a good laugh! Here it is, just hit "play":

Remember Ken Jennings from Jeopardy? Bet you don't remember this (by the way, look at those scores...and they're only in the first round!!!)... Oh my goodness, this is so funny! Now, this is just unfortunate!!! And this vid isn't funny but I think you'll be rather impressed:

This is a video put together by some of the women who are part of the Westboro Baptist group--whom you might know because of thier picketing events (e.g. funerals, events, etc.). They're bumpin' to Jay-Z's "Big Pimpin'" here. For more of their stuff, follow the links they advertise on thier shirts.

I don’t like starting posts off negatively or with a complaint but I think the one to follow is warranted: If you’re going to write a commentary, don’t do it just to do it. If you’re going to write a commentary be creative. If you’re going to write a commentary, add new insights to the field. If you’re planning on writing a commentary, quit saying what everyone else has already said. Not that every idea has to be new but honestly, say something worthwhile that is the product of your own thinking, studying and imagining! Okay, I’m done with that rant. I feel that it was warranted because when I read through commentaries on Mark, they all seem to be saying the same exact things. Not only does it feel like I’ve wasted my money on these books when this happens, it is just boring and redundant. I wonder if there are any scholars out there with anything new to say about Mark’s Gospel? Thank God for social-science scholars, they seem to be the only ones! Here’s one example of what I’m getting...