Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

In the past, I know that scholars such as Ben Witherington have made mention of the fact that Jesus' family was not turned away from an inn; I will argue the same thing here. However, in addition to the textual evidence that exists (which Witherington picks up on), I want to provide a few more insights. So, I hope you find this post helpful. May your heart and mind be blessed as you read! In various and sundry English translations of the New Testament, we find an interesting word at the end of Luke 2.7. The verse reads: “…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” The inn? The Greek word used here for “inn” is καταλυμα . Further on in Luke’s book, at 10.34 to be precise, in most English translations the word “inn” is used again. The NIV reads: “He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. The he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an ‘inn’ and took...

My conviction is that in a skeptical world, Christians need to do their homework, know their facts and have their story straight! This is especially true when it comes to Scripture. All believers should be studied up! It is incredibly important to me that when we speak about the Bible or related subjects, we speak as honestly and accurately as possible. For some reason, though, every year when Christmas rolls around, many believers seem to throw these principles out the window; even if only in the name of embracing Christmas traditions. In fact, being a minister, I've noticed that the Christmas story has become so commonplace and domesticated that when one tries to say something fresh about it, even if from an exegetical standpoint, peoples' feathers get ruffled. However, ruffling some feathers in the name of truth is fine with me; passing on corrupted stories is not. Take for instance, the claim that so many commentators and preachers have made through the ages, that Je...

There are a few things I love about the Christmas season and then there are some things that just straight up bother me. One thing that really irks me is when Christmas tradition replaces Scriptural truth and teachings. So, I am going to do a short series of posts this month exploring areas where I see Christmas tradition encroaching on or even overriding Scripture. It is my conviction that in a world where Christianity often has little credibility, is viewed with great skepticism and is often asked questions of, as believers, we "must" have our facts and our story straight. We must be honest and knowledgeable about our faith and its narrative. That said, the current post will focus on a few select Christmas carols. 1. We Three Kings of Orient Are - Okay, even the title of this song is off. Firstly, the Scriptures never say that kings brought gifts to Jesus. What the Scriptures do teach, however, is that magi came bearing gifts. If one does their homework, they will f...

A couple of years ago a number of mega-Churches decided that they would close down on Christmas Day, which fell on a Sunday. As many of you are aware, this provoked a lot of controversy. As I listened to the arguments on both sides (I also partook in them), I heard a couple of statements that sent me searching: 1) Nobody knows the exact date Jesus was born, and 2) Christmas began as a pagan holiday. What follows are my thoughts on these comments. It is probably safe to say that when researching the history of Christmas, most people trace its origin to the early years of the fourth century CE. It was around that time that the emperor Constantine was ruling. Constantine came into power, in many ways, with ease. So easily won was the battle over an enemy, Maxentius, that everyone regarded Constantine as favored by the gods. In fact, an arch still stands in Rome today that is engraved with pictures of his enemies drowning with the inscription that notes this victory came by the “prom...

Today begins a number of posts/reposts on Pisteuomen dealing with Advent.  I hope to continue this through the rest of the Advent season.  I'm a Christian. But I'm a Christian who, to be quite frank, is just incredibly sick and tired of a lot the public antics of other so-called Christians. Or, maybe it's just the idiocy or ignorance of them that really gets me. Either way, I just wish these folks would get their heads out of the clouds and come back to reality. I say this right now because at perhaps no other time during the year are these types of people more arrogant and ignorant than during the Christmas season. I am ashamed that people within the church, people who perceive themselves as pious and devout and knowledgeable, are often none of the above. It often makes every Christian look bad AND stupid! I'm thinking in particular here of the notion of "The War on Christmas." Lots of church-folk have been led to believe that saying anythin...

I'm a Christian. But I'm a Christian who, to be quite frank, is just incredibly sick and tired of a lot the public antics of other so-called Christians. Or, maybe it's just the idiocy or ignorance of them that really gets me. Either way, I just wish these folks would get their heads out of the clouds and come back to reality. I say this right now because at perhaps no other time during the year are these types of people more arrogant and ignorant than during the Christmas season. I am ashamed that people within the church, people who perceive themselves as pious and devout and knowledgeable are none of these. It just makes every Christian look bad AND stupid! I'm thinking in particular here of the notion of "The War on Christmas". Lots of church-folk have been led to believe that saying anything but "Merry Christmas" during this season is borderline if not fully heretical. So, in what they believe to be a litmus test of faith, they ...

Here is a compilation of pasts posts here on Pisteuomen dealling with Christmas and the birth of Jesus. Most of these are from a series titled "Jesus' Birth In Context". I have also listed some back posts from last Christmas. So, here's a list of twelve posts dealing with the birth of Jesus and the Infancy Narrative(s). Enjoy. * God-man Talk At Christmas: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 7 * Was Mary Scandalous? Was She Raped?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 6 * The Magi: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 5 * Was Jesus' Birth Unique?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 4 * A Miraculous Conception?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 3 * Jesus & Prophecy: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 2 * Born Of A Virgin?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 1 * Jesus' Genealogy At Christmastime * Why December 25th? * Rethinking "The Inn": Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt. 3 * Was Jesus Born In A Cave? Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt. 2 * Erroneous Ch...

So, I'm bringing some works out of the Pisteuomen vault. Here is a compilation of posts from last year's Christmas series on Pisteuomen titled "Jesus' Birth In Context". I have also listed some back posts from the Christmas before that. So, here's a list of twelve posts dealing with the birth of Jesus and the Infancy Narrative(s). Enjoy. * God-man Talk At Christmas: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 7 * Was Mary Scandalous? Was She Raped?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 6 * The Magi: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 5 * Was Jesus' Birth Unique?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 4 * A Miraculous Conception?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 3 * Jesus & Prophecy: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 2 * Born Of A Virgin?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 1 * Jesus' Genealogy At Christmastime * Why December 25th? * Rethinking "The Inn": Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt. 3 * Was Jesus Born In A Cave? Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, P...

While it might seem Scrooge-ish to say anything at all during this holiday season, I just can't help myself. You see, I am irked. I am irked because there really here hasn't been a time in the last couple of days that I've gotten on Facebook without seeing someone post a pious status update that says something like the following: "People might want to take Christ out of Christmas but they can't take Christ out of me. If you're proud to be a Christian and are not ashamed of Christ, then post this as your status for 1 day. Most people will be too ashamed or scared to do this." Not only is it sad that the test or standard for being a Christian to some people comes down to a "holiday facebook status update" but it is just downright absurd and shallow. I mean, if we wanted to make this the measure of faith in good conscience, then why not make every status update all year round something like this? I mean, if this is the test, the challenge, the m...

Here is a compilation of posts from this year's Christmas series on Pisteuomen titled "Jesus' Birth In Context". I have also listed some back posts from last Christmas. So, here's a list of twelve posts dealing with the birth of Jesus and the Infancy Narrative(s). Enjoy. * God-man Talk At Christmas: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 7 * Was Mary Scandalous? Was She Raped?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 6 * The Magi: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 5 * Was Jesus' Birth Unique?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 4 * A Miraculous Conception?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 3 * Jesus & Prophecy: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 2 * Born Of A Virgin?: Jesus' Birth In Context, Pt. 1 * Jesus' Genealogy At Christmastime * Why December 25th? * Rethinking "The Inn": Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt. 3 * Was Jesus Born In A Cave? Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt. 2 * Erroneous Christmas Carols: Christmas Tradition Vs. Scripture, Pt....

A couple of years ago a number of mega-Churches decided that they would close down on Christmas Day, which fell on a Sunday. As many of you are aware, this provoked a lot of controversy. As I listened to the arguments on both sides (I also partook in them), I heard a couple of statements that sent me searching: 1) Nobody knows the exact date Jesus was born, and 2) Christmas began as a pagan holiday. What follows are my thoughts on these comments. It is probably safe to say that when researching the history of Christmas, most people trace its origin to the early years of the fourth century CE. It was around that time that the emperor Constantine was ruling. Constantine came into power, in many ways, with ease. So easily won was the battle over an enemy, Maxentius, that everyone regarded Constantine as favored by the gods. In fact, an arch still stands in Rome today that is engraved with pictures of his enemies drowning with the inscription that notes this victory came by the “prompting ...

I know that Ben Witherington has made mention of Jesus not being born in an inn and I will argue the same thing here. However, in addition to the textual evidence that exists (which Witherington picks up on), I offer much more. So, I hope you find this post helpful. May your heart and mind be blessed as you read! In various and sundry English translations of the New Testament, we find an interesting word at the end of Luke 2.7. The verse reads: “…and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” The inn? The Greek word used here for “inn” is καταλυματι . Further on in Luke’s book, at 10.34 to be precise, in most English translations the word “inn” is used again. The NIV reads: “He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. The he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an ‘inn’ and took care of him.” Normally, we would expect that if we looked at the Greek here, we woul...

My conviction is that in a skeptical world, Christians need to do their homework, know their facts and have their story straight! This is especially true when it comes to Scripture. All believers should be studied up! It is incredibly important to me that when we speak about the Bible or related subjects, we speak as honestly and accurately as possible. For some reason, though, every year when Christmas rolls around, many believers seem to throw these principles out the window; even if only in the name of embracing Christmas traditions. In fact, being a minister, I've noticed that the Christmas story has become so commonplace and domesticated that when one tries to say something fresh about it, even if from an exegetical standpoint, people's feathers get ruffled. However, ruffling some feathers in the name of truth is fine with me; passing on corrupted stories is not. Take for instance, the claim that so many commentators and preachers have made through the ages, that Jesus was...

There are a few things I love about the Christmas season and then there are some things that just straight up bother me. One thing that really irks me is when Christmas tradition replaces Scriptural truth and teachings. So, I am going to do a short series of posts this month exploring areas where I see Christmas tradition encroaching on or even overriding Scripture. It is my conviction that in a world where Christianity often has little credibility, is viewed with great skepticism and is often asked questions of, as believers, we "must" have our facts and our story straight. We must be honest and knowledgeable about our faith and its narrative. That said, the current post will focus on a few select Christmas carols. 1. We Three Kings of Orient Are - Okay, even the title of this song is off. Firstly, the Scriptures never say that kings brought gifts to Jesus. What the Scriptures do teach, however, is that magi came bearing gifts. If one does their homework, they will find out...