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...

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...

Dear Scripture, I want you to know that I appreciate you. Some scoff at you and judge you by your cover and some remain perplexed. I know you've been beat down and used up but I also know how beautifully you read. I know you intimately. I know your history, you've told me a thousands times. You have your highs and lows and still, I have your name written on me. We go well together most of the time. You are well-traveled, well-spoken and your whispher has rippled and echoed through the earth. Your storied soul is a picturesque geography of integrity and your narrative world ebbs and flows, rises and falls and has its own accent and inflection. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were from the hills of Kentucky. Do you realize how much people talk about you? At schools, churches, on bridges, in prisons, on cardboard...And do you realize the power you wield? It's not just God's hands that you rest. And its not just your friends that stake a claim...

I ran across an interesting quote by R. E. Brown recently that stopped me in my tracks--mainly because I was surprised to hear it coming from him. Here it is: "The most crucial difference between McHugh and me may lie in a judgment on whether God's revelation, given to us once and for all in Jesus Christ, had to be understood totally by first-century Christians. I think that it did not and that those Christians wrote the NT with only a partial understanding of the revelation they described. That is why I maintain the need for a church which through the Holy Spirit can enable later generations to see in Christ aspects that first Christians did not see when they wrote their text." -R. E. Brown, Biblical Exegesis & Church Doctrine , 73. I don't know about you but I have a bit of trouble employing this type of theology and reasoning. What thoughts do you have on this?

A question for my readers: In the last five years, what would you say has been the most significant change in your theology? Personally, the most dramatic change for me has had to do with my view of the Bible (e.g. inspiration, inerrancy, etc.). While I've modified a previously held wooden-literalist view to a more dynamic view, I feel as though I have actually come to hold a "higher" view of Scripture. What about you? What has changed?

It used to be my belief that (and I know many persons who still hold to this view), as far as inerrancy goes, the original autographs of biblical documents were inerrant. The argument kind of runs along these lines: At present, all we have are copies of copies of copies and all of the M/mss are not in agreement. Thus, our present versions of the Bible, especially those translated from Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek to another language, are not perfect. What is/was perfect, however, were the original autographs. Personally, I am no longer an advocate of this position and I am not convinced that it is even an argument worth having. It makes no difference whether or not the first manuscript was errant. Of course, I am referring to things like incorrectly spelled words, left out words, extra words, etc. It seems more likely to me that documents like the Gospels were composed over time, not in one sitting. In short, the production of the Gospels happened in a process. The authors were at liberty...

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...

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...