E. W. Bullinger · Verse-by-verse commentary · 1902
In my view, this is a must-read commentary on Revelation—not because every conclusion should be accepted, but because Bullinger makes the journey through the text so absorbing and so deep. He notices structures, verbal connections, and…
View recommendation →Earth-dwellers, heaven-dwellers, and the literary structure of the Apocalypse
Where Is the Church during Revelation's Judgements? Earth-dwellers, heaven-dwellers, and the literary structure of the Apocalypse The argument that the word church disappears after Revelation 3 is often stated as thou…
Read article →Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ
The Earth's Great Sabbath Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ The Christian hope for creation rests neither in human effort nor in escape from the material world. The creation groans for the return of its rightful King, the revelation of the…
Read article →The man of sin, the last trumpet, the first resurrection, and the last day
Four Difficult Texts for Pretribulationism The man of sin, the last trumpet, the first resurrection, and the last day A cumulative case should be exposed to the passages which appear least friendly to it. Four objections deserve particular a…
Read article →What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God
Two Revelations of Divine Love What mercy, holiness and the cross reveal about God Love is easily claimed. Its character is revealed by what it does when the beloved is undeserving and the cost…
Read article →The positive argument of the whole series, brought together
Why the Cumulative Case Points to a Pretribulation Rapture The positive argument of the whole series, brought together The case for a pretribulation rapture should not rest upon one disputed word, one prophetic chart, or one passage made to carry more than it says. It is…
Read article →Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ
“I Am the First, and I Am the Last” Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ If YHWH alone is Creator, Saviour and Lord of all, what are the New Testament writers saying when they place Jesus within that identity? Isaiah does not leave Israel searchin…
Read article →Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son
…at the Resurrection? Born, begotten and firstborn in the eternal identity and saving work of the Son “This day have I begotten thee” appears to be applied to Christ’s resurrection. Did Jesus become the Son of God when He rose—or does Scripture distinguish His eternal Sonship from…
Read article →Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ
Beyond the Tunnel of Light Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ Many years ago I read Tal Brooke's The Other Side of Death: Does Death Seal Your Destiny? The book stayed with me.…
Read article →An unrequited love for the historic Church
…nd outside the historic Church because I despise her. I stand outside because I love much of what I find within her, yet cannot call every later development apostolic. There is a particular accusation made against evangelical Christianity that I feel more deeply than might be exp…
Read article →Dave Hunt · Biblical polemic · 2002
…This? is certainly a polemic against Calvinism, but I value it for more than its rebuttal of a theological system. Read carefully, it also functions as an extensive study of the nature and character of God, and especially of His love. Hunt repeatedly brings the argument back to t…
View recommendation →Tal Brooke · Christian investigation · 1979
I recommend The Other Side of Death because it refuses to treat every extraordinary experience as self-authenticating. Brooke places popular claims about death, consciousness, spirit guides, reincarnation, and the aft…
View recommendation →A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation
…system in which God has two unrelated peoples and destinies, Christians enjoy seven years of safety, and Jewish people are abandoned to an unparalleled holocaust. He then appeals to John 5, Daniel, Matthew 24, Romans 8 and the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 to reject the syste…
Read article →History, heresy, and the temptation of private Christianity
Have Evangelicals Become Neo-Gnostics? History, Heresy, and the Temptation of Private Christianity The accusation identifies real evangelical deformations—secret-key religion, escape rhetoric, elite conversion status, and churchless faith—but fails when it becomes…
Read article →Governmental restraint, the final ten kings, and the preparation of the temple
…Theory While researching The Kingdom Still to Come, my premillennial sequel to my rapture book, I have been revisiting Paul’s account of the restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2. Something holds back the revelation of the final lawless ruler. The Thessalonians knew what Paul meant. We…
Read article →Sources behind Qur’anic narratives
Revelation or Reception? Sources behind Qur’anic narratives The Qur’an did not emerge in a cultural vacuum. It appeared in a world alive with biblical names, Jewish interpretation, Christian…
Read article →Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?
He Who Has Believed Has Eaten Does John 6 Teach the Literal Eating of Christ’s Body? “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life.” —John 6:47–48 An evangelical watches a confident Roman Catholic pr…
Read article →Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation
Is the Qur'an a Miracle? Testing Islam's evidence for divine revelation Christians are frequently placed on the defensive. Has the Bible been corrupted? Did Jesus really claim to be God? Was He actually crucified? Has the doctrine of the Trinity compr…
Read article →Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence
The Sum of These Things Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the…
Read article →Seth D. Postell, Eitan Bar & Erez Soref · Messianic biblical theology · 2017
…hua. Their Jewish and Israeli setting makes the discussion especially valuable, while the book's clarity opens questions about law, grace, Messiah, and Christian obedience to readers without specialist training. The relationship between the Mosaic Law and believers in Christ is d…
View recommendation →E. W. Bullinger · Sermons · 1892
…d prophetic curiosity. He ranges across the Law, Prophets, Psalms, Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation, drawing attention to the sheer weight of Scripture devoted to Christ's return. The sermons combine expectation, careful textual observation, and practical urgency: prophecy is me…
View recommendation →The glory philosophy could not contain
…lesh The glory philosophy could not contain In the previous article, Christ in the Temple of the Philosophers, I argued that the Incarnation does not become absurd merely because it exceeds the limits of our created experience. The God who made the universe is not imprisoned by i…
Read article →Four popular claims tested in context
…etold in the Bible? Four popular claims tested in context The Qur'an says that the coming of Muhammad was written in the Torah and the Gospel possessed by Jews and Christians: "Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find describ…
Read article →Constantine, Arius, the Trinity, the biblical canon—and the myths that refuse to die
…tine, Arius, the Trinity, the biblical canon—and the myths that refuse to die The Council of Nicaea has become a screen upon which almost every conspiracy about early Christianity is projected. Constantine invented the Trinity. Jesus was voted into deity. Paganism defeated biblic…
Read article →Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints
…ted Christians Receive Rest? Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints In his presentation Why I Reject a Pre-tribulation Rapture, Michael Brown identifies 2 Thessalonians 1:5–10 as a decisive passage. Paul is writing to Christians enduring persec…
Read article →The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell
The Daniel Dilemma The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell Islam calls Jesus the Messiah. It also denies that He was crucified. Centuries before Muhammad, however, the book of Daniel described an anointed figure who would…
Read article →Why a loaded label does not settle the question
…oes not settle the question “The secret rapture is unbiblical.” The phrase is repeated so often that it can sound like an argument. It is not. Pretribulationists do not claim that Christ descends silently, that believers disappear without an event, or that nothing extraordinary o…
Read article →What the Father's love for the Son reveals about God
…ation? Did relationship begin when God made something other than Himself? The question is often turned into a quick philosophical argument for the Trinity: love requires another person; God is love; therefore God must be more than one Person. That argument has intuitive force, bu…
Read article →Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world
…m. Its Scriptures have been used to justify contempt for Jews, and its Jewish Messiah has often been presented with little connection to the people, covenants, and hopes into which He was born. That history cannot be denied. It can, however, obscure the world of the New Testament…
Read article →Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God
…Gods Why the Trinity is not polytheism—and why Christians confess one God The Trinity is often rejected before it is accurately defined. “The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God,” the objection runs. “That makes three gods.” It would—if Christians believed th…
Read article →The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an
…y, Scripture and the Qur'an Christianity and Islam cannot both be correct about the death of Jesus. The Gospel declares that Jesus was crucified under Pontius Pilate, died, was buried and rose bodily from the dead. His death is not a peripheral detail which can be removed while l…
Read article →Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?
…Gospel does the Qur'an affirm? Islam says that Allah gave Jesus the Injeel. It was a true revelation from God. It contained guidance and light. The Qur'an claims to confirm it. The People of the Gospel are told to judge by what God revealed within it. Yet when Christians open the…
Read article →Spiritual ecstasy, altered states, and discerning what is from God
…discerning what is from God Human beings have always sought to pass beyond the boundaries of ordinary consciousness. Across cultures and religions, people have reported visions, overwhelming sensations of unity, encounters with spiritual beings, the loss of their ordinary sense o…
Read article →