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32 results for “Suffering”

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The Silence of God

Sir Robert Anderson · Biblical and apologetic argument · 1897

…readers question his framework, the book forces serious thought about providence, prayer, suffering, and the character of the present age. Anderson's explanation is closely tied to his dispensational distinctions and to his understanding of miracles, Israel, the Church, and the a…

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Article · Christian HopeBiblical exposition · Theological reflection · Pastoral encouragement · Christian living

The Hope of the Resurrection

Not escape from the body, but its redemption

…save us, but it belongs to Him and awaits deliverance rather than contempt. What present suffering cannot keep The resurrection speaks tenderly to forms of suffering which easy answers cannot repair. The body may now be scarred by disease, disability, injury, exhaustion or age.…

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Article · RaptureBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Is the Church Appointed to the Tribulation's Wrath?

Divine judgement, the character of God, and the promise of escape

…nt before indignation. Pretribulationism does not promise exemption from the cross-shaped suffering of the present age. It expects Christ to keep His Church from a future judicial hour which has a different object and purpose. That is not cowardice. It is confidence in the Judge…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Philosophical theology · Christian apologetics

Christ in the Temple of the Philosophers

The incarnation, the limits of created perspective and the love philosophy could not imagine

…e; the material belonged below. Perfection meant freedom from change, bodily weakness and suffering. The journey of the soul was upwards—away from the visible, the mutable and the physical towards the invisible and eternal. Then Christianity entered the world and declared that th…

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Article · ProphecyBiblical exposition · Biblical theology · Prophetic study · Christian ethics

The Earth's Great Sabbath

Creation, judgement, and the coming reign of Christ

…of the sea also shall be taken away. (Hosea 4:3) Human moral disorder produces creaturely suffering. Jeremiah similarly asks how long the land will mourn and the herbs wither, while beasts and birds are consumed "for the wickedness of them that dwell therein" (Jeremiah 12:4). Isa…

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Article · Biblical InterpretationBiblical exposition · Messianic prophecy · Hebrew word study · Theological reflection

The Messiah and ‘My Mother’s Children’ in Psalm 69

The brothers of Jesus, the sons of Mary, and an argument of strong plausibility

…, and an argument of strong plausibility Psalm 69 is one of the clearest portraits of the suffering Messiah in the Psalter. Its language repeatedly reappears in the New Testament’s account of Jesus: “They hate me without a cause” is applied to Jesus in John 15:25. “The zeal of th…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical exposition · Christian apologetics · Christological analysis

“I Am the First, and I Am the Last”

Isaiah, John, and the Divine Identity of Jesus Christ

…ah 52:13 introduces the Servant’s exaltation; the following verses describe rejection and suffering. John 12 itself speaks of Jesus’ hour of glorification and of His being lifted up in death (12:23, 32–33). A serious alternative therefore understands Isaiah to have foreseen the g…

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Article · Christian HopeScientific review · Biblical exposition · Theological discernment · Pastoral reflection

Beyond the Tunnel of Light

Near-death experiences, neuroscience, and the authority of Christ

…can listen respectfully because the people speaking have often passed through terror and suffering. We can admit uncertainty because our faith does not depend upon pretending that every mystery has been solved. But where an experience begins to preach, it must enter the dock. Th…

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Article · RaptureBiblical exposition

Daniel's Seventieth Week and the New Testament Tribulation

Why the final seven is unfinished, future, and centred upon Israel and Jerusalem

…ent of Israel and Jerusalem (Joel 3:1-2; Zechariah 12:3; 14:2-3). Revelation shows saints suffering under the beast, vindicates those who are killed, and brings a believing multitude through the crisis. What the period is not said to do is complete Christ's atoning work or perfec…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Historical theology · Primary-source study · Pastoral theology

Did Jesus Have a Human Soul?

Why the Son assumed a complete human nature, not merely a body

…genuinely human mind, affections and will. That truth helps us understand His obedience, suffering, sympathy and saving work. Suggested excerpt: The Son assumed not only the part of us that can bleed, but the human life that thinks, desires, grieves, chooses and obeys. Christ’s…

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Article · Jesus ChristHistorical study · Apologetics · Comparative theology

Did Jesus Really Die?

The crucifixion in history, Scripture and the Qur'an

…arly Christians opposed the claim that Jesus only seemed to suffer Denials of Jesus' real suffering did arise before Islam. Their existence does not establish that Jesus escaped the cross. It shows that theological reinterpretations of the cross were being proposed and contested.…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Historical theology · Primary-source study · Pastoral theology

Did the Incarnation Limit God?

Eustathius of Antioch, the human soul of Christ and the pictures created by our words

…esus did not possess complete humanity. The Gospel’s descriptions of His fear, sorrow and suffering would also appear to belong directly to a changeable divine nature. Eustathius’s answer protected something essential. It also exposed another difficulty. Once the Word and Christ’…

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Article · Biblical ProphecyBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Theological reflection

Does God Remove the Righteous before He Judges?

Abraham, Lot, divine wrath, and a pattern that must be used carefully

…e it impossible to argue that God must remove the Church simply because a period contains suffering. The relevant distinction is the source and purpose of the suffering: Persecution is the hostility of the world, the flesh, and the devil against God's people. Discipline is the Fa…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Does Matthew 16:18 Establish Church Infallibility?

What Christ’s promise establishes—and what claims about infallible teaching still need to prove

…rrection: What It Shows and What It Does Not Immediately after Jesus announces His coming suffering and resurrection, Peter objects. Jesus responds with a severe rebuke: “Thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.” — Matthew 16:23 The disciple who rec…

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Article · Biblical InterpretationBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Historical theology

He Who Has Believed Has Eaten

Does John 6 teach the literal eating of Christ's body?

…a crime or a vice; it is therefore a figure, enjoining that we should have a share in the sufferings of our Lord, and that we should retain a sweet and profitable memory of the fact that His flesh was wounded and crucified for us.”[6] In his exposition of the Psalms, Augustine ad…

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Article · Bible StudyBiblical exposition · Pastoral reflection · Christian living

I Know Whom I Have Believed

Faith, assurance, and the unseen reality of God

…One into whose keeping he has committed himself. He speaks these words in the context of suffering. His circumstances have become painful, but his confidence in God remains. For the believer, this has a deeply personal meaning. We hear God’s Word, come to Christ, and experience…

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Article · Bible StudyBiblical exposition · Pastoral reflection · Christian living

If Any Man Thirst

Jesus and the fountain of living water

…terns. When it does, we should confess honestly and return. At other times it accompanies suffering, exhaustion or a trial through which faith is being deepened. We should not diagnose every weary soul in the same way. The answer is still Christ. We do not graduate from the words…

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Article · RaptureBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Historical study

Is the Pretribulation Rapture Without Biblical Basis?

A response to Hank Hanegraaff on resurrection, Daniel’s final week, and the Tribulation

…treatment of it morally and historically unacceptable. Yet in the ordinary sense of human suffering and geographical extent, later wars and genocides prevent AD 70 from being treated as the unsurpassable disaster of all history. Preterists sometimes answer that the destruction wa…

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Article · Bible StudyBiblical exposition · Pastoral reflection · Christian living

Not as the World Giveth

The peace Christ gives in a troubled world

…or events they did not yet understand. Yet the One comforting them was not sheltered from suffering. He knew precisely what awaited Him. He would be betrayed, falsely accused, mocked, scourged and crucified. Nevertheless, He spoke of His peace. This was not the peace of a man who…

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Article · Jesus ChristBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Comparative theology

Not Just a Prophet

The divine identity of Jesus across the Gospels

…er, so He is not the Father appearing under another name. They show Him praying, obeying, suffering and dying, so His humanity is real. Yet they also place Him on the divine side of the Creator-creature distinction. He performs the works of God, bears the authority of God, receiv…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Historical theology · Pastoral theology · Christian apologetics

One Person, Two Natures

Why the distinction matters when we speak about Jesus

…e are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Christ’s temptations were not theatrical. Hunger, suffering, rejection and the prospect of the cross were genuinely experienced in His humanity. Yet temptation never encountered sinful desire within Him. The prince of this world came and ha…

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Article · Biblical ProphecyBiblical exposition · Historical study · Apologetics · Comparative theology

The Daniel Dilemma

The Messiah cut off before the Temple fell

…ed under Antiochus IV. The Old Greek translator also handled Daniel 9 in the light of the suffering and expectations of Second Temple Judaism. Most strikingly, the Qumran composition known as 11QMelchizedek appears to use Daniel 9:25 within an eschatological interpretation of Jub…

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Article · Bible and ManuscriptsHistorical study · Apologetics · Comparative theology

The Injeel Problem

Which Gospel does the Qur'an affirm?

…hed for many for the remission of sins" (Matthew 26:28). After His resurrection, He joins suffering, resurrection and worldwide forgiveness: "Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of si…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

The New Testament Is a Very Jewish Story

Israel's Messiah, Israel's Scriptures, and a gospel for the world

…and enthroned Lord. Atonement is explained through Passover, sacrifice, covenant, and the suffering Servant. Gentile inclusion fulfils the promise to Abraham and the prophets' vision of the nations seeking Israel's God. The new covenant is the covenant promised to Israel and Juda…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Historical study · Apologetics

The Restoration of the Nation of Israel

Regathering, national rebirth, and the spiritual renewal still to come

…rn Zionism, international diplomacy, the horrors of the Holocaust, war, and immense human suffering experienced by Jews and Arabs. Acknowledging providence does not require pretending that the historical process was simple or painless. The event remains extraordinary. A people di…

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Article · Comparative ReligionApologetics · Comparative theology · Biblical exposition · Theological reflection

The Sum of These Things

Christianity, Islam and the verdict of the evidence

…m an uncertain balance of works. We have a Saviour who does not remain distant from human suffering but has entered it, borne judgement and conquered the grave. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make inter…

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Article · ChristologyBiblical theology · Christological analysis · Philosophical theology · Historical theology · Christian apologetics

The Word Did Not Fall into Flesh

The glory philosophy could not contain

…be expressed with equal care in both directions. Christ did not only seem to suffer; His suffering was real. But the divine nature did not become mortal, mutable or capable of being destroyed. The one divine Person truly suffered according to the human nature He had made His own…

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Article · Israel and the ChurchBiblical exposition · Apologetics

Was the Kingdom Taken from Israel?

The wicked husbandmen, the fruit-bearing nation, and what Jesus said afterwards

…les were too eager about at this time. The kingdom would not arrive immediately; witness, suffering, Gentile inclusion, and the calling of the Church lay before them. It does not follow that every element of their question was wrong. The correction stated in the text concerns tim…

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Article · Christian DoctrineBiblical exposition · Apologetics · Pastoral reflection

What Did They Reject?

The Gospel, Human Perception, and the Illuminating Work of the Holy Spirit

…y people understand goodness principally through kindness, fairness, and the reduction of suffering. Christianity affirms the importance of these things. The difference concerns their foundation and fullness. Jesus joins love of our neighbour to love of God. Goodness includes our…

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Article · RaptureBiblical exposition · Apologetics

When Do Persecuted Christians Receive Rest?

Michael Brown, 2 Thessalonians 1, and the public vindication of the saints

…hessalonians were not debating prophecy from the safety of an academic seminar. They were suffering. Paul commends their “patience and faith” in all the persecutions and tribulations they endured (2 Thessalonians 1:4). He then writes: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to r…

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Article · Bible StudyBiblical exposition · Pastoral reflection · Christian living

When Faith Does Not Answer Back

Trusting God when voices seek to weaken our confidence

…Jerusalem’s deliverance in this account does not mean that every believer will be spared suffering. Our confidence rests in God’s faithfulness to what he has actually promised. Such confidence can coexist with tears, trembling, and unanswered questions. It grows as we return to…

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Article · Christian LivingBiblical exposition · Pastoral reflection · Christian living

Work Is Not a Curse

Labour, purpose, and faithfulness in a fallen world

…d servants and slaves. It must not be used to make exploitation holy or to silence people suffering abuse. In the same section Paul warned masters that they too had a Master in heaven and must give what is just and equal (Colossians 4:1). Human authority is never absolute. Yet th…

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