In the Beginning

The Bible begins with the earth in total darkness and covered with water and ends with a new earth which has no sea and no night. (Genesis 1:2; Revelation 21:1 and 22:5) Everything that comes between is there to tell us how to get from the first place to the last. Darkness is where the … Continue reading In the Beginning

Why thee and thou matter for understanding the Bible

These old-fashioned words have disappeared from the English we speak today, so why shouldn’t they disappear from the Bible? Evidently modern translators of the Bible agree that they should go. Have we lost anything by that? I believe we have. But first we lost the ability to understand thee and thou, so we’re not aware … Continue reading Why thee and thou matter for understanding the Bible

Playing hopscotch over the surface of the Bible

Two momentous events occurred in 1955: I became a teenager, and rock ‘n roll was born. I am thus a child of the rock ‘n roll era and still recognize the songs that were hits in that era, especially the 1960s. Those songs are still often heard as background music in the malls. Yesterday, as … Continue reading Playing hopscotch over the surface of the Bible

There were two tabernacles

When Moses was up in the mountain communing with God during the Exodus, God gave him detailed directions for the structure that should be the centre of the people’s worship. He was to build a long tent, or tabernacle. The inside was of gold and beautiful tapestry, the outside was a drab, waterproof covering. At … Continue reading There were two tabernacles

Biblical mush, or solid food?

“Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, … Continue reading Biblical mush, or solid food?

The Sabbath question

Q. Why is the first day of the week the day of rest, rather than the last day of the week? A. The keeping of the Jewish Sabbath is and has been quite a controversial subject, with much being written pro and con. The keeping of the day depends on which dispensation is had in … Continue reading The Sabbath question

The armour of God

As best as I can understand it, the theme of the Old Testament is that God created mankind and placed us on this earth with a great purpose in mind. There are hints, but only hints, that part of that purpose was that we would be a testimony of His love and kindness to the … Continue reading The armour of God

How to read the Bible

I grew up in a home where the Bible was read every day, my father often talked bout things he read in it. We attended a church, the Anglican Church of Canada, where every service had a reading from the Old Testament, another from the New Testament, and several other passages from the Bible were … Continue reading How to read the Bible

The use and abuse of dictionaries

Some folks scrutinize the dictionary for abstruse locutions to titillate the cerebral functions of those who peruse their literary endeavours. This sentence is sticky in a negative way. Most readers will get stuck before they reach the end. That doesn't matter, the sentence doesn't have much to say. But there are people who believe that … Continue reading The use and abuse of dictionaries

Who was “John the Revelator”?

It has become common in some Christian circles to speak of the writer of the book of Revelation as being "John the Revelator." Who was this guy? This nom de plume seems to have originated with German Bible scholars of the 19th century who approached the Bible as literature, simply a series of writings produced … Continue reading Who was “John the Revelator”?