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There are many references to “the flesh” in New Testament Scripture, especially in the letters of St. Paul. The phrase confuses some who think it synonymous with the physical body. It is true that there are many times when Scripture uses the word “flesh” to refer to the physical body. However when the definite article “the” is placed before the word “flesh” we are dealing with something else. Only very rarely does the Biblical phrase “the flesh” (ἡ σὰρξ (he sarx), in Greek) refer only to the physical body (eg. John 6:53; Phil 3:2; 1 John 4:2) , but almost...

Father Corapi tells us how Catholics read the Bible   How Catholics Should Read the Bible There are a number of ways to read the Bible.  One of the first things Catholics should look for is good footnotes at the bottom of the page that are indexed to other similar texts in the Bible.  This helps the reader to understand the particular verse in context, rather than in isolation.  The Bible is meant to be read in its entirety, and never to be taken out of context. That is what satan tried to do to Jesus in the desert in...

In November 2009, the Roman Catholic website Called to Communion posted an article titled Solo Scriptura, Sola Scriptura, and the Question of Interpretive Authority, critiquing one of the claims of my book The Shape of Sola Scriptura (Canon Press, 2001). The article is attributed to Bryan Cross and Dr. Neal Judisch. According to their website, Cross is a graduate of Covenant Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and currently a Ph.D. student at Saint Louis University. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 2006. Judisch is a professor of philosophy at the University of Oklahoma and a 2008 convert to Roman Catholicism. Like the...

Has the church misunderstood the Bible’s teachings on sexuality for over two thousand years? The current issue of Newsweek magazine reports on “new scholarship on the Good Book’s naughty bits” that is supposed to turn our understanding of the Bible’s teachings on sex upside down. Lisa Miller, Newsweek’s religion editor, wrote the article entitled “What the Bible Really Says About Sex.” Well, the one thing you need to know up front is that the article falls far short of its title. Miller bases her report on two recent books — Michael Coogan’s God and Sex: What the Bible Really Says...

Ryan recites Hebrews from memory making the gospel as found in Hebrews come alive http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M52nUtfk3Jw

In a few days we’ll discard the old calendar and open up a new one. We’ll get used to a new date when we write our checks, and last year will soon be a memory. Time marches on, but one thing remains constant — the Word of God. Those of us who are serious about Christian living are always looking for some new technique or truth that will make us stable, mature Christians. We have all read books with titles such as: The Secret of the Deeper Life. We’re hoping to find a shortcut, some effective way to become holy...

What did Jesus (not) say about... His mother, Mary? "You know what you lot's problem is? You just don't think enough about My mother." I've often had two thoughts about Mary: I dearly hope that her heavenly bliss has not been spoiled by the knowledge of how monstrously men came to pervert her significance and place in relation to her Son. And... In that view, I've thought that my article on Mary in a Bible dictionary might read, "The mother of Jesus. A pivotal yet minor figure in the New Testament, mentioned by name in only four books." On the...

Catholic and Protestant Bibles The Protestant Old Testament omits seven entire books and parts of two other books. To explain how this came about, it is necessary that we go back to the ancient Jewish Scriptures. The Hebrew Bible contained only the Old Testament and from its Old Testament it excluded seven entire books—namely, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch, I and II Maccabees—and parts of Esther(1) and Daniel(2). These books, which are missing in the Jewish Bible, came into the Catholic Church with the Septuagint, a pre-Christian Greek translation of the Old Testament. In the Septuagint they are intermingled...

A Quick Ten-Step Refutation of Sola Scriptura By Dave Armstrong 1. Sola Scriptura Is Not Taught in the Bible Catholics agree with Protestants that Scripture is a "standard of truth"—even the preeminent one—but not in a sense that rules out the binding authority of authentic apostolic Tradition and the Church. The Bible doesn’t teach that. Catholics agree that Scripture is materially sufficient. In other words, on this view, every true doctrine can be found in the Bible, if only implicitly and indirectly by deduction. But no biblical passage teaches that Scripture is the formal authority or rule of faith in...

Douay-Rheims Audio Bible – New Testament Announcement & The Gospel of John

The Christmas story retuned... enjoy ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-4y5mK_o9E&feature=player_embedded

In the sermon descriptively entitled, “That Hearing and Keeping the Word of God Renders a Person More Blessed Than Any Other Privilege That Ever God Bestowed on Any of the Children of Men,” Jonathan Edwards writes: The hearing and keeping the word of God brings the happiness of a spiritual union and communion with God. ‘Tis a greater blessedness to have spiritual communion with God and to have a saving intercourse with him by the instances of his Spirit and by the exercise of true devotion than it is to converse with God externally, to see the visible representation and...

From the Synod to the Exhortation: An Interview With Father Rosica on “Verbum Domini” November 25th, 2010 ZENIT recently interviewed Salt + Light Television CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, about Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini.  See the full interview below:Those who study the Bible can never master it, says Basilian Father Thomas Rosica. Rather, the Word comes to master those who study it, making them its humble servants.This is one of the reflections offered by Father Rosica when ZENIT spoke to him about Benedict XVI’s postsynodal apostolic exhortation “Verbum Domini,” released earlier this month.Father Rosica was at...

Last night, an interview that I did with Derek Gilbert on the View From the Bunker podcast went live. We discuss my book, When the Stars Fall, but also talk a bit about the Messianic Jewish perspective on Yeshua and Scripture in general. The link.

Need a real challenge for your Bible reading? How about 10 chapters a day from 10 different sections of Scripture? Sound crazy? Not to those, like me, who have had their spiritual walk transformed by the increased intake of God’s Word made possible by following Professor Horner’s system. After less than a month on the plan, my wife said that I was a different man! This should not be surprising, after all, the first half of Psalm 1 says: 1:1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners,...

Verbum Domini   by Pope Benedict XVI INDEXIntroduction [1] That our joy may be complete [2] From “Dei Verbum” to the Synod on the Word of God [3] The Synod of Bishops on the Word of God [4] The Prologue of John’s Gospel as a guide [5] PART ONEVERBUM DEIThe God Who Speaks God in dialogue [6] The analogy of the word of God [7] The cosmic dimension of the word [8] The creation of man [9] The realism of the word [10] Christology of the word [11-13] The eschatological dimension of the word of God [14] The word of...

...As I read this apostolic exhortation I was reminded of my favorite definition of a theologian from Evagrius of Pontus, a monk of the early Church, a "theologian is one who rests his head on the breast of Christ". The imagery clearly refers to the Apostle John, the author of the fourth Gospel, and the posture he assumed at the Last Supper. However, it also reveals the truth that it is only through a relationship with the Lord, what the Pope calls a "hermeneutic of faith", that we can approach the Word of God and encounter the Living Word. Pope...

Rachel Held Evans, a Christian writer and blogger in Tennessee, has taken on an interesting new project. For one year, she has committed to following all of the Bible's instructions for women as literally as she can. Don't worry, she's not including polygamy (and a few other things) -- but pretty much everything else is on the table:This means, among other things, rising before dawn each day (Proverbs 31:15), submitting to my husband (Colossians 3:18), growing out my hair (1 Corinthians 11:15), making my own clothes, (Proverbs 31:22),  learning how to cook (Titus 2:3-5), covering my head when in...

“Scripture: Learn It, Love It, Live It” (2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5)Today we continue in our series of sermons on Paul’s letters to Timothy, this morning on the Epistle reading from 2 Timothy chapters 3 and 4. In this section, Paul commends Timothy--and I would commend all of us--to the word of God. More specifically, I commend you to the continued study of Scripture, to a firm faith in the word of God, and to the living out of the Bible’s teachings in the form of a righteous life. And so our theme this morning, “Scripture: Learn It, Love It,...

Many ELCA members are asking how their denomination can allow and accept teachings that go against clear Biblical doctrine on such things as salvation in Jesus for those that believe (John 3:16) and homosexuality. In order to better understand how the ELCA got to this point, one needs to analyze what the ELCA leadership believes and ELCA seminaries teach about Scripture.