Theology
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with a Kapital K"
~ Bill Dillon, Bible teacher, New Tribes Mission
Then Judas went out and hanged himself. Go thou and do likewise. And what thou doest, do quickly.
I subscribe to the Olivet method of Scripture interpretation: read olivet, believe olivet. Failure to consider context is a leading cause of scripture misinterpretation. It's a fatal error, yet easily avoided. Reading the whole passage in which a "verse"† of Scripture is found takes no special training, and very little time or effort. Most false doctrine relies on a smattering of phrases and fragments culled from various passages (sometimes only one!).
We wouldn't think of treating any other book as a collection of unrelated aphorisms. The Bible, above all books, commands our respect. Don't even start to think about what a "verse"† means until you've read the whole passage it's part of. Or I'm comin' over there with a rope. :-)
Remember the ancient "Rule of Faith," or "Analogy of Faith" as it's also called: the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture. The full context for any "verse" is the entire Bible.
†The reason the word verse is in quotes is that most of Scripture was not written in chapter-and-verse form. It's easy to forget that the chapter and verse divisions in today's translations are not part of the text. They were added centuries later, and are mostly arbitrary, except in certain poetic books such as the Psalms. When we see the text in small divisions, we tend to lazily think that each bit is a natural unit. This undermines our efforts to see each statement in its proper context.
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How an Old Testament genealogy changed my worldview. |
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Was Calvin's God a cosmic bully? |
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Navin strikes again. |
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Does subjectivity in theology endanger the truth? |
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So why hasn't He come back yet? |
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Does music invite and repel spirits, good and evil, to and from our spirits? An examination of all Scripture passages that attribute spiritual power to music. |
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All of whom? An examination of Matthew chapter 11, questioning the view that unregenerate man has the ability to come to Jesus. Don't make me get the rope. |
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Connecting the dots in John chapter 3. |
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Toward what or whom does God direct His wrath? The answer of Scripture reveals some big surprises. |
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A rebuttal of Hank Hanegraaff's article Magical Apologetics, in which he dismissed the Bible Code phenomenon as a charismatic fad. |
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Is The Lord of the Rings a dangerous book? Does it promote witchcraft? Was Tolkien a Christian? |
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Must Christians avoid mythic stories? |
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Could the seven days of creation serve as a template for world history? |
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~Online Study Helps~
- Calvin's Commentaries on the Bible
- Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible
- John Piper's Sermon Notes
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library
- All my favorite web resources for theology, apologetics, philosophy, and logic
Below: Sunday School teacher's notes. Anything in them that is not explicitly credited to someone else may be treated as if it were public domain. For three years, I shared teaching responsibilities with Allen Barnes, Mark Brown, and Brent MacDondald at Two Rivers Baptist Church (Southern Baptist), Nashville, TN. I have since begun attending Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Murfreesboro.
~The Doctrine of Scripture~
- The Authority of Scripture
- How to Study the Bible: Avoiding Misinterpretation
- Psalm 1: Loving the Law
~Romans~
- Romans 1:1-7 · Overview of the Greeting
- Romans 1:4 · The Gospel's Content: The Dual Nature of Christ; The Deity or Power of Christ Seen in His Resurrection
- Romans 1:8-15 · Nine Marks of True Spiritual Service
- Romans 1:16-17 · Gospel Power: God at Work
- Romans 2:1-16 · No Excuses, No Escape
- Romans 2:17-24 · No Exceptions
- Romans 2:25 · Circumcision (topical overview)
- Romans 3:3-4 · The Promise Keeper
- Scriptures on God's Sovereignty (80K Adobe Acrobat file, optimized for printing, single-page landscape)
- Romans 3:26b · Why the Cross?
- Romans 3 & 4 · The Law of Faith
- Romans 5:4-5 · The Blessing of Affliction
- Romans 5:12-21 · Under the Hood: How Justification Works
- Romans 6:3-11 · One with Christ
- Romans 6:14-26 · Not Under Law, But Under Grace
- Romans 7:13-25 · I'm A Mess
- Romans 8:3-4 · He Breaks the Power of Canceled Sin
- Romans 8:18-23 · Moaning & Groaning for Glory
- Romans 8:28-30 · God's Eternal Purpose
- Romans 9:1-5 · Grieving for the Lost
- Romans 9:22-26 · God is Great, God is Good
- Romans 10:1-4 · Why Israel Was Rejected
- Romans 11 · The Olive Tree
- Romans 12:1 · Spiritual Worship Is Bodily Worship
- Romans 12:3-8 · Good Stewards of God's Varied Grace
- Romans 12:9-12 · Good Love
David J. Finnamore
Orlando, FL
