Category Archives: Church of Christ Doctrinal Issues

The temptations In each of the three synoptic Gospels, Jesus’ ministry begins with a series of temptations. Commentators approach these from various perspectives, and it’s likely that no one perspective is the uniquely right one. I’m sure the authors intended to … Continue reading →

When I was young, my home church didn’t talk much about John the Baptist. In fact, we kids found it scandalous that he was, quite plainly, a “Baptist.” It sounded like “John the Presbyterian” to our ears! And some preachers … Continue reading →

The angels (Luk 2:8-14 ESV) 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the … Continue reading →

Although the Gospels appear 2/3rds of the way into the Bible, they are the center of the story of scripture. Miss the Gospels, and you miss everything. And yet we often miss much of what the Gospels teach because we … Continue reading →

Second, as these and many other passages teach, God’s peace, righteousness, and justice will prevail in this new Kingdom. “Justice” and “righteousness” include the teachings of the Torah that Kingdom’s citizens will care for the widows, orphans, and sojourners, all … Continue reading →

Let’s consider where God’s story has taken us, up through the end of the Old Testament. Early in Genesis, we see mankind fall from Eden and several conflicts set up. * Satan vs. God by means of mankind. * Man … Continue reading →

Originally, I had planned to cover Ezekiel and Jeremiah, but there is so very much material there, this series might never end. So I’m skipping to the end of the prophets. Zechariah and Malachi both prophesied after Ezra and Nehemiah … Continue reading →

We’ve considered Isaiah from several perspectives. We need to add one more — the Kingdom. The Gospels record John the Baptist and Jesus preaching the coming of the Kingdom without bothering to define it. For example, we read early in … Continue reading →

As we covered in the first few posts of this series, Genesis begins by setting up certain conflicts that give rise to God’s story. Isaiah offers a preview of how these conflicts will be resolved — * Satan vs. God … Continue reading →