Gideon had a habit of testing the Lord.  When the angel of the Lord came to him, Gideon asked him to show a sign that it was the Lord who was speaking.  The Lord instructed Gideon to tear down an altar of the Asherah and Ba’al and build an altar…

“To be or not to be” are words Hamlet spoke in Shakespeare’s play of the same name.  Hamlet was grieving for the loss of his father and suspecting his uncle of having murdered him.  It causes Hamlet (no surprise) to go into a tailspin.  At one point in the play,…

The Book of Judges has a clear structure.  The people would begin worshipping other gods; God would send an opponent to oppress them; the people would cry out to God for help; and God would send one who delivered them.  This cycle is repeated a number of times in the…

At places in the New Testament, Jesus is called the Lamb of God.  What is the meaning of this title? At the beginning of the Gospel of John,  John the Baptist, when seeing Jesus approach, proclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”  (John…

The Israelites left Egypt, shortly to be pursued by Pharaoh’s army.   At the sea Moses lifted up his staff, as the Lord instructed, to divide it before the Israelites entered the sea bed.  After they crossed, the sea came tumbling down on the Egyptians, drowning them. One version of the…

Moses had fled Egypt; because, he killed a man to defend a Hebrew who was being mistreated.  In the Sinai he married a daughter of Jethro, described as the priest of Midian.  He was tending the flocks of his father-in-law when he noticed a burning bush that was not consumed. …

In the Book of Genesis God speaks directly to the patriarchs–Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  At times, God comes to them in the person of an angel or angels, But, this is not the case in the story of Joseph, told toward the end of this biblical book. God’s role and…

This article is yet another revision of the last in a series about the early Christian apologists. Justin, a philosopher and Christian from Flavia Neopolis in Palestine, addresses an apology on behalf of the Christian community to the emperor, Antoninus Pius, and his son, Verisimus.  He begins by stating that…

We continue our series on the telling of stories to evoke the imagination for Christ. The serpent in the Garden of Eden, described as the most crafty beast of the field, is able to talk. We do know that the serpent does not move around on its belly until God…

In his book Mere Apologetics Alister McGrath makes a distinction between invitation and defense.  Evangelism and apologetics are related to one another, but not the same.  Apology is defense, where in public or private, we explain the articles of the Christian faith and answer questions of those who are challenging or inquiring…