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Scholars have been studying the art of letter-writing around the time of the New Testament, comparing it with what we find in the apostolic letters. I will share with you some of this information to see how it helps us understand Paul’s practice. 1. Paul and Secretaries: Paul points to his use o...

The passage you refer to is difficult to interpret, mainly because we are not as well-informed about the topic as Paul's original readers were. Scholars have written much about this passage and its sociohistorical background, but still they disagree. A careful analysis of the verses requires much...

There are three main interpretations of the manifestation of the gift of tongues in the church at Corinth. The first one argues that the gift was the ability to speak the language of angels. This is based on Paul's reference to the "tongues of . . . angels" (1 Cor. 13:1).* The second interprets ...

In this passage Paul clearly stated that women are to keep silent in church. If that prohibition is interpreted absolutely, as some do, women would basically disappear from church. It would mean they could proclaim the gospel to friends and relatives, but whenever they went to church their freedo...

In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul is responding to those who maintained that there is no resurrection from the dead. His central argument is that "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins," and the dead Christians are lost (verses 17, 18). In verses 20-28, the apostl...

I wish I could tell you! Several factors make it difficult to interpret this text. First, the text is very brief and Paul doesn’t elaborate; second, there’s no other reference to this practice in the rest of the New Testament; and third, it seems to suggest what is incompatible with what Paul say...

The term "antichrist" comes from a Greek term formed by the preposition anti ("against," "in place of") and the noun christos ("the anointed one"). It primarily refers to a being who attempts to usurp the role of Jesus by illegally appropriating His functions. It could also designate the syst...

So much has been written about God's love that we can hardly begin to summarize the results of those studies. The most important text is obviously 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (NIV). John's purpose was not to speculate concerning the nature of God, bu...

Your question is in fact about the nature and purpose of textual criticism,* which happens to be a complex and difficult subject. Let me quote the passage from the original language, bracketing the section that is not original: "[verse 7] For there are three who testify [in heaven, the Father, th...

The translation you quote implies that Peter is not condemning or rejecting the use of jewelry for personal adornment by Christians, except in cases where it is not accompanied by a life of service to the Lord. In other words, the use of jewelry for personal adornment is not necessarily incompati...