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State of the Dead
“He Is Not God of the Dead, but of the Living.” How Should we Understand Jesus’ Saying?
Jesus’ saying, extending from Mark 12:24 to 12:27, relates to the resurrection of the dead. For our study, only verses 26–27 are relevant: “And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abrah...
The Last Enemy
Although some obituaries claim that God has taken a loved one into a better world, others do not reflect any hope. Nevertheless, all of them remind us that one day it will be our turn. A kind of obituary is found in 1Cor 15:3-8. It contains four statements: (1) Christ has died; (2) Christ was bur...
Is There a "World of the Dead"?
Some Christians have used this passage and similar ones to postulate that the dead continue to exist in a weak, conscious state. Your question gives me the opportunity to examine the topic a little more carefully. In answering I will say something about the Hebrew term translated “shades,” commen...
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View all“From Cause to Manifestation”: Rereading John 9:3
The disciples’ question in John 9:2 reflects an explanatory framework widely attested in Second Temple Judaism: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (RSV). Jesus’ response in John 9:3, however, raises an interpretive problem of considerable interest: “. . . but t...
Celebrating the Baptism of Jesus: A Chronological Case for AD 27
Introduction Jesus is the center of history, both theologically and chronologically. While His birth divides the Western calendar into before and after Christ (BC and AD), His death and resurrection mark a new chapter not only for human redemptive history, but also for all creation. Surprisingly,...
Religious Liberty and the Character of God
The great controversy is premised on a question about God's character. Is He just? Is He loving? Is His government established upon voluntary love, or merely required compliance? Consider any war between two sides. Two nations. Two armies. Both are looking for the same thing: an edge, the one a...