The “Jesus papers” refer to a collection of ancient documents and artifacts that some scholars believe shed light on the historical Jesus. These include: The Gospel of Thomas The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. It was discovered in 1945 near Nag Hammadi, Egypt. Some scholars believe it may contain some authentic sayings of the historical Jesus that aren’t found in the New Testament gospels. However, the Gospel of Thomas was likely composed in the 2nd century AD, long after the time of Jesus. The Gospel of Mary The Gospel of Mary is a…
Author: Kerry Baysinger
The Noahic Covenant is a covenant that God made with Noah after the Flood. It is recorded in Genesis 8:20–9:17 and is an unconditional divine promise on God’s part to never again destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:11-17). The covenant name stems from the Hebrew phrase berit noach, or “Covenant of Noah.” It goes by other names as well, including the Rainbow Covenant. After the Flood that wiped out all living creatures except those preserved on the ark (Genesis 7), Noah built an altar and offered sacrifices to God (Genesis 8:20-21). God blessed Noah and pronounced the covenant, saying:…
Naturalism is the view that nature is all there is, and that everything can be explained in natural terms. Specifically, naturalism claims the following: Only natural entities such as matter, energy, physical laws, and processes exist. All events can be explained by natural causes and processes. There are no supernatural beings, forces, or processes that have any effect on the natural world. Humans are part of nature and can be fully explained in natural terms. There is no divine intervention in the workings of the natural world. Naturalism rejects all supernatural explanations such as God, spirits, souls, miracles, and life…
Theopathy refers to experiencing and knowing God. It comes from the Greek words theos meaning “God” and patheia meaning “experience.” In theopathy, God is known not merely intellectually, but experientially and relationally. It involves both knowing about God and knowing God personally. The Bible teaches that we can relate to and know God in a deep, intimate way. Through Jesus Christ, God invites us into a loving relationship with Himself. As we draw near to God, we come to know His character and heart in a profound way. We not only learn truths about God, but we encounter His presence…
Euodia and Syntyche were two women mentioned in the New Testament book of Philippians. The apostle Paul refers to them in Philippians 4:2-3: I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. From this passage, we can gather some key details about Euodia and Syntyche: They were members of the church in Philippi that Paul established on his…
Unleavened bread holds great significance in the Bible, especially in relation to the Passover and the Exodus. The Bible first mentions unleavened bread during the time when God was preparing to free the Israelites from slavery in Egypt through a series of plagues. After the tenth and final plague, when all the firstborn sons of Egypt were killed, God commanded the Israelites to observe the Passover feast, and during this feast they were to eat unleavened bread (Exodus 12:8). Why was unleavened bread so central to the Passover and the Exodus story? There are a few key reasons: It represented…
The Bible does not directly address the issue of euthanizing animals or pets. However, we can gain some insights from biblical principles about how God views animals, the purpose of animals, and our responsibility for caring for animals. God’s care for animals The Bible teaches that animals have value to God. He created them and cares for them. In Genesis 1, God created the animals and said they were “good” (Genesis 1:25). This implies value and purpose in God’s creation. In Matthew 6:26, Jesus said God feeds the birds of the air, highlighting God’s care for even relatively insignificant creatures.…
The death of Judas Iscariot, one of the original twelve disciples of Jesus, is described in the New Testament books of Matthew and Acts. There are some differences between the two accounts, leading to much debate over the centuries about how exactly Judas died. According to Matthew 27:3-8, after Judas betrayed Jesus to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver, he was filled with remorse when he saw that Jesus was condemned to death. Judas returned the money to the chief priests and elders and said “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They responded “What is that to…
The prophetic books of the Bible are a collection of writings attributed to prophets who lived from the 8th to the 5th centuries BCE. These books are also known as the Nevi’im, which means “Prophets” in Hebrew. The Nevi’im make up the second of the three major sections of the Hebrew Bible – the Tanakh – following the Torah and preceding the Ketuvim (Writings). In total, there are 16 prophetic books in most Christian Bibles and 8 in the Hebrew Tanakh. The books are divided into the “Major Prophets” and the “Minor Prophets” based on their length, not importance. The…
The documentary hypothesis is a theory that proposes that the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), known as the Torah or Pentateuch, represent a compilation of four originally independent texts woven together by a series of editors (redactors). According to this theory, the four source documents are: The Yahwist (J) source, named for its use of YHWH (translated in most Bibles as “the Lord”) as the name of God prior to the revelation of the divine name to Moses in Exodus. The Elohist (E) source, named for its use of “Elohim” as the name…