To help His listeners better understand the timing and circumstances of the events leading up to, and including, the destruction of the temple before their generation passed away, Jesus draws on two familiar Old Testament judgment events: the flood and the judgment on Sodom. Jesus, teaching by analogy, shows that the coming of the flood waters parallels His own coming, as described in the Olivet D [...]
Gary discusses the biblical perspectives and the responsibilities of pastors in addressing controversial issues. While the Bible may be believed in principle, it is too often denied in practice. When we are told that “Christians must address ‘issues’ in the society,” the following disclaimer is often given: “but not institutions.” How does one address issues but not institutions since “issues aris [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 113 Using the movie Born Yesterday as an example, Gary discusses the history of prophetic speculation, its inaccuracies, and how to interpret biblical prophecy correctly. At first reading, the New Testament seems to teach that the temple would be destroyed (Matt. 23:38; 24:2), Jerusalem would come under siege (Matt. 22:7), and the Old Covenant order woul [...]
In my first part of this article, I addressed a claim Joel Richardson made on a podcast about a coin struck by Domitian around AD 82-83. He argued that the coin proved Revelation was written during Domitian’s reign and that Revelation 1:16, 20 referred directly to that coin. I showed that numerous coins with stars, some with seven stars, were struck before AD 70 and after AD 95, when Richardson cl [...]
Gary responds to a recent article by Christian apologist Greg Koukl about Christians being involved in culture and politics. The objection from Christians that religion and politics do not mix can be answered in at least four ways. First, it’s true that the Bible’s primary concern is not politics. Of course, the same could be said about the family and church not being the Bible’s primary concern. [...]
Podcaster and author Joel Richardson recently claimed that Revelation’s content was revealed to John around AD 95,[1] during Domitian’s reign (AD 81-96), based on a coin the Emperor struck. The coin features the Latin legend Divvs Caesar Imp[eratori] Domitiani F[ilivs] (“The Divine Caesar, Son of the Emperor Domitian”) on the face. The reverse depicts a naked infant seated on a globe surrounded by [...]
Each Columbus Day (or is it now ‘Indigenous Peoples’ Day’ commemorating the bloodlust of the Aztecs and Incas?), Christopher Columbus is hammered for his voyages of exploitation of native peoples. See the first chapter in Mary Grabar’s Debunking Howard Zinn: Exposing the Fake History That Turned a Generation Against America and Jeff Fynn-Paul’s Not Stolen: The Truth About European Colonialism in t [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 112 Gary points out that many Bible prophecy writers, who claim to interpret the Bible “literally,” don’t actually do so. Applying the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 to modern-day nations is contrary to the historical context. No nation today had any part in Israel’s exile 2600 years ago. The prophecy begins with instructions given to Ez [...]
“Sheilaism” is based on the moral philosophy of Sheila Larson, “a young nurse who has received a good deal of therapy.” Sheila believes in God, but in the end, her faith is in herself. “My faith has carried me a long way,” she says. “It’s Sheliaism. Just my own little voice.”[1] If there is “Sheilaism,” then there is Maryism, Tomism, Michaelism, and every other individualism. The Bible has describ [...]
Gary highlights a few “non-negotiables” that he found online from a self-proclaimed “progressive pastor.” Some have abused Jesus’ name and deeds in their attempts to bring about a “better society.” Jesus has been portrayed as a social revolutionary, the purveyor of a “liberation theology” which is little more than Karl Marx dressed in religious garb. Ronald H. Nash, a long- [...]
Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice “is firing back against the absurd, un-American demands that pastors must ‘stay out of politics.’… Rice is urgently calling on Christian leaders across the nation to STEP UP, find their courage, and get aggressively involved ahead of the most important midterm elections of our lifetimes.” This is almost a day late and a dollar short. It’s going to b [...]
Gary weighs, measures, and analyzes the debate over transgender sports with track and field events. The Christian’s starting point is the Word of God which rests upon God Himself. “[M]en need an epistemological ‘Archimedean point of reference’ to understand their cosmos and themselves; but only a revelation from One transcendentally outside of the cosmos can provide the pou sto essential to knowle [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 111 Gary answers a recent critic who questions whether he is a Christian. The Jews did know, from Daniel 9, that the Messiah would come and bring judgment on their city. They expected it to happen around 50 BC. When this did not happen, the faithful religious leaders kept being faithful, like Hannah, who was eighty-four when she saw the baby Jesus (Luke [...]
William Goldman, not to be confused with William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, sums up the problem of attempting to be certain about the success of a film this way: “Nobody knows anything.” Goldman should know. He was a successful novelist and screenwriter with several Academy Awards and big screen blockbusters to his credit. Goldman was not saying that Hollywood types are generally ignora [...]
In this continuation of his first lecture, Gary points out that if the biblical God is not recognized in a culture, something else will always take His place. In debates on subjects where there are fundamental disagreements, several basic preliminaries must be established before a meaningful discussion can take place. The first principle is to establish the starting point for the ultimate authorit [...]
What Christian non-voters don’t know about Islam may end up enslaving them or worse. Of course, not all Muslims are Jihadists, but more than 300 million are. Jihadist strategists do not believe they can militarily destroy the United States, so they target its social, economic, and political foundations to cause internal collapse. There are too many Christians who avoid politics to fight Islam, a r [...]
We must always begin with first principles in any debate. The Bible states a simple but fundamental fact: God’s government over all things is singular, absolute, without compromise, and without legitimate competitors. All earthly governments are delegated by God’s decree and limited. Contrary to the Declaration of Independence, it’s false to claim that “governments are instituted among men, derivi [...]
Bible Prophecy Under the Microscope-Episode 110 Gary responds to a recent video by Joel Richardson about a Roman coin that he claims “proves” that the book of Revelation was written during Domitian’s reign. Quite a bit of diversity existed in early Christianity regarding the date that John wrote the book of Revelation, and the dominance of one opinion is not synonymous with unani [...]
Predictions about the end times have a long history, as Francis X. Gumerlock points out in his book The Day and the Hour: Christianity’s Perennial Fascination with Predicting the End of the World. The events we see today have recurred throughout the centuries. “In 1712, William Whiston, [Isaac] Newton’s successor as professor of mathematics at Cambridge, had predicted that a comet would soon destr [...]
Gary briefly discusses the four major interpretive approaches to the book of Revelation. Revelation uses many Old Testament symbols: eating scrolls, beasts, marks on the forehead, gold, thrones, sun, moon, stars, candlesticks, Balaam, Jezebel, dragon, Gog and Magog, Sodom, Egypt, and Babylon. It’s unlikely that Old Testament references to people and places appeared either in John’s day, or will ap [...]
