A very hot topic—abortion as a religious value—was brought into focus today on a short Fox Entertainment interview of two people: (1) a pastor [Shane Idleman] and (2) the president of...

In the movie, Gladiator, young Commodus says to his father, Marcus Aurelius (emperor of Rome 161-180 CE):

You wrote to me once, listing the Four Cardinal Virtues: 

1. Wisdom,
2. Justice,
3. ...

I’m certain that I would not be considered a patriot by many people. I am grateful for many things about the country of my birth and life, and I could write extensively about those things,...

Day after day, I am reminded by what I see around me that my culture does not have viable or worthwhile answers to my biggest questions.  In this video, I express my deepest reasons for...

By Gary D. Collier (Index:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  )

I want to thank you, Alan, for kindly inviting us to look over your shoulder...

Response by Alan Mudd  (Index:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  )

I don't know how to respond to the list of questions you made. To me, they do...

Response by Gary D. Collier  (Index:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  )

Being in near total agreement with your entire treatment of this subject,...

Response by Alan Mudd  (Index:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  ) 
(See editor's note at the end.)

I take it from your post that your position on...

By Gary D. Collier (Index:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5  ) 

What do you think?  Could Adam and Eve have left the garden on their own had they...

The list below—an instance of what I'll term CAD—was projected during a sermon I heard.

 With some guidance, one might legitimately compare brief texts by six different authors...

This post announces a new translation of the book of Revelation that will allow readers to consider the book from a very interesting perspective:  Revelation as a Poetic Text. At the time...

My encouragement to all who would read the book of Revelation is this:  Spend less time listening to theories about the book (how it is said to apply to this or that thing today or tomorrow),...

A reader has sent the following paragraph and granted the right to post it: 

Yet, I see the author(s) of the book of Revelation giving their interpretation and ideas of what is going on...

By the time we get to Revelation 18:20, the beast-riding woman from chapter 17 is promised for swift destruction in a futile attempt at war against God.  And so we come to this: 

...

Yahweh was passing by.
     Before him a raging wind 
          digging into the mountain, 
             ...

5. Certainly there was Some Joy in the Roman Empire. Without it, Evangelism would be Impossible.

            We are leading to the notion that...

4. A Government and Society and Culture that Thwarts “Joy.”

            What about the Roman Empire? Beard wrote a chapter titled...

3. A Way to Understand “Joy” that Avoids the Tangle of Vocabulary.

As we seek to discuss the concept of “joy,” we will not seek a definition, but we will seek a way to...

One of the biggest problems when reading the Book of Revelation (the Apocalypse) is that Christians too often don't have any kind of historical sense about apocalyptic thinking or apocalyptic...

2. Seeking to Understand “Joy.”

What is joy? We would like to know how joyful the society and the individual people were. The problem with this question is finding a good definition of...

1. Could People in the Roman Empire Trust One Another?

In the New Testament we find few professions (or occupations) mentioned. The first of these few to come to mind is that of Paul, Priscilla,...

I talked about Supportive Engagement in a previous post. I would like to build on those comments now. It is very interesting to contrast two types of conversation: 

supportive engagement...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

I say again: I believe in the inspiration of our scriptures!  But that is not the same thing as saying...

Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3  /  Part 4

I believe in the inspiration of our scriptures!  I believe it so strongly, that I feel the need...