Pope Francis and The Lord's Prayer: Daniel B. Wallace's Assessment of that Critique

Recently, Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church made a statement about one phrase in what is commonly known as "The Lord's Prayer."  He felt that the translation "Lead us not into temptation" was not a good idea, and suggested another wording, since it might sound as if God were trying to get people into evil.

Daniel B. Wallace, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies with a BA, Biola University, 1975; ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1979; PhD, 1995, very well known in the biblical translation world, and extremely schooled in the many nuances of translations, has written an article which examines this controversy, and, although rather technical in parts, brings out ideas we may not have considered, especially one relating to the context in which "The Lord's Prayer" was given.  Even if you skip the technical details, the last few paragraphs would be very interesting to ponder, as well as the first few.  The link is below:

Daniel B. Wallace on Pope Francis and "The Lord's Prayer"

Free Christian Resources for Kids and Others in Trauma

David C. Cook Publishing Company, which may be familiar to you because of their Sunday School and other written materials, has some free resources for kids and other going through various types of trauma, such as rape and extreme weather.   If you click on the following link, then scroll down a bit to the last half of the page, you will find various FREE resources that you can get.  Here is the link:

Link to Free Resources for Kids and Others in Trauma

I Don't Want a Theological Degree -- I Just Want to Study

Hi!   Maybe you like studying at a theoretical level in theology.  Perhaps, though, like many, you really don't wish to get a theology degree.  You just want to study with people in those fields.   Well, there is an interesting answer for you.

Tyndale Theological Seminary and Biblical Institute, in the United States (not to be confused with the one of a similar name in Canada), has a web application that allows you free access to their courses -- the same ones offered on their campus -- with no requirement for essays or tests.  They only require you to register.

Here is a quotation from their website:

It is the policy of Tyndale Theological Seminary & Biblical Institute to actively support equality of opportunity for all persons, and not to discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age, color, national and ethnic origin, handicap, veteran status, in the administration of admission, and educational policies of scholarship, and other school-administered programs. Applicants denied admission are permitted to re-apply after waiting one calendar year.

The Open Campus is completely free.
Students using the Open Campus are not obliged to submit any academic assignments.

If you would like to look into this, here is the link:

Tyndale OPEN CAMPUS information and application form

Testimony from Iran, and, Later, from Turkey

Here is another story, a little different from the last post, which I do believe you will also enjoy!

ISLAMIC SCHOLAR testimony

Testimony from Beirut, Lebanon, and Later, from Tyre -- Pastor Mohammed

Here is a story that I think you will enjoy.  It is at the following link:

Pastor Mohammed

John Lennox: I Believe in God -- Oxford Union Address

This is a question that comes to each of us.  A scientist that you might know, John Lennox, engages this question in a lecture at this link:

John Lennox discusses his belief in God

It may be interesting to you, although it does not determine the quality of the discussion, that Professor Lennox is not a person unaquainted with all of the reasons for atheism or for agnosticism.  He, in fact, is known for some of his debates with men such as Richard Dawkins.  

If you are interested in his credentials in the academic world, here is a quote from his blog:

John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics (emeritus) at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and the Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School, Oxford University, and teaches for the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme. In addition, he is an Adjunct Lecturer at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University, and at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, as well as being a Senior Fellow of the Trinity Forum.

I hope you enjoy this lecture!

Good News from GoodSeed: free Gospel E-Books to Download! Many Languages

Do you wish to understand the Christian gospel, or, on the other hand, do you know the Christian gospel and wish to explain it more clearly to other friends?

Either way, there is good news from at least one publisher -- GoodSeed.

There is a general course, called "Learn About the Bible for Yourself" and here is the link:

Learn About the Bible for Yourself"  

On the same page, there is a link to freely download the workbook for this course.
___

Goodseed have put many other publications online, now, so they are available for you to read, free of charge.

This organization takes into account the different major worldviews that people might have.

Are you from an environment in which the Islamic viewpoint is predominant?  Then, "All the the Prophets Have Spoken" might be the e-book that will interest you.  The free version of the ebook is found at

The E-Book: All That the Prophets Have Spoken

The videos that go with it are found at

All That the Prophets Have Spoken: Video

TRANSLATIONS into Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, French, Portuguese and Turkish are to be found on the same page as the English version, above.

 On the other hand, perhaps you are from a background in which a Christian view of some type or other has become more familiar to you?  Try studying or reading
" The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus."  This ebook and videos are found at the following link:

The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus

TRANSLATIONS into Albanian, Chechen, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish are found on the same page.

Perhaps, though, you are more of an enthusiast for the New Age view, or, perhaps, something connected with Oriental Religions.  It is probable that you would enjoy "By This Name."  The link to this is:   

By This Name

TRANSLATIONS are available on the same page, into the following languages:  Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Mongolian and Thai.

If you teach children, or, for that matter, adults who want a shorter course, why not try "The Lamb?"

The Lamb

The downloads and so on are available at the link, above.

TRANSLATIONS are available in an amazing number of languages:  Amharic, Chinese, German, Faroese, French, Italian, Japanese, Luxembourgish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Ukrainian

Training for Biblical Counseling in the Church: A Very Affordable Option

If you are like me, you may have noticed that, compared with the number of preachers and teachers formally prepared to serve the church, there seem to have been a lesser number of counselors.  And, many of us may remember the popular books by Jay Adams, published in the 1970s, which maintained that much of Christian counseling was not all that Christian, and that some of it appeared basically humanistic (a very different term than humanitarian, and not to be confused), where the view of the human being was very different from that portrayed in the Bible.  Some of us may have wondered where things went, after Jay Adams.

Well, apparently, Jay Adams himself is still with us, but a movement developed, and is now said to be in its "third wave."  There have been critiques of the movement that have said that it has been too problem-based and not enough God-based; that it has posited an expert (the counselor) and a dummy (the counselee), and that, sometimes, it has made too much of "certification," since many people in the church are qualified to counsel, and it has operated too separately from the church.

Some of these critiques have helped the movement, which now focuses more on what the Bible says, onside-by-side counseling (sans expert and sans dummy), but still offers certification as a way of ensuring that a counselor has thought about the issues and has received some of the wisdom of others in the church, often based on experience.

The movement has conferences with keynote speakers and the like, and one can hear some of these on the Web.

The movement has two or three outreaches: one is ABCB, another is CCEF, and yet another is IBCD, all connected, depending on how long one might wish to train.   This very week, in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, another organization, a new Canadian Biblical Counseling Coalition is holding its first-ever conference, as I write.

 Here is a link to a website that will explain much more about some of the training, but, having said that, and even if you do not wish to see training, the resources section at this site are very interesting and helpful, no doubt:

Equipping Christians to Counsel One Another in Their Local Church

The Occasional Sunday School: Resources For Those Few Times!

Remember the times when many neighborhood kids came to Sunday School?  Nowadays, since Sunday sport and brunch and indoor malls beckon, many churches find their chief outreach to children necessarily exists mainly during the week.  Sunday School may normally only involve a few children, and some age groups may be missing.  

But, what about visitors:  your grandchildren, a visiting preacher's kids, or, perhaps a young child of a parent trying out church who is, in turn, trying out Sunday School?  

Rose Publishing to the rescue, with Instant Preschool Sunday School lessons!

Instant Preschool Lessons

There is a basic lesson, to begin with: a heart nugget. Particularly at this level, a very helpful feature of these instant preschool lessons is the craft and coloring material.  An hour of lecture would not do, in preschool, so the lesson is focused, but reasonably short, and the hands-on aspect is long, interesting and related. It could carry you right through children's church, as well, if need be. Plenty to delight a preschool child's heart and hands, and to encourage a return!

SPANISH-LANGUAGE CHRISTIAN RESOURCES: F. F. Bruce, Charles Ryrie

Para leer:

GALATAS COMENTARIO

Autor: F. F. Bruce




Para escuchar online :

EQUILIBRIO EN LA VIDA CHRISTIANA

Autor:  Charles Ryrie