Biblical Theology

Introduction: though highly fascinating, Revelation is also a difficult book to interpret. It is the end, the culmination of millenniums of time and prophecies. Consequently, every little bit of Bible knowledge one can possibly acquire will help in the proper interpretation and understanding of this book. There are many interpretations of the same passages which seem feasible. More than one interpretation may be preferred, or they may all be wrong. It is certain that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation, 2 Peter 1:20. Opinion must be understood for what it is – just that!
As a result, the question may arise as to whether such a study is truly worthwhile. The answer is yes. We may not understand it all, but we will understand much more each time we prayerfully endeavor to learn God’s Word. It appears most discouragement lies in the erroneous human tendency to speculate in details not given. Revelation is understandable as to the general events of the future. Much detail is simply not given.
In preparation for the study of Revelation, it seems appropriate to think first about the magnificent intelligence of God, and the fact that He does every thing in good, perfect order. Mathematics, one of the chief tools of order is seen in every phase of the universe.

A common cause of erroneous interpretation and irrelevant application of some Bible texts is interpreters’ failure to recognize the different circumstances that existed when events the Bible records occurred. If one is not careful, he can impose current circumstances onto Scripture. We today not only have the completed Word of God, but we also have behind us a two-thousand year history of Christianity which impacts our views. Those who lived during Bible times had neither of these things. The world in which we live is, in many respects, vastly different from the world in which people of Bible times lived. The biblical world and, especially the world of the Old Testament (OT), was not Christian.

The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.23 Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?25 Far be it from you to do such a thing-to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18: 22-33) Abraham pleaded with us on behalf of the folk of Lot. Lo! Abraham was mild, imploring, penitent.

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En aquest article, el professor Boadas estudia la qüestió de Déu des d'una perspectiva sociolhgica i hi sintetitza alguns trets comuns del pensament alemany. Finalment, analitza alguns thpics respecte a la qüestió del mal i critica determinades formes d'argumentar.

From the opening pages of Scripture to its triumphant conclusion, the Bible reveals a grand narrative of God's desire to dwell with mankind in unbroken fellowship. In the beginning, Genesis 3:8 (NKJV) describes God walking in the Garden of Eden "in the cool of the day," openly communing with Adam and Eve in a state of perfect harmony. Yet, this intimacy was shattered when sin entered the world, defiling their consciences and leading to their expulsion from Eden (Genesis 3:23-24). From that moment, fellowship with God became conditional, requiring acknowledgment of His holiness and mankind's sinfulness in an age where sin reigns. However, the story does not end in separation. Revelation 21:3 (NKJV) declares a future hope: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God." This essay traces God's unfolding plan to restore His presence among humanity, culminating in the righteous reign of Jesus Christ, who conquered sin and will usher in eternal peace. We will explore this through Eden's fellowship, Israel's physical temples, Christ's manifestation, the church as His body, and the future restoration.

Elijah was no stranger to miracles. He had experienced their ability to transform lives, or reverse a desperate situation. But perhaps his familiarity with miracles had obscured his appreciation of the mundane. Yes, miracles had impressed the people on Mount Carmel. But they had not turned hearts; they had not produced faith; they had not resulted in a permanent change.

Our capacity to create meaning is a powerful gift. We use it to enrich our lives, but we should also use it to bring God glory, just as we were created to do. Jesus’ life had meaning, his death had meaning, and his resurrection had meaning too. We remember him this morning through a sacrament that has special meaning to us as Christians.

God unites body and soul for human flourishing. The body does not compete with the soul; it unites with the soul to produce embodied, soulful experience. Embodied experience feeds the soul, while the soul informs embodied experience. Meaning arises from this union: embodiment allows loving relationship, materiality allows intense sensation, and decisions within time produce moral consequence. Soul and body are as inseparable for vitality as light and heat are for fire.

Revelația lui Dumnezeu se desfășoară în două mari dimensiuni: una generală, accesibilă tuturor oamenilor prin natură, conștiință și istorie, și una specială, care se manifestă direct prin intervențiile Sale specifice, incluzând Scriptura și, mai ales, prin Isus Cristos. Această revelație specială este punctul culminant al comunicării divine, pentru că în Isus nu avem doar cuvinte inspirate de Dumnezeu, ci Îl avem pe Dumnezeu Însuși întrupat, venind în mijlocul umanității. Astfel, Logosul nu este doar o doctrină sau un mesaj transmis, ci o Persoană vie care Se descoperă în mod activ omenirii.

Un aspect fundamental al revelației divine este faptul că ea este întotdeauna încarnată. Dumnezeu nu transmite adevărul Său într-un vid, ci Îl înrădăcinează în istorie, în cultura și în limbajul uman. Aceasta înseamnă că revelația nu este abstractă sau imposibil de înțeles, ci este dată într-o formă accesibilă omului. Chiar și atunci când vorbim despre Isus Cristos, manifestarea supremă a Logosului, vedem că El a venit ca un om real, într-un context istoric precis, folosind un limbaj uman și adresându-Se într-un mod în care oamenii Îl puteau înțelege.

Această realitate ne conduce la o concluzie esențială: revelația lui Dumnezeu, deși este transcendentă, este comunicată într-un mod pe care omul îl poate recepționa și interpreta corect. Cuvântul lui Dumnezeu nu rămâne izolat într-o dimensiune mistică inaccesibilă, ci devine parte integrantă a realității umane. Faptul că Logosul poate fi exprimat verbal și propozițional înseamnă că adevărul divin nu este subiectiv sau ambiguu, ci are o formă clară, care poate fi studiată, înțeleasă și aplicată. Acest lucru ne arată de ce Scriptura joacă un rol fundamental în viața credincioșilor: ea nu este doar o colecție de scrieri sfinte, ci este expresia consemnată a Logosului lui Dumnezeu, prin care El continuă să Se descopere oamenilor.

In the beginning, God created man and woman for each other. When God presented Eve to Adam, Adam said: ÒThis at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.Ó Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Gen 2:23-24; RSV) Thus, in a perfect world, a perfect and immortal couple were joined by God in an indissoluble social and spiritual union represented by the metaphor Òone flesh.Ó GodÕs plan was eternal heterosexual monogamy between human beings. Note the aspects of this plan: (1) permanent, (2) heterosexual, (3) monogamous, and (4) between human beings. No law is stated to outline GodÕs plan. He simply created it so, knowing it was good. That the expression Òone fleshÓ is a metaphor for a social ideal rather than a literal description of a physical reality became painfully obvious once sin and death entered into the world. Once this happened, the ÒpermanentÓ aspect of GodÕs plan was affected by mortality and sin. Due to mortality, one individual, comprising 50% of the Òone fleshÓ unit, can die before the other, leaving the bereaved partner with the desire or need to marry again. Thus, ÒpermanentÓ could no longer mean Òeternal,Ó but had to be redefined as Òuntil death.Ó Furthermore, due to sin and its negative effect on human relationships, one or both marriage partners may desire to escape from their permanent bond through divorce and may seek remarriage to other partners. Sinful desires also threaten the other aspects of GodÕs plan, i.e., Òheterosexual,Ó Òmonogamous,Ó and Òbetween 1 Adultery violates an existing marriage and carries the death penalty (Lev 20:10; Deut 22:22). If pre-marital sex involves a betrothed woman, it is regarded as adultery, punishable by death (Deut 22:23-24), but if the woman is unbetrothed and seduced, the penalty is forced marriage (including payment of the bride price) at the discretion of the womanÕs father . Penalties for rape depend upon the status of the victim: death if she is betrothed (Deut 22:25-27); fifty shekels and forced marriage with no right of divorce if she is unbetrothed . Concealed immorality by a woman living in her fatherÕs house, evidence of which is her lack of virginity discovered at the time of her marriage, is punishable by death (Deut 22:20-21). Here, the two major problems with divorce are: 1. Divorce is the breaking of a covenant to which God is witness. 2. Divorce robs God of godly offspring. How? The text does not say, but perhaps it implies that broken homes are not conducive to spiritual life.

The legal and ethical dimensions in the temple-theology and Zion theology of Jersalem in Psalms and in the Book of Isaiah: The German version will be published in Zeitschrift für Altorientalische und Biblische Rechtsgeschichte/Journal for Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Law (ZAR) 31, 2025

Una de tantas relaciones complicadas" Propósito General Ético. Propósito Específico Invitarte a no ser incurioso en tu obediencia a Dios. Palabra clave Complicación. Proposición ¡Ahora ya sabes cómo disminuir las complicaciones, de ti depende hacerlo! Texto Salmo 143.1-12 (inicio), 1º Samuel 18:1-30 (todos), Varios (Mensaje Semanal) INTRODUCCIÓN Existen muchas relaciones que por una u otra razón, terminan complicándose; pero, sólo voy a señalar una, el matrimonio, palabra que proviene de la voz del latín matrimonium, voz, que en su origen, se encontraba formada por las raíces latinas matr-, procedente del vocablo latino mater, matris, que significa 'madre', y por el elemento-monium, que se empleaba para designar actos rituales o jurídicos. En este sentido, etimológicamente la palabra matrimonio hacía referencia al estatus jurídico de una mujer casada, a la maternidad legal de esta, al derecho de ser la madre legítima de los hijos de un hombre, y a todos aquellos derechos que a partir de esto se derivaban para la mujer en la Antigua Roma. Conviene señalar, sin embargo, en latín, la capacidad jurídica matrimonial recibía el nombre de connubium, y de ella gozaban únicamente los ciudadanos romanos; los extranjeros, los esclavos, los actores y los que se dedicaban a la prostitución tenían prohibido contraer matrimonio, aunque el connubium podía concederse en casos excepcionales. No era lícito el connubium entre padre e hija, madre e hijo, incluso si el hijo o hija era adoptado, ni entre hermanos, incluso si solamente eran medio hermanos. Tampoco estaba permitido el matrimonio de un hombre con la hija de su hermano, prohibición que fue modificada por el Senado Romano para permitir el matrimonio del emperador Claudio con su sobrina Agripina la Menor en el año 49 a. C. Sin embargo, la palabra matrimonium evolucionó en español para convertirse en la forma por excelencia para designar la unión de dos personas, ante Dios o ante la ley, a través de una serie de formalidades, para que mantengan una vida común y formen una familia. En consecuencia, en su origen esta palabra designaba el reconocimiento social de una mujer casada, ya que a través del matrimonio la mujer adquiría el estatus oficial y reconocimiento para ser la madre de los descendientes de un hombre. Se observan sobre el latín mater términos que guardan estrecha relación: matricidio en matricidium, que refiere al asesinato de una madre, matriarcado en matriarca, en oposición al patriarcado, matriz en matrix, interpretado como el útero. Es interesante la figura predominante de la mujer sobre el matrimonio, colocándola como la responsable en la pareja y con respecto a los hijos. Wilferd Arlan Peterson (1900-1995), escribió, durante muchos años, para la revista This Week, un suplemento dominical, que se publicaba en varios periódicos a nivel nacional; también escribió "The Art Of Marriage"-"El arte del matrimonio", un poema que es usado popularmente en muchas bodas: La felicidad en el matrimonio no es algo que simplemente sucede. Un buen matrimonio debe ser creado. En el matrimonio las cosas pequeñas son las cosas grandes. Nunca se es demasiado viejo para tomarse de la mano. Es recordar decir "te quiero" al menos una vez al día. En el matrimonio nunca se va a dormir enojado. No es en ningún momento dar por sentado al otro; el noviazgo no debe terminar con la luna de miel, debe continuar a través de los años. Es tener un sentido mutuo de valores y objetivos comunes. Es pararse juntos encarando al mundo. Es formar un círculo de amor que reúne a toda la familia. Es hacer las cosas los unos por los otros, no en actitud de deber o de sacrificio, sino con espíritu de alegría. Es decir palabras de aprecio y demostrar gratitud de manera reflexiva.

In 1994, during the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, many churches became places where many people were killed. In the past, those who made it to the church were not physically harmed, there was respect for that sacred space and people knew that there they will be safe. From being safe sanctuaries, churches turned to be places of massacre. What had happened to the respect of those traditional sacred spaces and what had happened to fellow believers not only to defile the house of God and their houses of prayers, but also to kill their fellow Christians, images of God and temples of the Holy Spirit like themselves ? In this paper, I explore the biblical theme of the Temple from the Old and New Testament perspectives in order to see how Scripture, soul of theology, can help in rebuilding the respect for churches and human beings as sacred spaces. I want also to explore how churches which became memorial sites could be used in the evangelization or catechesis of our people to prevent what had happened in 1994.

Conditions of Receiving the Holy Spirit for Service By J. B. Moody, D. D. I will use the term condition, in its primary sense, as denoting the states of mind and heart in which we receive the Holy Spirit, rather than works to be performed by which we procure the Holy Spirit. Like the Son, the Holy Spirit is himself a gift, and all the qualifications he bestows are also gifts; and, more, they are free gifts, not bought with money, nor the merit of human performances. True, he is promised to them that ask, but asking is not the condition. He is not given because we ask, or in consideration of the asking, for our part of the asking is nothing if not characterized by spiritual qualities beyond our capacity. Asking must be the expression of those states of mind and heart which are well pleasing to God, and which we will now consider. Of ourselves we can't ask for the Holy Spirit or anything else "as we ought." For a solution of this mystery we appeal to the New Covenant, by which God purposes to prepare a people for his service by cleansing them from sin; by giving them new hearts and right spirits; by giving them the indwelling Holy Spirit so as to cause them to walk in his statutes and keep his ordinances, which becomes our reasonable service. Thus, a people is prepared of God, "zealous of good works."

This paper argues that the teaching that the husband is prophet, priest, and king to his wife is unbiblical and dangerous because it usurps prerogatives that Christ alone fulfills and weakens the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. This paper demonstrates that Ephesians 5:22-33 does not teach that husbands fulfill every role for their wives that Christ fulfills for the church and argues that believers should look to the explicit teaching of scripture to formulate their understanding of biblical husband-and-wife roles.

Few characters found in Scripture could be described as more enigmatic than that of The Angel of The Lord.  Despite there being much academic work devoted to this topic, there is still disagreement on who this specific angel is.
Geerhardus Vos states that ‘The Angel of The Lord’ is “the most important and characteristic form of revelation in the patriarchal period.”

As such, the aim of this dissertation is to further develop existing understanding of this phenomenon, particularly in the area of implication.

Much of the existing academic works on the topic of theophanies and their concomitant aspects have the primary goal of classification and identification, rather than implication. The predominant focus seems to have been identifying who The Angel of The Lord is, whilst much less attention has been given to what the eventual classification means to the wider understanding of The Angel.
One possible identity of The Angel of The Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ. Should a robust model be put forward to demonstrate that he is, in-fact, a pre-incarnate appearance of the second person of the Trinity, the implications of this have the potential to greatly inform and therefore shape Christology.

As such, this paper explores a new lens through which to view Jesus Christ and his ministry in the context of these Old Testament appearances.

In this sermon, we reflect on Leviticus' spiritual and psychological teaching and claim that the "priestly religion" described in Leviticus, although very foreign to the modern reader, provides us insights into our religious and spiritual path.

In both the OT and the NT, the heart refers to the center of one's life and from it arises both positive and negative thoughts, actions, and emotions. This article offers suggestive ideations concerning its role in the beginning of sin. The Psalmist (51:10) cried out, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." May the brief comments in this article signal urgent motivation and incentives to echo these words of the Psalmist in our own life's adventures.

Psychic Numbness : A voiceless condition of the traumatized individuals, or societies; caused by overwhelming pain and sufferings. Ordinary Textreaders : This is a class of biblical text-interpreters that has not received xi any literary training in text-reading. Members of this class interpret the text, through the folklore embedded in their worldview that constitute traditions and customs; which are not in mode of learned, academic knowledge. They are everywhere in the society-churches, market place and villages etc. Generally, they read the text for survival and are on the periphery of an elitist guild of biblical interpreters in the church. Their artistic work is reflected in music, drama and in day-to-day conversations. The ordinary text-readers do not belong to a homogeneous group, but are united by their situation of marginalization in the face of foreign interpretation of the Bible, which denies them a choice to appropriate the scriptures. This phrase refers to a theory and method of textual criticism that challenges Eurocentric perspectives; in a critical examination of literature, politics, history, theology, biblical studies and so forth. The post-colonial discourse is a vital intrusion and reversal of colonial discourse in a coexistence of competing and complementing modes. : This is an experiential challenge, by intolerable state of human conditioned existence. This term is used to refer to exceptional situations of helplessness and distress, in a society, upon witnessing or hearing the physical and psychological hurt. Trauma can appear after a single event, a series of events, or a particularly upsetting period of life of catastrophic nature. Reflection : Theological reflection is a reflection of people"s problematic situation and negative experiences in life, in the light of their articulated faith tradition; this could be reflected through proverbs and idiomatic expressions (in African Religion), a parable in the Bible (in Christianity) or a verse in Qur"an (Islam) etc. Uncritical ideology : This is a patterned human discourse that gives no attention to the evils of imperialism, and the shedding of blood and oppression that goes with gaining of a territory.

El artículo muestra el problema histórico del templo de Jerusalén desde dos ángulos desiguales. Primero, desde los datos que proporcionan los textos bíblicos y en segundo lugar, desde los estudios de la historiografía moderna. La aproximación metodológica que se siguió fue del método documental-bibliográfico que permitió abordar una pregunta que guio toda la investigación: ¿se puede considerar como histórica la existencia del Templo de Jerusalén de acuerdo a la información que se nos ha transmitido desde las tradiciones judeo-cristianas o más bien hay que abandonar su comprensión histórica y más bien verlo como una construcción literaria que está relacionado con un contenido teológico? Para abordar esta pregunta se hizo necesario partir haciendo una "aclaración terminológica" (primer apartado). Una vez establecido el marco semántico de lo que entendemos por templo o templos de Jerusalén, se analizaron "los antecedentes bíblicos" del templo (segundo apartado) Y finalmente, un ejemplo de cómo es tratado el tema del templo por la actual ciencia histórica: "El planteamiento de la historiografía moderna" (tercer apartado). Con todo, se responde en las conclusiones nuestra pregunta central que guía estas notas investigativas sobre el templo de Jerusalén.

What was the nature of the message the church was to speak to Archippus? Was it encouragement to continue faithfully in his God-assigned work? Or was the message rather intended to “stir up” to renewed activity a back-slidden preacher who was neglecting at least some element of his work? Though we do not know what Paul and the church knew, the natural implication is that Archippus’s commitment to the work of the ministry of the Word had waned. If he was fulfilling his ministry, Paul would have worded his message differently.

The second story of creation in Genesis ch.2 and its contionuations is shown to tell the story of the birth of humankind as we know it, or better, of its creative self-formation, culminating, as I argue, in full-fledged human selfhood and agency. It is a story punctuated by three highly significant, divinely guided moments of emotional significance.
The three are Adam and Eve’s shameful covering of their nakedness after eating from the forbidden “tree of knowledge of good and evil” (2:17), the story of Cain’s killing of Ebel and its aftermath (4:2-17), and that of the city and the so-called Tower of Babel (11:1-9). The three, I argue, form a succession of harsh divine interventions in which three grounding layers of human selfhood are laid by means of three categories of exclusively human self-directed emotion—two pertaining to shame and one to a specific form of humility.

A very important aspect of the Christian faith is the work of Christ through His resurrection. This event became a basic concept in Christian doctrine. The meaning of Christ's resurrection does not only concern the futurist aspect, but also the presentist aspect in the lives of believers. The event after the resurrection is the appearance of Jesus himself, in the text of the Gospel of John 21 it is the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples. The study of the text of the Gospel of John 21: 1-14 uses descriptive research through library data sources with the aim of finding the meaning of resurrection in life. The meaning of Christ's resurrection in life or the presentist aspect is understood in the challenges of life, both in physical and spiritual aspects. Resurrection is an event that will be experienced by humans in the future and a resurrection that refers to Jesus Christ is a resurrection that happened in the past (historical) or has already happened. The meaning of C...

Όπως ακριβώς οι πειρατές χρησιμοποιούν τα κιάλια τους, έτσι και τα παιδιά μπορεί να επικεντρώσουν την προσοχή τους σε κάτι που επιθυμούν και να μην δώσουν σημασία σε όλα τα όμορφα πράγματα που ήδη έχουν. Αν είσαι παιδί που νιώθει ότι «Είναι άδικο», τότε αυτό το βιβλίο είναι για εσένα!
Το βιβλίο «Τι να κάνεις όταν είναι άδικο» καθοδηγεί τα παιδιά και τους γονείς τους, καθώς και όποιον άλλο, ειδικό ή μη ειδικό, ασχολείται με τα παιδιά, και τους βοηθά να διαχειριστούν τα δύσκολα συναισθήματα του φθόνου και της ζήλιας, χρησιμοποιώντας στρατηγικές και τεχνικές που βασίζονται σε γνωστικές-συμπεριφορικές αρχές.
Αυτό το διαδραστικό βιβλίο αυτοβοήθειας αποτελεί πλήρη πηγή αναφοράς για την εκπαίδευση, την κινητοποίηση και την ενδυνάμωση των παιδιών προκειμένου να διαχειριστούν το συναίσθημα της ζήλιας και να αντλούν ικανοποίηση από τις καθημερινές τους δραστηριότητες και κατακτήσεις.

By engaging with the excellent work of Gerald H. Wilson and David C. Mitchell, this article adds further nuance to the growing scholarly consensus that the Psalter should be read as a book. Reading the Psalter synchronically, it reasserts that there is a unifying nature to the Psalter's narrative impulse and outlines the forward-looking impetus of the Psalter's utopian hope. Finally, it notes the contribution of Psalms 110 and 132 to this forwardlooking narrative impulse. The article concludes that it is justifiable to assert that the Psalter-as a unified entity-encourages its reader with the utopian hope of a new Davidic king.

After working across some years on a number of haiku projects based on books of the Bible, my focus turned this year to Joshua, the book of the Bible which follows the five books of Moses.  In this case, I decided to explore the use of the tanka poetry pattern, which could potentially capture more from the accounts in chapter-by-chapter summaries.  In the process, I have wanted to understand better, summarize concisely, reflect upon, and communicate these Joshua chapters using tanka’s 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 5 syllable, 7 syllable, 7 syllable Japanese poetic pattern in English. 

In the Old Testament historical context, Joshua picks up with the leader who followed Moses and with the people of Israel entering, conquering, and settling the land promised to them by the LORD (Genesis 12:1-3; Genesis 15:18-21; Genesis 17:6-8; Genesis 26:2-5; Genesis 28:13-15; Deuteronomy 1:8; Deuteronomy 6:10-12).  The book of Joshua begins with the LORD’s encouragement of Joshua to be strong and courageous, and continues through Joshua’s charge to all Israel after conquering and settling the land promised to them.  For this Old Testament book, the 5/7/5/7/7 pattern has been used to write one tanka for each of this book’s 24 chapters. 

Joshua 1

Just as with Moses
I will also be with you
Inherit the land
And be strong and courageous
For the LORD God is with you

Growing up in the Levant, I memorized the Nicene Creed in Arabic. When I arrived in the United States in 1950, I learned the Apostles’ Creed, and its nearly exclusive use in worship services.
According to chistian.neti:
“The Apostles Creed is closely linked to the early Christian practice of baptismal confession. As new converts were baptized, they would affirm their faith by reciting the creed, thereby publicly declaring their adherence to the foundational doctrines of Christianity.”
Over the years, I have conducted worship services at Reformed Churches in the USA and Canada, where the Apostles’ Creed is always used.
The 1700 Anniversary of the Nicene Creed could be an opportunity to use this confession at a worship service.ii

THIS THIRD AND FINAL LECTURE EXPLAINS THE SEMANTICS OF PROPHETIC LANGUAGE IN CONTEXT OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION. IT DEMONSTRATES THE PROPERTIES OF 'BABYLON' ARE THE SAME AS THE PROPERTIES OF C.1ST JERUSALEM. IT THEN APPLIES THE RULE; 'WHAT IS EQUAL TO EACH OTHER IS EQUAL TO THE SAME THING,' CONCLUDING ONLY JERUSALEM IS ASCRIBED THE TITLE 'BABYLON.'

A FIRST-CENTURY MODEL UNITES ALL THREE PROPHETIC SYSTEMS -TIME, LANGUAGE, CONTEXT- IN 70AD AT THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE MILLENNIAL TEMPLE.

IT IS OFFERED AS A WORKING HYPOTHESIS, THE SIMPLEST STATEMENT CONSISTENT WITH OBSERVATION.

PRAISE BE TO GOD.

THIS POWER-POINT EXPLAINS THE FIRST OF THE THREE BASIC SYSTEMS OF PROPHECY - TIME, LANGUAGE, CONTEXT.  IT ADDRESSES THE MILLENNIUM BY POSITING ITS' BEGINNING AT THE INAUGURATION OF KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE. (960BC) TEN TESTABLE-PRINCIPLES ARE OFFERED FOR THIS NEW MODEL.

THIS PAST (PRETERIST) MODEL OF THE MILLENNIUM UNITES ALL TIME FACTS IN THE FIRST CENTURY DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM IN 70AD.

This dissertation seeks to present a coherent conception of the biblical concept of the Kingdom of God through critical examination of the writings of Dr. George E. Ladd and Dr. Gregory Beale. The strengths and weaknesses of each man's thought is presented in turn, followed by a comparative assessment and elucidation of more positives and negatives, with biblical evaluation throughout. A final chapter summarizes conclusions and presents a coherent understanding of the Kingdom of God, with a final summary of relevant applications to Christian life and the Church.

Most modern Christians unconsciously inherit a cosmology shaped more by classical Greek dualism than by the biblical narrative. This has led to an assumption that “heaven” is an immaterial, otherworldly realm, disconnected from the physical cosmos. In contrast, this paper argues that heaven is part of the created order—composed of real, albeit non-baryonic, matter—and that spiritual beings such as angels and demons are not immaterial spirits but conscious agents composed of exotic substance embedded within the same universe we inhabit.
Drawing from Scripture, theology, and speculative insights from physics, this study challenges traditional ontological categories and proposes a unified cosmological framework in which the spiritual and physical interact structurally, not symbolically. Just as Job declares that the heavens are corrupt and even the holy ones are not trusted, and as Revelation foretells the renewal of both heaven and earth, so too this paper explores a model in which the divide between the visible and invisible is not eternal but awaiting glorification. In doing so, it offers a theological response to both scientific mystery and metaphysical longing.