Sturtz Stuff

This is post from the blog of  Larry Hurtado . Larry Hurtado is a retired professor from  Edinburgh. He has spent decades focused mainly on the origins and development of “devotion to Jesus” in earliest Christianity. Click here to read this post on Hurtado's own blog.  Scholars commonly see in 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 material of an early “pre-Pauline” confession that focuses on Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and appearances to select witnesses.  But there are continuing disagreements over what kind of event is referred to in vv. 3-5 where Jesus is described as “raised on the third day,” specifically whether this refers to a resurrection/transformation of Jesus’ mortal body or some other kind of event, e.g., a “spiritual” one that left his mortal body in the grave.  I’ve just read a new study of the matter that seems to me pretty effective in guiding exegetes to the correct answer:  James Ware,  “The Resurrection of Jesus in the Pre-Paul...

1 John 2:26-27 " 26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him." As you read the letter of 1 John it becomes clear that there is some kind of a massive controversy that is brewing in this early Christian community. There seems to be some pulling and tearing at the fabric of unity within this early church community that 1 John is addressing. We don’t have the various perspectives of those involved yet we do have John's responce. Thus John says, in the above passage, that “ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. ” By the way, the word astray in Greek is where we get the English word for planet. In John’s time a planet was a wondering body. So Joh...

David Lipscomb was an  American minister, educator and leader in the Restoration movement. In 1855 David Lipscomb, along with Tolbert Fanning , started to publish a magazine called the Gospel Advocate . The Gospel Advocate became an influential publication within the Restoration Movement. On April 28, 1898 David Lipscomb wrote about the "spirit of war" on the eve of the Spanish-American war. Lipscomb's statement still rings loudly today as he calls for Christians to reflect and consider the "spirit of war” in light of the Spirt of Jesus. Here is part of his editorial statement in the April 28, 1898  Gospel Advocate  (p. 269): War is disastrous to all prosperity and good of a people.  It may for a time create activity in business in preparing for and caring on a conflict, but it must result permanently in more taxes and less to pay with.  The people pay all the cost of war.  But the material injury produced by war is the least harmful of its e...