Super Happy Fun Words

Appendices are a good thing; most of the time, they help us to find exactly what we're looking for in a book. They lurk all the way in the back, out of sight until we need them. But there's a different kind of appendix, a "vestigial" one that causes more problems than we would like. 'vesti-wha?' you say. Well, a vestigial organ is reasoned to be a leftover and now defunct part of the body whose origins are from a pre-evolved species of mankind. One example of this kind of organ is the appendix which is a narrow tube of flesh located at the junction of the large and small intestines. For many years, most medical experts have asserted that the appendix serves no function whatsoever. What's bad about the appendix is that it is susceptible to becoming infected, which can in turn lead to death if left untreated. What's with this pesky organ? It seems like such a useless nuisance which can put more than a damper on a good party. Much like this surreptit...

One particular thing that has perplexed me as a Christian is related to the mechanics or inner-workings of the sacrifice of Christ. I've always asked how could Jesus, who is both fully human and fully divine, be separated from God the Father? What I mean is, how can the persons of the trinity be separated? Wouldn't that present some kind of contradiction and thus a massive theological problem for those who espouse the eternality and inner-connectedness of the trinitarian God? As it turns out, good ol' Ignatius of Antioch studied Scripture and came up with a primitive, yet potent solution to this problem. Long after his passing, the church (at the First Council of Ephesus) refined his ideas and from them came the term "Communicatio Idiomatum" (which is Latin for communication of properties). It proceeds directly from the concept of the hypostatic union, which states that Jesus the Christ (a.k.a. Jesus of Nazareth) is both fully human and fully divine. The Comm...

I'm currently in the throes of dissertation writing, but as time permits, I'll be blogging on what I'm learning from Mark's gospel account. I'm excited about this as my overall knowledge of the Bible is in increasing (as well as my appreciation for the triune God), particularly in the areas of exegesis and hermeneutics. NT scholar Gordon Fee has been walking me through the process of executing sound exegesis through his book NT Exegesis. First things first, one must read the text in question in its entirety and in different versions or translations before any exegetical or analytic work is done. Seeing as how I don't know Koine Greek, I will have to suffice with reading different American English versions. In my personal library, I have hard copies of the NIV (1984 and 2011), TNIV, KJV, ESV and NLT; four thought-for-thought translations versus two word-for-word. So far I have read through Mark in one sitting in every version except for the NLT (with the reaso...