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General Christian

2024-12-20T23:37:10-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Meaning of Baptism for the Dead in 1 Corinthians 15:29

Last updated on: December 20, 2024 at 11:37 pm By B. J. Oropeza

One of the most perplexing verses in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 15:29: “Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If actually the dead are not raised, why even be baptized for them?” What does this verse mean? The passage has a long history of interpretation beginning with patristic writers who find its original meaning evasive, though they attribute its malpractice to heretical sects. John Chrysostom, for example, says that Marcionite heresy does such a practice,... Read more

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History and Religion

2024-12-20T23:41:31-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Why is There No Empty Tomb in Paul’s Resurrection of Christ?

Last updated on: December 20, 2024 at 11:41 pm By B. J. Oropeza

Paul’s omission of Jesus’s empty tomb, found in the Gospels, is a peculiarity sometimes pointed out regarding his resurrection statements. One of Paul’s clearest statements on his gospel and the resurrection of Jesus is 1 Cor 15:3–4. Here he writes, “For I delivered to you among first things what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose on the third day according to the scriptures.” The... Read more

Contemplative

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History and Religion

2024-08-13T23:28:35-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Can a Believer Lose Their Salvation? A Red Herring Question?

Last updated on: August 13, 2024 at 11:28 pm By B. J. Oropeza

If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you have probably heard this question many times: “Can a believer lose his or her salvation?” This usually leads to endless debates between well-meaning Christians on both sides of the issue. The “Calvinist” props up John 10:28-30 and the “Arminian” Hebrews 6:4-6.* No one is able to pluck the believer out of Jesus’s hand vs. it is not possible for those who fall away to renew again to repentance. Okay, round two:... Read more

Contemplative

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apostasy and perseverance

2024-07-30T16:55:46-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Saint Paul’s Guide to Missions

Last updated on: July 30, 2024 at 4:55 pm By B. J. Oropeza

What can we learn about missions from Saint Paul? Dean Flemming provides us with a helpful guide in his perceptive studies.* Flemming distinguishes between a narrow and broad sense of mission in the Apostle Paul’s letters. In the narrow sense of gospel and church planting, the term involves initial activities and refers to a group of called individuals seeking to bring outsiders to faith in Jesus. This group also actively seeks to place converts into Christian communities (Rom 10:8–18; 1... Read more

Evangelical

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Relationships and Religion

Paul the Apostle: Studies

2024-07-18T23:05:23-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Was there 400 years of Silence between Old & New Testaments?

Last updated on: July 18, 2024 at 11:05 pm By B. J. Oropeza

I hear occasionally over pulpits and on the internet that 400 years of silence persisted between the Old and New Testaments. This allegedly marks the time between Malachi’s prediction of the future coming of Elijah (Malachi 4:5–6) and the arrival of John the Baptist, interpreted as the coming of the new Elijah (Matt 11:13–14; Mark 9:11–13; Luke 1:17). However, nowhere in Scripture does the Bible clearly speak of a period of four hundred years of silence between Testaments, whether in... Read more

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intertestamental period

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intertestamental period

John Hyrcanus

Prophets

2024-07-09T21:11:54-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is John the Baptist Elijah? Comparing Matt 11:14 & John 1:21

Last updated on: July 9, 2024 at 9:11 pm By B. J. Oropeza

Jesus claims that John the Baptist is Elijah who was to come in Matthew 11:13-14. But John himself denies that he is Elijah in John 1:21. So who is right? Can the two views be reconciled? Let’s examine these and other relevant biblical texts more closely. The Synoptic Gospels on John the Baptist as Elijah In the Synoptic Gospels John the Baptist is said to be Elijah. In Matthew 11:13–15, the text attributes to Jesus the following words: “for all... Read more

Contemplative

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2024-06-24T07:25:49-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

How is the Unpardonable Sin Committed?

Last updated on: June 24, 2024 at 7:25 am By B. J. Oropeza

There is one sin that is unpardonable according to Jesus—blaspheming the Holy Spirit. But under which circumstances is it committed according to Scripture? Let us look at the three biblical passages where the unpardonable sin appears: Matthew 12:31–32 In Matthew 12:31-32 those who are in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit are Jesus’s unbelieving religious opponents. Important for our purposes, these opponents are not identified as Christ’s followers. Matthew’s Gospel includes two separate incidents where the opponents claim that Jesus... Read more

Contemplative

History and Religion

Education and Religion

blaspheming the Holy Spirit

2024-07-17T16:25:47-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Joanna & Chuza in ‘The Chosen’: A Bad Marriage in the Bible?

Last updated on: July 17, 2024 at 4:25 pm By B. J. Oropeza

If you follow Dallas Jenkins’s film series, The Chosen, you will notice Joanna, a wealthy and prominent woman, is a follower of John the Baptist and Jesus (played by Amy Bailey). Now in season four it is clear that she has a rocky marriage with her husband, Chuza (played by Nick Chinlund). In the first episode, we find him with another woman at Herod’s banquet, an evening that famously results in John the Baptist’s beheading. What does the Bible say... Read more

Evangelical

Relationships and Religion

Family, Parenting and Religion

2025-03-08T23:35:41-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Participation in Christ: A Dying Art

Last updated on: March 8, 2025 at 11:35 pm By B. J. Oropeza

Since this blog site is named “in Christ,” I think it is prudent to discuss what being “in Christ” means. It is participation in Christ, which is also known as union with Christ. When people trust in Jesus as Messiah and Lord of their life, and trust that he died for their sins and rose again, they receive the Spirit of God and Christ. Christ now lives in them through the Spirit, and they in him. They are now “in... Read more

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2024-06-06T11:31:25-07:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Are Those Who Fall Away Really Christians? Hebrews 6:4-6

Last updated on: June 6, 2024 at 11:31 am By B. J. Oropeza

Hebrews 6:4-6 speaks about falling away. It reads, “For it is impossible regarding those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted of the good word of God and powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying for themselves again the son of God, making a public mockery of him.” If such people... Read more

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