Restitutio Classes

So often we default to categories of thought prevalent in our time and without realizing it, read them into the Bible. As it turns out, first-century people living in Corinth did not think about sexuality like we do at all. In today’s episode, I want to begin by focusing rather closely on 1 Corinthians 6.9, Read more about 589 1 Corinthians in Context 6: Homosexuality & Singleness [&#82...

Do you know what blows my mind? That with all the permissiveness and sinfulness of the Roman world, what the Corinthian Christians were doing shocked Paul. He said that the sexual immorality of one man among them was so bad that such was not even found among the gentiles. That’s quite an indictment! Today we’re Read more about 588 1 Corinthians in Context 5: Sexual Immorality […]

Paul wrote extensively about worldly wisdom in 1 Corinthians. Due to the prevalence and esteem of philosophical schools, Paul probably felt a need to explain how Christianity measured up. In this lecture we’ll survey the five main philosophical options available to first-century Corinthians, including Platonism, Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism and Stoicism. Then once we get a Read more ab...

Now that we’ve familiarized ourselves with the city of Corinth and Paul’s missionary activity there, we’re ready to dive into 1 Corinthians. As I mentioned previously, my strategy for this class is to focus on the major themes rather than covering every verse. Our first theme is the issue of divisiveness among the Christians at Read more about 586 1 Corinthians in Context 3: Fact...

How did Christianity come to Corinth in the first place? Although many times we are left speculating about how an ancient church got started, we have definitive knowledge about the Corinthian church from Luke, Paul’s traveling companion. In what follows we’ll work through Acts chapter 18 to see how Paul initially founded the church in Read more about 585 1 Corinthians in Context 2: Pau...

Today we’re beginning something new. I’ve been working on this class on 1 Corinthians for months and months. I had taken classes on 1 Corinthians at Boston University twice. The first time we just read through the entire epistle in Greek. The second time was when we learned about what modern scholars said about Corinth. Read more about 584 1 Corinthians in Context 1: Corinth as the Con...

This is part 5 of the Kingdom Seminar, based on the book Kingdom Journey. This episode begins by delving into the history of how the theologians of the third and fourth centuries rejected the kingdom since they thought it was too crude, too hedonic, and too Jewish. Next I briefly cover three rediscovery movements, including Read more about 566 Kingdom Seminar 5: Kingdom Ambassadors […]

This is part 18 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. What tools can help you understand the bible better? Today we’ll cover some recommended resources for you to deepen your study of the scriptures, including bible dictionaries, commentaries, bible software, AI, and more. Of course, it’s impossible to cover everything in a reasonable time Read more about 551 Read the Bible for Yourself...

This is part 17 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. After reviewing the resources you can use to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, we delve into the sources that translators use for their work. Next, we’ll look at translation philosophies, including formal and dynamic equivalence. Lastly we’ll cover the controversial issues of gender accuracy Read more about 550 Read the Bible for Your...

This is part 16 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Revelation is a complicated book of the Bible. It contains some of the most incredible and awe-inspiring descriptions of God’s throne room and the final paradise on earth. It also describes sinister mayhem, wanton destruction, and toe-curling persecution. How can we make sense of Read more about 549 Read the Bible for Yourself 16: How to Re...

This is part 15 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. In previous episodes, we’ve looked at Paul’s church epistles and pastoral epistles. Today we move into the third section of epistles in the New Testament–the general epistles. Instead of surveying each of the eight general epistles, we’ll just focus on two: Hebrews and 1 Read more about 548 Read the Bible for Yourself 15:...

This is part 14 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The Pastoral Epistles are letters to church leaders, instructing them how churches should function. Though they are not well read by most Christians today, they remain authoritative for pastors, elders, and deacons. Today we’ll cover 1-2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. We’ll explore the major Read more about 547 Read the Bible for Yours...

This is part 13 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Before getting to the Church Epistles, we’ll begin with an overview of how letters were written, read, and performed. Then we’ll see how they are arranged in our Bibles. We’ll spend a good deal of time talking about occasion. Why did Paul write each Read more about 546 Read the Bible for Yourself 13: How to Read the Church Epist...

This is part 12 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Acts is an action-packed book full of excitement and wonder. We learn about the early expansion of the Church from a small group of ragged Christ-followers to dozens of house churches throughout major cities in the Mediterranean world. How did Christianity “go public”? The Read more about 545 Read the Bible for Yourself 12: How to Rea...

This is part 11 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The Gospels are evangelistic biographies of Jesus. In today’s episode you’ll learn the basic storyline of the four biblical Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then we’ll go through them from shortest to longest to see how each brings a unique and helpful perspective Read more about 544 Read the Bible for Yourself 11: How to...

This is part 10 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. We’ve taken our time working through the Old Testament, section by section. Before we tackle the New Testament and look at the Gospels, we need to talk about the time between the Old and New Testaments. In the gap of roughly four hundred years, Read more about 543 Read the Bible for Yourself 10: Key Background for Reading the New Testament...

This is part 9 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The 17 books of the prophets comprise 27% of the Old Testament. Although some parts can be difficult to comprehend, they reveal the heart of God with raw pathos and brutal honesty. To read the prophets, then, is to draw near to God. No Read more about 542 Read the Bible for Yourself 9: How to Read the Prophets […]

This is part 8 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The Book of Psalms is an eclectic collection of poetry that you can use to connect to God. In today’s episode you’ll learn about the different kinds of psalms, who wrote them, and how Hebrew poetry works. The goal, as always, is to equip Read more about 541 Read the Bible for Yourself 8: How to Read the Psalms […]

This is part 7 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. The Bible contains a treasure trove of wisdom literature that can help you navigate the ups and downs of life. Today you’ll learn how to read and understand the books of Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. Proverbs and Song of Songs teach Read more about 538 Read the Bible for Yourself 7: How to Read Wisdom Literature […]

This is part 6 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Tragically, many Christians skip over reading the Torah. They focus on the Gospels or Epistles of the New Testament. However, the first five books of the Bible contain many rich insights into God’s heart and how he asked Israel to live. In fact, it’s Read more about 537 Read the Bible for Yourself 6: How to Read the Law […]

This is part 5 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Now we begin the second main part of this class on reading the Bible for yourself. We’ll be breaking the Bible into major sections so I can explain how each works. To start we’ll consider the first 17 books of the Bible–the books of Read more about 536 Read the Bible for Yourself 5: How to Read OT History […]

This is part 4 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Exegesis and application take work. Today you’ll learn how to grasp the content of scripture by asking the question, “What did this text mean to the original audience?” Looking for a book’s author, audience, occasion, and purpose will help you answer that question. Next, Read more about 534 Read the Bible for Yourself 4: Ho...

This is part 3 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Today is the first of two episodes on how to understand and apply the Bible. One of the greatest problems facing Bible readers today is the lifted verse. It’s so common to see a verse or even half a verse posted on social media Read more about 533 Read the Bible for Yourself 3: How to Read the Bible in Context […]

This is part 2 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. As I endeavored to show last time, the Bible is one of a kind. It’s the result of dozens of authors, working under God’s inspiration to produce scrolls of text over centuries. This process resulted in sixty-six books, including histories, legal texts, poetry, prophetic Read more about 532 Read the Bible for Yourself 2: What You Need to...

This is part 1 of the Read the Bible For Yourself. Today we are beginning a new class called Read the Bible for Yourself. Whether you are new to scripture, or you’ve been reading it for years, this class will empower you to read and understand the bible like never before. You’ll gain key insights Read more about 531 Read the Bible for Yourself 1: Why Should You Read the Bible for Yourself? [&#8230...