Studies on the Fringe of Christianity
“Do you believe aliens are among us?” For a Christian minister, that question arises more often than you might imagine. We are not considering foreign nationals illegally breaching our country’s borders; we are discussing intelligent beings other than human, originating outside of the earth’s boundaries. Or, maybe, they are coming from another dimension or realm …
According to widespread Christian preaching, God took two people to heaven without them first dying. Why and how this was done is not answered in scripture, just that they were here one moment and not the next. There is, however, a Greek term for this event; it is said that God ‘translated’ them to his …
To quote from Bob Dylan’s 1964 song, “the times they are a-changin’.” That certainly describes the world today, including what is happening within the Christian church. While a few church groups remain stylishly prudish or unemotionally static, others have become ‘woke’ and weakened by welcoming ungodly beliefs and unchristian activities. No one can say there …
Crucifixion became an important method of capital punishment in the Roman Republic from the 6th century BC and continuing for several hundred years after Christ’s death. This execution style was finally abolished in the Roman Empire, during the 4th century AD, by Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor of Rome.1 When first originated by …
You can read about Lot and his family, along with the destruction of the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah (c. 2000 BC) in Genesis, chapter 19. Our website already has a deep study of this disastrous event (see References & Notes for a link),1 but this present discourse analyses only the rape of Lot by …
The name of Salome, one of the midwives attending Jesus’ birth, has been found written within a cave in Israel. The four thousand square feet (372 sq. meters) cave was constructed around two-thousand years ago and is one of the most impressive ever discovered. First discovered in the 1980s, it has recently been connected with …
The story of the Magi (also called the Three Wise Men or Three Kings) can be found in The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1–12. These important travelers were searching for Jesus, and they carried gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to present to him. The Magi are part of traditional nativity …
The title of this article is a ‘play on words’ because of its redundancy; it is my way of having a little fun. Let me explain. I recently read an article by a woman who reflected upon a story from her early years of marriage. She wrote, “When my husband and I were first married …
The Epistle of Jude is not a very popular subject in Bible studies. It is often neglected in biblical analysis for a few reasons. First, it is rather short in length having only twenty-five verses, and therefore it is easily overlooked. Second, many feel it is about intolerance, rather than being inclusive and so, not …
Paul’s Second Epistle to Timothy is believed by some scholars to be the last letter written before his death in Rome.1 Paul encouraged Timothy by saying “hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 1:13, NRSV).2 Our study …