By John Span What ought or ought not to be done? Ethics in Islam and Christianity This article explores the ways that Muslims answer the question “how do we avoid wrong and embrace the good?” and what determines the source of their decisions. Introduction In the title...
Gossip as a means of mission When we think of the word 'gossip' we often think in negative terms of someone who has nothing better to do than to talk behind the backs of other people. A quick word study in the New Testament would largely confirm these sentiments with...
Lessons from History A. The Bishop of Caesarea The Bishop of Caesarea, named Basil lived from about 330 to 379. Basil was a man who followed the example of his Master Jesus, and lived with very loose attachments to the world, his possessions and even his life. In a...
So what does sola Scriptura (by Scripture = the Bible alone) and four other statements of the Reformation have to do with Islam? In this piece, I will assume the truthfulness of each of the Solas, and see what effect this has on our view of Islam. What are the 5...
"You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God" (3 John 1:6). In this passage a senior elder of the church commends Gaius for the way that he took great care of people who “went out in the Name” of Jesus. He asks him to continue doing so...
The approach that a missionary or evangelist employs can be greatly influenced by their home culture. Imagine two missionaries: the first from a culture that values respect at all costs, and the second that values success at all costs. How might this show up in their...
The hows and whats: Recently I attended a conference at which a number of speakers spoke about some disturbing trends in Bible translation. Some of these projects are being supported by the gifts of church members who are completely unaware of what is going on. Did...
Introductory Video [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auLMwqOZbKI[/embedyt] Introduction This case study surveys the factors that influenced the development of a Muslim-friendly Arabic rendition of ‘The Life of the Messiah,’ as well as how it has...
Was Jesus allowed to call a group of people "white-washed tombs" while being the same person who could weep over Jerusalem? Could the Apostle Paul be the same person who told the Ephesian elders that he had wept over the challenges of the church day and night, while...
In the October 2014 issue of "Global Missiology" Jackson Wu who is a teacher of missiology and theology for Chinese church leaders in Asia uses a provocative title: "There Are No Church Planting Movements in the Bible: Why Biblical Exegesis Missiological Methods...
With a soft voice, with soft gestures, with a soft heart and maybe soft hands and soft feet, the modern evangelist is following the new rule book to a "T". Cause no offence--at any cost--and do no harm--at any cost. Was this the approach of the once fearful Simon...
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred [methistēmi] us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, Colossians 1:13 ESV "He was transferred from San Quentin prison to another one." "The money was transferred from one bank account to another." "The...
In a day and age where the idea of radical discontinuity implied in Biblical conversion seems to have fallen on hard times, one would do well to interact with R.T. France's 1993 study entitled "Conversion in the Bible". As much as R.T. France uses the word 'insider'...
"...and they all continued in the apostles’ teaching…" or did they? Four men writing over the course of 49 years: all with wide spheres of influence, especially by means of their writings; all claiming to be “orthodox” when it comes to their theology---but...
Title: Grand Central Question: Answering the Critical Concerns of the Major Worldviews ISBN 978-0-8308-9621-9 Author: Abdu H. Murray. Reviewer: John Span The flyleaf of this work reads, "For all those who labor for answers that touch the heart and stir the mind" (p.4)...
On December 6, 2012 Robert Spencer's "Christianity in the Qur'an" lecture was broadcast on the Aramaic Broadcasting Network. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5DXmmsVpH0 This video follows his first lecture entitled "Judaism and the Qur'an". ...
What do some physicists, Toronto Blessing advocates, proponents of "remaining a follower of Jesus in Islam," some bible translators, ethnographers, and even some Bible commentators have in common? An appeal to something called the "Gamaliel principle." Taken from the...
On Sunday, March 8, 1925 a sermon was preached at the Princeton Theological Seminary by a theologian who would later be labelled a "fundamentalist" "a legalist" among other things. He cited statistics of church membership growth of 690,000 and remarked that he was...
Author: John D. Currid, Paperback: 160 pages Publisher: Crossway (August 31, 2013) ISBN-13: 978-1433531835 Purchase: Amazon.Com Reviewer: John Span Professional Egyptologist, professor or Old Testament and author of the Evangelical Press commentaries on Genesis,...
Paul: A follower of Jesus…“Through many tribulations” “Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 21:13) No sooner had Paul begun to dust off his...
This is part two of a two part series. Part One can be found here. Two requests Soil Naaman then asks for two dispensations, likely to help him facilitate this task of serving the One True God. Ironically, the man used to gaining spoils from war, now asks for soil...