Excursions in Covenant Eschatology

The implication of the parable of Luke 16:19–31 is clear, there was never any hope of salvation for the rich man, even when he was alive.

John’s Baptism in water was a preparatory ritual of cleansing repentance made available to the last generation of the circumcised, so they could be made ready to receive the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, and escape the Last Judgment in AD 70.

The ESV footnote at Malachi 1:1 says that the Hebrew name Malachi means “my messenger.” What it doesn’t say is that Malachi also means “my angel.”

John’s kerygma was the final prophetic commandment that had to be obeyed by those of his generation under the Mosaic Covenant who wanted to inherit eternal life.

Our lack of empirical certainty of the text forms, and transmission histories, of the Old Testament books is not a problem for the Church, because we only need to be certain of those OT passages cited in the New Testament.

The disappointing partiality of anti-preterist theologians ensures their arguments against Covenant Eschatology are based on little more than logical fallacies, exegetical acrobatics, or emotional appeals to their favoured traditions.

Matthew's demoniac is an apostate Jew, unrestrained through sin and/or misfortune from the bonds of the Mosaic Covenant, and civilised society.

On the misuse of Proverbs 24:11 in the present Pro-life crusade. If you want a transcript of this video, or have a question, email me by clicking here . Thanks for watching, and God bless.

How the literary device known as "inclusio" is used by the author of the Book of Revelation to emphasize the imminence statements he placed in his prologue. If you want a transcript of this video, or have a question, email me by clicking here . Thanks for watching, and God bless.

Update on my upcoming Bible study series. In January, I posted the outline for a short series of seven “mythbusting” Bible studies at Remuera Baptist Church . As everyone knows, since then the entire world had a collective meltdown, turning 2020 into a year no one will ever forget (unless something even more dire occurs next year; which we’re all praying hard won’t). The effects of the Great Lockdown are still being felt here in New Zealand, even though we’ve been more or less out of lockdown since the beginning of May. I know that Sandy and I are still combatting an unusual reluctance to re-engage with the outside world the way we used to. This inability to get back into things has naturally affected my Bible Study preparations. In fact, today is the first day since Lockdown that I’ve felt any kind of excitement about teaching again!

When Jesus changed ritual water into superior wine at the Wedding at Cana, he did the exact opposite of saving the wedding. This is a video taking a sound exegetical look at John 2:1–10. NOTE: A longer exegetical essay suporting the conclusions made in this video can be seen by following this link: The First of the Signs. If you want a transcript of this video, or have a question, email me by clicking here . Thanks for watching, and God bless.

An Easter video on the YouTube channel. This is a reworking of the Stations of the Cross video I did for RBC . The Transcript WELCOME to the outrageously popular CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIST channel, where reason and sound exegesis are used to highlight faulty doctrine and practice in the contemporary, English-speaking Church. The title of this video is “The Daughters of Jerusalem in Luke 23.” The verses we’ll be dealing with are 27 to 31.

Another drop from that new Youtube channel. This chap still sounds particularly astute and erudite. The Transcript WELCOME to the outrageously popular CHRISTIAN THEOLOGIST channel, where reason and sound exegesis are used to highlight faulty doctrine and practice in the contemporary, English-speaking Church. The title of this video is “A Little Look at a Big Question: The disciples’ precursor query to the Olivet Discourse.”

Grow camp 2020 a little look at a big question from Jim Kerr

The abstract of my Masters' thesis. From the time of the Early Church until today, interpreters have employed a variety of hermeneutical methodologies to produce a range of different conclusions about the meaning of the so-called “Good Samaritan” passage of Luke 10:25–37. Nonetheless, when defending conclusions that differed from those of their contemporaries, every sincere and committed NT interpreter still referred to the same texts of Scripture as their contemporaries – a text which they all accepted as authoritative in their day. The present thesis is one such defence. The accepted text of its day is the twenty-eighth edition of the Nestle-Aland critical Greek text. The idiosyncratic interpretation it defends is called the “Grateful Victim Viewpoint” (GVV). "The Good Samaritan" by Rembrandt (1630) public domain

I received my grade for my Masters' thesis. Great news! Laidlaw Graduate School has given me an "A" for my Masters thesis. The two examiners gave it very high praise indeed. One of them recommended that I submit it for publication; and each of them recommended I go on to doctoral studies. My supervisor concurred with both recommendations. It was a fantastic result and I'm stoked!

An essay on the historicity and pseudonymity of Daniel 4 As with many of the books in the Old Testament, interpretation of the Book of Daniel is beset by questions of pseudonymity and historicity vis-à-vis the book’s author, its characters, and events. Did all of the characters described actually exist? If so, did they act and interact in history in the same way they do in the biblical narrative? If not, how do we account for these discrepancies? Is the eponymous hero of the book the author of any of it? In the case of the individual stories in the Book of Daniel, the fourth chapter’s tale of Nebuchadnezzar’s humiliation and subsequent enlightenment seems a tailor-made subject for these perennial exegetical questions. "Nebuchadnezzar" by William Blake (1795/c. 1805) public domain

The grateful victim has been identified. I've finished writing the thesis for my master's degree (MTh). The final edit has been done and it's ready to go to the printers. I officially submit next week. Then I get to wait anxiously for three months while it's with the examiners (two of them). Then, sometime in September, I find out just how well the last two years actually went. If it's as well received as I hope, I will probably move on to doctoral studies ... eventually. "The Good Samaritan" by Jacopo Bassano public domain

Six short exegetical comments on the Book of Daniel His hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers and his nails became like birds’ claws (Dan 4:33 NRSV). 1. Hebrew Supremacism As well as “set[ting] the scene for the subsequent stories of court life,” the first chapter of the book of Daniel does much to establish one of the many underlying themes of these subsequent stories: the racial and (especially) cultic superiority of the “conquered” Israelites over the “conquering” Babylonians. From a certain perspective, chapter one could be seen as Hebrew-supremacist propaganda.

Those who hold the futurist view of the End Times have to divide the disciples' question of Jesus into two unrelated parts: The first part asking about the timing of the destruction of the Temple, and the second, for no apparent reason, about signs of the end of the whole world.