Four Different Views on the Sign Gifts for Today

“When we speak of the biblical sign gifts, we are referring to miracles like speaking in tongues, visions, healing, raising the dead, and prophesying” (Got Questions) (click to open). There are three major periods of sign gifts or sign miracles. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22 noted that “the Jews require a sign.” This has been the history of unbelieving Israel.utterance" (Constitution of Assemblies of God [the largest Pentecostal denomination]).

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They like Jesus but not the church

I am borrowing this title from Dan Kimball’s book by the same title. Dan Kimball is arguing that especially the younger generation has been turned off by what they call “the organized church.”[1] For example, I know a young Christian adult who reads his Bible each night with his family and prays with them. This he said was better than going and sitting in a building on Sunday morning for an hour. What he does is great and more than some who only go to church.

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Review of Great Commission or the Great Suggestion by Daniel Wallace

Daniel Wallace (Executive Director of CSNTM (The Center for the Study of NT Manuscripts) & Senior Research Professor of NT Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary) states that a common misunderstanding of the Great Commission goes like this: “In the Greek, the word translated ‘Go’ is really a participle and it literally means, ‘as you are going.’ But the words ‘make disciples’ are an imperative in Greek. That’s the only imperative in these two verses. Therefore, the Great Commission is not a command to go; rather, it is a command to make disciples as you are going, or make disciples along the way.”

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Review of The Synoptic Problem by Daniel Wallace at Bible.org

Wallace notes that he is following Robert H. Stein’s The Synoptic Problem: An Introduction.

Wallace opens his thirty-page article stating that “Any serious discussion of the Synoptic Gospels must, sooner or later, involve a discussion of the literary interrelationships among Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This is essential in order to see how an author used his sources (both for reliability’s sake as well as for redactional criticism), as well as when he wrote.”

Robert H. Stein’s The Synoptic Problem: An Introduction1 summarizes well the issues involved in the synoptic problem—as well as its probable solution. For the most part, our discussion will follow his outline.

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The Role of Textual Criticism and Translation Theory in NT Exegesis

The impact of textual criticism on exegesis is demonstrated in the translation theory debate. This involves two translational philosophies: Former and Functional. The translation theory debate also spills over into the gender-inclusive language debate. A third area of concern is the selection of the best translation for the serious Bible student. This paper purposes that the solution to these debates is to find the balance of the extremes and avoid the extremes.

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