Erecting the Right Fences in the Right Places, Part One: Introduction

Canonicity and the New Testament

Recognizing the canonicity of the Old Testament writings is relatively easy. We can accept the evaluations made by Israel about which writings are authoritative. These evaluations have been endorsed by Jesus and the apostles. Israel has handed the Church an intact...
Erecting the Right Fences in the Right Places, Part One: Introduction

A Pastor’s Reading Plan

[This essay was originally published on April 15, 2016.] So you’re a pastor. You might be interested to know that the Schleitheim Confession, an early Anabaptist creed, specified that the first duty of the pastoral office “shall be to read.” The...
Erecting the Right Fences in the Right Places, Part One: Introduction

1 Thessalonians 5 and the Rapture

When answering a doctrinal question, competent theologians try to take account of everything the Bible says about that question. They will not, however, treat every relevant text equally. Some texts are more critical to a correct answer than others. Clear texts are...