Biblical languages | Open Our Eyes, Lord!

These posts are adaptations of my commentary on 1 Corinthians, based on my own study of the critical Greek text, the early church fathers and the best of contemporary scholarship. It is available from Logos, and downloadable free from this blog: FREE Commentary on 1 Corinthians! by Gary Shogren

ENJOY!

Why you’ve never heard of the Second Corinthian Church [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

Terminal Uniqueness: a spiritual disease [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

The theology of the chocolate sampler [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

“Dear Paul: We are sorry, but you are unqualified to be our apostle…” [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

Where is MY special someone?? [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

The Lord’s Supper: one invitation you don’t want to miss [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

The Sheep and the Goats on Sunday Morning [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

Zombies and the Bible [Studies in 1 Corinthians]

Published in:

on April 19, 2013 at 10:50 am Comments (8)
Tags: Bible, Christian, commentary, Corinthians, Greek, missionary, Paul

Buy Strack and Billerbeck’s Commentary – but beware! [technical article]

Logos.com is going to publish Strack-Billerbeck’s Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and the Midrash (published in the 1920s) in German and in English. For years I’ve said this should be translated into English! Despite its serious flaws it’s still unequaled, and the price of $149 for the English-only version is a steal.

Its drawbacks:

First, S-B treated Judaism as if it were one monolithic whole, and did not take into account the differences between one group and another or the changes that took place in Judaism throughout the centuries. So if they located a found a parallel to (more…)

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on March 26, 2013 at 11:54 am Leave a Comment
Tags: Bible, Billerbeck, Kittel, Kommentar, Midrash, Strack, Talmud

My Four Decades in the Bible, Part IV, Conclusion

Studying with my Logos Bible cap

Chapter Seven – I teach in seminary

I’ve now been a professor, teaching in English and then in Spanish, for 25 years.

The first seminary where I taught put us through a sort of Professor Boot Camp. Our academic dean stressed: “Your students will remember only a portion of the content you teach; they will always remember your attitudes and values.

That principle has been true as far as my memories: I can remember a few professors who came across as, well, self-satisfied, distant, or lethargic; I hope my impressions were mistaken.

Other professors seemed to be hard workers, careful students of the Word, loving individuals and encouraging. (more…)

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on March 11, 2013 at 7:02 pm Comments (3)
Tags: Bible, Christian, commentary, devotions, hermeneutics

Gary and Karen Shogren – Who we are, what we do

As missionaries in Costa Rica for the last 15 years, Gary and Karen Shogren have been following the Great Commission in strategic ways. In San José they train energetic Latin American leaders who will lead the church and spread the Gospel into nations where Americans cannot easily go. Second, they provide ongoing theological education online for those far-flung Spanish-speaking missionaries. Third, in many places they strengthen the next generation of missionaries (missionary kids) emotionally and spiritually. As a couple they are strategically placed & uniquely qualified to equip tomorrow’s leaders.

Gary’s PhD in New Testament Exegesis plus 25 years of experience as New Testament professor on 3 continents prepare him to continue teaching at the Evangelical Seminary for Pastoral Studies (ESEPA) in San José, Costa Rica. Now there is another exciting new opportunity for him on the horizon [we cannot post the details publically]. Gary’s training, experience, skills and location allow him to meet this need in a way others cannot.

Now that Karen also teaches at ESEPA, the Shogrens are even more of a bargain: 2 professors for the price of one! Her specialty is teaching correct Bible study methods to women without much formal education. In that context 2 Timothy 2:2b provides the greatest challenge: “Teach these great truths to trustworthy people who are able to pass them on to others.” Karen’s other ministry track has involved serving in member care and orientation for missionary families since 2000. Many missionary kids’ (MKs) go to the field with little cross-cultural training; they are at risk spiritually and their families might have to return to the US. We have found that an ounce of prevention in this area can prevent the waste of lives, time, and money. Karen’s background in biblical counseling uniquely qualifies her to provide Scriptural solutions to this new challenge in the missions community.

We are in southeastern Pennsylvania for some months and would love to present our work to your church, small group or in your home. We can present it in English or in Spanish. LEAVE A COMMENT in the space below and we’ll be in touch.

1 Corinthians commentary, available from Logos!

Announcement! The English version of my 1 Corinthians commentary is now available from Logos.com; it is fully integrated with the Logos system. Only $19.95. Or you can download a pdf version for free from this blog! (http://openoureyeslord.com/2012/05/21/free-commentary-on-1-corinthians-2/)

What does agape mean?
What are the spiritual gifts?
Should women wear veils to church? Or remain absolutely silent?
What about divorce?
Do we exist as spirits forever?
Paul was a missionary – how did he know where to go?

These issues and many more!

https://www.logos.com/product/24079/first-corinthians-an-exegetical-pastoral-commentary

Published in:

on February 28, 2013 at 1:51 pm Comments (3)
Tags: Bible, Christians, Corinthians, Paul

Jesus? Yeshua? Yahushua? Which is the ‘real’ pronunciation?

From my ministry in Central America, I understand how names change from language to language: the English form of my name “Gary Shogren” is difficult for the Spanish-speaker – the “a” and the “e” don’t have exact counterparts in Spanish; nor does “sh”. I say my name one way if I’m speaking English and another way if Spanish. Not even my mother would recognize my name in the Spanish version! Nevertheless, when my students call me “GAH-ree CHOH-grain” with a foreign accent, I take no offense: I’m still me, the same identity and the same name, with a pronunciation adapted to the relevant language. (more…)

Published in:

on February 28, 2013 at 1:27 pm Comments (6)
Tags: Bible, Jesus, Greek, Christian, Hebrew, Yeshua, Yahshua, Yahushua

Is Bible memorization a good use of our time?

I just wrote a post in which I gave advice to a younger Christian, and I urged him to memorize Scripture. A reader questions the value of Bible memorization compared with other Bible activities.

He says: I would say focus on reading comprehension and understanding what you are reading and ask questions whenever possible – instead of memorizing Scripture (unless you are illiterate). I found that simply understanding is hard enough, and to place memorization on top of that when any of us here in the US can pull up our Bibles on our smartphones is not a good use of time. It is not evil in and of itself of course, just not a good use of time (if one is literate, that is). Otherwise if illiterate by all means get audio and memorize!

Dear Reader: Thanks for the stimulating comment, it made me think through whether my opinion was really self-evident.

As a professor I keep in mind the insights of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning. The learning facilitator is supposed to push the learner higher and higher in the pyramid: that is, not just Applying but further toward Analyzing. This is why I have my students memorize certain facts (REMEMBERING dates of important biblical events) but push them further up the pyramid (an essay where the student is critically ANALYZING a certain view of historiography).

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Nevertheless, Bloom’s point was not that the lower levels of cognition are inferior; in fact, they are the base upon which the higher thinking is built.

In the case of the Bible, we want to push people beyond merely memorizing verses; they must also learn to employ it to life situations, to discern what is Biblical thinking and what is not, etc. (more…)

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on February 7, 2013 at 1:10 pm Comments (11)

Gog of Magog is dead…and I have seen his grave

In my first days as a Christian, they filled me in that the Soviet Union was predicted in Ezekiel 38-39 and that Russia and the Warsaw Pact countries would attack Israel at any time. Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth was the #1 bestseller; it had a chapter called “Russia is a Gog,” and said it was clear as could be that the Bible foretold a Soviet invasion more than 2500 years ago.[1] Google Magog and Russia and you will see how many “prophecy experts” take the Lindsey/Russia view as gospel, without ever checking on the basic facts. [2]

Where did this idea come from? From an amateurish reading of certain Hebrew terms.

Rosh – probably not in your Bible at Ezek 38:2 (unless you read the NKJV or the NASB), but the Hebrew word that is rendered “chief” or “prince” is Rosh = head. But others said, “Hey, think about it! Rosh…uh?? Roshuh? Russia, you see?”

Meshech – why, that must be Moscow!

Magog – was a Scythian city, and the Scythians later migrated into Russia, so Magog is Russia! (they did no such thing, I later found out, but that was the rumor at the time)

Tubal – this would have to be Tobolsk which, some speculated, was the eastern capital of Russia.

Gomer was East Germany.

To cap it all off, these enemies come “from the north,” and Russia, at least its extreme western frontier, lies due north from Israel.

This meant, then, that Russia and its Warsaw Pact allies would attack Israel, immediately before or after the rapture

“Gog is dead and I have seen his grave”

of the church, and that Israel’s enemies would be totally eliminated, perhaps by nuclear weapons. Imagine the chills this gave me in October 1973, when the United States and Russia very nearly intervened with A-bombs in the Yom Kippur war between Israel and Egypt. (more…)

Published in:

on January 13, 2013 at 5:34 pm Comments (12)
Tags: Bible, China, Ezekiel, Gog, Magog, Meshech, prophecy, Russia

How to write a commentary when your library is 2000 miles away

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Last month, Zondervan published my commentary on 1-2 Thessalonians, a volume I’ve been working on since 2005 (click HERE). When I saw it on display at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I heaved a sigh of relief, and not just because finishing a book, any book, lightens the spirit. (My 1 Corinthians commentary is available for free download HERE).

I was pleased because the whole production seemed like a gamble from the outset. I had to figure out how to write a commentary without a library. I felt like the first person to invent the flourless cake.

I teach at a Bible college and seminary located in Costa Rica. Most Americans know it as a land of natural wonders, with beaches, rafting, rainforests, volcanoes and of course, gold-standard coffee. We are located in San José, a city of a million: not exactly the “bush,” but I might as well be when I sit down to do my writing. (more…)

Published in:

on December 17, 2012 at 12:06 pm Comments (8)
Tags: Bible, Christian, commentary, ZECNT, Zondervan

Open Our Eyes, Lord!

Gary Shogren's Blog

Studies in Thessalonians series

Studies in 1 Corinthians by Gary Shogren

Buy Strack and Billerbeck’s Commentary – but beware! [technical article]

My Four Decades in the Bible, Part IV, Conclusion

1 Corinthians commentary, available from Logos!

Jesus? Yeshua? Yahushua? Which is the ‘real’ pronunciation?

Is Bible memorization a good use of our time?

Gog of Magog is dead…and I have seen his grave

How to write a commentary when your library is 2000 miles away

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