Gary Shogren's Blog
The teaching known as Lashon Hakodesh (“the sacred language”) is multifaceted. It was originally a designation for Biblical Hebrew as such. But it later grew to have more implications that Hebrew is somehow a magical language. There are sub-legends that follow along with this: 1. That Hebrew is the language spoken in heaven. 2. That... Continue Reading →
Description: Our new Facebook group is the follow-up to Biblical Latin Group, which studied Wheelock during 2021. In, which include 2022 we will read the Gospel of John, Romans, Hebrews, among other canonical books. And we will mine deeply the Latin Per Diem posts on YouTube. Half the year we will spend on the classics... Continue Reading →
Gary Shogren, “The two greatest commandments - do we really believe that the Bible got it right?” Luke 10:25-42 Watch us share and preach this message at Calvary Church on Long Island HERE! Who Is My Neighbor? 25 And behold, a lawyer [better – an expert in the Law of Moses] stood up to put... Continue Reading →
A presentation given at an ESEPA conference in April 2021. The original Spanish version is found on my other blog under the title “La Lectura Oral de las Escrituras en la Iglesia Primitiva y en la Actualidad.” And you may download it as a pdf file: oral-reading-of-scripture-in-the-early-church-and-todayDownload Summary: In the early church, extensive oral scripture... Continue Reading →
Paul said in Colossians 1:19-20 - “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” The nails in Jesus’ time were handmade. And so, after... Continue Reading →
A paper read at the 2012 Conference of the Evangelical Theological Society, and published in JETS 63.4 (2020): 703–20. We give only a selection here (Intro, Conclusion). Click here for the full pdf copy. jets_63.4_703-20_shogrenDownload WERE THE THESSALONIANS “MEDDLING IN DIVINE MATTERS”? A REREADING OF 2 THESSALONIANS 3:11 Second Thessalonians 3:11 contains a play on... Continue Reading →
In another place I have written about two churches I have visited that gave a broad weekly invitation for all members to participate in leading worship. I have also written on the related theme of the Priesthood of all Believers. As we hear so often, “The church is not the building, but the congregation.” That... Continue Reading →
Someone in Costa Rica asked me to preach about “John in Patmos.” And I realized that, it’s an excellent subject for bored, shut-in, and isolated people during COVID! First, a little background. John wrote that he was on the island of Patmos “because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 1:9b).... Continue Reading →
When we celebrate Communion, we usually read from 1 Corinthians 11. That’s a right practice, but another layer of studying the Bible is to ask, Why did Paul bring this up, here, in this letter? It wasn’t to teach them the ritual, because they had been celebrating communion for years. So, why now? Paul tells... Continue Reading →
I was fresh out of university when the editors of the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary asked me to write the article on election. My starting point is exegesis of texts, not systematic theology. You can read the original article in volume 2:441–444; the following is slightly paraphrased. The nature of this article is a panoramic... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 