Gary Shogren's Blog
There are Christians who are King James people because they prefer the wonderful language and cadence of the KJV, or who believe (with little evidence, but no matter for now) that it best represents the original Hebrew or Greek texts. Overall, with these brothers and sisters, I have no serious quarrel. But when someone condemns... Continue Reading →
We see it in panicked blog posts and garish YouTube videos, and hear it in whispers from concerned friends! That Rupert Murdoch is trying to take your Bible away from you and make you use the NIV Bible instead! That he is a friend to the Vatican and a pornographer and the guy who put... Continue Reading →
It is the narrative in a few remote corners of Christendom that only the Textus receptus reflects the original text of the New Testament. Some would add a second chapter, that newer critical editions – which, in fact, are based on almost 6000 manuscripts, let alone ancient versions and church fathers – are part of... Continue Reading →
To download the entire article, click here Shogren_Strongs Concordance For Bible students who don’t use Hebrew and Greek, the Strong Concordance is a popular tool, available online. [1] But it has a serious limitation – namely: the “dictionary” in the back of Strong’s is not really a dictionary at all, and should not be used... Continue Reading →
George Guthrie has an informative and edifying article on the King James Version. In particular, he explores how the translators themselves regarded what they were doing and how it stood in relation to other versions. They also expected the KJV to be later corrected and improved! By implication, they did not hold to the doctrine... Continue Reading →
There are now hundreds of versions of the Bible in English, and more come out every year. And there is great benefit from comparing version with version. Still, if I were king, I would impose a moratorium on new Bible versions for at least a decade. If I were king. But, let’s see what hand life... Continue Reading →
Download the article as a pdf: Shogren_The Emperor Constantine the Great – a villain or a hero, or something in-between To many, the Emperor Constantine was a saint: in the Orthodox church he is one of the “Equal-to-Apostles” (isapóstolos) a title given to people (such as Patrick, Cyril the evangelist of Russia and others) who were... Continue Reading →
[One of my few blog entries on politics, and how it relates to psychology, sociology, and modern apocalyptic eschatology. Here is a full pdf version: Paranoid Style Turns 50_Shogren] Because of his ability to describe and predict American political behavior, Richard Hofstadter’s “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” should be required reading for the citizen. And... Continue Reading →
Most Christian scholars use what is called the Critical Edition of the Greek New Testament, and almost all modern versions are based upon it. There are several camps that prefer other editions, the Textus receptus or the Majority Text. Some do so because of a belief that it better represents the original; I think they... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 