Gary Shogren's Blog
I have argued elsewhere that amateur Bible versions - by that I mean, people using the Strong's concordance to redo the Bible through paraphrasing - is a wellspring of confusion and dishonoring to God's Word. Here is one more reason why: This Conservative Bible is so aberrant that for me to go through every chapter... Continue Reading →
I grew up with the King James Version, regularly use it and the New King James among others, and often teach and preach from the Reina Valera Revisada, all of which are based on the so-called Textus receptus. And I love and use them all; see my, “Me, a Hater of the Kdeiting James Version?... Continue Reading →
Who are we? I have been a seminary professor for many years. Every year I open a Facebook club, whose members can learn a new ancient language (we have done Aramaic, Latin) or to read Scripture in the original language (the whole Septuagint; the Hebrew Torah; the Greek New Testament). For this coming year we... Continue Reading →
(Some of this material will appear in my forthcoming book, Los mitos que los cristianos creen. Y comparten [Myths that Christians Believe. And Pass Along.]) This is a conspiracy theory that certain old manuscripts of the New Testament (principally the codices Sinaiticus and Vaticanus) contain a rewritten gospel. And that therefore, non-KJV Bibles are perversions,... Continue Reading →
I grew up with that gospel chorus (by James M. Gray, president of Moody Bible Institute) and I think I know where he was coming from. But let’s carefully unpack its repeated motif: I 'm only a sinner saved by grace or we could say - I am [present tense] only [no more than] a... 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 →
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 →
A few words from the heart about Bible versions in English, mixed with lists, parables, and personal anecdotes! Offered as proof that we might want to CALL A MORATORIUM on new Bible translations in English. One, the Parable of the Banquet. You and your family gather for a huge feast, perhaps American Thanksgiving. They wheel... 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 →
I have a limited number of people whom I would call my heroes. In fact, one time in an interview I was asked to name a hero of mine: "Uh...Abraham Lincoln" was all I could come up with. In fact, it was President's Day, and the picture of Lincoln hanging on the wall of the... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 