Gary Shogren's Blog
Some of the following material is drawn from my forthcoming book Iceberg Ahead! When God’s Servants Crash into Cold, Hard Reality; it is already available in Spanish from Kerigma. ALONG THE LENGTH OF A BASEBALL BAT, the “sweet spot” is that point from which the ball will recoil and go the farthest distance. The batter... Continue Reading →
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 →
A paper read at the 2012 Conference of the Evangelical Theological Society, and published in JETS 63.4 (2020): 703–20. 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 words: some Thessalonians were not “working” (from ἐργάζομαι/ergazomai)... Continue Reading →
Every year I join the Goodreads Reading Challenge (take a look at the wonderful site, http://www.goodreads.com, where you can log your reading). This year, as in the past few years, I have set the goal of reading 104 books, an average of two per week. Some are shorter novellas or tractates, some are long novels... Continue Reading →
This material adapted from 1-2 Thessalonians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, from pages 161-66. The book is available from Amazon and as a discount from Amazon, and also from Logos, in Korean and also in Spanish. 1 Thess 4:4 is the most complex verse in the Thessalonian correspondence because of the difficulty of... Continue Reading →
According to Matthew 1:21, "Jesus" (in the form Iesous or Yeshua) means "he shall save." Matthew also states that Christ fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 - "And you shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, God with us." In 1-2 Thessalonians, Paul also reveals how Jesus is the personal manifestation of Yahweh. The... Continue Reading →
Does the book of Acts intend to tell us a historical narrative, or does Luke tell us how we should be living? In other terms, is it principally or simply descriptive, or is it also prescriptive? One approach is that we should follow what Acts says - or follow it more confidently - only when... Continue Reading →
[UPDATE: in February 2022, BibleGateway removed The Passion Translation from its website. Note that this was the one it removed of all the 90 versions available.] I was only recently alerted to this new edition, which seems to have become all the rage in some ministries, especially Pentecostal ones. As is often the case with... Continue Reading →
Don't have time to read the Bible? The good people over at Desiring God have broken it down for you scientifically, and they disagree. Here is the link. Many blessings in the Word!
This commentary was prepared for Kairos Publications in Buenos Aires. It was composed specifically for the Latin American church. In some cases I have retained the words "Latin America," at other times I have substituted "the Americas." The bibliography reflects what is available to the Spanish-speaking church. We will publish it a section at a... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 