Gary Shogren's Blog
I have written elsewhere: "set aside videos of cute kittens or adolescents cracking up their skateboards. Let's focus on those other things - political, social, religious, etc. - which get posted on social media and spread like wildfire!" I invite you to read the first two parts of this series before reading Part III: "I don't... Continue Reading →
Seminario ESEPA held a conference in 2014 on the topic of "Israel and Palestine." They asked me to be one of the participants; I offered the following thoughts, which I have updated a bit, with the warning that they come from a Bible student with only cursory knowledge of world affairs. Good evening, and thank... 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 →
To download the article as a document, take a picture here: The Bible is really, incredibly old! The Old and New Testaments were copied by hand for centuries, if not millennia! And to interpret the Bible correctly, an expert ought to be well aware of the original languages! At least, that’s how it is with my... Continue Reading →
Last week I visited Yad Vashem, the memorial to the more than 6 million Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. I invite the reader to visit their website yadvashem.org, and to study indepth the enormity of the Holocaust, which I cannot begin to describe in this short space. Our wonderful guide, Dani, told about... Continue Reading →
This article was originally posted in 2016 and needs updating, but the principles remain the same. The reader may prefer to download it in pdf form: Shogren_Bible Prophecy #1 Bible Prophecies that are NOT in the Bible I plan on at least two more articles in this series, in which I will describe End-Time expectations... Continue Reading →
I try, every year, to read the scripture of some other faith. That is, read the books themselves, not just a second-hand analysis of them In 2016 it was the Koran, which I found well worth the read, if a little repetitious. It is about 4/5 the length of the New Testament. In 2017 I... Continue Reading →
Usually it’s the Old Testament that garners all the publicity for archaeological finds, and for good reasons: the Israelites inhabited the land for centuries and left behind all kinds of artifacts. Jesus and the apostles did not erect buildings or put up inscriptions or make special clay pots. Nevertheless, New Testament archaeology has yielded some... Continue Reading →
This article has many images and footnotes; I encourage the reader to download it as a pdf here: Shogren_Christians and Coincidences It happened just the other day: I had been thinking about James Bond, and later when I pulled out a form of identification for the bank teller, I noticed that my ID number began with 007!... 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 →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 