Gary Shogren's Blog
My interest in myths and legends has come to full flower this year, as I finish up my new book Mitos que los cristianos creen. Y comparten (“Myths that Christians believe. And pass along”) for CLIE in Barcelona. Here is the original Hubble story, and Pinterest is filled with pictures of the Celestial City. Heaven... Continue Reading →
May I express two opinions: ONE: I am not a hard “cessationist”, that is, there is not a single Bible verse that says the gift of prophecy ended with the apostles. Not Hebrews 2:4. Not 1 Corinthians 13:8-12. Certainly not Revelation 22:18-19. If cessationism is not explicitly taught in Scripture, I have no right to... Continue Reading →
I love books, and use the Goodreads app because it enables me to log what I have read. I project that mid-year 2022 I will have read 2500 books, although I’m sure I have forgotten some hundreds. Beginning in Christmas break 2015 I decided to join their Reading Challenge for 2016. I have been doing... Continue Reading →
Now that I am back in the US, I joined the local Planet Fitness. And as I did the reclining bike for the first time, two news stations were on the TV monitors in front of me. And was I ever shocked by what I saw! Shocked enough that I moved over 3 bikes to... Continue Reading →
Graduation speeches are a mixed bag at best. But I did hear a fine one at my high school in 1977; one of his counsels for the graduates was: “Extend your education, both formal and informal, as far as is possible.” This phrase has stuck with me ever since. Your brain is not a muscle,... 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 while ago, someone commented on this passage from Luke 17:20-21 – [1] Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within [ἐντός/entos] you.” (I quote the NKJV here, since that resembles the Spanish... Continue Reading →
For the first time ever in our blog’s 10-year history, we feature a series co-written by me, Gary Shogren; and our long-time friend, Tod Hannigan. Tod will do the heavy lifting on the philosophical end. This chapter is by Tod, who reports that, "Personally, the most difficult article I have written." “It was the best of... Continue Reading →
The next time Dan Brown tells you that the Roman emperor Constantine invented the trinity; or the Jehovah's Witnesses tell you we worship a "three-headed God" - and they have been showing that fuzzy black-and-white photo for decades! - send them back to the history books! Especially this:“The Church, although scattered through the whole world,... 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 →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 