Gary Shogren's Blog
Click link to download the article as a pdf file: Shogren_The gift of tongues in the post-apostolic church In 1965 Cleon Rogers published a short study about the gift of tongues in the centuries after the apostles.[1] It is late in the day to refute an article already a half century old; but since people keep... Continue Reading →
Have you debated the doctrine of election, jaw clenched, over coffee? In a classroom? In your small group? It’s a vital topic, but your venue is ill-chosen. Rather, we should be discussing the doctrine of election to the extent we are doing evangelism and being eyewitnesses to God's transforming power. That's how the apostles did... Continue Reading →
These posts are adaptations of my commentary on 1 Corinthians, based on my own study of the critical Greek text, the early church fathers and the best of contemporary scholarship. It is available in Spanish from http://www.clie.es, in English from Amazon and from Logos. Why you’ve never heard of the Second Corinthian Church [Studies in... Continue Reading →
From my ministry in Central America, I understand how names change from language to language: the English form of my name “Gary Shogren” is difficult for the Spanish-speaker – the “a” and the “e” don’t have exact counterparts in Spanish; nor does “sh”. I say my name one way if I’m speaking English and another... Continue Reading →
Since I just published an article on chronic sin (CLICK HERE), I thought I'd follow it up with another about the Wretched Man passage of Romans 7:14-25. It took me about eight years of back-and-forth to write. My conclusion may surprise you. Shogren Romans 7 Originally published in Evangelical Quarterly 72/2 (April, 2000): 119-134.
I occasionally visit an English-language church in San José, attended by African-Caribbean believers. For me, their English is harder to understand than most Spanish. A few months ago, a lady behind me was leading us in prayer, and for a heart-stopping 15 seconds I thought she said that we Christians “live according to Fate.” What... Continue Reading →
I guess I came in late for this controversy: from 2008 there’s a YouTube clip of a famous preacher and his wife, responding to the question: “What are your thoughts on stay-at-home dads if the woman really wants to work?”[1] “Too many guys take too little responsibility” was part of the answer, one with which... Continue Reading →
Have you been told that the "sin" literally means "missing the mark" in the original Greek? In fact, it does not. The verb "hamartano" (αμαρτανω) was sometimes used in pre-Classical and Classical Greek to refer to missing a target. Homer uses it in the Iliad to speak of a man who failed to hit his... Continue Reading →
Jerry Falwell was fond of describing his Liberty University as “conservative as Harvard is liberal.” In other words, if Harvard University is on the far left, then the appropriate Christian response is to run in an equal and opposite direction. It is Newton’s Third Law of Motion as applied to a Christian political and social... Continue Reading →
Let us say then that a Christian believes that God is calling him or her to the mission field. One of the most pressing questions, always, is: I know I’m going...but where do I go? How can I be sure when the whole needy world lies before me? The church does not have the privilege... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 