Gary Shogren's Blog
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica I have at last spotted a creature that until now I’d only read about. It is the reappearance of a style of preaching which does an end-run around the rational mind and appeals to the non-rational. I’m probably the last one of my social set to... Continue Reading →
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’... Continue Reading →
Note: In November 2012 I published a commentary of 1-2 Thessalonians for Zondervan (click HERE). The advice given below is applicable to all preaching and writing projects. I used to do business at a local office building. On the wall was an engraved map of the New World from the 1600s. It was a real... Continue Reading →
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica On Monday Feb 22, 2010, I took part in a public debate with D. A. Hayyim, the editor of the Código Real, a paraphrase of the New Testament from the perspective of Talmudic Judaism. The Spanish transcript of the debate may now be found in my... Continue Reading →
In 1 Thess 5:2 Paul speaks of the Day of the Lord, concerning which no-one knows the time. Later in 2 Thess 2:2 he speaks of the Day of the Lord and then says that it cannot be at hand since the great Apostasy and the Man of Lawlessness have not yet appeared. Let us... Continue Reading →
Most Christian scholars use what is called the Critical Edition of the Greek New Testament, and almost all modern versions are based upon it. There are several camps that prefer other editions, the Textus receptus or the Majority Text. Some do so because of a belief that it better represents the original; I think they... Continue Reading →
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica I have no sympathy with those who eliminate the hard teachings of the Bible. A Christian has made a prior commitment to follow Jesus and to speak and act as Jesus would. I have little sympathy with those who affirm right and left that they stand true... Continue Reading →
By Gary Shogren, Seminario ESEPA, San José, Costa Rica The reader should go through John 10:22-31, 10:39-11:46, 12:1-2 The story of Jonah is real and historical, I believe, but its main character is not a big fish. The passage about crossing the Red Sea is not a story about sea travel. Likewise, the account about... Continue Reading →
The following was published as "The Wicked will not Inherit the Kingdom of God”: a Pauline Warning and the Hermeneutics of Liberation Theology and of Brian McLaren in Trinity Journal 31NS (2010) Abstract: Emergent spokesman Brian McLaren promotes a view of the kingdom of God that draws near to and often merges with Liberation Theology. An examination... 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! 