The term "brother" is from the Greek adelphos. It technically signifies "from the same womb." The word is used in different senses in the New Testament.  • It is employed literally to identify sibl...

This word derives from a Latin term meaning "unmarried." In the divine scheme of things, the ideal is for human beings to marry (Gen. 2:18; 1 Tim. 5:14). Sometimes, however, it is not advisable t...

The title "Christ" was applied to Jesus of Nazareth because he fulfilled Old Testament prophecies about the coming Messiah.  The prophets previewed Jesus as the Messiah (Psa. 2:1ff; Dan. 9:25-27)....

"Christian" is the name given to the disciples of Christ in Antioch of Syria following the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas (Acts 11:26). The verb chrematizo ("called") in this passa...

This book aims to re-acquaint the Jews who had been released from Babylonian captivity with the history of David's administration, which lasted about forty years. The book focuses on the temple and...

This book surveys some 424 years, from the beginning of Solomon's reign to the edict from the Persian king, Cyrus, to free the Jews.  Cyrus commissioned the Jews to return from the Babylonian capt...

Biblical chronology has to do with the relationship of the events recorded in Scripture to specific dates. Some events are a bit ambiguous in terms of date. Others are more precise.  While the Bib...

The English word "church" is derived from the Greek kurikon, meaning "belonging to the Lord." The actual word in the Greek text, which stands behind the modern rendition, "church," is ekklesia, "...

Citizenship is the legal relationship that one sustains to a city, state, or country. Paul was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 21:39), and he enjoyed the privileges of "citizenship" in the Rom...

Colossae was a city about 100 miles east of Ephesus. Paul wrote a letter to the church in this city. It was one of his four epistles from Rome (Acts 28), while he was in prison.  The letter of Col...

"Communion" is a term applied to the Lord's Supper because of its usage in 1 Corinthians 10:16. This act of worship emphasizes the fellowship (koinonia — sharing, participation) we enjoy with Chris...

Paul commended Timothy for making "the good confession" before many witnesses (1 Tim. 6:12).  The word "confession" comes from the Greek homologia, which means "to say the same thing." It implies a...

"Confession" means "to say the same thing."  In connection with our salvation, confession is the personal acknowledgment of the transgressions in our lives that God has spoken of and condemned thr...

This English term is related to the Latin conscientia, literally, "to know together" or "joint knowledge." It corresponds to the Greek suneidesis (found thirty times in the New Testament), which es...

Critics are fond of claiming that the Bible cannot be the word of God because, supposedly, it contains multiple contradictions. Such allegations reveal that these critics are oblivious to the natur...

Paul wrote this epistle to a church he had established on his second missionary campaign (Acts 18:1-11). It deals with problems within that local congregation, such as division (1:10ff), carnality ...

Paul's second preserved letter to the Corinthian brethren was designed to be corrective. It urged the saints to be forgiving to the brother who had been disciplined because of his fornication (2:1f...

A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In some cases, the parties stand on equal footing, and each party contributes to the conditions of the covenant.  It can be the case, however, that ...

The creation was the act of an omnipotent God, speaking into existence, from no previous materials, the entire Universe and everything within it. This concept is unique to Judeo-Christian theology....

The Book of Daniel records the life and prophetic visions of the prophet Daniel.  As a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity in 605 B.C., during the first deportation under King Nebuch...