Idolatry is the worship of any being or object other than the true God, or the worship of supposed images of Jehovah himself (Ex. 20:3-6). A more subtle form of idolatry is the slavish yielding t...

Two Greek words express the idea of immortality -- athanasia (no death), and aphtharsia (no corruption). In the absolute sense, only God possesses immortality, i.e., an underived and unending exist...

The "church" is a body of baptized believers, called by the gospel from the "world" into a special fellowship with Christ.  We must acknowledge, however, that the church exists in the modern world...

Infallibility means "without error." In theology, it signifies the belief that the Scriptures, in their original form (the autographs), were without error. Furthermore, the divine documents were ...

The Greek term, found in various forms about forty-five times in the N.T., means "the possession of a lot," or portion. Some ideas associated with the word are these: (a) It can suggest a possessio...

Contrary to the denominational claim that infants are born in sin, the Bible teaches otherwise. (a) Children do not inherit evil from their parents (Ezek. 18:20). (b) The practice of sin begins in ...

In his second letter to Timothy, Paul stated that the Scriptures are "inspired of God" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The Greek is one word, theopneustos, literally "God breathed." It is an affirmation that God...

Isaiah was a prophet who lived in Judah in the eighth century before Christ. He foretold coming judgments from God to be visited upon Israel, Judah, and several heathen nations, because of their si...

After Jacob had his famous encounter with the "messenger" of Jehovah (Gen. 32:29; cf. Hos. 12:4-5), his name was changed to "Israel," suggesting, "he who strove with God." Later, the name is applie...

"Jehovah" is a name for God that is found in the American Standard Version (1901) of the O.T. The word is actually a hybrid term, composed of four Hebrew consonants, YHWH, and vowel sounds taken fr...

The southern kingdom of Judah had sunk deep into apostasy. The prophet Jeremiah was raised up to offer them God's final invitation for repentance. When that failed, the prophet was commissioned to ...

This celebrated book is a narrative regarding an ancient patriarch who lived in Arabia. As a test case, designed to prove that God is "worthy to be praised" (Psa. 18:3) irrespective of the blessing...

Joel, a prophet of the southern kingdom of Judah, labors to warn the Hebrew people of the coming "day of the Lord," a time of judgment upon a rebellious people. The punishment is described under a ...

The first three Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are called SYNOPTICS (see), because they view the life of Christ from roughly the same vantagepoint. John's account is different. His recor...

John's first epistle is an defense against the "gnostic" doctrine that alleged that Jesus Christ was not a real, flesh-and-blood human being. This sect claimed a special "knowledge" received direct...

John's second epistle is a word of commendation for a certain "elect lady" and her children. Further, it provides strong warnings regarding those who go beyond the teaching of Christ, and cautions ...

This book is an appeal to a godly Christian whose name was Gaius, to the end that this brother might assist certain workers who were laboring on behalf of the Lord. Additionally, it conveys a stron...

Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It was an exceedingly wicked city, but Jehovah loved even these alien Gentiles. Accordingly, he sent Jonah, a prophet from northern Palestine, to proclaim u...

A Jewish historian who lived around A.D. 37-103. He was initially a resistor against the Roman invasion of Judaea (A.D. 70), but he surrendered eventually. He went to Rome where he was commissioned...

This book contains the record of Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan. The leader of the campaign was Joshua, who substantially took the land in three military invasions -- first, the central re...