Baptism is a very important rite in the divine scheme of salvation. But it is imperative that one be able to distinguish between the “essential” and “nonessential” items associated with the command. Study this matter with us in this week’s Penpoints.

A young convert to Islam asserts that Mohammed was the “prophet” of whom Moses spoke in Deuteronomy 18:15ff. What are the facts regarding this matter?

Did Abraham offer Ishmael or Isaac? The Bible and the Koran differ on this issue. Which book is really divine revelation? Does it matter?

Woman was fashioned from flesh and bone taken from the side of man (Gen. 2:21-24). Male and female qualities were designed by God (Mt. 19:4); these characteristics are not accidental developments o...

During the six hours in which he hung on the cross, the Lord Jesus uttered seven sayings. Surely the most perplexing of these was his plaintive question, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

The Greek word paradeisos derives from the Persian term pairidaeza, which meant an enclosure, a royal park, a garden with a wall. In the Greek Old Testament (LXX) the term is employed of the Garden...

The Holy Spirit is a divine being who is spirit in nature (Luke 24:39) and holy in character.

• The Holy Spirit is not a mere force (as some cultists insist, e.g., the “Jehovah’s Witnesses”); rat...

What is Lent and Ash Wednesday? Are these religious observances found in the Bible?

What is the “baptism of fire” mentioned in Matthew 3:11?

Drunkenness involves the ingestion of a mind-altering substance for purely pleasurable purposes. This vice is repeatedly condemned in the Scriptures (Proverbs 23:29ff; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Corinthians...

What does this puzzling passage mean? As with any troubling or difficult passage, we must first understand the context to better grasp what the author means.

Proverbs 31 begins as follows: “The wo...

The imagery of a “lamb” is taken from the Old Testament to convey certain thoughts about the Messiah.

John the Baptizer introduced Jesus as the “lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (...

The New Testament is a collection of twenty-seven documents with the following characteristics:

• They are classified as “scripture,” a term suggesting a divine writing (1 Tim. 5:18; 2 Pet. 3:16)...

When we initiated our Question & Answer column just over a year ago, we scarcely anticipated how popular this segment of our site would become. Some who submit queries may wonder why their inquiry has not appeared in this column.

The Talmud is an encyclopedia of Jewish cultural tradition that was designed to supplement the Hebrew Old Testament. It evolved over an era from about 450 B.C. to A.D. 500.

The Talmud (from a Heb...

Was Cornelius, the Roman centurion of Acts chapter 10, saved before and without baptism?

A type (tupos) is a prophetic, pictorial preview that finds its fulfillment in an antitype. Types are grounded in historical events, but they are symbolic in import. These forms of figurative proph...

The word “Trinity” does not occur in the Scriptures. The term combines the dual concepts of “three” and “unity,” and thus it does convey a biblical idea, namely that the Godhead is composed of thre...

This essay addresses a verse commonly used in support of the false doctrine of original sin.

May one contend that while the “law” was abolished by the death of Christ, nonetheless, the Psalms remain; and the Psalms provide authority for worshipping God with instruments of music?