Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

As those of you who have been reading this series know, thus far I have been systematically working  through passages of the New Testament that are used by pro-gun advocates to promote their agenda of owning and using guns.  To see those posts, click HERE .  In spite of the fact that a number of people have commented on these posts with antagonism to what I have to say, not one person has yet offered a well-researched, well-argued or solidly-grounded argument of refutation.  In this post, the seventh in this series, I want to continue working toward a theology of guns in the manner I have been doing thus far.  In short, here I want to deal with a misused passage that pro-gun advocates attempt to use to justify their claims. In particular, here I want to address a statement that is, in many ways, used more frequently than most others.  In fact, I heard someone make this claim just yesterday saying, "I'm a Christian woman but I'm also a pre-school teac...

Hello everyone, I am happy to announce today that my book Entering the Fray: A Primer on New Testament Issues for the Church & Academy was released in Kindle format today.  Best of all, the prices is less than $10.00!  That's right, you can get Entering the Fray for $9.99 in Kindle format.  That's over 300 pages of New Testament research and history for $9.99.  I will say, while I am pleased that the Kindle format has finally been released, I was a little displeased that they modified the "callout boxes" throughout the book if but then again, it may have been the case that had they not done that, the book would have never been released for Kindle.   Regardless, the content of the book stays the same but the format/layout changes just a bit.  Anyway, if you would, head on over to Amazon and check out the Kindle version of Entering the Fray by clicking HERE .  Or, if that doesn't suit your tastes, order a hard copy HERE .  Or, you have anoth...

Recently I had the opportunity to read A. Scott Moreau's new work titled Contextualization in World Missions: Mapping and Assessing Evangelical Models .  I want to say "Thank you!" to Kregel for the gratis review copy.  I also want to say "Kudos!" to Dr. Moreau, who is Professor of Intercultural Studies at Wheaton College (Ill.), for producing a very fine and helpful work.  Indeed, I have even been able to engage this text for some of my dissertation work. In this book, which spans 429 pages and is divided into 14 chapters across two major parts or sections, Moreau's goal is to interact with the major theories or models of contextualization that have been put forth within missiological studies over the last several decades.  Throughout he uses the analogy of a map (hence the subtitle) and also discusses the various "maps" of contextualization that others have developed.  As a Bible scholar I found Moreau's work helpful but, of course, I ...

Thus far in my series on the relationship between Christians and guns, I have dealt with a number of passages in the New Testament that pro-gun advocates attempt to use in their agenda to favorably link Jesus to guns and Christianity or Christians to guns.  I have shown thus far, however, that such endeavors are unfounded and misplaced.  You can read more by clicking the following links: * Pt. 1 (Lk 22:35-36) * Pt. 2 (Mt 26:52; Lk 19:42, 22:35-36) * Pt. 3 (Jn 2:15-16) * Pt. 4 (Mt 8:5-13 and Lk 7:2-10) * Pt. 5 (Mt  10:34; Lk 12:51; Rev 19:15) In Pt. 2 I also dealt with the theological concept of incarnation and showed how it is both rooted in peace and has the ethical and theological implications of being peacemakers.  Here, I want to look at the evangelical concept of salvation and ask what contribution it might play in the discussion of Christians and guns. All throughout the Bible, that is, across both Testaments, the concept of salvation lo...

Since I wrote the last post in the series, there have been a handful of school shootings take place in the U.S., not to mention a pastor whose son killed him, his wife, and his siblings with the guns they had in their home. A study was also released which showed that more than nearly 60% of the time, having guns in the home leads to someone in the home  shooting another person living in the home, not an intruder. Just as well, the presidential administration rolled out some more laws on guns and gun control.  In my view, it is high time that Christians be talking about guns and and violence in the United States (and across the world for that matter) and working toward a well-reasoned and scritpurally-based theology of guns. That's precisely what I've been aiming to do here. In this series I have been systematically dealing with passages from the New Testament that are often used by pro-gun advocates in an attempt to bolster their pro-gun agenda. I have shown, howe...

I am pleased to announce today, an upcoming Conversational Koine event that will take place in Lexington, KY.  You can see more details on the flyer below but let me draw your attention to several things.  The event is an immersion event, which means that you will jump right into speaking, hearing, and responding in and to Koine Greek.  This is an event aimed at those interested in beginning to learn to speak Koine.  This means that the immersion event is open to folks who have never studied Greek a day in their lives as well as professors or students who may have spent many years studying Greek. The event will be co-led by me (Michael Halcomb) and my friend Jordan Day.  We have developed a great weekend workshop curriculum and expect that those who participate will come away not only with a greater love for Greek but a greater ability to begin speaking it and engaging it in their Greek New Testament.  If you have questions feel free to contact me. ...

As many of you know, I posted a flyer on Pisteuomen a few weeks ago (see HERE and see the original flyer below) about a Conversational Koine class that I am teaching. There was a great response and numerous people have enrolled. In fact, I have filled 3 classes. However, I have had to "waitlist" 3 people for a potential fourth class. If I can get at least 2 more people to sign up, I am willing to offer it. We begin tomorrow and the class will meet every Tuesday (Jan 22nd - Apr 30th) from 3:45pm-4:45pm (Eastern Standard Time). The class is online and is $30 for the entire semester. Note that the everything except the time (for this new class 3:45pm-4:45pm) is the same. ***UPDATE:  Since posting this there have been a number of inquiries and I am going to have the class.  There are still a couple of openings for this 3:45pm-4:45pm (EST zone) if a couple of others are interested. Click HERE for a .jpg version of the flyer for download Conversational Koine

See the embedded flyer below.  Feel free to download it, share it with others, and by all means, feel free to submit an abstract.

Thus far in my series "Toward A Theology of Guns: A Christian's Perspective" I have dealt with three passages in the New Testament that folks often try to use to build a cumulative case to argue that it is okay for Christians to carry weapons and engage in violence.  Today, I want to continue on in the same manner and deal with the argument that since Jesus healed a centurion, he must have been okay with swords and violence.  First, however, I want to briefly summarize the previous three posts. Post #1 :  In this post I showed how fallacious interpretations of Lk 22:35-36 are often used to contend that Jesus promoted the use of swords among his followers.  I set my argument within the context of the ancient Hebrew "Two Swords Tradition," which, in Luke's account, Jesus is tactfully and purposefully subverting or overturning.  Thus, Lk 22:35-36 cannot be used to argue that Jesus was okay with violence or his followers wielding weapons.  I also showed ...

In the third part of this series, which is titled "Toward A Theology Of Guns: A Christian's Perspective," I want to address a specific claim that is often used to help build a case that Christians can use violence. Honestly, in my view, this argument is completely absurd and completely disconnects the Bible from exegesis, reality, and theology. I am not surprised, however, that many American Christians use it to attempt to justify their violent ends; we are after all, a culture of violence and death and have been greatly influenced in this regard. You can see this argument used in the comment section of my previous post in this series HERE , as well as in another comment section of a post I wrote on guns HERE . The argument goes like this: In the temple, Jesus flipped over tables and used a whip. Thus, Jesus used violence against people. Therefore, since we are Jesus' followers, there are times when it is advantageous to use violence. In modern times, we...

I'm pleased to announce today an upcoming online class that I'm going to be offering for the 2013 winter/spring semester.  The course is titled "Conversational Koine" and is open to all.  That's right, if you've never read or spoke Greek a day in your life, or if you've studied Greek for years, this class is for you.  The class is designed in such a way that all skill levels can interact with one another.  The entire class is taught in Koine Greek and you will find that even after the first session, you'll be able to read and speak some Greek. By the end of the semester, you will be amazed with the results.  The class is taught in a conversational manner.  Throughout the semester we read, speak, share stories, etc.  The flyer below contains the details of when, where, cost, etc.  As you can see, the class begins at the end of this month and goes to the end of April.  The cap for the class is 10 people and 2 of those spots are already taken, ...