CHRISTIANITY

Many have the idea that every time the gift of tongues is mentioned in the New Testament, it is always the supernatural phenomenon experienced at Pentecost in Acts 2:1-11. This is not correct. In the New Testament two different types of supernatural manifestations are referred to as “Gift of Tongues”. THE GIFT AT PENTECOST – ACTS 2:1-11 This phenomenon was unique in fulfilment of the prophecy in Joel 2:28 and Isaiah 28:11; and served as testimony for the beginning of the New Covenant of Grace based on the salvific work of Jesus. Until then, the idea of true worship and religion was tied up to the revelation given to Israel in the Torah and the Prophets, the circumcision and to the descendants of Jacob (Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6-8; 14:2); but now, the New Covenant was opened to all nations of the Earth, and God was calling everyone in their own language (Acts 2:5-6). In this opportunity, the Holy Spirit had descended on humans as it had never happened before (John 1

Only two of the gospels narrate the giving of wine with an additive to Lord Jesus immediately before his crucifixion, Matthew 27:33-34 and Mark 15:22-23. This event must not be confused with the second offering of sour wine the Lord was given after He was crucified and shortly before his exhalation, which is contained across the four gospels equally. However, the account in Matthew mentions that Jesus was given wine mixed with gall, while Mark’s account says that it was wine with myrrh, normally understood to be substance totally different to gall. WHAT WAS “GALL” Many ideas have been given as to what “gall” means exactly in the text; from being bile to a herbal narcotic. The Greek word used in Matthew is χολή which is imprecise and by context it has been identified with a bitter substance that may have served to dull pain, most probably “wormwood” (Proverbs 5:4; Lamentations 3:15), a plant used to these days as an “amphetamine like” substance that works in the centra

Tradition has many stories about the man Joseph of Arimathea, and little is known about him from secular history. The internal evidence of the four Gospels however, lets us know that Joseph was from a certain town of Judea (Luke 23:50); and that he was a rich member of the Sanhedrin (Matthew 27:57; Mark 15:43; Luke 23:50), who was a secret follower of Lord Jesus together with Nicodemus (Matthew 27:57; John 3:1-2;19:38) and had not supported the trial of Jesus earlier and his condemnation (Luke 223:51). After Lord Jesus had given his life on the cross; being a known man of influence, Joseph of Arimathea bravely went to the Roman Prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate and asked to be given the body of Jesus for proper burial (Matthew 27:58; Mark 15:43). The Scripture tells us that all this happened in the evening of the day before the Sabbath (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54). Since Sabbath starts about 06:00pm on our Friday, and Lord Jesus gave his life at around 03:00pm; the lowering of t

It has been traditionally assumed that Lord Jesus was alone with His Apostles in the Upper Room during the Last Supper (Luke 22:11-12), because the Gospels only mention Him and the Twelve in dialogue and reference (Matthew 26:20; Mark 14:17; Luke 22:14), and especially because that night, the Sacrament of the Eucharist was instituted, and implications of authority motivate to think this way even more. But reading carefully into the four narratives, there exists the probability that more people apart from the Twelve Apostles may have been present at the time to celebrate the Passover, at least at some point of the night, and without affecting the narrative and its teaching. SOMEONE ELSE’S HOME Lord Jesus did not celebrate the Last Supper at home, in the north of Judea, but in Jerusalem, supposedly away from His immediate blood family, St Mary and his brethren, and other second-degree family. He requested a room for hire from someone else, probably dedicated to this busines

The Apostle Paul, wrote once: “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.” (1Corinthians 5:9-11) St Paul decided to take severe measures against the relaxed morality of the Christian community of Corinth. Influenced by the highly paganized society of that city, worldliness had crept into Church, and morality was laxed. Through this drastic measure of separatism, Paul hoped to move persistent sinners to repentance; however, he makes clear that this type of treatment should not be applied to those who have not made an official profession of faith, in those days, those wh

Beloved brothers in the Faith of Jesus Christ: A few days ago I held a conversation with an English-speaking Catholic Christian about the Infallibility and Inerrancy of the Bible; to which he sustained, as it is taught today, that as nothing in the NT is of true apostolic origin, and the "Apostolic" Tradition is in no way apostolic but a product of popular folklore; Christianity was really relative, and that its only value was to be a positive philosophical influence in the world, and nothing else. Today comes to my ears, that a Spanish-speaking Christian Reformed leader whom I know for several years, with many followers and for whom he was once an edifying influence; has officially announced his definitive abandonment of Christianity. This last case is even more serious and worthy of sadness than the first, because this decision would seriously affect all those believers who once saw in him a paladin of the Christian Faith. But why are these things happ