CHRISTIANITY

ACTS 2:1-11 COMMENTARY About10 days after our Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven, the Feast of Weeks arrived, on the fiftieth day from the Passover (Leviticus 23:16), and the 12 Apostles together with other believers, obeyed the indication of Lord Jesus to remain in Jerusalem and await the coming of the Holy Spirit upon them in this manner, for the first time in history (Acts 1:4-5). Traditionally it has been assumed that only 120 people were present that day (Acts 1:15), and that they were on a second level building, most probably the cenacle where our Lord celebrated his last Passover (Acts 1:13). All this is most probable; however, the Bible does not specify exactly how many disciples were on that day at that place, or whether they were still on an ‘upper place’. We know by Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians that Lord Jesus appeared to ‘more than 500 people at once’ (1Corinthians 15:6), which indicated that He had several more disciples, which most probably did not include t

What race was the first human couple in order to give origin to all the different races we have these days?. That is question commonly asked to Christians by non-believers and sceptics. It is important to note that ‘race’ here is understood as phenotypical human groups, strictly based on similar physical appearance, and not by social or any other characteristics. WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES The Bible teaches that all humanity comes from one single couple, name ‘Man and Woman’, (Adam and Ishsha)(Genesis 1:27; 2:32), commonly known as ‘Adam and Eve’ or ‘Man and the Life-Giver’ (Genesis 3:20; Acts 17:26). Even though it is commonly accepted that all races developed from three major branches, white, negro and yellow, from each of the three sons of Noah; Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 6:10), there is no reason to attribute this to any other cause than they already inherited this racial differences from their forefathers, and ultimately from Adam and Eve (Acts 17:26; Malachi 2:10). This

ACTS 1:6-11 COMMENTARY Lord Jesus had called his disciples to Bethany (Luke 24:50-51). This must not be confused with the apparition He made at the mountain in Galilee, where He went to give testimony of his resurrection to most of his disciples, giving them all the Great Commission  (Matthew 28:16-20). Here our Lord gave the final blessing to his disciples present, and gave them the commission to announce the Good News of Salvation to all humanity, starting from Judea, to the whole world (v.8), but asking them to remain in Jerusalem until the day the Holy Spirit will descend into them, and be gifted with supernatural power, in a different and more permanent way that in the initial commission Jesus gave them when He started his ministry (Matthew 10:1). Testifying once again about his eternal subjection to the authority of YHWH, Lord Jesus declares that it is not for us to know the time of his Reigning Kingdom, which has been already appointed by the Father Himself

The gift of Tongues has been a topic of discussion for the Universal Church since the post apostolic era. All agree that is was a supernatural gift granted by God to the apostolic Church, but from the mid of the III century, when it disappeared or fell in disuse, its appearance has been only occasional and isolated, generally but not always, associated to dissident movements, like in the case of Montanism. Later in history, it reappeared with strength in revival movements, like with John Wesley, Charles Parham, and William Seymour, until finally extended to formal Churches like Assemblies of God, Wesleyan Methodist, or Foursquare Churches; and also in sections of traditional Churches like the Roman Catholic Charismatic Movement. However, most traditional non-charismatic Christian churches, reject all supernatural gifts, and specially the gift of Tongues, or Glossolalia, as useless and false, product of fanaticism. WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT THE GIFT OF TONGUES The NT

JOHN 14:1-14 COMMENT In this longer version of the Last Supper, Lord Jesus is giving his last teachings to his beloved apostles, but they were concern about Jesus’s coming disappearance (John 13:31-37), as the Lord foretold them. But Lord Jesus reassured them that He was going to prepare a place for them, that in God’s presence, there was place for many more, not only Him, and that for sure, He will return to take them with Him (John 14:3), and He told them that they ‘new the way’ to God’s Kingdom (John 14:4). Lord Jesus declared openly to the present there, that He Himself was ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life.’ He is the way, because He made possible through his incarnation and atoning sacrifice, the forgiveness of sin and justification before God from our fallen nature. He also declared that He was the ‘only way’ (John 14:6), but clearly declaring that there was not other way to God than through Him alone. He is the Truth, because He is the only all-knowing,

Since the time of enlightenment and biblical criticism, it has widespread the idea that the ‘authors’ of the Torah took on different Mesopotamian legends and adapted them into post captivity Judaism, by changing names of pagan deities for their God’s and other details.  That is how they ascribe the creation narrative, the universal flood, Babel tower, the decalogue, and many more biblical stories, to the Epic of Gilgamesh, Hammurabi’s Code, and other Mesopotamian tales (1). And in time, these ideas have been wining conviction among modern Christian theological colleges and churches. BIRTH OF THE JEWISH RELIGION It is true that our modern copies of the Old Testament followed a post Babylonian version, the same as the Judaism we know today is post exilic, after the destruction of Judea in the 70 CE. However, we hold that religion cannot appear overnight, especially not among millions of followers. The sophistications and convictions the Jews had to reconstruct their t

We all commit mistakes in life, to the point of sometimes hurting other people unjustly. When we realize this, after asking God for forgiveness, we should also ask the people affected for forgiveness, and offer to repair the damage caused the best we can, if it can be repaired. ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS Asking others for forgiveness is a duty, not an option, to be carried out as soon as we realize our wrongdoing. This is as important as to ask God for forgiveness. When we hurt someone, it is not only an evil act done to another fellow human being, but it is also a fault against God. They both need to know we are sorry and that we are determined to compensate for the damage we have caused. WHEN SOMEONE DOES NOT WANT TO FORGIVE YOU However, in certain circumstances, the hurt we caused will be traumatic and hard to forgive by many, specially if they are not believers. These people are themselves so far away from God, that their nature is hardened, becoming implaca

JOHN 10:1-10 COMENTARY Our Lord had just cured a blind man by birth, who had been questioned strongly by the Pharisees (John 9); and was speaking to him after he was throwed out of the Jewish congregation. This man, convinced by the miracle that had happened to him, submitted to our Lord when He revealed to him who He was (John 9:35-37). As Jesus commended that He had come to the world to ‘make the blind recover their sight, and to blind those who claim to see’ in clear reference to the unbelief of the Pharisees, these Jews came to confront Him about what He said about them. Jesus told them that He had presented Himself openly as the Messiah from the beginning (Luke 4:16-21), but regardless, even when He performed great miracles, they refused to believe in Him, because they were ‘not’ of his flock; but instead, some others did, as the blind man, because they were of who were counted as his. Furthermore, in clear reference to Election and Predestination, He elabo