Theology Thursday

* 2 Corinthians: Paul constructed Second Corinthians as a key for understanding all of the Pauline Epistles, especially for the Christians who doubt the unique teaching that Jesus revealed through this Apostle. 

* 1 Peter: Meet the Apostle Peter in this important Bible study. Have you considered why Peter addresses his letters to no well-known recipients? Rather, similarly to James, John, and Jude, he sends them generically to the circumcision believers scattered abroad. Why? Meanwhile, Peter mentions the Apostle Paul, who addresses his epistles to many well-known leaders and specific regional churches.

* 1 Peter: Meet the Apostle Peter in this important Bible study. Have you considered why Peter addresses his letters to no well-known recipients? Rather, similarly to James, John, and Jude, he sends them generically to the circumcision believers scattered abroad. Why? Meanwhile, Peter mentions the Apostle Paul, who addresses his epistles to many well-known leaders and specific regional churches.

* Leviticus: In the book of Leviticus, the law of the priests, God describes the sacrifices He requires of the priests and the Israelites. In this study Bob Enyart looks at the meanings of the burnt offerings and the lamb without spot or blemish. We learn of offerings of birds and of bread, and peace offerings of bull and calf, cow, ox, and goat, and trespass offerings for sin.

* Ecclesiastes:

* 2 Kings: The divided kingdom is symptomatic of Israel's separation from God. In the northern kingdom, the prophet Elijah passing on the mantle of his ministry, along with a double blessing from God, to Elisha. With the defeat of Moab, and the mocking of Syria's blinded army, God's covenant people had opportunity after opportunity to thrive. Instead, their sin brought judgment. Ahab's sons were killed after his wicked widow Jezebel was thrown out of a window to her death.

* 2 Kings: The divided kingdom is symptomatic of Israel's separation from God. In the northern kingdom, the prophet Elijah passing on the mantle of his ministry, along with a double blessing from God, to Elisha. With the defeat of Moab, and the mocking of Syria's blinded army, God's covenant people had opportunity after opportunity to thrive. Instead, their sin brought judgment. Ahab's sons were killed after his wicked widow Jezebel was thrown out of a window to her death.

1 Kings: As David's life is draining from him, the nation of Israel is set to enter its most terribly trying times. His son Solomon becomes king with a reign so horrific that he fills Judah with altars to pagan gods and his harem of 1,000 women scoffs at God's command that no monarch should multiply wives. Why are the chapters of sacred history filled with such wickedness? Many theologians have claimed that God actually decreed that His own servants would violate His own commands.