Peter Goeman
Peter serves at Shepherd's Theological Seminary in Cary, NC as the professor of Old Testament and Biblical Languages. He loves studying the Bible and helping others understand it. He also runs The Bible Sojourner podcast and Youtube channel.
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The Illegal Trial of Jesus
One of the things that has always fascinated me is the rule of law and how trials operate to either convict or acquit the accused. Jewish law in particular had specific guidelines for how trials should be conducted. Violation of these guidelines was to be viewed as an illegal practice and a miscarriage of justice. But that didn’t stop the Jewish leadership from conducting an illegal trial against the Son of God. The illegal trial of Jesus, as reported by the Gospels is evidenced in many ways. Since I’ve been reading through Will Varner’s Passionate about the Passion Week (see the podcast interview here), I thought I would post a few of his observations about the illegal nature of Jesus’ trial. Although Varner notes there were many illegal aspects of the trial of Jesus, here are a few of the more prominent illegalities. The trial of Jesus was illegal because…
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Six Coronavirus Opportunities for the Christian
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had quite a global impact. Schools are closing, social distancing is encouraged, churches canceled, etc. There have been quite a few helpful blog posts on COVID-19 from a Christian perspective. For example Miguel Núñez posted an explanation of the coronavirus, and my friend Gunner posted some Christian reflections on the COVID-19 crisis. I even found a helpful post about Spurgeon’s advice during the cholera outbreak of 1854. Because of the significance of the coronavirus and its life-altering nature, I want to offer six opportunities that the Christian has during this season of life. Coronavirus provides an opportunity to witness and be a testimony. Many people are quite fearful for their lives during this coronavirus epidemic. Many of their hopes and dreams have been taken away from them. This is a fantastic opportunity to share the message of the gospel and the hope to be found in Jesus!…
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Preterism and This Generation in Matt 24:34
Preterism views the label “this generation” in Matthew 24:34 as one of the most important factors in determining one’s eschatological viewpoint. Does “this generation” refer to the disciples to whom Jesus is talking, or a future generation? Matthew 24:34 and the mention of “this generation” occurs in the midst of the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24-25). The Olivet Discourse was prompted by the disciples’ question about when the destruction of Jerusalem would be, and what sign would signify Christ’s return (Matt 24:3). In answer to the disciples, Jesus gives the following signs of the impending destruction: There will be many false Christs, wars, and rumors of wars, earthquakes, and famines (vv. 4-8) There will be persecution and a mass apostasy, but the gospel will be preached to the whole world (vv. 9-14) The abomination of desolation in fulfillment of Daniel 9:27 will take place and mark the need to flee from…
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Full List of Resurrections in the Bible
I have previously discussed how many future resurrections there are in the Bible, focusing specifically on the theology behind resurrection. However, I also thought it would be helpful to list all of the resurrections that are mentioned in Scripture for reference. Given the helpful feedback I received on the list, I have also decided to include a list of “honorable mentions” which I personally don’t think are resurrections but have been thought so by some. A couple notes of clarification on this list of possible (but unlikely) resurrections. First, some people assume Jonah may have been resurrected because of the connection Jesus makes in Matthew 12:40-41. However, the connection does not depend on the death of Jonah. Rather it is the time spent in the fish. There is nothing in Jonah or the gospels which make clear reference to the resurrection of Jonah. Yet, it of course remains possible. Second,…
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Book Review: Authorized—the Use & Misuse of the King James Bible
Every so often I try to write a brief book review on a book that interests me. Because I have written in some detail about the King James Version, I was sent Authorized: The Use & Misuse of the King James Bible, written by Mark Ward. Mark received his PhD in NT Interpretation at Bob Jones University, and currently works for Faithlife. He works in a variety of capacities, one of which is being an academic editor for Lexham Press. He also blogs at By Faith We Understand. Authorized is an interesting take on the KJV Only issue because it approaches the issue from an English language perspective. Most books that deal with the KJV deal with mistranslations or inadequate manuscript support. However, the approach in this book is to have a serious discussion about some of the problems of reading the KJV in English. Reading the KJV in English…
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Why Do Some People Believe in Hell?
The NY Times recently ran an article entitled, “Why Do People Believe in Hell?” The opening line states, “The idea of eternal damnation is neither biblically, philosophically nor morally justified. But for many it retains a psychological allure.” In other words, there is no reason to believe in hell except for some psychological brokenness. Later in the article, the author gives the following reason why many believe in hell: “How can we be winners, after all, if there are no losers? Where’s the joy in getting into the gated community and the private academy if it turns out that the gates are merely decorative and the academy has an inexhaustible scholarship program for the underprivileged? What success can there be that isn’t validated by another’s failure?” Needless to say, I have never met anyone who believed in hell because they wanted to see losers in life in order to contrast…
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Was Melchizedek Jesus or Someone Else?
The king-priest Melchizedek is introduced in Genesis 14:17-20. He is a bit of a strange character who seems to appears out of nowhere, and then disappears. We do not hear about Melchizedek again for a thousand years, when he shows up in the writings of David (Psalm 110:4). Melchizedek later becomes a prime topic of discussion in Hebrews. Because of this attention paid to an otherwise unknown character, some readers want to identify Melchizedek as Jesus. But are Melchizedek and Jesus one and the same? Admittedly, if it were not for the extended excursus on Melchizedek in Hebrews 7, one might pass over the brief mention in Genesis 14. Yet, we should also note that there is quite a bit of prominence given in Psalm 110:4, where Melchizedek is mentioned in conjunction with the Messiah. Because of the prominence given to Melchizedek in Psalm 110 and Hebrews 7, some have…
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Joy to the World! (Singing a “Non-Christmas Song” at Christmas)
Music is such a big part of Christmas. There is always a little extra energy come Christmas time, due in part to the old Christmas songs that we sing. A classic example of those Christmas songs is Joy to the World. Joy to the World is one of Christianity’s most beloved Christmas songs. It is one of those songs that almost everyone can sing along with (even if they are not a Christian). Written by Isaac Watts, Joy to the World is based on Psalm 98 and was first published in 1719 in a collection entitled The Psalms of David: Imitated in the Language of the New Testament and Applied to the Christian State and Worship. Although I don’t normally blog about songs, given the fact many of us will be singing Joy to the World this Christmas season, I thought I would point out the biblical connections. The biblical…
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Thanksgiving: the Atheist’s Least Favorite Holiday
The Thanksgiving season is one of my favorite times of the year. There is just something about the weather, the excitement, and the theology behind the holiday that attracts me. The whole idea behind Thanksgiving is intrinsically biblical. We are all used to Thanksgiving as the title for our American holiday, but it is also a noun which refers to the act of giving thanks. The whole reason Thanksgiving is so named is because it is to be a special time reserved for giving thanks. (Although, I will say the advent of Black Friday really kind of cheapens the whole idea thanksgiving). Biblically, although the New Testament only directly commands thanksgiving in one place (1 Thess 5:18), that does not mean it is unimportant. Paul constantly practices thanksgiving, most often thanking God for fellow believers and their faithfulness (Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4, 14; Eph 1:16; Phil 1:3; Col 1:3,…
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Darius the Mede as Cyaxares II, Last King of Media
In the last post we talked about the common identifications of Darius the Mede. Although the previous post discussed the popular interpretations of Darius, as stated in that post, I think there are some problems with those identifications. Further, as I have been introduced to the work of Steven Anderson (through Todd Bolen), I have become convinced that Darius the Mede can be identified with Cyaxares II, the last king of Media. Identifying Darius the Mede as Cyaxares II has been most recently (and most thoroughly) proposed by Steven Anderson in his 2014 dissertation. However, this viewpoint is not new, and was the standard Jewish and Christian interpretation from Josephus and Jerome, until the 1870s. However, scholarship of the last 150 years has cast doubt on this viewpoint. As charted out last time, many scholars identify Astyages as the last king of the Median dynasty. According to the Nabonidus Chronicle,…
