About James M. Arlandson

James (Jim) M. Arlandson, Ph.D., is lifelong learner and teacher. He has published a book: Women, Class, and Society in Early Christianity: Models from Luke-Acts (1997, now out of print). He is a student of biblical theology (but not a professional theologian) and a translator and commentator on the New Testament and an essayist and college teacher. Contact: jamesmarlandson@hotmail.com

Paralyzed Man Is Healed after His Friends Dig Hole in Roof

Scriptures: Matthew 9:1-8; Mark 2:1-12; Luke 5:17-26. When the crowds prevented the paralyzed man and his friends to reach Jesus, they dug a hole in the roof, to lower him down to him. Jesus saw that the men had great faith.

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Luke 17:22-37: Taken Away = Rapture?

What do those verses about being taken away and left behind really teach? The answer may shock many people who have been taught only one viewpoint. I also briefly look at Matthew’s version.

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Did 12 or 120 Speak in ‘Spirit-Inspired Languages’ (‘Tongues’) at Pentecost?

A teaching on Acts 2 has been circulating among certain (restrictive) Bible interpreters, which says that only the twelve apostles received the fullness or the baptism with the Spirit at Pentecost with the gift of speaking in Spirit-inspired languages (commonly called ‘tongues’). True?

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What Jesus Really Taught about End Times

This summary post covers some sample verses from Jesus’s teaching on the end times, throughout the four Gospels (excluding Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 17 and 21, which are covered in separate posts). He simplified. End-time Bible prophecy teachers complicate.

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The Church Fulfills and Replaces Old Testament Temple

Let’s allow the clarity of Scripture to overturn needlessly complicated and convoluted eschatological (end-times) interpretations that have dominated American Christianity for many decades. Further, is this replacement the same as the church replacing Israel? Read the post to find out. And look at the photos, too!

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Women Really Did Work as–and Were–Overseers, Elders, Pastors: A Close Look at 1 Timothy 5:9-10

This post has been thoroughly revised and updated. The verses we will look at describe male elders and overseers and pastors and elderly widows. Both men and women took care of the churches. Just like the men, the elderly women functioned as pastors, elders, and overseers throughout their redeemed lives, because they were those things. Scriptures: 1 Timothy 5:2, 9-10, 3:1-7, 11-13, 5:17; Titus 1:5-9; 2:3-5; 1 Peter 2:25, 5:1-5.

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Matthew 5:28 and Adultery in the Heart

Matthew 5:28 has been misused over and over again. What does it mean in its textual and OT contexts? Update: radio host Dennis Prager says that in Judaism a man can watch a little porn because the Torah does not forbid it. Judaism is about behavior, not inner thoughts. (The debaters do not understand Greek.)

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Were Jesus, James and John First Cousins? Was Clopas Jesus’ Uncle?

It’s frustrating to look at old family photos, say a hundred years old, and not know who the people were. They were important enough to be included in the old shoe box filled with known photos, but their names and relationships have been lost to us.

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Jesus Rebukes Fever Attacking Peter’s Mother-in-Law

Passages: Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:30-31; Luke 4:38-39. We also look at Matthew 816-17, which says that the Messiah fulfills Isaiah 53:4, which further clarifies that he took our diseases and carried our sicknesses.

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Sanctification: Past, Present, Future

The moment you are saved, Christ becomes your sanctification. Now he works it out in you in slow, steady progress until the day you die and live again in heaven and then the new earth with your new body, when your sanctification will be completed.

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Why Doesn’t Divine Healing Happen One Hundred Percent of the Time in This Age?

Yes, healing is “in” the atonement, like every biblical benefit. So why not 100% healing right now? The goal here is not to put doubt in the reader, but to explain to people why their prayers were not answered and their beloved family member died. (I updated this post yet again, revealing that God has improved one of my conditions.)

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Matt 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 and 17 in Parallel Columns Are Finally Clear

These chapters are on Jesus’s discourse about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (AD 70) and then the Second Coming, which has not happened yet, 2000 years later (and counting). Looking at the chapters side by side clarifies what he really taught.

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The Lord’s Supper in Synoptic Gospels + Church Traditions

We cannot answer all the questions in this overview, but we can exegete the Lord’s Supper in its original context in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. This post also looks very briefly at 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 and 11:23-34. Then, what do various churches teach about the Lord’s Supper (or Communion or Eucharist)? I am here to learn. I updated this post with information that startled me. I also learned something new from Exodus 12:14.

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Why Tithing Does Not Apply to New Covenant Believers

God’s New Covenant plan is much better than an obsolete, national, theocratic tax designed to support an obsolete, national, religious system. God has a better way for the New Covenant church.

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Yes, Junia Really Was a Female Apostle: A Close Look at Romans 16:7

The only reason this verse has become controversial and complicated is because Complementarians (those who restrict women from full participation in ministry) have made it controversial and complicated. But Romans 16:7 is straightforward and clear and easily translated. (I updated this post.)

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Who Were the ‘Sons of God’ in Genesis?

I updated this post yet again. Who were the “sons of God” mentioned in Genesis? This post also covers the “sons of the Most High” in Psalm 82 and the “sons of God” in Job 1-2 and other verses. Earlier update: This post also looks into the phrase “because of the angels” in 1 Cor. 11:10.

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What 1 Corinthians 14 Really Teaches

An old-fashioned Bible study here. There is a lot of confusion in certain quarters of the global Renewal Movement about what revivals involve. How can we clear up the confusion? What did Paul really teach in 1 Corinthians 14? Are we willing to obey his teaching or just run roughshod over it?

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‘Total’ Inerrancy and Infallibility or Just Infallibility?

A brief history of a controversy over the Bible in America, since the 1970s. I offer my view of Scripture, at the end.

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Does God Cause Natural Disasters to Punish People Today?

Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes and tsunamis—natural disasters slam humankind every year. Did God do that? What does the Bible say? Two different covenants make all the difference—a progressive revelation.

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What Happens at Judgment to People Who Never Heard Gospel?

I used to teach world religions for a number of years. I learned that even though many people never got the chance to hear the gospel, they still lived impressively moral lives. What happens to them at judgment?

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How Jesus Christ Fulfills the Law: Matthew 5:17-19

Christ fulfilled or paid off your debt to the Law. It’s paid in full. He accomplishes this by fulfilling the holiness demand in the law and the fullest revelation of God’s character.

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How Christians Should Interpret the Old Testament

When the Old and New Testaments are interpreted carefully and rightly, using Scripture to interpret Scripture, this truth will emerge: Jesus Christ fulfills the old law, in many, many areas.

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How to Forgive Adultery and Fornication

Sometimes the church can be self-righteous and condemn a sinner in the name of holiness, ignoring mercy. Or it can be permissive in the name of mercy, ignoring holiness.

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Revenge in the Old and New Testaments: Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth

Does the Old Testament demand literal retaliation for a wrong? Should an eye or a tooth be gouged or knocked out—physically? What about the teaching of Jesus? Does he raise our vision to a higher calling? How do we forgive a tort or a physical injury? How do we get compensated for damages?

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Reconciling Matthew’s and Luke’s Genealogies: Mission: Impossible?

Some scholars say they are irreconcilable, while others say reconciling them is not so difficult. I favor plausible harmonization. It’s all in the family. Bonus: see the American family “the Roosevelts” in a chart for parallels.

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Women in Ministry: Replies to Objections

Updated: Here are twenty-nine objections in a list that Complementarians raise. Replies are given to each one. Many important verses are discussed here, like Genesis 1-3, Galatians 2:28, Ephesians 5:22-24, 1 Timothy 2:11-15, 1 Peter 3:1-7, 1 Corinthians 7, 11:2-16, and Acts 6:5.

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Healing Infertility in Genesis

In Genesis healing is about fertility. It is God’s promise to those who live by his commands. It is his blessing. And this first book of the Bible teaches us that God can answer prayers for fertility, to remove the sadness of infertility.

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New Testament Must Always Filter Old Testament

American Bible teachers appear confused about biblical interpretation between the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT). Some claim, for example, that David will share the throne with his superior descendant, Jesus. A third temple will be built, and animal sacrifices will be reinstituted. Christians must keep the Sabbath by command today. What about replacement theology? So confusing!

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What Is the Biblical Character of Worship at Church?

What should worship look like, biblically, in a church service? What are its component parts? Is the church today imbalanced by omitting some things? Included here is a teaching about prayer and intercession, based on the Lord’s Prayer.

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The Spirit in the Church and Believers

Renewalists have a robust and biblical pneumatology (doctrine of the Spirit). The church is a living organism, and the Spirit is guiding it. But the church is made up of individual believers. The Spirit works in them too.

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Slavery and Freedom in the Bible

Critics of the Bible forget that it also advocates liberty. It’s the Grand Arc of the Biblical Narrative, from Genesis to Revelation. Let’s see if we can discover universal truths from these historical, culture-bound slave laws.

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How to Get Past Your Past: Forget the Devil’s Playground

Do you remember when you messed up? When you got drunk and went too far? What about the flirtation that went too far? What about saying stupid stuff at the job or Thanksgiving? When you lost your temper? What about your bad behavior generally? What about that abortion? Shoplifting?

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God’s Love and Grace in Job, Psalms, and Proverbs

This is for your Bible study and sermon series and personal edification. All the words for love and grace in these three books of the biblical Wisdom literature are found here. Great for your personal edification or a series in a Bible study or sermons.

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Are Older Women Restricted to Teaching (‘Only’?) Young Women? A Close Look at Titus 2:3-5

How restrictive are those verses in the title? Does the Greco-Roman household offer any guidance for reading them? What about other verses in the NT?

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New Testament Restricts Authority of Modern Prophets

Yes, prophets of a certain sort rightly exist today, biblically speaking. However, errors are committed in many churches today, usually by “youtube” and “facebook” prophets. They are unscripturally concentrating too much authority in themselves. A closer reading of the New Testament, however, restricts them, their authority, and their ministry.

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From Charlemagne to Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III

May she be welcomed into heaven because she put her faith in Christ! 1926-2022. Historians of the monarchs of Europe always include several genealogical tables. Here are some of them for your convenience. Further, each monarch massively influenced influenced the Western European church, and the church influenced them. Continue reading

Are Women Allowed to Teach Men? A Close Look at 1 Timothy 2:11-15

Certain interpreters of those verses in the title have restricted women’s full participation in the teaching ministry. But are these restrictions truly biblical? Let’s take a deeper look at the verses in the title.

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Acts 28

This is the final chapter of the book of Acts, but not of the acts of God, which go on to this day. Paul gets bitten by a poisonous snake, shakes it off, is unharmed, and then God works healing through his hands. They finally reach Rome, where Paul is at liberty to preach the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

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7. Interpreting the Bible and Finding the Truth

The words “the truth” will shock postmodernists and deconstructionists. Good. But it asks: How do we study and interpret the Bible? How do we find truth which really is out there, around us? This post is a simple reply to claims of unsolvable ambiguities in the Bible.

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5. The Deconstructed Jesus

Deconstruction overturns privileged hierarchy and meaning. Defenders promise us that they do not practice Anything Goes in their deconstruction of texts. Do they keep their promise? How do we verify it? Click on this link only if you have courage.

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Acts 21

This chapter has all sorts of prophetic words about Paul going up to Jerusalem. He arrives there. The chapter also sees James, the (half-)brother of Jesus, tell Paul to go along with a vow to be a good witness to the law-keeping converts to the Jesus Movement, which he did. A riot promptly beaks out when he is spotted in the temple. In v. 16, Paul’s third missionary journey comes to an end, and his journey to Rome via Jerusalem begins in v. 17.

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Acts 20

Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. But first he forms a team, sees a boy named Eutychus survive a fall, and delivers his very moving farewell to the Ephesian elders. This chapter also begins Paul’s journey to Jerusalem (20:16 to 21:17). Please see the timeline table that harmonize Acts 18-25 and Paul’s epistles

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Acts 19

Paul is in Ephesus and prays for twelve disciples who need the fullness of the Spirit, seven Jewish exorcists get pummeled, a demonstration erupts because of the goddess Artemis and Paul’s monotheism and the gospel. The fifth “panel” is in this chapter. Also see the ministry timeline set in a convenient table.

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Acts 18

Paul finishes up his second missionary journey in v. 22 and begins his third in v. 23. In this chapter, his ministry in Corinth and Ephesus takes center stage. Priscilla and Aquila make their appearance, so does the powerfully effective speaker Apollos, who received more theology about God and the fulness of the Spirit.

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1. Postmodernism and the Bible: Introduction

So begins an eight-past series. In the late 1980s or early 1990s, a pastor reported this conversation (as I recall it) between him and a woman from his large congregation. She apparently wanted him to approve of something.

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Acts 16

Paul begins his second missionary trip, with Silas. The Spirit leads Paul and Silas not to go into two big regions but to go to Macedonia; the salvation of Lydia and her household; the deliverance of an oppressed girl; a beating, Paul and Silas singing and praying in prison; an earthquake; and a jailer’s and his household’s salvation. Timothy and Luke join Paul’s team.

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Acts 15

The council in Jerusalem decided on how Gentiles could be saved. They held to four requirements, which were designed for peaceful fellowship between Messianic Jews and converted Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas split up. After this, Paul and Silas begin Paul’s second missionary trip, all the way to Acts 18:22. And Barnabas and Mark make a second team. Included: Timeline table of Paul’s journey coordinated with his epistles.

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Does Torah Really Order Girl to Marry Her Rapist against Her Father’s Will?

Scripture: Deuteronomy 22:28-29 and Exodus 22:16-17. Is the titled question true? Or are there circumstances that clarify what was really going on? A parallel case in colonial Philadelphia is also included here.

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Acts 13

This chapter is clearly transitional. In their first missionary journey, Barnabas and Saul go beyond Israel and Antioch and head westward. It includes worshipping and praying and personal prophetic words and spiritual warfare. It has Paul’s first recorded sermon, a masterpiece. This is Paul’s and Barnabas’s first missionary journey (to 14:28). Table: Paul’s travels which is coordinated with a timeline.

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7. Torah and Slavery: Marrying Captives of War

Scripture: Deut. 21:10-14. War was a fact of life in the ancient Near East. When a soldier whose army was victorious saw a woman he was attracted to, what could he do? The Torah regulates this cultural fact.

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6. Torah and Slavery: Foreign Slaves

Scriptures: Lev. 25:44-46 and Deut. 23:15-16 (and Exod. 21:16, again, with its parallel Deut. 24:7). As we have observed in this series, slavery was a cultural fact of the ancient Near East. When an Israelite bought a foreign slave or a foreigner residing among them, what were his obligations to care for them and what rights did the slaves have? This post also has two parallel cases in colonial Virginia.

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