Mandated. Chapel. Service. 3x a week. for college students. Who would ever imagine that any revival would spark from such a setting?
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In “Maclaren on Genesis 2:17” Jefferson Vann responds to some 19th-century arguments against conditional immortality based on that text.
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News of what’s been happening has spread like wildfire. When it eventually reached me, my gut response was honestly skepticism and cynicism. I’m a church kid who has been around the denominational block. I’ve seen passionate worship paired with rotten character firsthand. My instinct is to say, “Let’s see what happens next.”
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For most of my adult life Be Thou My Vision has been my favorite piece of Christian music, whether traditional or contemporary. Its words were composed in the 9th century AD (CE), and slightly updated and translated since then.
Its roots are in Celtic Christianity, a movement from the British Isles that emerged in the life and work of Patrick, the Christian missionary who brought Christianity to Ireland in the middle of the first millennium. Celtic Christianity was unique in western Europe given that it combined both theology and life, intellect and affections, belief and mission. It narrates head, heart, and hands. It describes the Christian journey of faith better than any composition I know outside of Holy Scripture.
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Jefferson Vann discusses his translation of the Hebrew word na’ar in 1 Samuel.
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“Confession: I am an annihilationist. I believe that the wicked will be resurrected on the last day, judged and condemned by God Almighty, and cast into hell to suffer and die. Some of my fellow annihilationists may have just experienced a bit of theological whiplash. You were offering a hearty “Amen” to my belief statement until I threw in the word “suffer.” If that describes you, put on your big boy/big girl pants, because I’ve got something to say that you might not like…”
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The story of Nativity is beautiful in effect for its being a story rich with both symbol and conflict, and these two must be spoken of together…
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In “the difference that day made” Jefferson Vann shares some thoughts about the meaning of Christmas.
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Churches send out missionaries to spread the Gospel. As we seek to plant new churches we must first adjust our vision of what church planting is. Let’s train missionaries who will reach new people with the Gospel in our communities. These missionaries are the Christians in our churches, some of which are called to evangelize in ways that will see new churches planted.
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In “spirit and soul in 1 Samuel” Jefferson Vann examines some metonymies in that book and suggests a different approach to their translation.
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In "Psalm 104:29" Jefferson Vann compares various reflections on this verse and explains its significance in the debate over the state of human beings at death.
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Lots of ink has been spilled about MAGA, and I don’t want to add much more. At the same time, all that ink has neglected the final word of the slogan: again. To “make America great again” implies a time in the past when America was great; a time we must recover. Hence, the questions I want to ask: When was America great? What time in American history do you want us to return to so that we can recapture this American greatness?
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“Isn’t God so creative? Look at the creativity of God.”
I haven’t been able to stop thinking and pondering on this concept of the creativity of God.
Our God is creative. He created everything. He spoke and it was. The earth, the sky, the sea, the mountains, the plains, the desert, the flowers, the animals. Everything.
But I’ve learned that God is also creative in how he interacts with his children.
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I have a confession to make: I find it a challenge to pray. It is not something I can easily do. It is hard also to be consistent in praying daily and regularly throughout the day. Prayer cannot be formalized or systematized. For me prayer exposes my weakness and at times my raw unbelief but maybe that is not so bad. If we come to prayer with a sense of our sufficiency to pray then are we indeed praying? When we pray it seems that at the core of what should be occurring in our minds and hearts is just how needy and messy we are.
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In “the challenge of translating Matthew 6:25” Jefferson Vann discusses how that verse has been translated historically and makes a case for an alternate translation.
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Jefferson Vann shares a way of keeping track of digital data: the digital index.
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In “word abusers” Jefferson Vann addresses R.S. MacArthur’s assertion that proponents of conditional immortality abuse the true meaning of biblical words.
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