February 2006
This issue of Abundant Life is also available in Adobe's PDF format.Let us Reason Together: Troubles with Greek
by Mark Roberts
A friend of mine who owned a Bible bookstore once told me of a Pentecostal preacher who happened in his shop. My friend had seen this preacher’s local television show and knew who he was. Browsing, the Pentecostal preacher came across some Greek dictionaries and lexicons. My friend explained what the books were, and they were promptly and enthusiastically purchased. A few weeks later my friend happened on this preacher’s television show, and was amazed to find the man had become a veritable Greek scholar. His preaching was full of definitions and discussion of word usage, all backed up by lengthy quotes from the very books that only a few weeks before had been gathering dust in the bookstore!
Breathed Out By God
by Patrick Farish
Scripture is “breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16). This is the authoritative declaration of where the Bible comes from. It is “breathed out” (inspired, ASV et al) by God. Some do not understand “breathed out”, or “inspired”. They freely attribute inspiration to Shakespeare, or Mark Twain or other – brilliant – human authors – and we do not dispute the brilliance of such men. It is, however, simply insupportable to equate this with “breathed out by God,” inspiration, as used of the Bible.