Category: Scripture

• The Sarcophagus of Alexander the Great & the Risen Body of Christ.

  

  I spent a couple of hours last week in the Istanbul Museum of Archeology and was able to view the sarcophagus of Alexander the Great. It is enourmous and ornate. Originally it was painted in bright colors, some of which can still be seen on the sides and along the top moulding. This wasnt the […]

  TommyPresonPhillips

  June 26, 2022

  Church, meaningful life, Scripture, Uncategorized, watermarktampa

• The Peace-makers: War, violence, and the response of the Church Fathers. Part 4

  

  The insinuation of many evangelicals is that the martyr has no place in the 21st-century church; that the martyr is simply a fool without a gun whose life has been cut short for lack of firearms training. There seems to be no place in the modern church for the one who utterly refuses to kill, the one who believes that there are things far worse than death…

  TommyPresonPhillips

  January 28, 2020

  abundant life, Church, evangelicalism, justice, pacifism, Politics, Scripture, social action, spiritual discipline, theology, war, watermarktampa

  america, christian, christianity, Church, God, jesus, justice, military, peace, Politics, reconciliation, Religion, theology, Violence, war

• The Peace-makers: War, violence, and the response of the Church Fathers. Part 2

  

  The Peace-makers: War, violence, and the response of the Church Fathers. Part 2 The inconvenient fact for Western Christians is that, for Tertullian and the church fathers of the first 3 centuries … “a Christian could not serve in the military because the Christian cannot bear the sword … Jesus is the full expression of God, and he has revealed God to be non-violent, choosing to go to the cross rather than to wield the sword … And if the church’s answer to evil is war, bloodshed, and violence, then our king is not unique, and our kingdom is just as “of this world” as any other.”

  TommyPresonPhillips

  January 14, 2020

  Church, evangelicalism, pacifism, Politics, Scripture, spiritual discipline, theology, war, watermarktampa

  christianity, Church, Church Fathers, justice, military, pacifism, peace, Politics, Religion, Violence, war

• Heaping Burning Coals on Their Heads

  

  I have heard this passage become a method of revenge instead of a path towards reconciliation. But deep inside we know that this can’t be Christlike. So where do we begin to interpret this passage?

  TommyPresonPhillips

  August 22, 2018

  abundant life, interpretation, relationship, Scripture, social action, theology, watermarktampa

  Church, forgiveness, Religion, romans

• How to Use a Commentary: 4 ways to get the most out of your daily study.

  

  FYI: Skip to the bottom for my list of recommendations Reading a commentary while you study the scriptures is the best way to ensure that you are correctly interpreting the text. There is no shortage of people, even pastors, interpreting and teaching the Bible without any help from biblical scholars who have devoted their lives […]

  TommyPresonPhillips

  August 10, 2018

  bible, Church, interpretation, Scripture

  bible, Church, interpretation, ntwright, presonphillips, Religion, Scripture, watermarktampa