Family Bible Reading

People frequently claim that we can’t trust the Bible, that Jesus didn’t exist, and so on. What do scholars, especially in the fields of ancient history, archaeology, and New Testament think of the claims of the Bible? Surprisingly to some, the vast majority of scholars accept many of the key points of the New Testament narrative being historical true. Thus, as we explore the question of whether we can trust the Bible’s account of Jesus and the early church, we will be citing the New Testament as well as nonbiblical sources from around the same time period. Citing the Bible in this discussion is not only reasonable, but necessary. Most of what we know about Jesus and his first followers comes from the Bible and the nonbiblical sources that support various historical claims of the Bible (like certain people existing, etc.) give further support for the New Testament being an authentic account by the followers of Jesus. In addition, we have both non-Christian and Christian sources from th...

This is a slightly revised edition of my senior paper from my college, Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. In the paper, I examine the topic of the role of women according to the Bible, first presenting an egalitarian (no innate gender roles) interpretation and then refuting that with a complementarian (innate, distinct, and complementary gender roles) interpretation. I make some brief application of the study before the conclusion, but the main purpose of my paper is to explain the meaning of 1 Timothy 2:12, using the teachings of a few key biblical passages on gender roles. If you'd like a simpler presentation of this information, just skip the section on egalitarian interpretation and read the rest. I hope this study can be a help and a blessing to you! 1. Introduction For the last few decades, Western culture has undergone the upheaval of traditional gender roles. Since the historic Obergefell case, which legalized same-sex marriage in the United Stat...