Christian Thoughts

To buttress their stance on generational curses, Christians of certain persuasions have  inter alia sought support from the NIV translation of Exodus 20:5 (which, being placed among the 10 Commandments, raises the eye-brows of many a reader): “… punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third  and fourth  generation …” (hereafter referred to as version 1).   Believers who find version 1 difficult to explicate should fall back on traditional Bible translations (such as KJV, RSV and ASV) and read instead the corresponding text for this otherwise-perplexing verse (which is replicated in Deuteronomy 5:9 amidst Moses’ recollections): “… visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third  and fourth  generation …” (hereafter referred to as version 2).   In view of the imperative to distinguish between these two versions, the first action item for the present discussion agenda is to mull over the following observations: ●      The text “visiting

Many Christians from various factions have essentially accepted God’s offer of salvation in blind conviction as attempts to seek clarification of doubts beyond the prescribed bounds are invariably met with their well-meaning mentors’ platitudinous refrain that God works in mysterious ways.  Such a mind-set of what they colloquially call simple faith is usually coupled by a lack of drive to delve into the scriptures — other than, it is supposed, the basics of what the four Gospels and Pauline Epistles teach.   Truly, the Lord has proclaimed that “My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9) with Paul marvelling in awe “how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33).   This should not come as a surprise.   After all, God is the creator of the entire universe and by this reckoning He pre-existed all of His created beings (inclusive of the human race); accordingly, no one born before Job (who is believed to have

  To attract attention, many Christians of certain factions have been known to testify that they saw Jesus appearing in person on earth or (better still) sat casually to converse face-to-face with Him.   What does the Bible say about such sightings that have been asserted ever since the Saviour ’s   Ascension (reported by the chronicler in first Luke 24:51 before Acts 1:9)?   Among the many Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus ’ earthly  sojourn is the following thought-provoking verse referred to by the Son of Man Himself when quizzing the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-45 on the interpretation of what King David penned a millennium earlier: “t he Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand till I make Your enemies Your foot-stool’.” (Psalm 110:1 )   How this particular messianic verse is to be understood has thereafter been addressed in different New Testament books with a selection of their relevant passages reproduced herewith:   #1     “this Man, after He had offered

A s noted in Acts 22:15, a witness simply testifies what he actually saw and/or heard; he is definitely not at liberty to embellish what he is obligated to say by incorporating heresay or fabrication.   It is important to bear this in mind when checking out the following oft-quoted instruction of Jesus prior to His ascension: “… you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the world.” (Acts 1:8)   The question that immediately springs to mind here is what are His witnesses to testify of.   A possible recourse is to look at what the author of Acts already stated in the gospel he wrote earlier — with both books addressed to the same reader, Theophilus (Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1), mentioned in passing as having interest to “know the certainty of those things in which you [ viz Theophilus] were instructed” (Luke 1:4).   The gospel author dutifully recorded in the last chapter of his first book the following details of Jesus’ instruction (whic