February 2009 DOES GOD SPECIALLY SPEAK FROM THE BIBLE? Ajith Fernando Sometimes we hear people say, “God spoke to me clearly from his Word.” Can we really hear the voice of God today? When we read the Bible we are open to hearing from God, and he can use this receptivity to …
February 2009 LAZINESS ABOUT OBJECTIVE TRUTH A few days ago, I went back to my study of Deuteronomy (for two writing projects) after a long break. As soon as I approached the text, applications leaped out which I was tempted to pursue without really studying the text. It took an effort to …
Two Posts on LinkedIn Technology could be a help or a hindrance to good preaching. One of the biggest problems in the church is that our leaders are technicians when they should primarily be thinkers, theologians–that is, with everything they do coming from reflecting on the teaching of the scriptures. For …
August 2009 I have just returned from a three-month Sabbatical in North America. During this time I had further confirmation of a growing sense that Inductive Bible Study is going out of fashion in formal theological education. Below is a reflection about this. INDUCTIVE BIBLE STUDY Ajith Fernando I was once …
August 2009 CROSS REFERENCES AND WORD STUDIES The Bibles that many serious Bible students use have cross references. What do we do with them? Do they help or hinder Bible study? I think they can do both. When we approach a Biblical text, we do so with the belief that that the …
July 2005 TWO WONDERFUL TRUTHS FROM THE PSALMS I sometimes use Dennis F. Kinlaw’s devotional book, THIS DAY WITH THE MASTER (Nappance, IN: Francis Asbury Press, 2002), when I want a change from my usual devotional routine. This is a wonderful book which is both deeply devotional and solidly scripture-based. Today I …
Written in November 2005 WHAT A RELEVANT BOOK THE BIBLE IS! Ajith Fernando Some of you know that I am trying to write a commentary on Deuteronomy. I am presently working on the Ten Commandments. When working on the command not to murder I decided to compile a list, from the murder …
The Bible has been described as a book that speaks to every situation. We can certainly attest that from our experience through a protracted civil war in Sri Lanka. After a terrible riot had engulfed our land and triggered the war, I was struck by the fact that the Bible records that when the …
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE BIBLE VERSIONS CONTROVERSY Ajith Fernando* Recently I saw an email about some new Bible versions which seems to have had a wide circulation on the internet, and I thought I should respond to it. I do so because sincere Christians may fall into the serious sin of making false …
“Discrepancies” in the Bible AND CONFIDENT MINISTRY OF THE WORD ajith Fernando During the past forty years I have seen more and more instances of evangelical biblical scholars reporting an apparent discrepancy in the Bible as a discrepancy and just leaving it at that without making any more comments or clarifications. Some …