N.T. Wright on Emotionalism

From his chapter on A World Reborn: Revelation in Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship:
We have allowed our proper dislike of emotionalism to deceive us into trying to ignore our emotions. But if Good Friday and Easter don’t stir our emotions, then the tyrant has indeed enslaved us. We have become like a garden paved [...]

What Does Paul refer to as “Scripture” in 2 Timothy 3:14-17

I recently received this email from a friend of mine,
Matt,
I have a question about 2 Timothy 3:14-17, which reads:
“14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and
how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able [...]

Revelation 5 - The Scroll and the Lamb

To see the previous posts in this series (Chapters 1-4) see here. For the text of Revelation 5 click here.
In Revelation 4, John was taken up into the heavenly throne room where he saw God and the four living creatures (angels) who were giving praise to God. John saw the 24 elders who gave their [...]

Revelation 4 - The Heavenly Throne Room

Following the seven letters begins a section that is primarily set in heaven. John is taken by the Spirit to the heavenly court of God. John sees someone on the throne and begins to describe what he sees in language loaded with covenantal significance:

4:3 - rainbow (sign of the covenant with Noah)
4:5 - lighting, thunder, [...]

Revelation 3 - 7 Churches, 7 Letters

Revelation chapter 3 continues the 7 letters with letters to Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. For the text of Revelation 3 click here.
The Church in Sardis:
This city of Asia Minor, once the capital of Lydia, had its historical shares of ups and downs. The church in Sardis had its share of ups and downs as well. [...]

Revelation 2 - 7 Churches, 7 Letters (Part 1)

For the text of Revelation 2, click here.
One of the most discussed sections of revelation is the section of letters to the churches. One of the reasons for this is because they are far more straight forward than the rest of Revelation and involve far less symbolism. Each letter has a similar structure:

Each addresses the [...]

Revelation 1:9-20 John’s First vision

John and his audience:
As mentioned earlier, the settings for John’s vision alternate between heaven and earth. The first vision is cast in heaven. John finally introduces himself (1:9) and his audience (1:11). As was also mentioned earlier his audience, the seven churches of Asia are representative of all the churches as the number seven symbolizes [...]

Revelation 1:1-8 Prologue to Doxology

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads the words [...]

Revelation - Introduction

There are a couple of things that make a study of Revelation difficult.

Symbolism - we are not insiders into their culture and many of the symbols used are not as readily recognizable to us as it was to them. Some symbols are easier to understand than others (eg the number 7) and other things are [...]