Jeff Ragan’s Reviews > The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament > Status Update

"The great treasure of the message about Jesus...was housed in a suffering apostle, a vessel made of clay...By using so weak a vessel...God put his great power on display. Although the gospel ministry constantly exposed the apostle to the threat of death, he pressed on, assured that God would resurrect his body & that his sufferings were only the prelude to an 'absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory'" (573).

"Paul urges the Corinthians to cultivate...love, which is more important than the exercise of any spiritual gift...more important than the gifts of human or heavenly speech, miracle-working faith, liberal generosity, or even the faithfulness that motivated a person to embrace martyrdom. Paul's prose soared into poetry as he beautifully described this patient, kind, humble, forgiving, & virtuous love" (568).

"The rampant immorality, the prominence of pagan religion, and the economic, social, and ethnic diversity of the city of Corinth help explain many of the unique challenges Paul faced there. These factors provide helpful insights that guide the interpretation of the Corinthian letters" (550).

"At the Second Coming, the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven. The accompanying shout of the Messiah...will raise the dead. The voice of the archangel...serve as signals to the angels to gather God's people, both dead & alive, for final transformation. The newly resurrected believers & the believers who had not experienced death will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air" (529-30).

"First Thessalonians was written to (1) encourage the church during a time of persecution; (2) defend the purity of Paul's motives behind his mission to the Thessalonians; (3) urge the church to live holy lives characterized by sexual purity; (4) define a Christian work ethic; (5) correct confusion about the return of Christ; and (6) prompt the church to respect its leaders" (521).

"Scholars such as W. Wrede have argued that the vocabulary of 2 Thessalonians is so similar to that of 1 Thessalonians that it must be a forgery based on the earlier letter" (510).

There are some ideas so dumb that only an academic could believe them.

"Paul reminded his audience that God had granted his Spirit to them when they placed their faith in Christ (3:2). The Spirit had manifested his presence among them through amazing miracles (3:5). The indwelling Spirit was the source of the personal righteousness to which true believers aspire (5:5). The Spirit leads the believer to live a life characterized by spiritual fruit...(5:22) (503).

"The letter to the Galatians is regarded as an authentic letter of the apostle Paul by all but the most radical critics. Acceptance of Paul's authorship is so widespread that extended discussion of the issue is unnecessary...As R. Longenecker noted, 'If Galatians is not by Paul, no NT letter is by him, for non has any better claim'" (484).

"Greek letter writers sometimes organized the thoughts in their works using the conventions of Greco-Roman rhetoric. An understanding of the various types of rhetoric and the major components of the different forms may help readers trace the argument of the letter" (477).

"A century and a half after Paul, Rabbi Judah ben Tema taught, 'At five years old [one is fit] for Scripture, at ten years for the Mishnah, at thirteen [for the fulfilling of] the commandments, at fifteen for the Talmud, at eighteen for the bride-chamber, at twenty for pursuing a calling, at thirty for authority'" (460).