Challenging Faith

Reading the story of Martha and Mary in Luke 10 with my Female Christian Ministry Leaders cohort this morning, a fresh perspective dawned on me. Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made - likely overwhelmed by fixing up a feast for Jesus and his entourage all by herself, while Mary, her sister, was sitting and listening to Jesus teach instead of helping. It’s not that Martha didn’t want to sit at Jesus’ feet and spend time with him like Mary did. But in a culture that valued hospitality and conditioned women into domestic roles, Martha felt obligated to all the busy work she was doing. But then Jesus’ response to Martha’s request for Mary to help was completely countercultural: Mary “has chosen” what is better, and it will not be taken away from her. Wait, what? Mary had a choice? This must have come as a shock to many who were present at the time. It’s mind-blowing, because women in that culture didn’t really have the option to not take on domestic res...

Recently, rumors have been circulating among Christians that attack the trustworthiness of certain modern English versions of the Bible, such as the NIV, ESV, and NASB. In these rumors, the modern English versions are often compared to the KJV, with claims that these versions have verses “intentionally omitted,” and that such omissions prove satanic control of modern Bible publishers. Thus, they are said not to be trusted. It is this “satanic” language that alerts me and prompts me to address these rumors. I believe a brief survey of how the modern English versions of the Bible came to be will be helpful in countering misunderstandings and lies, and in defending our faith. As you may know, the original writings of the Bible were in Hebrew for the Old Testament, and Greek and Aramaic for the New Testament. It was through handwritten copies of these original writings that the Scriptures were circulated among early Christians. In the late 4th and early 5th century, the patristic biblica...