Exploring the Bible

  The Nativity story usually ends with the Magi returning to the East and the shepherds returning to their fields. But for the Holy Family, the arrival of the Wise Men signaled the beginning of a terrifying ordeal. Warned by an angel that King Herod was seeking to kill the child, Joseph took Mary and the infant Jesus by night and fled. They did not go north to Syria or east to Babylon; they went southwest, into the ancient land of the Pharaohs. For the Western Church, the Flight into Egypt is a brief interlude—a few verses in the Gospel of Matthew (2:13–23). But for the Coptic Orthodox Church , it is a foundational epic. It is the moment when the Creator of the Universe physically entered their country, drank from their river, and walked their dust, transforming Egypt from a land of exile into a Holy Land. The Gospel of Matthew is sparse on details. It tells us the why (Herod’s massacre of the innocents) and the where (Egypt), but not the specifics of the journey. "Rise,...

  As the human population swells, with billions of souls currently walking the earth and billions more having lived and died, it is natural to wonder about the population of Heaven. If every human has a Guardian Angel (a common, though not universally held, theological belief), and the human count keeps rising, does God run a "celestial factory" to keep up with demand? "The Three Days that Changed the World" The overwhelming consensus of theological history, spanning Jewish, Christian, and Islamic thought, is no . While human souls are created daily (or at conception), the angelic host is a fixed, finite number that was established at the very beginning of time and has never increased since. Here is the theological reasoning behind why the creation of angels is a "closed book," while the creation of humans is an ongoing story. The primary difference lies in how angels and humans are related to time and reproduction. In the book of Genesis, God cre...

  The story of the "War in Heaven" is one of the most dramatic narratives in religious history. It paints a picture of a third of the heavenly host, led by the Morning Star (Lucifer), rejecting the authority of God and being cast down to the earth. But this raises a fascinating theological question: Is this an ongoing event? Do angels today still get bored, angry, or proud and decide to walk out of the pearly gates? The short answer provided by the vast majority of Christian theology and biblical scholarship is no . The "revolving door" of Heaven is closed. While human beings live in a state of flux where they can choose God today and reject Him tomorrow, angels exist in a state where their will is permanently fixed. Here is why theologians believe the rebellion of the angels was a one-time event that will never be repeated. The Special Study Edition of "New Testament Miracles" - a look at the 37 Miracles of Jesus recorded in the New Testament. To...