J. Stuart Russell

Ian Thomson, a faithful and long-time reader, left several objections to my views in the comment section of my post, The Final Judgment. They relate to my observations on James Stuart Russell’s view of the Sheep and Goats judgment in Matthew 25:31–46.  I want to respond in the spirit Paul…

In the previous post, I promised to deal specifically with the final judgment described in Matthew 25:31–46—the well-known “sheep-and-goats” passage. It is one of the most sobering and majestic scenes in all of Scripture: the Son of Man seated in glory, all nations gathered before him, and an eternal division…

This blog post is shorter than usual because I will request additional reading. Gary DeMar provoked me to make this appeal. One of his recent blog posts reminded me of a traumatic period in my life. I felt like the Israelites during their Exodus from Egypt, trapped between two powerful…

Two major earthquakes have shaken my theological world. Elements that caused both appear in Revelation’s sixth vision (Rev. 17–21). One quake happened in my mid-twenties. It involved the doctrine of salvation. Bible teachers had taught me to believe Christ died for all men without exception. God loves everyone and wants…

666 conjures up mystical images of evil. That fact that 666 is the sum of the numbers on a roulette wheel, or that the Aryan Brotherhood uses it in tattoos, or that Apple, Inc. used it as the name of a wicked computer virus does not surprise us. Many Christians…

John the Baptist was a metaphorical civil engineer. Isaiah had predicted his construction of a divinely ordained highway. He would cry out “in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isa. 40:3; Matt. 3:3). The Baptist prepared the…

The words from the flight attendant always filled me with joy and happiness: “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Memphis International Airport.” My job required me to  travel out of town a few times each year. While I was away, I experienced the words first penned in Francis Davison’s Poetical Rhapsody…