Author: David Ellis

Don: Why did God not completely dispel the darkness when he created the heavens and the earth? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters….

Jay: Three themes have emerged so far from our discussion of the theology of light: 1. Light is essential for life. 2. Light is essential for sight or discernment. 3. There is a true light and a false light. They leave us with three questions. Light began at the Creation: In the beginning God created…

Don: In scripture, light is often equated with god, goodness, and holiness, from the very first page of the Book of Genesis and the very beginning of Creation all the way to the end of Revelation and the new Earth of endless light. In the Creation, light is created on Day 1, but the celestial…

Don: Jesus laid claim to the name “I Am” in conjunction with various metaphors, each of which reveals something about the nature of god. Seven of these “I Am” statements are to be found in the Book of John. Over the coming weeks, we will look at each in turn. Here are the seven [emphasis…

Don: God’s first claim to the name “I Am”, which is associated with the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHWH commonly transliterated as “Yahweh”, is made in Genesis 15:1: After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be…

Don: We have discussed the significance of our names, and the changing of our names at the End of the Age. But there is one name that never changes; that is, the name of god. The first instance in scripture where god divulges his name was to Moses, at a time when Moses was tending…

Don: 1 Corinthians 15 told us we shall all be changed: From mortal to immortal, from perishable to imperishable, and from corruptible to incorruptible. But Revelation 2:17 adds one more change: ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give…

Don: The final mystery says not only that the mortal will put on immortality, the corruptible will put on incorruptibility, and we all shall be changed, but also that everyone’s name shall be changed. We tend not to make a big thing of names. There may be some sentimentality involved in naming (say) our children….

Kiran: Last week we discussed the fear of technology-driven immortality. One of the reasons proposed to account for this fear was that people feel that immortality without eradication of sin is dangerous, because it magnifies the problems we are facing today. Today we will look at a few examples of extraordinary longevity and immortality mentioned…