Just a quick aside here. As those who have read my posts know, it is rare that I use multiple translations in a single post. The phrase “things by Jesus Christ”was possibly added in a late manuscript in order to harmonize this verse in Ephesians with what Paul wrote in Colossians and...
And the last bit here about being “snatched up among the clouds” is the basis – almost the sole basis – for what we know today as “rapture theology.” The Left Behind franchise and its imitators are all largely based on a dispensationalist interpretation of verse 17, and very ...
The God that I believe in does not favor a particular community because He is just. A verse in the Quran goes “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” [99:7-8]. The favored ones will be the ...