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Giants, Dragons, and Unicorns? A Bible Monster Bestiary

Jacob Edson
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Giants, Dragons, and Unicorns? A Bible Monster Bestiary

The Bible is full of towering wisdom, humbling reflection, intricate history, and magnificent poetry. But one aspect of Scripture that often gets overlooked? It’s fun.

In the spirit of “spooky season,” let’s take a look at some of the stranger elements of Bible lore: its monsters. From giants and dragons to unicorns and chaos monsters, the Bible features a menagerie of mysterious and sometimes terrifying creatures.

Scholars debate on the origins and meaning of some of these figures (and you can read more about those conversations in the bottom section on Bible Monsters in Context). But one thing’s for sure: they are intriguing, and can serve as another entry point to the wild and wonderful world of the Bible.

Here’s a list of the Bible’s fantastic beasts — and where to find them.

Giants in the Bible (Nephilim)

Giants are a common object of fascination in the Bible, as they appear often both in the Bible and in extrabiblical writings. The Book of Enoch, an influential book before and around the time of Jesus, puts them in central focus.

The Nephilim — traditionally understood as giants but probably more accurately translated as “fallen ones” — are described as a race of giants born from the union of “the sons of God” and “the daughters of men.” They are often portrayed as mighty and fearsome warriors.

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There is some speculation that Goliath may have been a descendant of the Nephilim, though the Bible never makes explicit any such connection. Likewise, some have drawn a connection to the Nephilim when Paul insists women should keep their heads covered “because of the angels” (1 Cor. 11:10) but this enigmatic phrase remains heavily disputed.

Scriptural Passages

Lilith: The Mother of Demons

Lilith does not technically appear in the Bible, although she is referenced variously in the Talmud (an important, early Jewish commentary on the Hebrew Bible) and other ancient rabbinic and extrabiblical sources. She is also a common fixture of Babylonian and Assyrian mythology.

Described as the first wife of Adam who was banished (or fled) from Eden for disobedience to him, Lilith is often portrayed as a promiscuous woman, and is frequently seen with snakes representing the serpent in Genesis 3. Sometimes known as the “Mother of Demons” or simply a night demon, she is also associated with witches and succubae.

Scriptural Passages

  • Isaiah 34:14 is the only place in the Bible where the word “Lilith” is used. Its meaning is debated, though: In some Bible versions, it’s translated with its basic Hebrew meaning of “night creature” rather than as the Mother of Demons herself.

Leviathan: A Creature Without Equal

Possibly the best-known “monster” in the Bible, Leviathan has an entire chapter centered around it (Job 41), and shows up in several other places as well.

Leviathan is a massive sea monster, undefeatable by any earthly power, which breathes fire and is protected by shieldlike scales and a jagged underbelly. It bears similarity to other Near Eastern myths such as the Canaanite Lotan and Mesopotamian Tiamat, and is closely associated with another enormous “chaos monster,” Behemoth.

Scriptural Passages

Behemoth: First Among the Works of God

Like Leviathan, Behemoth is a massive, primeval “chaos monster” created by God at the beginning of time (cf. Gen. 1:21). He is mentioned only once in the Hebrew Bible, immediately before Leviathan, though he is described in detail there (if less than the latter).

Behemoth and Leviathan, probably because of their proximity in the Book of Job, later became closely associated in Jewish folklore such as the Book of Enoch and the apocryphal 2 Esdras. The latter tells us that when God separated the land, there was no longer enough room for both monsters under the water, so Behemoth was placed in a mountainous desert, while Leviathan remained in the ocean.

Scriptural Passages

Rahab: The Arrogant Abyss

Not to be confused with the woman of Jericho who received Joshua’s spies (Josh. 2:1), this Rahab is another chaos monster. Like Leviathan, Rahab lives underwater, and it’s sometimes unclear whether the two names actually refer to the same beast. As time went on, though, Rahab seems to have taken on her own legend.

Her name became synonymous not only with arrogance, pride, and insolence, but also with the Abyss itself, and is often translated with those words in English Bibles.

Scriptural Passages

Ziz: All That Moves

When it comes to chaos monsters of the Bible, Ziz often flies under the radar. He is actually mentioned twice in the Bible, but you wouldn’t know it; like Rahab, his name has taken on a more general meaning as “all that moves” (although, frankly, it’s hard to get a more epic monster name than “All That Moves”).

Though little known today, in traditional Jewish mythology Ziz was considered the third counterpart of Leviathan and Behemoth, ruling the air as they ruled the water and land, respectively. It was said that his wingspan could blot out the sun and darken the sky.

Scriptural Passages

Pit Locusts: Abaddon’s Chimeras

Perhaps the most frightening description of any creature in the Bible is actually a lesser-known one: the “pit locusts” from the Book of Revelation.

Emerging from the smoke arising from a bottomless pit with a sound like horses and chariots rushing to battle, these creepy critters have human faces, women’s hair, lions’ teeth, scales like iron, and tails like scorpions that can torment people for months without killing them. They are led by Abaddon, the angel of the Abyss.

Not your average honey-dippers.

Scriptural Passages

Unicorns: Wait, Unicorns?

Are there unicorns in the Bible?

Not exactly.

The translators of the King James Version were unfamiliar with the Hebrew word re’em and followed Jerome’s Vulgate by interpolating “unicorn.” In fact, the term — which occurs six times in the Bible, usually as a simile illustrating God’s strength — simply means a “horned animal” and probably refers to the aurochs or wild ox, a large, bovine land mammal that’s now extinct.

Scriptural Passages (KJV only)

Dragons: Serpents, Sea Monsters, and Satan

Dragons appear very frequently in the Bible — or only in a single book, depending on which version you’re reading. It’s a bit convoluted, but serves as an instructive example of how theology influences Bible translation.

The English word “dragon” comes from the Greek drakon. The word originally meant simply “snake” or “serpent” but became associated specifically with large, mythical serpents — both in pagan Greek writers and, in the Septuagint, as a translation for the Hebrew word tannîn (which can also mean “serpent” as well as “sea monster”).

Then, because of its use in the Book of Revelation, drakon became associated with Satan and/or the Antichrist — which was then read back into many of the Hebrew references to serpents throughout the Old Testament.

Today, some English Bible versions (e.g., KJV, NRSVUE, NLT, NABRE) still translate tannîn as “dragon” to solidify those Old Testament connections and possibly identify them with Satan. Others stick with a more literal “sea monster” or “serpent” to reflect the original meaning of the word, leaving their relationship to Satan ambiguous.

Either way, the dragon(s) of the Bible are much more varied than the scaled, fire-breathing monsters that they inspired, and which have become common in modern fantasy. Depending on your interpretation, they can be anything from snakelike serpents to chaos monsters to fallen angels and more.

Scriptural References: Tannîn

Scriptural References: Drakon

Angels and Demons

Angels and demons in the Bible deserve an article (or two) all their own, but they’re worth mentioning here because their descriptions are typically awesome, fearsome, or both. In fact, the line between angels and demons (and dragons) isn’t always clear, since many (if not all) demons apparently began as angels.

Want to get to know some of the wildest ones? There’s a board game for that.

Scriptural References

  • So many, but Ezekiel 1 is a good place to start

Bible Monsters in Context: Comparisons with Ancient Mythologies

Aside from entertainment value, it can be difficult for modern readers to know what to make of all these strange creatures. Did they actually exist? Do they still? If not, why are they in the Bible? Most importantly — whether real or symbolic — what purpose do they serve?

While there are a lot of different theories and approaches to those questions that we don’t have space to go into, one of the best ways to understand the inclusion of these creatures is in the context of ancient Near Eastern mythology, which the writers of the Hebrew Bible were very much aware of.

To understand ancient mythology, though, requires a dramatic shift in perspective.

What Is Mythology?

Today we often understand “myth” to mean something that fundamentally isn’t true. But in the ancient world, where the unseen spiritual realm was much more urgent and palpable, it wasn’t that simple.

The question of whether something was “literally” true didn’t enter into their thinking in the way it does our own, which has been heavily influenced by an empirical, scientific worldview.

For the ancients, the much more important question was: what does it tell us about God (or in many societies, the gods), the world, and ourselves?

So instead of asking if these monsters are “real,” let’s put ourselves in the place of the ancients and ask, what do they tell us about God’s order?

What’s a Chaos Monster?

Leviathan, Behemoth, Rahab, Ziz, and in most cases dragons all belong to a mythological class of being called a “chaos monster.” All of these creatures existed in some form in Near Eastern (e.g., Babylonian, Sumerian, or Assyrian) mythology — sometimes with the same name, sometimes slightly different.

In most of these cultures, chaos monsters represented the most unhinged parts of reality: those fearsome, destructive forces completely beyond our understanding or control — and possibly even beyond the gods’. (Compare Godzilla or H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu, for modern examples.)

Chaos Monsters in the Bible

In the Bible, of course, chaos monsters are not beyond God’s control: Genesis specifies that he created them. But this too serves an important purpose: it shows how great and mighty God is. If these incomprehensible cosmic forces were themselves created by God, how much greater must he be?

This is in fact how the chaos monsters appear in the Bible. Nearly every verse listed above refers either to God creating or destroying the monster. In the long passages from Job, God explicitly uses Behemoth and Leviathan as examples of his unfathomable power.

Such passages are meant doubly to inspire humility in the face of our own insignificance before God — and to provide comfort that, as both Job and the Psalmist express in wonder, “What are human beings that you care for them?” (Job 7:17; Psalm 8:4, 144:3)

Conclusion: Giants, Monsters, and Demons — Oh My

Bible monsters provide a fun and different way to engage with God’s Word — and a valuable reminder that Scripture is full not only of practical wisdom and important theology — but also of strange, unfathomable mysteries.

Whatever you might personally believe about these creatures, their presence in the Bible is no accident. Like Job, considering beasts like Behemoth and Leviathan can give you a compelling backdoor to appreciating the wonder and majesty of God and his creation that we inhabit.

Research for this post came mostly from the Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, a behind-the-scenes tour of the ancient world of the Bible, available in hardcopy and included as part of Bible Gateway Plus. Try Bible Gateway Plus free and find dozens of resources to deepen your knowledge and engagement with the Bible — all for less than a pack of highlighters.

Seeds Everywhere: How to Hear the Word in the Parable of the Sower

Dallas Willard
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Seeds Everywhere: How to Hear the Word in the Parable of the Sower

The Parable of the Sower is one of the most important parables Jesus gave about the kingdom of God because it answered the question, “Why doesn’t the Word — the logos — have the effect on people we might hope for?” It moves us to ask again why God doesn’t just change people. 

This does not reflect a lack of power on God’s part. In fact, if God wanted to turn me into a helicopter and fly me out the window, he could do it. Please understand that if God wanted to, he could have rewired every one of us to be faithful followers like Job, Hannah, and Daniel. 

This is not a question about what God can do; it is a question about what God will do. 

The Power of the Word

With this in mind, let’s look at Jesus’ explanation of the Parable of the Sower and how it addressed the receptivity of people’s hearts. Remember that this parable caused the disciples to come to him and question, “What does this parable mean?” (Luke 8:9). It is the key to understanding all the parables (Mark 4:13). Jesus was teaching to those who “had ears to hear,” but also in a way that would hopefully penetrate the other soils. 

Jesus began his explanation with these words: “When anyone hears the word” (Matthew 13:19). The Greek word for word here is logos.1 Logos is derived from the Greek word lego, which is a powerful term referring to the structuring and forming of things. Logos conveys that this formation is being done now — present tense.

When Jesus said “the word,” he used the word logos because he was talking about a personal power that was going forth. Jesus was referring to himself as “the logos.” “In the beginning was the Word,” the Logos, that was Jesus (John 1:1). 

Deciding to Listen

“When anyone hears the logos and does not understand it . . .” (Matthew 13:19, paraphrased, emphasis added) 

Hearing and understanding the message involves the mind, but also the will. The will has very little power in and of itself, and many people overestimate the power of their will and their mind. They think they can accomplish much more with them than they actually can. Even the brightest mind and most steadfast will are tremendously limited. 

When the Word of God comes into our minds, we decide how important it is to hold on to it. That is why the first important question is, “What am I choosing to do with the Word that has come into my mind?” If your will is set against the Word of God, you will get nowhere in understanding it. This parable is about how the will responds to God. 

Conditioning the Mind to Empower the Will

The primary function of the will is to trust God. The set of a person’s will is key for how the Word of God affects the mind because the will and mind are deeply integrated. On the one hand, what the mind dwells on determines what the will chooses to act on; on the other hand, the orientation of the will may determine what stays in the mind. It’s important to ask ourselves, What is my mind dwelling on and why is it dwelling there? 

As we mature, we get a deeper sense of the mind’s limitations and our reliance on habit. The mind gets clogged with thoughts, ideas, opinions, and notions that are sometimes misleading, false, or wrong. In our fallen condition, our minds are often turned toward the wrong things, and we can’t even think the thoughts we need to think, disabling our will from turning to God. 

An essential investment of our life with God is to take care of our minds by cultivating our thoughts. The unkempt mind becomes obsessive, and then the will works from those frenzied thoughts.2 So you can’t let just anything run through your mind. When tempted, you have to say to yourself, There are some thoughts I will not think! 

Remember that a parable (parabola) is characterized by throwing one thing down beside another. Looking at one of the things helps us better understand the thing next to it. So when we look at how seeds grow or don’t grow in the Parable of the Sower, we can see why people react the way they do to the Word of the kingdom. Those living like the soils on the wayside, the stony ground, and thorny ground are not able to let the Word work at a deep level in their soul. God puts forth the Word of his kingdom in such a way that those who have ears for the purpose of hearing can hear it. They have the privilege and responsibility of receiving it. 

If someone’s desire for God resembles any of the first three soils in the parable, that doesn’t mean they’ll stay there forever. Jesus didn’t say the heart never changes. There is good reason to have hope for ourselves and others. What a person couldn’t hear yesterday, they may be very open to hear today. 

How to Hear

Sometimes this parable is read fatalistically, as if what happens with the seed can’t be helped. But that was not Jesus’ intent. His next words were, “No one lights a lamp and covers it over with a container” (Luke 8:16 NASB). This shows that the initiative of God comes into play. The sower (God) who comes out to sow the Word of the kingdom of God does not intend for the lamp of the Word to be covered up. It’s his intention that it should be lifted up (i.e., set on a lampstand) to give light to everyone in the house.

We are to be the light of the world wherever we are. God has appointed each of us a time and place when and where we are the light of the world. That happens as we receive the Word of the kingdom into our lives and live in that reality. 

Notice how Jesus continued with this wording about taking responsibility: “Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him” (Luke 8:18). This teaching tells us to pay close attention to how we hear. True repentance (“repent, for the kingdom of the heavens is at hand”) expresses itself in the humble act of listening. This is how we position ourselves in a place where Jesus can reveal things to us. 

I used to listen to an old preacher who once said, “If a dog came to town preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, I would listen to that dog.” He was emphasizing that we cannot be humble before God unless we can be humble before the lowest creature on earth that might speak to us of the kingdom. We could, in fact, be wrong about some things, so we had better listen. Others have been wrong; so yes, we could be wrong. Our obsessions may be driving us in the wrong direction. So we must stop, be reflective, and think about it. And above all, we must listen to the Word of God’s kingdom, and ask ourselves where our hearts and minds are before him. 

A Hearing Kind of Life

As disciples, we need to understand that the Parable of the Sower applies to each of us all the time. The sower is Jesus. And he works with people, of course, speaking through them to sow the Word of the kingdom. What we have been given by others who have sowed in us will be added to greatly as we pursue life in the kingdom of God. But if we don’t listen with care, even what we’ve heard may be lost.

The Word of God comes to us in a hearing kind of life, a life lived in the Spirit with a mind attuned to the Trinity. The Word of God comes and fills our lives if we want it, but we have to want it and seek it. And if we don’t want it, God will allow us to live the “with me” life — the source of all our troubles — instead of the “with God” life, which is a life of growth and abundance. 

Cover of Scandal of the Kingdom by Dallas Willard

Adapted from The Scandal of the Kingdom: How the Parables of Jesus Revolutionize Life with God by Dallas Willard.

The parables are some of Jesus’s best-known teachings, but they are also some of the least understood. Even the disciples weren’t always sure what they meant. Drawing from his extensive teachings on spiritual formation, Dallas illuminates the timeless wisdom contained within each parable, revealing their profound relevance to contemporary life. With clarity and depth, he guides readers through the subversive messages embedded within these seemingly simple stories, urging us to break free from the grip of worldly values and embrace the radical teachings of Jesus.

The Scandal of the Kingdom is published by Zondervan, the parent company of Bible Gateway.

  1. This is very different from the Greek word semeion, which stands for a mark or sign, like a chalk mark, an ink mark, or even a sound. When people came to Jesus and said, “Master, show us a sign,” they were asking for a semeion. Instead of talking about a sign (semeion) here, Jesus spoke of the logos. ↩︎
  2. For a deeper understanding of the will and the way it works with our thoughts, you may want to read “Larger Psychology on the Will,” in William James, The Principles of Psychology (New York: Holt, 1890). ↩︎

Look at the Book: Song of Songs [Infographic]

Chris Fann
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Look at the Book: Song of Songs [Infographic]

Welcome back to Bible Gateway’s weekly Look at the Book series of short blog posts and infographics introducing you to the books of the Bible. The Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is the third of Solomon’s wisdom trilogy, a love poem that has been interpreted in various ways throughout church and rabbinic history. 

Scroll to the bottom if you’d prefer to see (and save) this article as an infographic. You’ll also find a handy 30-day reading guide. Or, for a challenge, you can do it in one week using the 7-day reading guide below. 

Summary 

Provides lyrical insight into the depth of human love and desire. The emphasis is on the marriage relationship: the beauty of the marriage union seen in the passionate pursuit of the lover and his beloved. 

  • Category: Wisdom 
  • Theme: Love 
  • Timeline: Around 970-930 BC 
  • Written: Traditionally attributed to Solomon 

Key Verse 

“My beloved is mine and I am his.” — Song of Songs 2:16 (NIV) 

Love, Sexual and Spiritual 

Provides wisdom for lovers on how to pursue one another and love each other well. Using poetic imagery, the book models how couples can speak words of affirmation, seek the fulfillment of their spouse, and find delight in sexual intimacy. 

Allegorical interpretations compare God’s love for his people, shown in the work of Jesus, to the bridegroom and the church as the bride. The pursuit, love, and faithfulness seen in the book are emblematic of the way God loves his people. 

7 Day Reading Guide 

(See 30-day guide below.) 

A Model Marriage 

Song of Songs was given by God to demonstrate His intention for the romance and loveliness of marriage, the most precious of human relationships and the grace of life. 

Access the rest of the series. Browse Bible studies for each book of the Bible. Or right-click on the infographic below to download and save the image for your reference. 

Infographic depicting major themes and content from Song of Songs

What Is the Septuagint? Discover the World’s First Bible Translation

Jacob Edson
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What Is the Septuagint? Discover the World’s First Bible Translation

The Septuagint is a Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament and the first known translation of the Bible outside of its original language. It was completed by Hellenistic (Greek-speaking) Jewish rabbis a few hundred years before Christ.

The Septuagint, also called the LXX (or Seventy), was also the version of the Bible that the early Christians primarily relied on — both in Greek and then in Latin translation — until Protestants returned to the Masoretic Hebrew in the 16th century. Even today, it is the version exclusively used by the Eastern Orthodox churches.

For that reason, the Septuagint is anything but ancient history, and its impact is still felt vividly in relations between Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and Jewish Bible readers.

This article will survey the history and development of the LXX — including how it earned its nickname — and explain the tensions caused by the differences between its text and the Masoretic Hebrew.

Origins of the Septuagint

After Alexander the Great’s massive conquests across the Near East and North Africa around 330 BC, Greek quickly became the primary spoken language throughout his empire. Within a few generations, most Jews outside Israel no longer spoke Hebrew (and even the ones there mostly spoke Aramaic).

This created the same problem Christians would have much later in Western Europe with the Latin mass: that is, most people couldn’t read or understand their own scriptures!

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So, sometime in the late 3rd century BC, a collection of rabbis in Alexandria, Egypt translated first the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and then, later, the rest of the Old Testament into Greek. This became known as the Septuagint, or LXX (the Roman numerals for Seventy).

Why LXX (‘Seventy’)?

Technically, it should be LXXII (seventy-two).

Legend has it that King Ptolemy of Egypt gathered 72 elders — six from each tribe of Israel — and placed them each in a separate room of his palace with instructions to write the Torah in Greek. When they emerged, each had written the exact same thing.

Historically this event is pretty unlikely (for one thing, ten of the twelve tribes no longer existed by that time), and few Jews or Christians today believe that was exactly what happened. But the story stuck enough that their translation eventually became known in Latin as the Versio Septuaginta Interpretum, or “Version of the Seventy Translators” — which I suppose sounded nicer than “of the Seventy-Two.”

An Enormous — and Enormously Controversial — Achievement

It’s easy to overlook today, with our plethora of Bible versions, what an incredible accomplishment this translation was. Even now it takes dozens of scholars (if not exact multiples of a dozen) collaborating for years or even decades to complete a satisfactory translation of the Bible.

In the ancient world, it was unheard-of — literally! Translating the Hebrew scriptures had never been done before. But, again just like in the Latin Christian West, it was also a highly controversial move — lauded by some Greek-speaking Jews outside the Holy Land, loathed by the Hebrew-speaking rabbinate in Jerusalem.

Still, regardless of the actual number of rabbis or how they compiled their translation, their work enabled thousands of Jews over the next few centuries to read the scriptures (or more likely hear them, since most people were illiterate back then) in their native language.

And some of those Jews would become some of the first Christians.

The Septuagint’s Influence on Christianity

A few centuries after the creation of the Septuagint, when Paul and the other apostles were making their rounds across the Roman Empire, they used the Septuagint to engage with Greek-speaking Jews and gentiles and articulate the prophetic basis of their faith in Christ.

(Remember that the New Testament was written in Greek for much the same reason — even if it often drew from Aramaic sources — and most of its quotations from the Old Testament come directly from the Septuagint instead of retranslating from the Hebrew.)

Those early believers then used the Greek Septuagint, rather than the original Hebrew, to translate the Bible into Latin as they continued to expand westward.

In fact, by the time Jerome undertook his Vulgate translation in the late 4th century AD, the Septuagint was so entrenched in the Christian community that Jerome was accused of heresy (by Augustine, no less!) for daring to work from the Hebrew instead. In the end he relented and embraced the Septuagint as well, drawing from both texts to produce his translation. But his preference remained with the Hebrew.

The Septuagint’s (Lack of) Influence on Judaism

At the same time the Septuagint was being embraced by early Christians, it was falling out of (already tepid) favor with Jews.

It’s unclear to what extent the Greek Old Testament was ever embraced by the Jewish community, though its use by major figures like Philo and Josephus suggests that it had its share of fans.

But after the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD and subsequent exile into diaspora, many Jews sought to recover a purer Hebraic faith free from Greco-Roman influence. Though some Jews made a few further attempts to translate the Old Testament, by the Middle Ages, each group had settled into their standard liturgical languages: Hebrew for Jews, Latin for Catholics, and Greek for Eastern Orthodox (with translations into Russian, Ethiopian Ge’ez, and other local languages when necessary).

Those liturgical languages persisted (and continue to persist) — with one major exception: the upheaval brought by the Reformation.

The Rediscovery of the Hebrew Bible During the Reformation

As with so many sacred traditions in the West, the dethroning of the Septuagint as the preferred Old Testament version was precipitated by the Protestant Reformation.

Starting with Martin Luther and quickly picked up by John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli, and others, the emphasis on sola scriptura — the Bible alone as sufficient for a life of faith — demanded not just the availability of the Bible in people’s native languages, but also a return to its study in its original form. (Remember, until this time, nearly everyone in Western Christianity was reading — or hearing — the Bible in Latin, which fewer and fewer people could actually understand.)

For the New Testament, this meant working from its original Greek. For the Old Testament, it meant recovering the Hebrew, which had scarcely been used for over 1,000 years.

Scarcely used by European Christians, that is. Fortunately, Jews had continued to use the Masoretic (or rabbinic) Hebrew Bible throughout that whole time. So, early Protestant translators went back to the source, using the Hebrew text for early vernacular Bible translations, including the King James Version.

The Greek Septuagint vs. the Masoretic Hebrew Today

Today, nearly all Western translations of the Bible — Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic — work primarily from the Masoretic text, only referring back to the Septuagint (or other ancient versions such as the Dead Sea Scrolls) for unclear passages (and for the Apocrypha — more on that below).

For the Eastern Churches, where the effects of the Reformation were barely felt, if at all — and where much of the population still uses Greek liturgically — the Septuagint remains the preferred version. For non-Greek speakers such as Russian and Ethiopian Orthodox, their Bibles are translated from the Greek Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew. (You can even find the Septuagint in English in the Orthodox Study Bible.)

Only the Syriac Orthodox Church (active in the Levant, Turkey, and the Middle East) uses the Peshitta, a simplified Hebrew Old Testament, liturgically.

Septuagint Greek vs. Masoretic Hebrew Bibles: Similarities and Differences

For the most part, the Masoretic and Septuagint Old Testaments feature the same content in the same format with whatever small variations you might expect to see in a translation. There are some subtle differences, though — and some very obvious ones.

The Differences: Apocryphal Books and Textual Discrepancies

The biggest difference between the Septuagint and Masoretic texts is that the Septuagint includes the Deuterocanonical books, also known as the Apocrypha, and the Masoretic does not.

Why?

The simple reason is that the Apocryphal books were in fact written in Greek. Because of that, they were never fully embraced into Jewish canon — and because of that, they were excluded when Protestants rejected the Septuagint in favor of the original Hebrew Bible.

Perhaps more troublingly, there are some subtle textual differences between the Septuagint and Masoretic texts. For example, the books of Job and Jeremiah are much shorter in the Septuagint, and the latter is in a different order. The book of Exodus also varies significantly between the two versions. And there are other places where verses are added, removed, or altered throughout.

But which were added, and which were removed? Which verses are the correct ones?

Is the Septuagint or Masoretic More Reliable?

Both scholars and believers disagree among each other about whether the Septuagint or Masoretic versions are more likely to represent the original form of the Bible. Most Eastern Christians side with the Septuagint, while Western Christians (especially Protestants) and Jews prefer the Masoretic — and scholars are all over the place.

There are compelling reasons to trust them both. Basically what it comes down to, is that the Masoretic was written first, but the Septuagint was compiled first.

Christians recognized these discrepancies very early on. The second-century scholar and theologian Origen famously created a side-by-side comparison of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin known as the Hexapla. He attempted to reconcile the different versions, beginning a process picked up by Jerome’s combined translation, later rediscovered by post-Reformation Protestant translators, then probed by 19th century German and English scholars, and still continuing today.

You can see the fruits of all of their labors in the footnotes of most modern Bible translations.

The Similarities Are Far Greater than the Differences

In any case, these differences between Greek and Hebrew Bibles should not be overstated. Aside from the Apocrypha, the vast majority of the Old Testament’s 23,000-plus verses are very close across its different versions. That is remarkable — even miraculous — when you consider that each and every one of them had to be copied by hand, over and over, for hundreds of years.

List of Books in the Septuagint

Here is a list of the books that appear in the Septuagint, and which denominations consider them canonical.

Note how closely aligned the Protestant and Jewish canons are: that’s because they both use the Masoretic text. Catholic Bibles have most — but not all — of the books that Orthodox Bibles have. Only the Psalms of Solomon do not appear in any canon; the Odes are songs taken from elsewhere in the Bible and made into a separate book for liturgical readings.

BookProtestantJewishCatholicOrthodox
Genesis✔✔✔✔
Exodus✔✔✔✔
Leviticus✔✔✔✔
Numbers✔✔✔✔
Deuteronomy✔✔✔✔
Joshua✔✔✔✔
Judges✔✔✔✔
Ruth✔✔✔✔
1 Kings✔ [as 1 Samuel]✔ [as Samuel]✔ [as 1 Samuel]✔
2 Kings✔ [as 2 Samuel]✔ [as Samuel]✔ [as 2 Samuel]✔
3 Kings✔ [as 1 Kings]✔ [as Kings]✔ [as 1 Kings]✔
4 Kings✔ [as 2 Kings]✔ [as Kings]✔ [as 2 Kings]✔
1 Chronicles✔✔✔✔
2 Chronicles✔✔✔✔
1 Esdras   ✔
2 Esdras✔ [as Ezra & Nehemiah]✔ [as Ezra-Nehemiah]✔ [as Ezra & Nehemiah]✔
Esther✔✔✔ [with additions]✔ [with additions]
Judith  ✔✔
Tobit  ✔✔
1 Maccabees  ✔✔
2 Maccabees  ✔✔
3 Maccabees   ✔
Psalms✔✔✔✔ [with Psalm 151]
Odes[These exist elsewhere in the Bible and not as a separate book in modern Bibles.]
Proverbs✔✔✔✔
Ecclesiastes✔✔✔✔
Song of Solomon✔✔✔✔
Job✔✔✔✔
Wisdom of Solomon  ✔✔
Sirach  ✔✔
Hosea✔✔✔✔
Amos✔✔✔✔
Micah✔✔✔✔
Joel✔✔✔✔
Obadiah✔✔✔✔
Jonah✔✔✔✔
Nahum✔✔✔✔
Habakkuk✔✔✔✔
Zephaniah✔✔✔✔
Haggai✔✔✔✔
Zechariah✔✔✔✔
Malachi✔✔✔✔
Isaiah✔✔✔✔
Jeremiah✔✔✔✔
Baruch  ✔✔
Lamentations✔✔✔✔
Letter of Jeremiah  ✔✔
Ezekiel✔✔✔✔
Daniel✔✔✔ [with additions]✔ [with additions]
4 Maccabees   ✔ [in appendix]
Psalms of Solomon    

Conclusion: The Legacy of the Septuagint

From its origins among ancient Greek-speaking Jews, to its use as a bridge between Jews and Gentiles in early Christianity, to its foundational role in Eastern Orthodox and — to a lesser extent — Roman Catholic liturgy and doctrine, the Septuagint has played an integral role in Biblical history and translation.

Though it ultimately fell out of favor in the West and remains in use today mainly among Orthodox Christians, it remains a critical piece of the tapestry that makes up our Scriptures — and our faith. It continues to inform our understanding of the Bible by filling in the blanks when the Hebrew texts are unclear, and reminds us of the rich cultural and linguistic diversity that exists within Christianity — now more than ever.

So next time you pick up your Bible, keep an eye on the footnotes — you just might see a few of the seams that hold that tapestry together.

Go deeper into Biblical history, theology, and faith with a free trial of Bible Gateway Plus. You’ll get access to dozens of resources for every type of reader — including the Septuagint commentary from the Orthodox Study Bible.

Interview with Angel Series Bible Illustrator Anne Neilson

Anne Neilson and Bible Gateway
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Interview with Angel Series Bible Illustrator Anne Neilson

Anne Neilson is a nationally renowned artist whose beloved Angel Series paintings now adorn a new series of Bibles from Zondervan.

Bible Gateway recently got to speak with Anne about her artistic process, her creative calling, her favorite Bible verse, and much more.

On the Creative Process

This is your first line of illustrated Bibles. What was it like framing your designs around passages in Scripture, specific biblical themes, and the Gospel message?

First of all, it is a humbling experience to be asked to partner with Zondervan to create beautiful Bibles with the Angel Series. My love for God’s Word goes way back to my early twenties when I discovered that God’s Word is “alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

Some people look at this very large book and feel a little intimidated. I mean, where does one start?

My response is to just pick it up and start reading, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. God’s Word is a love letter to his people, inviting each of us to have an intimate relationship with him.

Almost every time I pick up a brush to paint, I ask the Holy Spirit to flow out from the depths of my soul and onto the blank canvas, creating these ethereal angels. My hope is that every brushstroke in this Bible would quietly speak to your heart as you meditate on God’s Word. He is faithful to his Word, and we can trust him to come through on his promises. 

What do your written reflections in the Bible mean to you? Can you compare them to your art or your creative process?

Well, looking at me from the outside, you might think that everything in my life is neat and tidy. But that’s not true. Sometimes my life is messy and chaotic; it’s me stumbling and falling. I share those moments in the reflections that are sprinkled between the pages of Scripture.

I think it is important to know that we don’t have to come to God all tidied up. He loves us no matter where we are. Jesus died on the cross for our messes, and once we grasp that concept, we are able to receive God’s love. It frees me to know that God loves me (messes and all) and because of his blood shed on the cross, I am covered in his righteousness.

I am a very messy painter. Very messy. But my painting mess is a reminder that when I surrender to God, he takes my mess and creates a beautiful masterpiece. 

Getting to Know God

Sometimes as believers we are tempted to put God in this imaginary box based on what we grew up believing or currently believe. How would you encourage someone feeling like they don’t really know God? 

I would tell people that we serve a big and mighty God. Sometimes we keep him in a small box because we think we can control our lives, our mistakes, and our future. And sometimes (especially when we are not digging deep into his Word) we cover up or “hide” just as Adam and Eve did in the garden after they ate from the forbidden tree.

I love that story in Genesis 3 . . . 

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid” (vv. 8–10). 

Angel Series Bible open to illustration and reflection titled Jesus Is Enough

Adam and Eve had an intimate relationship with God. They freely talked with him and unashamedly walked through life. I also love verse 21 where God made garments of skin to cover them — God had to sacrifice an animal to atone for their sin. This foreshadows Jesus — the Lamb of God who atones for our sin. 

The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. — Gen. 8:21 (NIV) 

My advice to know God is to start talking to him. Start confessing. Start surrendering. Start trusting. God is relational and gently pursues our hearts. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He loves us with an unending love. Talk to him, pray without ceasing, and most importantly, open his Word and start meditating on his promises. 

Why Angels?

Angels have shown up in your artwork time and time again and have become a kind of trademark of yours. What brings you back to this subject?

Great question. After the first year of selling the angel paintings and gaining attention, my husband asked how long I was going to paint angels. My response was, “Until God tells me to stop!”

Painting is a form of worship for me. I paint to praise music, and I often get lost in worship as I mix my oils and create a painting. Many times, I don’t even remember mixing certain colors or blocking in the subjects — the angels just appear on the canvas!

Several years ago, I was getting ready for a show in Florida. A lot of angel paintings were being prepared for the show and I remember having a conversation with God about how I did not want to just “crank out” these angels. I wanted them to have meaning. I wanted them to “speak” to the viewer or collector.

Covers of two Angel Series Bibles by Anne Neilson

The night of the show, a young lady came around the room to find me with tears streaming down her face. She told me that her father had just passed away and she had never had art “speak” to her before. She said that as she was leaving the gallery, the painting by the front door stopped her in her tracks and spoke to the depths of her soul.

That is why I keep coming back to painting these angels. I want them to bring comfort, hope, and peace in people’s lives.

I often remind people that we do not worship the angels . . . we worship a God who created the angels for a specific purpose on this earth. 

Recognizing Your Calling and Pursuing Your Passion

Discovering our God-given gifts is hard. What are three tips for someone trying to discover and pursue their passion? 

I’m going to God’s Word to answer this question!

Early on, one of my favorite Scripture verses was Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

My first tip is to find ways to delight in the Lord. Reading and memorizing Scripture, being involved in a Bible study, listening to praise music, and finding time to sit still before God are all ways to delight yourself in the Lord.

My second tip is to surrender your dreams to God. I often tell my team this: When we have surrendered hands, and a surrendered heart, watch and see what God will do.

My third tip is not to cling to the word “No” in your life. Trust and believe that God has a plan for you.

I love this quote by a dear friend of mine, Manny Ohonme, “Participation leads to passion . . . Your passion determines your purpose . . . Your purpose determines your legacy. If you struggle finding your purpose, go back and figure out your passion. The answer lies within you!” 

When did you realize you had a calling to art? 

As a little girl, I loved to doodle and create things. In the third grade I wrote a paper about what I wanted to be when I grew up. The title of my paper was “Artist” and in three short sentences, I expressed that that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up — an artist.

I was not the greatest student — doodling took precedence over any notetaking or homework. I earned a D- in 10th grade art. I think I was coloring outside the lines! And I flunked out of college (though I did eventually go back and earn a degree in elementary education).

But the “No’s” in my life were drowning my dream of becoming an artist. It’s a long story you can read in my memoir The Brushstrokes of Life, but eventually when I let go of trying to control everything and truly surrendered everything to God, he gave me the desires of my heart. 

Listen to the Word — and the Spirit

Do you have a favorite passage from the Bible that uniquely inspired you when designing these Bibles? 

Yes, Ephesians 3:20 which says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” That verse pops up on my phone every day at 3:20 PM to remind me that God can do immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine.

When I started painting these angels over 20 years ago and my husband asked, “How long are you going to paint angels?” I had no idea the plans that God had for my art. It’s completely humbling.

Two covers of Angel Series Bibles by Anne Neilson

I love God’s Word and cling to it every day. It brings me to my knees to know he planned this before I was ever born. He knew through all the trials and tribulations in my life that he would use my art to draw others into his Word.

I think about the legacy that this leaves for the generations behind me. Having my great, great, great grandchildren reading God’s Word with my angel paintings . . . a part of me that is a part of them! We serve a God who is bigger than we could ever imagine.

You give so much back to others, and your generous spirit is inspiring. Why is that need to give back so important to you? What advice do you have for the person who is longing to be more generous but maybe isn’t sure how?

My main advice is to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to your heart every day. Don’t let the noise of the world drown out his voice.

I started oil painting 20+ years ago. It was a hobby. My children would head to school and I would head into my sunny studio off my kitchen.

One of the most powerful days of my life was while I was volunteering at the local homeless shelter. I was in the kitchen at the homeless shelter preparing the physical food while over 200 homeless people were in the gym receiving spiritual food. A pastor was preaching, and worshipers were singing. Most of these homeless neighbors were sleeping under bridges with no shoes, no coats, nothing . . . and yet, they were praising God as if they had everything.

I was an emotional mess driving to my brand-new home in my brand-new Suburban. I cried out to God, “What am I to do?” My passion was to paint, but my heart wanted to serve. I wanted to be a great wife and mom, but I didn’t know how I was going to do everything and do it well.

I heard the Lord whisper, “Paint and give back.”

I got home and went to our kitchen counter where the answering machine sat. I rewound it to listen to the messages and there was a message from a lady who owned a gift store selling my small paintings. She said, “Hi Anne. I wanted to let you know that a lady came in today and bought all of your paintings!” I knew that God was telling me to use the gift he had given me to give back to others who were less fortunate than me. I want to be a light in this world!

Journal Along with the Spirit

Who do you hope will pick up one of these Bibles? 

I hope that everyone will pick up these Bibles. You can’t have too many Bibles!

I have so many Bibles scattered throughout my house. I also have my favorite Bible that is marked up, tattered, and torn from being read. But I am so excited to dig into this new edition, journaling and highlighting God’s promises for my life, my family, and our world! 

Angel Series Bible open to passage from Isaiah, with note in margin reading "you shall go out in joy ... and be led back in peace"

Plus, I am thinking that these will make a great gift for someone who loves art, or someone who needs a little encouragement but hasn’t opened a Bible in a while! 

What do you hope readers gain from using these Bibles in their personal study? 

My prayer is that people who are intimidated by the Bible will be drawn into it by the Angel Series and by hearing some of my journey in the reflections. God’s Word is life changing.

I love the fact that these are journaling Bibles, with space along the margins of each Bible for you to write your thoughts and questions. It’s a great way to read the Bible, listen to the Holy Spirit, and reflect on your life . . . journaling prayers, praises, joys, and losses. Over time, you can look back to see how faithful our God is! 

Experience the warmth and beauty of Scripture with art and reflections to flourish in your faith. Discover the various covers and editions of Anne Neilson’s Angel Series Bibles from Zondervan.

Look at the Book: Ecclesiastes [Infographic]

Chris Fann
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Look at the Book: Ecclesiastes [Infographic]

Welcome back to Bible Gateway’s weekly Look at the Book series of short blog posts and infographics introducing you to the books of the Bible. The second of Solomon’s trilogy of wisdom books, Ecclesiastes shows a seasoned philosopher taking a hard look at the patterns of life. 

Scroll to the bottom if you’d prefer to see (and save) this article as an infographic. You’ll also find a handy 30-day reading guide. Or, for a challenge, you can do it in one week using the 7-day reading guide below. 

Summary 

Represents the painful autobiography of Solomon who, for much of his life, squandered God’s blessings on his own personal pleasure rather than God’s glory. He wrote to warn subsequent generations not to make the same tragic error. 

  • Category: Wisdom 
  • Theme: Meaning 
  • Timeline: Around 931 BC 
  • Written: Traditionally attributed to Solomon 

Key Verse 

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.” — Ecclesiastes 12:13 (NIV) 

This Too Is Vanity 

The Hebrew word translated “vanity” expresses the futile attempt to be satisfied apart from God. Solomon’s experience with the effects of the curse led him to view life as “chasing after the wind.” 

“Vanity” is used 38 times expressing the many things hard to understand about life. 

7 Day Reading Guide 

(See 30-day guide below.) 

Eyes on the Prize 

In light of this judgment by God, the only fulfilled life is one lived in proper recognition of God and service to Him. Any other kind of life is frustrating and pointless. 

Access the rest of the series. Browse Bible studies for each book of the Bible. Or right-click on the infographic below to download and save the image for your reference. 

Infographic depicting major themes and content from Ecclesiastes

How the Bible Interprets Itself: A Lesson from Jesus

Gary Edward Schnittjer
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How the Bible Interprets Itself: A Lesson from Jesus

The authors of the Bible interpret earlier portions of the Bible in ways that can be difficult to understand. Part of the challenge comes from the modern expectations we bring to the Bible. Taking the time to study how Jesus interprets his Bible offers an antidote. 

The Bible of Jesus 

Jesus prays and studies the Scriptures. We may never fully understand why he needs to pray or study Scripture. His example shows us what we need to do. 

Jesus interprets Scripture in the same ways that the authors of the Bible of Jesus interpret Scripture. We do not often think about the way the authors of the Old Testament interpret earlier Scripture. But that’s what they do. Jesus knows this and follows their example. In this way Jesus is an example, showing us what we can learn by studying his Bible. 

How Jesus’s Bible Quotes Itself

The authors God chose and the Spirit moved to write Scripture spend time studying earlier Scriptures. If we judge them by how often they quote, paraphrase, and allude to earlier Scripture, we might think that is all they ever did! The Old Testament contains hundreds of cases of interpretive quotations and allusions to earlier parts of the Old Testament as well as thousands of more subtle broad allusions. 

The authors of the Bible had been interpreting earlier parts of the Bible for more than a thousand years by the days of Jesus and his followers. So when Jesus and the authors of the New Testament interpret earlier Scripture, they are not doing something new. They are continuing something that had ancient roots going back to Moses. The way that Torah interprets Torah sets the standard. Later authors of the Old Testament like the prophets and the psalmists interpret Torah in the same manner. 

Jesus shows his followers, the authors of the New Testament, and even us today how to understand Scripture’s interpretation of itself. It may benefit us to look at some examples. 

The Interpretation of Jesus 

Jesus interprets a psalm of David by another poem of David. Jesus begins with a question, makes a statement, quotes Psalm 110:1, and then asks another question. Our focus is on the statement. 

While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David? David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”‘ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight. — Mark 12:35‒37 (NIV)

Jesus states that David is “speaking by the Holy Spirit” in verse 36. Why does he say this? Jesus connects the Spirit with the Davidic promise in Psalm 110:1 by a statement of David outside the psalms.  

In David’s last words he offers his mature interpretation of Yahweh’s promise to him. David has come to the conclusion that Yahweh’s promise is “an everlasting covenant” in 2 Samuel 23:5. He says this even though the term covenant was not used in 2 Samuel 7 when Nathan delivered the promise to David. What concerns us here is how David describes his interpretation of the promise. 

David says, “The Spirit of Yahweh spoke through me” (2 Sam 23:2, author’s translation). Jesus connects David’s acknowledgment of the Spirit-inspired interpretation of the promise in David’s last words in 2 Samuel 23:2 to David’s interpretation of the same promise in Psalm 110:1. 

Jesus Interprets Scripture With Scripture

Jesus interprets Scripture with Scripture. He does this just as his Bible does this. Four times psalms that include interpretations of the Davidic promise also acknowledge it as divine speech — Psalm 2:6 (“I will proclaim the Lord’s decree”), Psalm 89:3 (“You said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant’”), Psalm 110:1 (“The Lord said to my lord”), and Psalm 132:11 (“The Lord swore an oath to David”). 

Jesus’s Interpretation of Daniel 7

Besides public teaching like we find in Mark 12, Jesus also interprets Scripture when he privately teaches his followers. In Mark 13:26 he quotes from Daniel 7:13, telling his followers to expect “the son of a human being coming on the clouds” (author’s translation). 

Those who know the context of the vision in Daniel 7 may be surprised at first by Jesus’s teaching. In Daniel 7:27 the celestial agent identifies the one like a human being who is given the kingdom in the vision as “the holy people of the Most High” who receive the kingdom. Jesus does not interpret this collective figure against the sense of the text when he presents the figure as an individual. Jesus follows the interpretation of Daniel 7 itself. The wild animals of this vision symbolize both individual kings and their collective kingdoms in verses 17 and 23. Likewise Jesus interprets the figure like a human being who represents the collective holy people of God as their individual king. Jesus interprets the vision in the same way that Daniel 7 interprets itself. 

Jesus Blends Scriptural Allusions

Readers of Mark need to keep in mind both Jesus’s public teaching about the son of David at Yahweh’s right hand in Psalm 110:1 and his private teaching on the one like a human being coming with the clouds in Daniel 7:13. These two interpretations of Scripture prepare readers to make sense of what the high priest hears Jesus say. 

The high priest presses his interrogation of Jesus with a crucial question: “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:61). In his answer Jesus inserts an allusion to Psalm 110:1 in the middle of an allusion to Daniel 7:13. 

“Jesus said, ‘I am. You will see the son of a human being [Dan 7:13] seated at the right hand [Ps 110:1] of power and coming with the clouds of heaven [Dan 7:13].'” — Mark 14:62 (Author’s translation)

Though the high priest was not present to hear the public or the private teachings of Jesus, he understands Jesus’s answer as blasphemy and tears his clothes. By blending allusions to the son of David of Psalm 110 with the one like a human being from Daniel 7, Jesus claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. 

Jesus interprets the Davidic promise in Psalm 110 in exactly the same way David himself interprets Yahweh’s promise to him. Jesus interprets the vision in Daniel 7 in the same way that the celestial agent interprets the vision for Daniel. Jesus blends these interpretations together for the high priest in the manner that the Old Testament frequently blends two or more earlier Scriptures.  

The New Testament Authors Follow Jesus’s Example

These examples show us that Jesus is thoroughly versed in the interpretation of earlier Scriptures we find throughout the Old Testament. He does not invent a new approach to biblical interpretation. Jesus interprets the Old Testament the way it interprets itself.

It is no surprise that the authors of the New Testament follow Jesus in continuing the kind of interpretation presented across the Old Testament going all the way back to Moses. This respectful handling of the Old Testament’s interpretation of itself by Jesus and the apostles points the way for us. 

The Example of Jesus 

Jesus has something to teach us about how the Bible interprets itself. We might start by studying the teachings of Jesus. But it should not end there. We need to take the next step and follow the example of Jesus and the apostles. We need to study the Bible of Jesus. This includes the Old Testament’s interpretation of itself. 

Taking the time to study earlier Scriptures with the biblical authors offers much promise. It shows us the deep connections of redemption. These connections help us discover the way that Yahweh’s redemption unfolds across time. The gospel that begins in Torah culminates in the teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. 

Understanding the Bible’s use of the Bible is not easy. Jesus shows us the importance of studying the interpretation of earlier Scripture within the Bible itself. The teachings of Jesus point the way. 

Want to learn more about how the Bible interprets itself? Let Gary Edward Schnittjer and Matthew S. Harmon take you on a tour of how both testaments interpret and repurpose earlier Biblical texts in How to Study the Bible’s Use of the Bible: Seven Hermeneutical Choices for the Old and New Testaments, out now from Zondervan Academic. 

How to Study the Bible’s Use of the Bible is published by Zondervan, the parent company of Bible Gateway.

Cover of "How to Study the Bible's Use of the Bible" with overlay text reading, An essential text aimed at teaching a hermeneutic for understanding the Bible's use of the Bible

God-Confidence Is Soul Deep

Demi-Leigh Tebow
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God-Confidence Is Soul Deep

Although self-confidence can produce healthy and positive outcomes as it relates to mental health, risk-taking, building relationships, and academic performance, if we put our full trust in ourselves, we will ultimately be let down (or let others down).

I have learned that relying on self-confidence for your identity is unsustainable. 

I propose a different type of confidence not based on our ego but rooted in Someone who is all-powerful, all-knowing, always present, and unchanging! A person worthy of attaching our identity to. I call this “God-confidence,” and the definition is simple: to have full trust in who God is! 

From Self-Confidence to God-Confidence

King Solomon, one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth, wrote in Proverbs 3:5–6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart. And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. And He will make your paths straight” (NASB).  

To have full trust in who God is leaves no room for trust in the self. God-confidence, anchored in His greatness, echoes David in Psalm 145:3, “The Lord is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable” (CSB). It’s knowing that God provides assurance, hope, purpose, and courage in the face of our challenges.  

God-confidence is also about understanding His goodness. The Bible contains so many promises that God has made to His people. Perhaps my favorite is Romans 8:38–39: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (ESV).

God’s Greatness and Goodness Don’t Change

When we step back and realize the greatness and goodness of God, putting our full trust in anything else seems silly — whether it’s a career, a relationship, a label, or a crown. When your emotions are fickle, God is steadfast! When your understanding is limited, He is omnipotent! When you feel insecure, your value and worth in His eyes doesn’t budge! When you are overwhelmed, His peace provides hope!  

So let’s exchange our superficial self-confidence for a supernatural God-confidence and root ourselves in a crown and an identity that will last for all of eternity.  

A Crown That Lasts

Cover of A Crown That Lasts by Demi-Leigh Tebow

Adapted from A Crown That Lasts by Demi-Leigh Tebow.

In A Crown that Lasts, former Miss Universe and Miss South Africa Demi Tebow confesses the danger of tying our identities to our accomplishments. Discover the truth of who you were created to be and how to use your platform, no matter how big or small, for eternal impact. 

On this earth, a crown is what separates victors from the rest of the competitors, but the goal of creating a life worth living is not to gain a trophy, get a prize, or keep the crown. Our lives are not meant to be about being number one or making our own names known. While walking you through the journey of her evolving confidence — from basing her identity on temporary labels and her own efforts, to discovering the rock-solid security of anchoring her dreams in her Maker — Demi weaves her story together with the insights she’s learned along the way. 

A Crown That Lasts is published by HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc., the parent company of Bible Gateway.

October 2024 Bible News

Bible Gateway
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October 2024 Bible News

Your source for all the latest Bible-related and Bible-adjacent news from the month of October 2024 — from archaeological discoveries and academic research to cultural events and conversations, developments in the global church, and more.

Week of October 27

  • November 2 — Old Testament scholar Matthieu Richelle suggests literacy in ancient Israel and Judah may have been even less common than previously thought. “In Biblical times,” he said, “there was no Bible yet!” Most books came later, and what did exist was printed on expensive papyrus and exclusively for the priestly elite. Still, the extensive library composed before and after exile speaks to the cultural value of written works. (Jerusalem Post)
  • November 2 — Despite increased polarization in America, most Protestant U.S. churchgoers have friends who do not share their beliefs. According to Lifeway Research, 71% have non-Christian friends. Non-evangelicals are more likely than evangelicals to report non-Christian friends. Lifeway suggests this could mean evangelicals are sharing the gospel more with strangers or “not being proactive in their convictions.” (Religion Unplugged)
  • November 1 — The World Evangelical Alliance designated the next two Sundays — Nov. 3 and Nov. 10 — as International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church around the world. David Platt, founder of international ministry Radical, offered some reminders on what a persecuted Christian is and called us to intercede for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ worldwide, knowing that we may need them to do the same someday. (Christianity Today)
  • October 31 — On Reformation Day, Argentina celebrated its first National Day of Evangelical and Protestant Churches. Signed by President Javier Milei, the new law acknowledges the religious freedom rights of evangelicals, who make up 15% of the Argentine population. Faith leaders see this as an important step, but note there is work still to be done: outside of Buenos Aires, non-Catholic churches are still not legally recognized. (Christianity Today)
  • October 31 — Today through Nov. 2 mark many holidays in western Christianity: First, Halloween (and the somewhat controversial Día de Los Muertos in Mexico), a “weird mish-mash of Christian and pagan traditions.” One of those Christian traditions is All Saints Day and All Souls Day, a celebration of the dead dating to the 8th century AD and inspired by Revelation 7:9-12. And of course it is Reformation Day in remembrance of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses. (RELEVANT, Aleteia, and Bible Gateway)
  • October 30 — Catholic feast parades are often extravagant affairs, but the annual feast at St. Mary’s Assumption parish in Kerala, India has a unique elephant — sorry, element. Six parish pachyderms lead 6,000 Catholics to the church, built in 1000 AD, where they share meals with 20,000 local Hindus. The parish traces its roots back to 52 AD, when St. Thomas the Apostle set up the first Indian church a few miles away. (Aleteia)
  • October 29 — Yale scholar David Moe spoke about Christian ethnic minorities under Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar. There and as refugees in the U.S., these “grassroots Christians” balance an emphasis on spiritual power and the sacrificial role of Jesus with the resistance against evil exemplified by Moses and the Psalms. Moe stressed the importance of finding common cause, as many Buddhists are also opposed to the ruling elite. (Christianity Today)
  • October 28 — Chibi church, anyone? The Vatican has announced an unlikely new mascot for its 2025 Jubilee year of pilgrimage, spiritual renewal, and forgiveness of sin: Luce, a raincoat-clad, cross-wearing anime child. Designed by Italian pop culture brand tokidoki for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, Luce and her “pilgrim friends” will make their first appearance at Italy’s Lucca Comics and Games convention. (Catholic News Agency)
  • October 27 — Advertisement: Bible Gateway has added the complete Revised Geneva Translation of the Bible to its collection of dozens of English Bible versions. The RGT is a 21st century update of the first widely distributed version of the Holy Bible in English (and Shakespeare’s favorite Bible translation), the Geneva Bible. In contrast to most modern Bibles, it is specifically designed to be spoken and heard rather than simply read.
  • October 27 — One of the “most beautiful” Baptist churches in America, Tremont Temple in Boston, is slowly recovering after a rocky century. The 186-year-old building — one of the first U.S. churches to be racially integrated — has survived three fires. It once boasted 4,000 members and received visits from Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Charles Dickens. Recent attendance is closer to 100 — but growing. (The Gospel Coalition)

Week of October 20

  • October 26 — After three years of discussions, the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality concluded with a 52-page document proposing changes to canon law that would increase lay involvement (especially among women), promote financial transparency, and guard against clergy sexual abuse. Though some were disappointed with the lack of real reform, the document does indicate that the question of the female diaconate “remains open.” (RNS)
  • October 25 — Archaeologists near ancient Babylon in modern Iraq uncovered two houses containing nearly 500 artifacts from around 1894–1595 BC, including cuneiform tablets, stamp seals, pottery, and more. The tablets could include anything from business receipts and administrative documents to letters and literature. Translating and assessing them will take time, but researchers are intrigued by what they might tell us of the era. (Biblical Archaeology Society)
  • October 25 — Joey McCollum, a PhD candidate at Australian Catholic University, won the Three Minute Thesis Final by adapting genetic analysis software to restore handwritten works, including Biblical texts, to their original form. McCollum’s method marks a revolutionary advancement in textual criticism, allowing researchers to access hidden details contained in surviving portions of Biblical manuscripts. (Christian Today)
  • October 25 — House church, meet church house: Early Christians worshiped in local homes, only later turning them into churches. Today in the U.S., churches are being turned into homes. With attendance down across the country, empty churches are being sold at great rates — but they require heavy renovations. The new owners often commit to maintaining the buildings’ integrity, recognizing them as important pillars of the community. (The New York Times, paywalled)
  • October 24 — Meanwhile, in the UK: Weekly attendance is down nearly 20% in Anglican churches from pre-pandemic numbers. This has left 3,000 to 5,000 churches closed or barely used, around three-quarters of which are registered historic buildings. The projected cost of upkeep and repairs on them is £1 billion (about $1.3 billion), which the Church of England cannot afford… but perhaps local communities will be up to the task. (The Guardian)
  • October 24 — Pope Francis released his fourth encyclical, Dilexit nos (“He loved us”), on “the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ.” The Pope warns that the world has lost its heart amid war, technology, and consumerization. Reaffirms traditional spiritual teachings, he then calls believers to renew their devotion to Christ’s heart and “cooperate with him in restoring goodness and beauty to our world.” (Vatican News and Aleteia)
  • October 22 — Among U.S. churchgoers, 80% want their pastors to address “current issues” from the pulpit; 91% trust their pastors completely and want guidance on navigating modern culture. What they mostly don’t want to hear is who to vote for: less than a third (29%) think it’s appropriate for pastors to endorse political candidates. They needn’t worry: only 2% of pastors have done so this year. (Religion Unplugged, from Lifeway Research)
  • October 22 — A court is scheduled to decide on Louisiana’s Ten Commandment case in the next few weeks. If approved, all public school classrooms in the state will be required to display the commandments starting January 1, 2025. But which Ten Commandments? Part of the objection (largely on First Amendment grounds) is that the state itself determined the phrasing of the commandments, inspired by (but not matching) the KJV. (Christianity Today)
  • October 21 — A replica of the Ark of the Covenant, made to Torah specifications, was displayed in Jerusalem on Sukkot and is retracing the biblical Ark’s journey, visiting sites like Jericho and Shiloh. Built by 17 volunteers over 3.5 years, the model contains a Holocaust-surviving Torah scrolls and uses high-purity gold and ancient techniques. It symbolizes victory, peace, and the enduring covenant between God and the Jewish people. (Jewish News Syndicate)
  • October 21 — On the heels of the Vatican closing the doors on female deacons, a study exploring the roles of women in global Christianity found that 45% of Christians belong to churches that allow women pastors (even if most don’t actually have one) — a surprising number, since the two largest denominations (Catholic and Orthodox) do not. In the U.S., 14% of local congregations are led by women. (Religion Unplugged, and RNS)
  • October 21 — The National Fund for Sacred Places has awarded a total of $4 million to 22 historic churches (and two synagogues) this year across the United States. The grants include technical support and consulting services to help each worship house capitalize on the funds and engage their communities. Rachel Hildebrandt, director of the Fund, said they received nearly 500 applications, up 31% over last year. (RNS)
  • October 20 — The Catholic Church’s global numbers continue to grow — but its priests and seminarians are shrinking, according to a worldwide survey of the Church’s demographics. Catholicism remains the largest denomination in the world at nearly 1.4 billion, served by 407,730 priests worldwide. Asia and Africa saw the highest growth, while Europe’s Catholic population is dropping off sharply. (Aleteia)
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Week of October 13

  • October 18 — After decades of growth in the U.S., “Nones” (those with no religious affiliation) flatlined at 26% for the third year straight. Many are actively exploring their beliefs, with 10% saying they’ve made a personal commitment to Jesus and 25% who are open or curious about Jesus or the Bible (though 40% remain “hostile”). This trend presents an opportunity for sensitive engagement with these searchers. (Baptist Press)
  • October 18 — Jesse Stone, chair of the Global Theological Review Board for Come and See, which produces the hit TV show The Chosen, shared the process for making theological decisions about parts of the show where the Bible is silent. Since The Chosen is not a documentary but a work of historical fiction, he says, it often comes down to balancing three things: biblical fidelity, historical plausibility, and character relatability. (RNS)
  • October 18 — A new (very old) tomb has been unearthed at the 2,000-year-old city of Petra in Jordan. Archaeologists discovered signs of the tomb using ground-penetrating radar, and were surprised after excavating it to find its 12 individuals and various goods undisturbed (most of Petra’s tombs were long ago raided by graverobbers). Other researchers, however, have expressed concern at the “spectacle” of the dig. (Biblical Archaeology Society)
  • October 18 — Long in decline in the modern church, hymnbooks are making a surprising comeback (in conjunction with print media generally). A growing number of churches are reintroducing hymnals to enhance congregational worship with traditional and tactile elements, using new (nondenominational) hymnals like the Sing! Hymnal and the Scripture Hymnal as well as tools like the Sing Your Part app. (Christianity Today)
  • October 17 — As they grieve losses in the wake of Hurricane Helene, Biltmore Church in Asheville, N.C. reopened for in-person worship. Setting aside political differences, the church community has united around the recovery effort, becoming a hub for disaster relief through their 828Strong initiative. Faith-based groups like Samaritan’s Purse and Eight Days of Hope are providing meals, clearing debris, and restoring services. (RNS)
  • October 17 — Just as Messianic Jews are opening their homes to displaced Israelis, Lebanese Christians are opening theirs to displaced Christians and Muslims. The conflict with Israel, sparked by Hezbollah’s support for Hamas, has displaced 1.2 million Lebanese. Despite fears of becoming targets, many Christians are offering aid — often to Muslim refugees, some of whom are encountering Christians for the first time. (Christianity Today)
  • October 16 — Ever wonder if Catholic priests make money? Popular “priestfluencer” (you heard it here first) Fr. David Michael Moses uses social media to answer questions about Catholicism and provide spiritual guidance. Fr. David Michael says he does not earn a salary, but does receive a stipend to cover his needs. He enjoys the simplicity: “I’m storing up riches in heaven, and the exchange rate there is pretty good.” (Aleteia)
  • October 15 — In fiscal year 2024, the U.S. resettled more Christian refugees fleeing persecution than any year since 2016, according to a report by Open Doors and World Relief. The nonpartisan report highlights the impact of U.S. policies on refugees and asylum seekers, urging policymakers in both parties to consider the moral responsibility of accepting refugees, emphasizing the influence of U.S. policy on global refugee resettlement trends. (Baptist Press)
  • October 15 — Amid ongoing missile threats, Israel’s only Messianic Jewish moshav is providing shelter and support for conflict zone evacuees. Founded by Finnish Christians in 1971, Yad HaShmona now numbers some 350 members. Within a week of the October 7 attack, they had taken in 200 evacuees. They continue to lend aid and prayers for peace — including (citing Rom. 12:20) for Palestinian civilians. (Christianity Today)
  • October 14 — A voice from the heavens: Nonagenarians from Providence Baptist Church in Texas recently got special birthday calls — from space. Astronaut Barry Wilmore is an elder at Pasadena who’s stuck on the International Space Station until February, so he’s making the most of it. Coms go both ways: the church had planned to shutter its livestream after COVID, but decided to keep it going for its homebound elderly — and now, starbound elders. (Christianity Today)

Week of October 6

  • October 12 — The decline of religion in the West has long been a subject of discussion and concern for Christians. But recent data suggest anti-religion atheists are increasingly being replaced by “spiritual but not religious” practices like neopaganism and witchcraft. Christians engaged in evangelism need to understand they’re “no longer trying to argue with ardent atheists but to compel impressionable spiritualists.” (The Gospel Coalition)
  • October 11 — Archaeologists have discovered a 4th-century octagonal church in Artaxata, Armenia — the oldest known church in the country. Featuring cruciform extensions and marble decorations across its nearly 100-ft. diameter, the find sheds light on Armenia’s history as the first Christian state, following the conversion of King Tiridates III in 301 AD. The excavation, funded by the German Research Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, will continue to explore the church’s origins and significance. (University of Münster)
  • October 11 — Protestant Churches in America are slowly revitalizing after the losses of the COVID era, which saw more churches close than open; the Southern Baptist Convention alone lost 1,000 churches per year between 2020 and 2022. Organizations such as ReFocus and Church Boom are helping churches recover. Churches who have gone through the program have increased attendance by 15-20%. (Baptist Press)
  • October 11 — Barna’s “Engaging the Spiritually Open” report revealed that 42% of American adults have “deconstructed” the faith of their youth. Not all of them left, though: over one-third of practicing Christians report having reassessed their beliefs. Barna CEO David Kinnaman emphasizes the importance of addressing these experiences to help individuals remain grounded in their faith despite challenges. (RELEVANT, from Barna Group)
  • October 10 — The remains of a “significant royal administrative center from the days of King Hezekiah” have been discovered in southern Jerusalem. The dig revealed two large 8th-century BC buildings with 180 ceramic jar handles inscribed with Hebrew ownership marks. The buildings appear to have been razed by the Assyrians during their invasion in 701 BC, as chronicled in 2 Kings 18-19. (Times of Israel)
  • October 10 — Faith and AI are having a big week. AtoneNet, a Jewish website that accepted anonymous confessions for Yom Kippur for 11 years, has had to shut down after receiving an inundation of AI-generated submissions (Forward). And a hit new Justin Bieber song called “Holy Jesus,” which has garnered 4 million YouTube views, turned out to be entirely AI, with a synthesized voice and lyrics generated from ChatGPT (RELEVANT).
  • October 10 — The likelihood of meeting your spouse at church dropped from 10% in 1930 to 2% in 2024. Connecting through family, friends, neighbors, school, and work all declined, too. Guess what’s replaced them: the internet, which was responsible for over 60% of new relationships this past year. Gen Z and millennials have expressed dissatisfaction with this trend, but thus far have been unable to reverse it. (RELEVANT)
  • October 10 — Shirley Hoogstra retired this summer after 10 years as president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities in the U.S., though she remains involved in the transition process for its new leader, David A. Hoag. In a recent interview, Hoogstra spoke proudly about the CCCU’s successes over the past decade, from growing enrollment and improving diversity to navigating various controversies. (RNS)
  • October 10 — Christian organizations in the UK and British Isles are hosting a National Week of Prayer from October 12 to 20, focusing on repentance and spiritual awakening. Supported by leaders from various denominations and groups like Open Doors and the Evangelical Alliance, the initiative encourages local prayer meetings, with a key event to be held at the Emmanuel Centre in Westminster on October 16. (Christian Today)
  • October 9 — Not quite Sarah, but… Alabaman Lillie Cunningham is 110 years old, has over 100 nieces and nephews, and refuses to use a cane or walker. What she does use is the Bible, which Mrs. Cunningham reads every morning and night, in addition to attending church every Sunday — a fact she connects directly with her longevity. “I just always had faith and trust in God that he was going to carry us through,” she said. (Aleteia, from NPR)
  • October 7 — Back on July 10, we reported on Rick Dempsey’s intention to translate The Chosen into over 100 languages. It has now topped 50, making it the most translated TV show in history. They’ve received positive feedback from viewers moved to hear Jesus speaking in their native tongue. Now, with help from Christian nonprofit Come and See, they’ve expanded their plans to translate the show into 600 languages! (RELEVANT)
  • October 7 — Pope Francis named 21 additions to the College of Cardinals, from 44-year-old Ukrainian Bishop Mykola Bychok of Australia to 99-year-old diplomat Monsignor Angelo Acerbi. The appointments reflect the globalism of the Catholic church, including Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Algiers, and several from South America. Among other responsibilities, cardinals under the age of 80 will elect the new Pope upon Francis’ death. (Religion News Service)

Week of September 29

  • October 4 — While American Evangelicals strongly desire to engage with others about their beliefs, in practice they rarely do, according to a study by Lifeway Research. Only a quarter say they are equipped to do so: nearly a third read the Bible less than once a month, and go to church even more rarely. The study’s authors urge Christians to better understand Scripture so they can better engage with their surrounding culture. (Religion Unplugged)
  • October 4 — How tall was Jesus? While the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19 is generally interpreted to refer to Zacchaeus’s stature, a recent study from a Canadian professor of early Christianity suggests we might be bringing our own preconceived notions to the text, which is ambiguous about whether it was in fact Zacchaeus or Jesus who was the short one. So which was it? In short, there’s no way to know. (Biblical Archaeology Society)
  • October 4 — The Evangelical Alliance UK (EAUK) is seeing its fastest growth in 30 years, with 5,000 new members joining in the past year across diverse demographics. The organization, now totaling some 23,000 members, was founded in 1846 with a mission to unite Christians in sharing their faith and advocating for biblical values. Despite rising secularism, the Alliance’s hopes to double its membership in the next decade. (Christian Today)
  • October 3 — Church-backed groups such as the Lutheran nonprofit Finn Church Aid and the Catholic Salesians of Don Bosco are helping refugees resettle and develop financial independence in Uganda by providing education, skills trainings, and farming equipment. The country has received over 1.6 million refugees from South Sudan, Congo, and elsewhere — the highest number in Africa. (Religion News Service)
  • October 2 — A new documentary film by Nicholas Ma (son of famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma) brings together 12 pastors of different denominations, politics, races, classes, and genders to answer a familiar question: “Won’t you be my neighbor?” Participants said while they had initially hoped to change each other’s minds on certain issues, a “different kind of small miracle” occurred: they became friends in spite of their differences. (Religion News Service)
  • October 2 — In an inspiring story from hurricane-ravaged Tennessee, a father crossed 17 miles of debris on foot throughout the night — at one point scrambling through knee-deep mud while bulldozers plowed fallen trees nearby — to reach his daughter’s wedding. After walking her down the aisle he presented her with the reflector he carried to avoid being hit by cars, as a reminder “to be a reflection of God’s goodness.” (People)
  • October 2 — The Vatican convened its final meeting of the Synod of Bishops to finalize decisions on church reforms after a year of unprecedented dialogue between clergy and laypeople. Conversations around topics like women’s ordination and same-sex relationships initially prompted excitement among reformers and anxiety from traditionalists — but today major changes seem unlikely. (Religion News Service)
  • October 2 — A wide-ranging study across various faiths and continents found that Gen Z Protestants were more interested in being known for their talents, abilities, and education than for their faith. Many view religion as a private matter that can help them through difficult times. Echoing other research, the report also found mental health to be Gen Z’s greatest concern, and prayer one of their top coping mechanisms for stress. (Christianity Today, from Young Life)
  • October 1 — The Vatican announced a new initiative called the Pope’s Global Alliance for Children’s Health, which aims to provide healthcare for one million children worldwide over the next three years. Led by a U.S.-based nonprofit, the alliance will establish a hub-and-spoke network through which bigger, better-resourced hospitals lend aid to smaller healthcare facilities struggling to meet demands. (Aleteia)
  • October 1 — A report by International Christian Concern shows a correlation between government corruption and increased religious persecution. The wide-ranging survey examines countries from Nigeria (which accounts for nearly 70% of all Christian killings worldwide) to China and North Korea, as well as across the Middle East and South Asia. ICC calls for both increased sanctions against these regimes and asylum for their victims. (Christian Today)
  • October 1 — Contemporary Christian music (CCM) was the fourth fastest-growing genre in music worldwide during the first half of 2024, largely thanks to Millennial and Gen Z listeners and streaming platforms like Spotify. Despite declining religious affiliation among young Americans, CCM popularity is buoyed by increased quality, diversity, and global religious growth. (The Gospel Coalition)
  • Sept. 30 — Christian charity groups have mobilized rapidly in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation across the southeastern United States, but they’re finding their resources stretched thin. Organizations like Samaritan’s Purse and the Salvation Army are on the ground with food and other supplies — but many remain stranded and inaccessible, especially in North Carolina. Here’s how you can support the efforts. (Christianity Today and RELEVANT)
  • Sept. 30 — NBA forward A.J. Griffin of the Atlanta Hawks announced his abrupt retirement from basketball to follow Jesus into ministry. The 21-year-old was drafted in 2022 and played two seasons with the Hawks, but found his priorities changing after becoming Christian during the COVID pandemic. Griffin acknowledged that some of his fans might find his decision “crazy or abnormal” but that he was ready to serve God “with my full ‘yes.'” (RELEVANT)
  • Sept. 29 — From the latest updates on Lausanne to early petitions in Egypt; expanding religious freedom in Oregon and tightening it in China; a festival for the Cross in Ethiopia and a convention for geeks in D.C.; ancient seeds and swords; and brand new research on religious demographics, mental health, and doctrinal opinions — catch up on all of last month’s biggest, strangest, and most inspiring Bible and church news stories.

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