Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | April 19, 2012
When Jesus says to the Jews, “I am the Lord of the Sabbath;” He is claiming, “I am your God who made the Sabbath.” Claims to Deity are not always direct, and whether you consider this to be a direct or indirect claim, the result is the same. There is only one way Jesus could […]
PHall | April 15, 2012
How are proverbs and parables similar? Both are short and memorable (which is part of their teaching power). Both use human situations to teach divine wisdom – earthly stories and situations with heavenly meanings. Both used existing and accepted ways of teaching but raised them to a new level – neither Solomon nor Jesus invented […]
PHall | April 14, 2012
It is easy to hold in contempt those who hold you in contempt. It is easy to disregard those disregarding you. It is easy to gossip about those gossiping about you. It is easy to ignore those ignoring you. It is easy spite those who spite you. It is easy get angry at those angry […]
PHall | February 3, 2012
Satan asking Jesus to jump is the temptation; but subtle is the unstated temptation found in choosing not to jump. If Jesus jumps to make God jump to save Him, then that is wrong. If Jesus doesn’t jump because He loves His life more than God, that too is wrong. Giving in to sin, this […]
PHall | January 20, 2012
How did they go from the wilderness to the top of the temple, and then later to a very high mountain? My answer is that Satan actually takes Jesus to Jerusalem which is what the text says, minus the word “actually.” Matthew 4.5 (HCSB) Then the Devil took Him to the holy city, had Him […]
PHall | January 18, 2012
Each both Luke and Matthew, the temptation involving bread and stones is listed first. However, the second temptation in Matthew is the third in Luke. In Luke’s record, Satan’s temptation to throw Himself down to prove trust in God is listed third. Matthew is better known for grouping biographical points topically, while Luke’s record is […]
PHall | January 13, 2012
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” (Chinese Proverb) – Christianity is not just hearing sermons and seeing the good examples of others. It is practicing it ourselves. Only then does the humanly insane, counter-culture, Sermon on the Mount enlighten us with true, divine understanding.
PHall | December 15, 2011
The third temptation here is not worshiping Satan, which is repulsive. The temptation is as subtle as it is blatant – What is Jesus willing to put up with to get what He wants? He did come for a kingdom, right? Applied personally, what are we willing to put up with to get what we […]
PHall | December 10, 2011
There is a silence within the details that sounds an alarm. One temptation ends, and another begins, but what about in between? The silence is the amount of time between each encounter in the battle between Jesus and Satan in the wilderness. Unlike the revealing text declaring that afterwards the angels “immediately” came and began […]
PHall | December 8, 2011
Jesus sank below the water as man and walked on the water as God. In baptism He was overcome; and in the storm He overcame. In the Jordan He submitted; and on Galilee He commanded. The force was never the water; the power was the God-Man’s will. The water always served its Maker, its Master, […]