Perrydox.com is devoted to the pursuit of truth, whether plain or paradoxical, whether simple or sublime, or simply absurd yet absolute.
PHall | June 16, 2018
Mission Statement: “I came to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already set ablaze!” (CSB’17 Luke 12:49). Mission Statement (again): “Do you think that I came here to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (CSB’17 Luke 12:51) Here we see two opposites: fire and […]
PHall | June 16, 2018
Do we know who we are? Maybe we need to introduce ourselves to ourselves. Samuel didn’t think much of David upon meeting him. And yet God said “Man does not see what the LORD sees, for man sees what is visible, but the LORD sees the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Elizabeth didn’t think much of […]
PHall | June 16, 2018
Jesus wasn’t polite if, in polite company, you don’t talk about religion – especially bad religion. There was a time when Jesus was discussing religion that we see two warnings that still apply today. These reveal how one can know: 1) That we aren’t believing right; and 2) That we are dishonest in our religious […]
PHall | June 16, 2018
What makes us distinct? Israel began in Abraham with circumcision as a segregated symbol. The nation continued under Moses with dietary laws and the Sabbath, again as segregated symbols. Good Jews were marked by these distinguising features. What, if anything, symbolizes Christianity? One answer would be confessing Jesus as the son of David, and Son […]
PHall | June 16, 2018
I don’t know about his culture, but in ours…how embarrassing! To figure out who, look for the clues. And don’t be afraid to go out on a limb guessing! Knowing what little I do about him, he was used to people looking down on him – literally, socially, and spiritually. His job made him financially […]
PHall | June 4, 2018
Baby steps. When Peter said, (CSB’17) Acts 2:39: “For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call”, it was evident he didn’t quite understand the ramifications as seen later (Acts 10). It is curious God allowed the first […]
PHall | June 4, 2018
Despised by the English, and suffering from The Great Potato Famine, the Irish received a surprise charitable gift – $170. The year was 1847. And who were the benefactors? The Choctow Indians. They likewise had been displaced from their ancestral home, and relocated to Oklahoma by the Indian hater, Andrew Jackson. This was the infamous […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
A friend asked how seriously we should take “The Church Fathers”. I answered that we usually take them seriously when they agree with us! Sometimes they were right on target; others times far from the original practice. In reading a book on the art and iconography of baptism, the author shows the post-1st century church […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
Consider this: If baptism is considered a “work” and therefore can’t be part of our salvation (according to how some interpret Ephesians 2:8); then after salvation how can Christians be “His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10)? If we […]
PHall | June 2, 2018
Consider this our warning: 1. Around 52 AD, on Paul’s second evangelistic tour, he, along with Priscilla and Aquila, visited Ephesus after leaving Corinth, and seeded the church there (Acts 18:19). 2. Around 54-56 AD, on the third preaching journey, Paul spent between two and three years teaching in the Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10). 3. Around […]