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How Much Did the Prophets Know?
1 Peter 1:10-12:
Early Jewish Exegesis and the Hermeneutical Crisis in Evangelicalism

We believe in the inspiration of the Old Testament: it is the word of God. But those words were written by human authors--Moses, David, Isaiah, etc. Did they understand their own message or did they write "better than they knew"? Is it valid to distinguish between the meaning intended by the OT author and the meaning intended by God? These questions come to a head in 1 Peter 1:10-12. Does Peter sanction such a distinction? I firmly believe the answer is no.

This paper (written by Ken Morgan) begins with a review of early Jewish literature and the methods of exegesis used in this literature to interpret the Old Testament during the era in which the New Testament was written. These methods include allegorical interpretation, rabbinical midrashic interpretation, and pesher interpretation practiced by the sectarians at Qumran (found in the Dead Sea Scrolls). Some Christian scholars argue that when the New Testament writers quote the Old Testament, they also employ these various methods of interpretation, all of which include the idea that the true meaning intended by God was hidden and not understood by the human authors, the prophets. I believe this is a serious error and argue the case in this paper. It has the following outline.

• Jewish Scribal Periods and Literature
• Jewish Hermeneutics in the First Century
• The Interpretation of the Old Testament
• The Interpretation of 1 Peter 1:10-12
• The Apologetic Value of the Old Testament

A Brief History of the Kings of Israel and Judah

Do you find all those kings of Israel and Judah confusing? Do you doubt whether you will ever be able to learn this period of Israel's history? If so, then our paper on the kings is for you. It makes this absolutely exciting period in the history of God's people easy to understand.

This paper was written by Carol Morgan with footnotes supplied by Ken Morgan. The main text is a flowing narrative giving the history of Israel and Judah from the division of the kingdom to the fall of Jerusalem. The footnotes (over 300) deal with various technical, exegetical, chronological, and archeological problems associated with this period of history. There are also six appendices on subjects too long and involved for footnotes. For example, one of the appendices discusses the serious problem with the dates of Hezekiah's reign.

"Write This Man Childless!"
The Crisis in the Davidic Dynasty and the Genealogies of Jesus

Did you ever wonder why the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke look so different? Or how Jesus had legal claim to the throne of David? If so, then take a look at this paper.

This is a paper written by Ken Morgan. It begins with the divine judgment on King Jehoiachin in Jeremiah 22:30 ("Write this man childless!") and the impact it had on the Davidic covenant. It then explains how these subjects affect the interpretation of the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. The difficulties of reconciling these genealogies are also discussed, and a solution is proposed.

The Structure of the Olivet Discourse

The Olivet Discourse is one of the key teaching passages in the New Testament on eschatology. However, scholars show much disagreement in their interpretation of it. Was it entirely fulfilled with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70? Or does its scope extend all the way to the second advent of Jesus? Read this paper and see where you think the evidence points.

This is a paper written by Ken Morgan. It attempts to reconstruct Jesus' entire discourse from the separate accounts in the Synoptic Gospels. The paper argues that Jesus describes two distinct events: the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 and his own eschatological second advent.

A Short Study on the Book of Revelation

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

In the tumultuous times in which we are living, it's not hard to imagine that the tribulation period may soon be upon us. Those times are described in the book of Revelation, and God has promised a special blessing for those who read it:

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things that are written in it; for the time is near.

This paper assumes a futurist, premillennial interpretation of the book of Revelation and does not develop arguments for this approach or against alternative approaches. Nor is it a verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation. Instead this paper gives an overview of its various visions and scenes and compares the views of several prominant premillennial scholars. It is written by Carol Morgan with a supplementary discussion of chapter 17 by Ken Morgan.

The outline of the paper is as follows: