A place for various other writings

What Day Did Jesus Die?
The question of what day of the week Jesus died is one that continues to inspire debate, if not controversy. I was taught, and believed for many years, that the traditional view of Jesus dying on Friday could not be reconciled with other Scriptures, particularly the prophecy that he would be in the grave three days and three nights. In recent years I have been involved in rethinking many of the old doctrines which I once held as true. Read More...

Jesus and the Passover
In response to the debate about what day of the week Jesus died, further argument for a Wednesday or Thursday crucifixion has been made in light of the Passover and its chronological relation to the events recorded in the Gospels. Some have argued that the "Preparation of the Passover" referred to in John 19:14 is the day before the first day of Passover... Others have attempted to calculate the date of the Passover in the year Jesus died, in order to determine what day of the week it fell on, and thus what day Jesus died on. Still others have questioned whether or not Jesus kept the Passover, arguing that rather than observing it, Jesus was the Passover... These arguments tie in with what day of the week he died on. But does the day he died make a difference in his fulfilling prophecies? Read More...

Seeking the Truth
Many people today seem to hold to the idea that all systems of belief are valid. To claim that one is right and another wrong is looked on as being closed-minded or even bigoted. On the other hand, virtually everyone of any religious persuasion is convinced that their belief system is true, while others are wrong. God says that He wants us to know the Truth, and Jesus said that he IS the Truth. But there are many opinions about God and about Jesus. How is it possible to know what is true and what is not? Read More...

Feedback
I had tried to get a discussion forum started, but the only posts I got in two months were spam. To get discussions started, I had posted some responses I got in emails, which I am now putting on a new page for easy reading. Read More...

Textual Evidence and the Great Commission
This article is actually part of a longer work, entitled Repent and Be Baptized. One of the arguments used by some to prove that baptism is an optional extra is the claim that there is no record of Jesus actually commanding it. The two references to baptism as part of the Great Commission are in passages of scripture which are considered by many to be of doubtful validity. This article will examine the authenticity of these passages. Read More...

Is Christmas Pagan?
Every year when the Holidays roll around we get the usual circulated messages about Christmas. One sector of Christendom cries, "Let's put Christ back in Christmas" and "Jesus is the reason for the season!" Meanwhile another sector says we can't put Christ back in Christmas because he was never there to begin with. They claim that Christmas is a Pagan feast and any Christian who observes it is committing idolatry. Obviously both sides can't be right. Is it Pagan? Is it Christian? Is it both? Is it neither? This article is an attempt to sort it out. Read More...

Refuting Preterism
One of the schools of thought regarding eschatology (the study of the end times) is called Preterism (from the Hebrew language's preterit, or past perfect tense).  This system holds that all, or nearly all, of the prophecies have been completed and fulfilled … The biggest argument for Preterism has been the verses in the New Testament that seem to indicate timing. Read More…

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Mark Clarke
E-mail: mclarke@godskingdomfirst.org