Pastor Shaun Marksbury

Why Have a Statement of Faith? (2 Timothy 1:13, 14, 2:2) Series:               Questioning the Church #4               Text:                 2 Timothy 1:13, 14, 2:2 By:                    Shaun Marksbury                         Date:                January 19, 2025 Venue:              Living Water Baptist Church             Occasion:           ...

For those of you wanting some heftier reading on the subject of eschatology, consider how Greek philosophy might have impacted some of the early church fathers.  Specifically, Plato spoke of universal ideals, and that is exactly how many interpret the imagery of the Book of Revelation.  Such ideas translate into a hermeneutic of spiritualizing or allegorizing the meaning of the text. Dr. Michael Vlach wrote an academic journal article on this subject titled "Platonism's Influence on Christian Eschatology."  Below is the abstract, and you can read the PDF here . Much attention in recent years has been devoted to the influence of Greek philosophy on Christian doctrine. This has been especially true in regard to the nature and attributes of God. Some have also contended that Christian eschatology has been negatively influenced by Greek Platonic assumptions and ideas. Randy Alcorn’s book, Heaven , for instance, asserts that biblical eschatology has been largely replaced b...

A brother and fellow TMS alumnus by the name of Terrence Jones wrote a post that required reply.   I’ve seriously considered writing to him privately over this, but as his post is public and becoming more widely disseminated, I’m responding publicly.   Still, I hope he reads and accepts these words in the spirit of grace in which I offer them.   I also hope to provide others who are curious about the discussion with a different perspective. I’m far from perfect. I have made many mistakes in my life, both before and after Christ. If perfection is the requirement to sound an alarm then you should stop reading now. I have not met that standard. I stand only because of the grace of God and the perfect record of the spotless lamb, Jesus Christ, who died for my sins (past, present and future). I also want to affirm that I will never forget my time at The Master’s Seminary. The things I’m about to say, do not negate the reality that I was shaped and molded for four ye...

The Little Horn of Daniel 8.    In this chapter, Daniel sees the vision of the ram, goat, and little horn.   While perhaps a challenging vision (enough to confuse Daniel and cause him to become sick—v. 27), it also clearly prophesies the coming of the Medo-Persian empire and its defeat by Greece (vv. 20–21).   If that is the case, then the little horn also predicts Antiochus Epiphanes (175–163 BC).    The Master’s Seminary Journal published a helpful article explaining this and a chart to help with the elements of the vision: [1] Specifically, the vision fits Antiochus because he persecuted God’s people (v. 24), he magnified himself (vv. 11, 25 [“Epiphanies” means “God manifest”]), he started from a place of insignificance (v. 9), he died of natural causes (v. 25), rose to power out of the ranks of Alexander the Great’s four generals (v. 9), experienced marginal victory in conquests south, east, and in Israel (v. 9), defiled the temple and inter...