Featured Favorite Commentary on Galatians

God has given the stewardship of the earth to man and has instructed him before he left. Therefore God guides human history providentially and men will give account of their stewardship. How can it be more simple.

Psalms 115:16
The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.

one of the most wicked false doctrines that has ever been preached to unsuspecting respondents is the Calvinistic doctrine of the sovereignty of God.

I have no commentaries to recommend on Galatians.

 

I did a search on the internet of Pastor Bob Enyart. How accurate is the Wikipedia article on Pastor Enyart?

 

Saying it doesn't make it so.

I can defend and establish every syllable of what I believe with nothing at all other than the scripture and sound reason.

You, on the other hand, will present nothing but unsupported personal opinions, personal attacks and arguments that originate from pagan sources such as Socrates, Aristotle and Plato.

 

I am most certainly not a Palagian.

 

It depends on who you ask. It focuses on the wrong things and leaves out important context but in regard to the bare facts, it is generally accurate.

The most important inaccuracy is the fact that it fails to mention that Bob was also acquitted of the exact same "child abuse" charge for which he was later convicted. He had given spankings, normal spankings with a belt that children in this country used to get all the time, to his two step sons. Bob's wife's ex-husband, filed child abuse charges. Since there were two boys they could try the two cases separately and so they did. In the first trial, he was acquitted. The second trial had a different jury but was in the same court room under the same judge and the attorneys on both sides. The exact same evidence and the exact same witness testimony was presented but the 2nd jury, who were not permitted to know that he had already been found innocent of the same change, found him guilty and he spent a whole three months in jail.

His sons, the one's he supposedly abused, now run his ministry.

Also, contrary to what the article says, Bob's views concerning the Covid19 vaccine's connection with abortion has absolutely not been "debunked". That claim is laughable to the point that it means that whoever wrote it doesn't have any idea what Bob's objection actually was or what it was based on.

 

So as long as the topic of “Open Theism” was brought up and not abandoned…

How would the position a commentator takes on “Open Theism” affect their interpretation of Galatians?

Would it be a deal breaker for you?
Could you learn something and respect a different viewpoint?
What would be the major problems with the commentary? (Verses please)

Provide specifics.

Rob

 

Who are you addressing?

 

I'm not sure that it would affect it much in any way. I can't think of anything in particular that would be effected one way or the other nor do I recall having ever read a commentary on Galatians where I considered any major point to be invalid by the commentators belief that the future was settled. I'm sure that some Calvinist commentator has wrenched his doctrine into the text of Galatians in some sort of way here and there in some commentary somewhere but I don't recall any specific time that I've read such a thing.

Whether or not the commentator was a covenant theologian vs. a dispensationalist would have a MUCH more profound impact on the way they approach any of Paul's epistles, including Galatians, than Open Theism would.

Even archeology would also have a larger impact than would whether they were open theists. For example, some believe that Galatians was written very early and some very late. One's beliefs in this regard are impacted greatly by archeological issues, not whether they think the future is open or settled.

 

I only brought up the topic because I knew that Enyart was an Open Theist.
My advise was, “Be wary”.

My next response;

…was simply open to those that were impassioned by the topic.

I’m curious!

If you are satisfied by CJP69’s response, then the answer is ‘it doesn't effect a commentary.

And any further commentary suggestions can ignore my initial response.

Rob

 

Name calling without evidence. Everyone who denies open theism claims God is the author of sin. Full Stop

 

Anyone, regardless of blood line, whoever believes into Christ is a child of the Promise, a descendant of Abraham.

 

Quite so!

 

Problem Statement:

How can men, (sinful by nature) come to God (holy by nature)?​

How does Galatians resolve this problem?

The answer from Galatians is "Justification by Faith plus Nothing!

Crack open you favorite commentaries and see what they say!!

 

The question presents a problem that only exists in Calvinistic circles. In effect, it presupposes the doctrine of Total Depravity. If that doctrine is false, the question goes away.

The doctrine is false. There is no such teaching in scripture.

 

I agree, we do not come to God because we are first supernaturally altered to allow us to trust Christ. There is indeed no such biblical teaching anywhere in scripture!!

See post 34 for more.

 

The quantity and quality of New Testament research is exploding—and this is especially true of the research on Paul’s epistles. Therefore, my favorite commentary on Galatians is Craig S. Keener’s 736-page commentary on Galatians published in 2019. Keener is also the author of Acts: An Exegetical Commentary, a 4,608-page commentary published in four large (and very heavy) volumes published in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015 respectively.

In addition to his commentary, this volume includes 34 excursuses. Since he is a staunch egalitarian, it is not surprising that one of these excursuses is entitled, “Personified Feminine Images.’ This volume also includes a 126-page Bibliography, an Index of Subjects, an Index of Authors and Selected Names, an Index of Scriptures, and an Index of Other Ancient Sources.

Dr. Craig S. Keener is F. M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. He is the author of 37 books with 1.4 million copies in circulation. His books have won 13 national and international awards, including six from Christianity Today. (Dr. Craig S. Keener - Asbury Theological Seminary) ​

 

They were/are wrong.