The Reformed Olive Press

  Logistical Problems With Dinosaurs in Eden, the Ark, and the Book of Job Young-earth creationists often attempt to place dinosaurs within the narratives of Genesis and the Book of Job. However, the biblical texts themselves never mention dinosaurs, early Christian writers never interpreted the passages this way, and the proposal encounters serious difficulties when examined from historical, scientific, and linguistic perspectives. The first problem appears when dinosaurs are inserted into the story of Eden. Large predatory dinosaurs such as the Tyrannosaurus rex, Allosaurus, or smaller raptors were apex predators that required enormous amounts of meat to survive. Animals of that size would need to consume hundreds of pounds of flesh each week. Yet the Genesis account is often interpreted by young-earth advocates as describing a world without death prior to the fall of humanity. In such a scenario, predators could neither kill prey nor survive by eating plants, because their bodie...

Mark 3 in Its Original Context: Jesus, Baal Territory, and the Politics of Outsider Power Modern readers often approach Mark 3 as a simple story of conflict: the scribes accuse Jesus of using demonic power. Yet in its ancient Near Eastern context, the passage is far more political, territorial, and ethnically charged than it appears. Once Jesus is placed within the Phoenician geography and the symbolic landscape of Baal’s homeland, the accusations against him take on an explosive significance. The question is not merely whether Jesus exercises demonic power—it is whose power he is using. Is it Yahweh’s, or is it Baal’s, the god of Tyre and Sidon? Mark subtly weaves this tension through geography, rumor, and cultural cues that would have been obvious to first-century readers. Jesus repeatedly operates on the edge of Baal territory. Mark 3 notes crowds coming from Tyre and Sidon, the two major Phoenician coastal cities (3:8). To modern readers, these may seem like mere geographical marke...

 Is Lip Service Being Paid to Sola Scriptura? In many churches today—especially those that boast of their Reformed pedigree—there is loud affirmation of Sola Scriptura. Banners declare it. Doctrinal statements defend it. Seminaries and pulpits echo the claim that the Bible alone is the final authority. But for all the talk, we must ask: is *Sola Scriptura* truly being practiced, or is it just lip service? The clearest test is this: where in Scripture do we find the modern Pastor system? Where do we find one man delivering a monologue week after week while the saints sit in silence? Where is the professionalized clergy, the hierarchical structure, the titled “Reverend,” “Senior Pastor,” or “Lead Teaching Elder”? Nowhere. What we do find is the Ekklesia—the gathering of believers where each member brings a word, a psalm, a teaching (1 Corinthians 14:26), where shepherds are plural, local, and known by their labor, not by a job title. We find gatherings led by the Spirit, not liturgie...

  The Great Commission: A Forgotten Saying or a Later Forgery? The “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:16–20) is one of the most quoted Christian passages—Jesus allegedly commands his disciples to evangelize the world and baptize using a Trinitarian formula. Yet several lines of evidence from secular scholarship, textual criticism, and historical context indicate that this passage may be a late invention, added or shaped by the expanding post-70 CE church rather than the historical Jesus. What follows is a critical examination that integrates manuscript data, scholarly perspectives, and a reconstruction of what the original ending of Matthew likely looked like. The Great Commission Contradicts Jesus in Matthew Earlier in the same gospel, Jesus forbids a mission to Gentiles: “Do not go to the Gentiles” (Matt 10:5–6) “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Matt 15:24) Matthew 28 abruptly reverses this to: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” There is no narrative explanation for...

  The Textual Instability and Fluidity of the Book of Jeremiah When readers open the Book of Jeremiah, they often assume they are reading a single, stable prophetic book that has existed in the same form since the prophet first spoke his words. However, the evidence from the text itself and from ancient fragments shows a more complex story. Among the prophetic books of the Bible, Jeremiah stands out as one of the clearest examples of textual instability and literary fluidity. The book circulated in multiple versions, different lengths, and different arrangements, indicating that it developed over time rather than appearing as a single finished document. Two Ancient Editions of Jeremiah The strongest evidence for Jeremiah’s fluidity comes from the existence of two significantly different editions of the book. One edition is preserved in the Hebrew tradition known as the Masoretic Text, which forms the basis for most modern Bibles. The other edition appears in the Greek translation c...