Tag Archives: textual criticism

White Paper: The Quiet Weight Beneath the Piano: Melancholy as a Structural Thread in the Lyrics of Billy Joel

Executive Summary Billy Joel is often remembered for buoyant melodies, radio-friendly hooks, and a public persona associated with wit, storytelling, and New York bravado. Yet beneath this accessible surface lies a persistent, carefully managed melancholy that runs through his lyrics … Continue reading

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Rejoicing in the Birth of Jesus Christ Around the Feast of Trumpets: A Biblicist White Paper on Timing, Theology, and Liturgical Meaning

Executive Summary This white paper argues that rejoicing in the birth of Jesus Christ in connection with the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah) is biblically defensible, theologically coherent, and spiritually fruitful—particularly within a biblicist framework that prioritizes scriptural patterns over … Continue reading

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White Paper: Artificial Intelligence in Biblical Hermeneutics and the Essential Role of Proper Prompt Design

Executive Summary Artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large-language models (LLMs), is rapidly becoming a central tool for those who study Scripture—pastors, scholars, lay teachers, and content creators alike. While AI can accelerate research, generate linguistic insights, and offer comparative perspectives on … Continue reading

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White Paper: Biblicist Grounds for Re-Baptism When Conversion Occurs After an Earlier Baptism

Executive Summary This white paper examines whether Scripture provides grounds for a Christian to be re-baptized if he or she believes true conversion took place after a prior baptism. A strictly biblicist approach reveals that Scripture neither trivializes baptism nor … Continue reading

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White Paper: Multi-Level Marketing in the Bible? A Biblicist Examination of Claims, Parallels, and Ethical Evaluation

Executive Summary Claims circulate in popular Christian teaching that “MLMs are described in the Bible” or even that “the early church functioned like an MLM.” These claims are typically made to legitimize a modern business model by analogy with perceived … Continue reading

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Fruit and Fruitfulness in the Bible: A Biblicist White Paper on Terminology, Imagery, and Theological Function

Executive Summary This white paper examines the Hebrew and Greek vocabulary, literary contexts, and canonical theology of fruit and fruitfulness in Scripture. In the biblical canon, “fruit” functions in multiple senses: agricultural, biological, moral, covenantal, spiritual, missional, eschatological, and judicial. … Continue reading

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White Paper: The Meaning of “Willing to Yield” in Biblical and Extra-Biblical Literature: A Biblicist and Literary-Grammatical Analysis

Executive Summary The expression “willing to yield” (Greek: eupeithēs) appears centrally in James 3:17 as one of the qualities of the “wisdom from above.” Although often translated as “submissive,” “open to reason,” or “compliant,” the word does not imply gullibility, … Continue reading

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A Biblicist White Paper on the Requirements of Baptism in the New Testament and Its Implications for the Contemporary Church

Executive Summary This white paper examines the New Testament’s explicit and implicit requirements for Christian baptism, emphasizing a biblically controlled methodology rather than traditional, ecclesiastical, or systematic-theological frameworks. It distinguishes between antecedent conditions (what must be in place before one … Continue reading

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A Biblicist White Paper: Distinguishing Job’s Eloquent Self-Defense from the False Accusations of His Friends and From the Charge of Self-Righteousness

Executive Summary The Book of Job contains one of Scripture’s most intricate examinations of suffering, righteousness, and divine justice. Job’s speeches are often misunderstood as lapsing into self-righteousness, while the friends’ speeches are mischaracterized as orthodox defenses of divine justice. … Continue reading

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White Paper: The Literary Phenomenon of “Self-Discovery Through Abandonment”: A Biblicist Analysis of Modern Memoirs and Barely-Fictional Novels About Women Leaving Their Husbands

Executive Summary Over the past several decades, a major subgenre of contemporary fiction and memoir has emerged in which a woman abandons her husband, marriage, or family responsibilities in order to “find herself,” pursue self-actualization, or discover an authentic identity … Continue reading

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