Author Archives: Paul Pavao

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About Paul Pavao

I am married, the father of six, and currently the grandfather of five. I teach, and I am always trying to learn to disciple others better than I have before. I believe God has gifted me to restore proper theological foundations to the Christian faith. In order to ensure that I do not become a heretic, I read the early church fathers from the second and third centuries. They were around when all the churches founded by the apostles were in unity. My philosophy for Bible reading is to understand each verse for exactly what it says in its local context. Only after accepting the verse for what it says do I compare it with other verses to develop my theology. If other verses seem to contradict a verse I just read, I will wait to say anything about those verses until I have an explanation that allows me to accept all the verses for what they say. This takes time, sometimes years, but eventually I have always been able to find something that does not require explaining verses away. The early church fathers have helped a lot with this. I argue and discuss these foundational doctrines with others to make sure my teaching really lines up with Scripture. I am encouraged by the fact that the several missionaries and pastors that I know well and admire as holy men love the things I teach. I hope you will be encouraged too. I am indeed tearing up old foundations created by tradition in order to re-establish the foundations found in Scripture and lived on by the churches during their 300 years of unity.

Through the Bible: Matthew 2:13-18, A Spiritual Bible

We are going through Tatian’s Diatessaron, a second-century harmony of the Gospels. We are on Section III. Today’s post goes through Matthew 2:13-18. The Bible and Inspiration When [the wise men] had departed, the messenger of the Lord appeared in … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Matt. 2:1-12, The Magi from Persia

We are going through Tatian’s Diatessaron, a second-century harmony of the Gospels, and we are now on Section III, which switches back to Matthew from Luke. The Magis and Their Star After that [the birth of Jesus] the Magi came … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Anna’s Prophecy, Luke 2:36-39

We have been going through Tatian’s Diatessaron, a second-century harmony of the Gospels. We are at the end of Section II, which is taken from Luke 2:36-39. This is Anna’s prophecy, and I wanted to look at it in more … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 2:21-35: Prophecy and the Birth of Jesus

We are going through Tatian’s Diatessaron Section II. The Diatessaron is a harmony of the Gospels put together in the second century. Today’s reading comes from Luke 2:21 and forward. And when eight days were passed so that the child … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 2:1-20: The Appearance to the Shepherds

We are going through Tatian’s Diatessaron. It is a harmony of the four Gospels put together in the mid-second century. We are in section II, which today returns to Luke 2 and continues the story of Jesus’ birth. I need … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Matthew 1:18-25

We are going through Tatian’s Diatessaron. It is a harmony of the four Gospels put together in the mid-second centuary. Today we begin section II, which is pulled from Matthew 1. The introduction mentions that Tatian skipped the genealogies in … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 1:76-80, Repentance and Atonement

Note: This is a very long post. I think it the subject is worth the length of the post. Therefore, I will wait at least three days to post the next one. If you are going through the Bible with … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 1:67-79; Zacharias’ Prophecy

We are going through the Gospels using Tatian’s Diatessaron. Today we are covering Luke 1:67-80, which is the prophecy from Zacharias, father of John the Immerser (or Baptist), after John was born. It is found at the bottom of the … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 1:47-66; The Magnificat & Birth of John

We are working through Tatian’s Diatessaron, a harmony of the Gospels written back in AD 165. Last time we covered Luke 1:24-45, where Mary goes to meet Elizabeth, her cousin and the soon-to-be mother of John the Baptist. We went … Continue reading

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Through the Bible: Luke 1:24-45

We are working from Tatian’s Diatessaron, a harmony of the Gospels put together around the year 160. The introduction to the Diatessaron was done a few days ago. The next section we are covering is Luke 1:24-45. Once again, I … Continue reading

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