Hello! I am Jon Paulien and I’m glad you came to this page to check out my work. I am a New Testament scholar and Professor of Religion at Loma Linda University. On this website you will find a collection of my articles, commentary on Revelation, and links to my blog, videos, and other resources. Make sure you check the articles link above regularly to see the latest postings. In my hand above is an exact replica of p52, the earliest extant New Testament manuscript fragment, containing portions of John, chapter 18. Centered above my head is a replica of ancient Greek pottery. At either end above are two sets of books from, and about, my favorite spiritual author, Ellen G. White. I hope you enjoy the site.

Daily Devotional For October 29, 2026

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And [cargos] of cinnamon, spice and incense, perfume and frankincense, wine and olive oil, wheat flour and wheat grains, pack animals and sheep, horses and carriages, and the bodies and souls of men. Rev 18:13.

           How do you buy and sell the souls of men, as Babylon did? What is a soul anyway? In the Hebrew philosophy of the Bible, there is no division between body and soul. Unlike the ancient Greeks, who thought the soul could be separated from the physical body, the Bible understands the human person to be a unified whole. In Hebrew thinking you cannot separate a person’s thoughts from the chemical reactions in the brain. What happens to the body affects the mind, and what happens to the mind affects the body.
           Phineas Gage was an efficient and capable construction foreman in 1848.¹ Then a premature explosion on the job drove an iron bar through the front of his brain and out the top of his head. Amazingly enough, he not only survived the terrible accident, but was declared physically healthy two months later. He was not able to return to his job, however. The physical accident he experienced had totally changed his personality. His actions were fitful and completely unpredictable. You never knew what he would do next. The damage to the physical tissue of the brain had completely changed the kind of person he was, even though the physical damage had healed.
           Stories like this one confirm the biblical view of soul. The basic meaning of “soul” is actually the whole person; mind, body, emotions and spirit. As at the creation of Adam, it is the whole person that is called a “living soul” (Gen 2:7). When soul is contrasted with body, as in Rev 18:13, the word particularly emphasizes the mental, emotional and spiritual side of the whole person. It is one thing to control the bodies of men, as occurred in the case of slavery. Slavery commands a person’s body, but cannot control the mind and heart. But Babylon’s power goes beyond slavery. She controls the whole person. So Babylon is even more dangerous than the slave trader, she can trade in the “souls of men.”
           This is why Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28, NIV). The “One” Jesus spoke about is God. In Rev 18 Babylon takes on a God-like role, part of the great End-time deception. We don’t, however, need to submit ourselves to any power but God Himself. Oppressors may try to compel us, but we can refuse them our inner allegiance. We are citizens of another kingdom, the one that wins in the end.

           Lord, my daily life often seems completely out of control. I choose to accept Your control over my life today, no matter how I feel.

¹ John Polkinghorne, The God of Hope and the End of the World (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 104-105.