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Matthew 5:21f – “You have heard it said…but I say to you”

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Matthew 5:21f “You have heard that it was said…But I say to you…”

Did Jesus reject the moral teaching of the Old Testament?

William Barclay thinks that

‘Jesus quotes the Law, only to contradict it, and to substitute a teaching of his own. He claimed the right to point out the inadequacies of the most sacred writings in the world, and to correct them out of his own wisdom.’

More generally, Richard Rohr writes this:

‘It is rather clear in Jesus’ usage that not all scriptures are created equal.

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Matthew 2:8f – Can God speak through astrology?

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Matthew 2:9 After listening to the king they left, and once again the star they saw when it rose led them until it stopped above the place where the child was. 2:10 When they saw the star they shouted joyfully.

‘”Magi” (not “wise men”-KJV) were pagan astrologers whose divinatory skills were widely respected in the Greco-Roman world; astrology had become popular through the “science” of the East, and everyone agreed that the best astrologers lived in the East.…

Matthew 2:1 – ‘Magi from the east’

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Matthew 2:1f After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, in the time of King Herod, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem saying, “Where is the one who is born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

Separating tradition from (biblical) text

Tradition says that the magi were three in number and that they were kings, but this is not indicated in the text. …

Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 – “The virgin will conceive”

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Isaiah 7:14 ‘Look, this young woman is about to conceive and will give birth to a son. You, young woman, will name him Immanuel.’

Matthew 1:22 This all happened so that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: 1:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will call him Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.”

The passage in Isaiah, and its quotation by Matthew, invite a raft of questions:

  • What is the meaning of ‘almah’ (‘virgin’?
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Inclusive gospel?

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Along with ‘diversity’, ‘inclusion’ is one of the great buzz-words of our time.  Everyone shouts ‘Hurrah!’ for inclusion, and ‘Boo!’ for exclusion.

It’s time to ask a few questions, and maybe even find a better bandwagon to jump onto.

What follows is based on Edward Dowler’s Inclusive Gospel? Grove Books, 2015

To be sure the biblical doctrine of adoption (Eph 1:5f) speaks powerfully of our inclusion by God in Christ.  And Paul elsewhere teaches that believers are included into Christ himself (1 Cor 12:1).…

Discussion starters, Acts 8:26-40

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(a) What had Philip been doing before this episode (see Acts 8:5-8)? Why might God have led him away from all of this, in order to evangelise this one man? Do you think that God sometimes takes us away from one thing (that seemed to be working very nicely, thankyou very much) and sends us to another (that doesn’t look so promising)?

(b) We sometimes talk about ‘beginning where people are’. The Ethiopian’s starting point was a passage of Scripture (Isaiah 53).…

Male headship before the Fall

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Egalitarian writers often claim that male headship did not come about until after the Fall, and is, accordingly, a consequence of the Fall.

This view goes back at least as far as Chrysostom, who represents God as addressing the woman thus:

‘In the beginning I created you equal in esteem to your husband, and my intention was that in everything you would share with him as an equal, and as I entrusted control of everything to your husband, so did I to you; but you abused your equality of status.

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‘Renew them in our day’ – prospects for revival

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Notes of the second of two talks given in July, 2018.

The need for discernment

If, a generation ago, you asked anybody for their favourite verse from the Bible, they would probably quote John 3:16.  Today, people are more likely to cite the words of Christ, when he said, “judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt 7:1).  It suggests to them that we should accept all beliefs, all behaviours, all professions of faith without question. …

‘Lord, I have heard of your fame’ – stories of revival

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Notes of the first of two talks given in July 2018.  These were based on the earlier and more detailed work written up on this site.

Habakkuk 3:2 – ‘Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.’

‘From the fall of man to our day, the work of redemption has mainly been carried on by remarkable communications of the Spirit of God. …