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We’re all compatibilists at the cross

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‘Compatibilism’, according to D.A. Carson, involves the acceptance that both the following propositions are taught in Scripture:-

  1. God is absolutely sovereign, but his sovereignty never functions in Scripture to reduce human responsibility.
  2. Human beings are responsible creatures—that is, they choose, they believe, they disobey, they respond, and there is moral significance in their choices; but human responsibility never functions in Scripture to diminish God’s sovereignty or to make God absolutely contingent.

The temptation to emphasise one of these at the expense of the other is great, but must be resisted if we are to remain faithful to the Bible’s witness.…

In the mood

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John Carrick, in his recent book The Imperative of Preaching, urges the preacher to consider the various grammatical moods that we find in Scripture, and to reflect these faithfully in his own preaching.

There is, for example, the indicative mood.  This is the mood of declaration, or assertion.  The New Testament is full of gospel indicatives, of declarations of what God has done.  The preacher should sieze these, explain them, and announce them.

Then there is the exclamative mood. …

Ephesians 1:10 – ‘The fullness of the times’

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In the New International Version (1984 ed.) Eph 1:9f reads:-

‘[God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment – to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.’

There are several issues with this translation.  Firstly, ‘to be put into effect’ rather obscures the important word οἰκονομίαν (economy, administration) in the original. …

Leviticus 19:18 “Love your neighbour as yourself”

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Baroness Thatcher was a ‘devout Christian’, according to Dr Eliza Filby, author of God and Mrs Thatcher.  She regularly attended the parish church at Chequers, regarded the life of Jesus as exemplary, and drew on the Bible to support her political values.

I will not call into question the sincerity of Baroness Thatcher’s faith.  But I will, however, comment on one rather glaring (mis)understanding of the teaching of Scripture.

As reported in Christianity magazine (June 2013), Filby says says that in the early 1980s the text “Love thy neighbour” was often appealed to in support of the welfare state. …

The Gospels and eyewitness testimony – the use of names

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What follows is based on this lecture by Dr Peter J. Williams.

Recent studies into the use of Jewish names inside and outside the canonical Gospels have provided remarkable evidence that these accounts were based on eyewitness testimony.

Tradition and modern scholarship agree that most or all of the Gospels/Acts were written outside Palestine. So how familiar were they with the agriculture, architecture, botany, culture, economics, geography, language, law, personal names, politics, religion, social stratification, topography, and weather of the land they are talking about?…

Paul the villain

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Preaching recently in Curaçao, Diocese of Venezuela, The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori demonstrated just how far she has travelled from anything resembling a biblical and apostolic faith.

Pushing the familiar agenda of inclusion and diversity (changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships remind us that different is not the same as wrong), she informs her hearers of a particular blind spot that Paul had in this regard.  Schori refers to the incident involving a slave girl, recorded in Acts 16. …

Hume and the argument from design

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David Hume (1711-76) opposed the argument on the following grounds (a brief response is given in italics):-

1. It begs the question: ‘Who designed the Designer?’

This is a category error.  It is to confuse the Creator with his creation.  It is to assume naturalism, which for no good reason rules out of court any possibility of an uncreated, non-material Creator

2. It does not give us any reason to suppose that a Designer, if the existence of such could be demonstrated, is the God of the Bible. …

The historical reliability of the Gospels

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Of course, for some kinds of literature, historical reliability is irrelevant.  Who cares about the factuality of a fairy story, a piece of science fiction, or even an anecdote about some famous person?  But when we read other kinds of material, including newspaper reports, biographies, and works of history, we have a right to ask, “Did this really happen?”

We certainly ought to ask this question of the four Gospels.  For the Christian faith is not, in the first instance, a call to a certain way of life. …

Grayling and the fine-tuning argument

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Philosopher A.C. Grayling has appeared on radio shows on both sides of the Atlantic recently, in order to promote his latest book The God Argument.

I happen to be a regular listener (via the podcasts) of both shows.

The American show is ‘Point of Enquiry’.  This is associated with The Centre for Enquiry, which describes itself as ‘a think-tank advancing reason, science and secular values in public affairs and at the grass roots’.  Grayling was interviewed Chris Mooney. …

Remedies against Satan’s devices

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William Spurstowe (1605-1666), along with other Puritan writers, catalogued many of Satan’s devices, and indicated the remedies that the Christian should take:-

Device 1 – Satan leads us from lesser sins to greater.

Remedy – ‘Do not give the devil a foothold’ (Eph 4:27).  If you let the serpent’s head into the house, the whole body will soon follow.  Do not trivialise ‘lesser’ sins: ‘the least sin is contrary to the law of God, the nature of God, the being of God, and the glory of God’ (Brooks).…