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Meyer vs. Fox – ‘Signature in the Cell’

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A recent edition of Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ show featured a discussion between Stephen Meyer, Director of the Centre for Science and Culture at the Discovery Institute in Seattle and a proponent of Intelligent Design, and Keith Fox, Professor of Biochemistry at Southampton University and Chair of Christians in Science and a disbeliever in Intelligent Design.

It was a rather frustrating experience to listen to this discussion.  The main problem was Stephen Meyer.  Although not overtly aggressive, he seemed only interested in what he himself had to say. …

Imagining the Kingdom

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‘Imagining the Kingdom: Mission and Theology in Early Christianity’: This is the title of Tom Wright’s inaugural lecture at St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews 26th October 2011.

Here is the full text of that lecture.

It is something of a tour de force, and I’m going to attempt to sketch out the main steps of the first part of Wright’s argument.

The four Gospels are remarkable documents, and we should not allow their familiarity, or the existence of purported rivals (such as the ‘Gospel of Thomas’ or the hypothetical ‘Q’) to blind us to ‘their remarkable blend of page-turning narrative, vivid portraiture (especially of their central figure), historical verisimilitude and sophisticated theology.’…

1966 And All That

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Chris Green, Vice Principal of Oak Hill Theological College, has noted that among the 35 contributors to John Stott: a portrait by his friends, there is none from ‘the other side’ of the 1966 debate with Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones. ‘Perhaps,’ Green suggests, ‘some issues are still too raw.’

It seems extraordinary that such a situation should pertain nearly half a century after the event. I would like to revisit the momentous events of that 1996 debate and its consequences.…

2 Pet 3 – The Day of the Lord – sermon notes

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“If only we’d known how that holiday would turn out,” muttered the Jones family as they returned wet and muddy from a week of camping in North Wales.

“If only we’d known how that marriage would turn out,” reflected Jenny and Brian as they signed their divorce papers.

“If only we’d known how that evening would turn out,” lamented the family of a young man who was shot in the back after asking some bar customers to stop smoking.…

The Bible and women’s ministry

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The thoughts that follow are based on an address given by J.I. Packer in 1988.  It is remarkable how rapidly thought and practice in the Christian church have moved on since then (Packer was focussing on women as presbyters; now the urgent discussions are about women as bishops).  But that might make his discussion more, rather than less, relevant.

It is often assumed that the Bible is hostile to women.  Arriving at a correct view of the biblical view of the role of women is complicated for both secular and churchly reasons.…

Stephen Law: anything but God

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Last Monday, Christian apologist William Lane Craig debated atheist philosopher Stephen Law on the question ‘Does God Exist?’

Craig presented three arguments in favour of God’s existence:-

1.  A version of the cosmological argument: everything that begins to exist must have a cause for its existence; the cosmos had a beginning; therefore it must have a cause beyond itself, and this we may call a Creator).

2.  A version of the moral argument: objective moral facts exist; these are best explained by the existence of a supreme moral being.…

Acts 5:17ff -Is it worth it? – sermon notes

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Imagine what it must have been like to have been a Christian in the days of the apostles!

It would have been a great, wouldn’t it? To experience the Holy Spirit coming with Pentecostal power. To hear the apostles preach and to witness their miracles. To see 3,000 people turn to Christ in a single day. They were heady days indeed, as the Christian message spread like wildfire, beginning in Jerusalem, and then Judea and Samaria, and onwards to the ends of the earth.…

Large numbers in the Old Testament

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To the reader who is inclined to take Old Testament history seriously, the presence of large numbers – particularly in military accounts – presents a significant problem.

What are we to make of

  • the standing army of Israel of over half a million (Num 1:46; 2:32; 26:51)?
  • the 27,000 Aramean soldiers who were killed by a collapsing wall (1 Kings 20:29f)?
  • the different accounts given of David’s census in 2 Sam 24 and 1 Chr 21?
…

Speak clearly, preacher

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Clarity of speech is not not just about enuciating your words carefully, although some preachers would benefit from a visit to a voice coach, or even a Speech and Language Therapist.  Nor is it the same as clarity of writing, although many speakers seem to think that their task is to write an essay and then read it out in public.

Don Sunukjian has written a helpful article on ‘Skills of Oral Clarity’, in which he spells out some rules that will help the preacher to keep the attention and interest of his hearers.…

The Gospel miracles

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For many people, the miracle-stories of the Gospels present the chief difficulty in the way of accepting those writings as historically reliable.

Since these miracle-stories are related by authors who can be shown on other grounds to be trustworthy, then they are worthy at least of serious attention by historians.

The Gospels do not ask us to belief in ridiculous miracles; they are precisely the kinds of work that might be expected from such a person as Jesus is represented to be.…