This is one of the questions posed by John Stott in his book Christ the Controversialist.
What should be the attitude of the followers of Jesus towards those who do not follow him? Do we despise them, fear them, shun them, tolerate them, condemn them, or seek to serve them? What is the responsibility of the church to the world? Is our attitude Christian or Pharisaic? See Lk 15:1f.
The Pharisees, let it be said, were keen to proselytise, Mt 23:15. …
I suppose that in apologetics and evangelism it is possible to place too much stress on ‘beginning where people are’, and in addressing felt needs. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to ignore the questions and concerns that are expressed by those to whom we would commend Christ.
With that thought in mind, it is interesting to look at the results of a small survey of people without any religious affiliation. The survey was carried out as part of Coventry Diocese’s ‘Beyond the Fringe’ research project back in 2003.…
According to Jeffery, Ovey & Sach, the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement is sometimes objected to on cultural grounds. Here’s a summary:-
Critics suggest, for example, that it is heavily conditioned by a Roman view of criminal law, and by the pre-occupation in the Western world with guilt-and-punishment ideas about justice.
Response: the fact that penal substitution has been believed and taught over the past two thousand years in many different social and political contexts cast considerable doubt on this objection.…
John Flavel’s work entitled The Fountain of Life (subtitled, ‘Presenting Christ in his Essential and Mediatorial Glory’) is an absolute treasure. The first chapter is based on 1 Corinthians 2:2 (‘I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified’). What follows is a summary.
I resolved – this is his settled, considered, conviction, reached after due consideration of the pros and cons, arguments and counter-arguments.
To know nothing – he does not mean that he despised all other knowledge, but only so far as it stood in opposition to the knowledge of Jesus Christ. …
A significant portion of Jeffrey, Ovey & Sach’s notable work, Pierced for our Transgressions, deals with various objections to the doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement. Read the book itself to get the full discussion. But here, as a taster, is a summary of how Jeffrey et al respond to those objections that cluster around the general complaint that penal substitution is ‘unbiblical’:-
Response: true, and no proponent of the doctrine ever said that it was.…
A few choice quotes from that wonderful collection, A Puritan Golden Treasury:-
Pride loves to climb up, not as Zacchaeus to see Christ, but to be seen. (William Gurnall)
A proud faith is as much a contradiction as a humble devil. (Stephen Charnock)
I may say of pride, many sins have done wickedly, but thou surmountest them all; for the wrathful man, the prodigal man, the lascivious man, the surfeiting man, the slothful man, is rather an enemy to himself than to God; the envious man, the covetous man, the deceitful man, the ungrateful man, is rather an enemy to men than to God, but the proud man sets himself against God (because he does against His laws), he maketh himself equal with God (because he does all without God and craves no help of Him); he exalteth himself above God (because he will have his own will).…
This chapter is one of the most celebrated passages in the whole Bible.
Basic outline:-
Physically attacked, socially isolated, emotionally abused, the first readers of this letter were Jewish Christian forced by persecution to flee from Jerusalem to the four corners of Asia Minor. But then, following the great fire at Rome in AD 64, they were faced with yet more persecution under the cruel tyranny of the emperor Nero. Rome was determined to rid its empire of those who refused to bow to Caesar – to eliminate from the face of the earth the ‘Christ-ones’, the Christians. …
We live in a world, writes John Stott, that is desperate for effective leadership. At the global level, there are massive nuclear arsenals, widespread violations of human rights, frightening environmental and energy crises, and North-Sough economic inequality. Morally, we are aware of forces at work that are undermining the stability of marriage and the family, challenging sexual mores and roles, and providing what is virtually abortion on demand. Spiritually, there is the spread of materialism and the corresponding loss of any transcendent reality.…
The purpose of this Epistle. The need for reassurance. ‘We know’, 1 Jn 5:13. Three tests: head (believing the truth), 1 Jn 2:22; hands (obeying God’s commands), 1 Jn 2:2; heart (living a life of love); 1 Jn 4:20. These depend on each other, 1 Jn 3:23.
In this passage, tells us what should motivate our love for each other, vv7-11.
God is love.…
