Heb 2:9 – ‘We see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by God’s grace he would experience death on behalf of everyone.’
Summary
An alternative reading has ‘apart from God’ (χωρὶς θεοῦ), instead of ‘by God’s grace’ (χάριτι θεοῦ). The evidence for this alternative reading is weak.
In detail
Hagner thinks that the evidence for the accepted reading is ‘overwhelming’. …
Phil 2:5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had,
2:6 who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
2:7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
This text is relevant to discussions about the Eternal Submission of the Son.
The word ‘regard’ (ἡγησατο) potentially sheds light on the thought processes of the Son in eternity past. …
I draw on an article by Ian Paul, entitled:
Can we describe God as ‘she’? Does it matter?
A recent Communion Service at Hereford Cathedral began with an Introit which re-writes Psalm 23 as follows:
…The Lord is my Shepherd, I have all I need, She makes me lie down in green meadows, Beside the still waters, She will lead.
She restores my soul, She rights my wrongs, She leads me in a path of good things, And fills my heart with songs.
It would be amusing, if it were not so distressing, to note that evangelicals are by no means exempt from the danger of misrepresentating one another.
One such instance involves Andrew Bartlett, author of Men and Women in Christ: Fresh Light From Biblical Texts, and Sharon James, in her review of that book.
…‘According to James: “Throughout his book, Bartlett uses ‘patriarchy’ … as a smear word”. But I don’t use the term “patriarchy” at all.
A precis of chapter 9.
This chapter deals with ‘the myth of redemptive violence’.
‘Sometimes love leaves us with no other choice but to let go of a loved one and allow them to suffer the consequences of their own self-destructive decisions.’
Does God resort to violence when dealing with sin?
…‘We humans rely on brute force to stop evil only because we lack the character and wisdom to see alternative ways of arriving at peace (Luke 19:42).
[Notes of a talk given at the Service of Thanksgiving for God’s goodness during the recent illness and ongoing recovery of Sarah Mason. Holy Trinity Norwich, at 2pm on Saturday 8th July 2023]
‘Consider it pure joy’ – Really?
James 1:2f – ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.’
Or as a well-known saying puts it:
‘God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.’…
Richard Baxter wrote about contemplation in A Christian Directory and The Saints’ Everlasting Rest.
Following Baxter distinguishes between the contemplative life and the active life:
…‘Every active christian is bound to somewhat of contemplation; and all contemplative persons are bound to obedience to God, and to so much of action as may answer their abilities and opportunities. But yet some are much more called to the one, and some to the other; and we denominate from that which is most eminent and the chief.
If George Whitefield was the great evangelist of the Great Awakening in its North American phase, then Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758) was the great thinker. But he was by no means a detached analyst. This is clear from his account- especially in his Personal Narrative – of his own spiritual experience.
Like the psalmists of old, Edwards delighted in God’s handiwork in creation:
…‘I often used to sit and view the moon, for a long time; and so in the daytime, spent much time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the sweet glory of God in these things: in the meantime, singing forth with a low voice, my contemplations of the Creator and Redeemer.
A short, repeated, prayer which takes the form of ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner’, or some reduced version of this (such as ‘Lord Jesus have mercy on me’).
It is based on the plea of the two blind men in Mt 20:30–31 and the tax collector’s prayer in Lk 18:13.
Its usage by the Eastern branch of the church dates back to the 4th or 5th century.
It has also been used in Roman Catholic devotion (often in the form of ‘Lord, make haste to help me.…
Various teachers have identified a lack of attention to communion with God in current evangelicalism. Richard Lovelace refers to a
‘sanctification gap among Evangelicals, a peculiar conspiracy somehow to mislay the Protestant tradition of spiritual growth and concentrate on frantic witnessing activity, sermons on John 3:16 and theological arguments over eschatological subtleties.’ (Dynamics of Spiritual Life, p232)
J.I. Packer agrees:
…‘When, however, experiential aspects of life in the Spirit come up for treatment (as distinct from convictional, volitional, and disciplinary aspects), it is a different story.
