Author Archives: admin

What is sin?

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I find that, in evangelical circles, sin is often mentioned, but rarely defined.

We are willing to ‘acknowledge that we are sinners’, and the affirm that ‘Jesus died for our sins’, but want quickly to move on to something that feels more positive, more upbeat.  Is it that we don’t want to offend (ourselves or others)?  Or perhaps that we don’t really feel the ‘exceeding sinfulness of sin’?

Randall Pelton notes a common definition of ‘sin’:

Sin is any lack of conformity to the character of God, whether by act, disposition, or state.…

Is the Bible at odds with itself?

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Distinguished biblical scholar Walter Brueggeman certainly thinks so.

On the question of human sexuality (and homosexual practice in particular) he finds ‘texts of rigor’ such as Leviticus 18:22, 20:13 and Deuteronomy 23:1 to be incompatible with ‘texts of welcome’ such as Isaiah 56, Matthew 11:28–30, Galatians 3:28 and Acts 10.

One of the problems with Brueggemann’s position, as Ian Paul has pointed out, is that the supposed contradictions are not only between disparate parts of Scripture and different authors. …

Psalm 46:10 – ‘Be still and know that I am God’

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NET: “Stop your striving and recognize that I am God!”

NIV: ‘Be still and know that I am God’.

The text misunderstood

In popular piety and Christian song, this injunction is often (mis)understood to be a call to quiet meditation.

The following well-known worship song (whose author and composer are unknown) is based on Psa 46:10, and is described here as a ‘meditative, chant-style hymn’:

Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God,
Be still and know that I am God.…

Abortion: what does the Bible teach?

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Richard Hays points out that the Bible contains no texts about abortion.  Those texts which are claimed to be pertinent to the question (Ex 20:13; Deut 5:17; Ex 21:22-25; Psa 139:13-16; Lk 1:44; Gal 5:20 and Mt 19:14) are more or less irrelevant.

However, a broader survey on the biblical material relating to pregnancy and childbearing would yield the following conclusion:

‘Children are a great blessing from God, and childlessness a terrible affliction. Children are seen as a guarantee of posterity and as a source of economic blessing and security.’

…

How Scripture frames the discussion of homosexuality

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Richard Hays, in his discussion of homosexuality, urges that no discussion of the biblical material can rest content with the few texts which refer directly to it.

We must consider, he says, how Scripture frames the discussion more broadly.  At least the following factors should be taken into account:

(A) GOD’S CREATIVE INTENTION FOR HUMAN SEXUALITY From Genesis 1 onward, Scripture affirms repeatedly that God has made man and woman for one another and that our sexual desires rightly find fulfillment within heterosexual marriage.

…

Did Paul write the Pastorals (and does it matter)?

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Dr Jennifer Bashaw teaches New Testament, Biblical Interpretation, Ministry, and Homiletics at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina.

Dr Bashaw has contributed a piece to Pete Enns’ blog entitled, ‘Did Paul Write the Pastoral Letters? Well, It’s Complicated…’

I think the piece is unfortunate and misleading in a number of ways.

Dr Bashaw begins:

Evangelical (read: fundamentalist) Christians have all sorts of litmus tests for determining if a person is Bible-believing enough for them.…

The dynamics of preacher-listener connection

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Some preachers connect with their hearers.  Others don’t.

What’s the difference?

Peter Mead has highlighted five aspects of preacher-hearer connection:

  1. The personal life of the preacher.  Does the preacher have authenticity and integrity?
  2. The pastoral ministry of the preacher.  Does the preacher know, care for, and pray for his hearers?
  3. The content of the message.  Does it aim to engage the listener at the heart level?  Does it have a contemporary focus and a sense of purpose?
…

Is Jesus the only way?

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Writing in the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, Brett Kunkle writes:

That Jesus is the only way to God may be the most controversial claim of Christianity, so we had better have good reason for making it. I think we do.

What does Jesus say? We don’t want to claim something about Jesus that he wouldn’t claim of himself. If the Gospels are historically reliable (we have overwhelming evidence they are), then we have Jesus’s own words and by examining them we discover that he claims to be the only way to God.…

Preachers and their preaching – Henry Ward Beecher

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Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was one of the most popular and influential preachers of his day.

He was son of Lyman Beecher, popularizer of the ‘New School’ theology which sought to soften the Calvinism of New England.  Henry went still further in this rebellion, emphasising an emotional and ethical faith.

Duduit notes:

‘Where the father stressed God’s power and justice, the son came to emphasize God’s love and mercy.’

Beecher:

‘advocated women’s rights, opposed slavery, championed social reform, defended evotion, supported higher biblical criticism, and popularized romantic Christianity.’

…

Charles Simeon: ‘no friend to systematizers in theology’

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In the preface to his multi-volume collecton of sermon ‘skeletons’, Charles Simeon declares himself to be ‘no friend to systematizers in theology’.  And he expends a considerable amount of energy developing and enforcing this thought.

By theological systems, he means, principally, Calvinism and Arminianism.  He declares that, unlike the proponents of such systems,

‘he takes his religion from the Bible; and endeavours, as much as possible, to speak as that speaks.’

If he finds that two or more biblical texts appear to contradict one another, he endeavours to be faithful to the true sense of each of them, not favouring one over the other, as ‘systematizers’ tend to do.…