Paul writes in Romans 6:14, ‘sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.’
What does this mean?
1. Christians are not under law, in the first place, in the sense that they are no longer bound by the ceremonial law of the Old Testament. This law dealt with the Temple and its ritual and, according to the Letter to the Hebrews and other New Testament writings, has been fulfilled in Christ.…
Various kinds of difficulties are alleged:-
Some time ago, Mark Roberts posted a fine series on this subject. This has since been turned into a book published by Crossway. Mark’s work is in the tradition of F.F. Bruce’s The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable and also has affinities with Craig Blomberg’s Historical Reliability of the Gospels.
You can listen to an interview with Mark on this subject here. And here are the links to his very helpful series:-
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Volume 1 |
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Part 1 |
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It occurs to me that theological liberalism reached the height of its influence in the period leading up to 1977. In fact, Alister McGrath makes a comment to this effect in his biography of J.I. Packer, To Know and Serve God, p212. In that year two books were published by SCM Press which seemed finally to demonstrate that liberalism was, in the end, an impoverished, negative, destructive influence that was incapable of serving the purpose of Christ in this or any other generation. …
Chapter 8 of the The Post-Evangelical, by Dave Tomlinson, asks a ‘straightforward’ question: what is a post-evangelical view of the Bible?
First, Tomlinson feels that there is a need to ‘exorcise’ the ghost of inerrancy. He finds it incredible that anyone thinks it even plausible to believe in such a thing.
Contrary to what proponents will tell us (says Tomlinson), the notion of inerrancy is a relatively modern one, arising out of the fundamentalist/modernist conflicts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. …
Next year sees a major Charles Darwin anniversary: 200 years since his birth, and 150 years since the publication of On the Origin of the Species.
Darwin’s religious views were (or became) those of a muddled agnostic. In a recent article in Times Online, Nick Spencer offers Ten Surprising Things Darwin Said About Religious Faith:-
1. “The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic.”…
N.T. Wright’s 2005 book Scripture and the Authority of God is a mixed bag as far as I’m concerned. I was helped by much of what was said, puzzled by what was left unsaid.
John Frame’s review of the book (in its American incarnation, entitled, The Last Word ) helped me to understand what is missing from Wright’s account. It attempting to get ‘beyond the Bible wars’ (from the subtitle of the American edition), Wright (deliberately?) …
How good are you at remembering things? There is a little exercise that I sometimes do with my students. I get people to line themselves up according to how they see themselves on certain characteristics. Do you see yourself as tall or short, as old or young, as out-going or shy, as optimistic or pessimistic? Do you have a good sense of humour? Do you have a good memory? Two things I have discovered without fail: nobody ever admits to having a poor sense of humour.…
Roger Bolton writes on the BBC web site:-
What is probably the oldest known Bible is being digitised, reuniting its scattered parts for the first time since its discovery 160 years ago. It is markedly different from its modern equivalent. What’s left out?
Mk Bolton goes on to tell us which bits of our modern versions of the Bible are missed out of this early manuscript.
…The Codex – and other early manuscripts – do not mention the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and omit key references to the Resurrection, which the Archbishop of Canterbury has said is essential for Christian belief.
Within the world of New Testament scholarship, the idea that the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy, Titus) were written by the Apostle Paul is generally rejected.
New Testament scholar I.H. Marshall has discussed this from an evangelical perspective, suggesting that these letters may contain, in substance, the work of someone writing after Paul’s death, but in a Pauline tradition, without any intention to deceive. “These are the things that I think Paul would have written if he were still alive.” …
