Inspired in the smallest detail

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Although we do not deny that the Holy Spirit, in his inspiration of Scripture, is often happy to give us approximations and generalisations, where necessary he calls our attention to the smallest detail of grammar.

Consider:

Hebrews 12:27 ‘The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.’

The argument turns on one phrase – ‘once more’.

Galatians 4:9 ‘But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces[a]?…

Five types of gossiper

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From Paul Tautges (summarising part of Resisting Gossip, by Matt Mitchell):

#1: The Spy – In Proverbs 11:13, the Hebrew word translated “gossip” means “‘a peddler (of secrets), a huckster/hawker, deceiver, or spy.’ The English Standard Version uses the phrase ‘whoever goes about slandering’….We might use the word ‘informer’….Spies know how to wheedle a story out of us.”

#2: The Grumbler – Another Hebrew word commonly translated “gossip” refers to a whisperer. The Hebrew dictionaries say that this “is one who is ‘murmuring about another person behind their back rather than openly complaining about their behavior.’”…

May we refer to God as ‘she’?

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Clearly, God is not ‘male’.  So should we not stop referring to God exclusively (or predominantly) as ‘he’?

The argument is that to refer to God with masculine language is to demean the dignity of women, to imply that they are less ‘godlike’ than men, and to perpetuate their subservient positions.

The solutions would be either to refer to God in both masculine and feminine language (in roughly equal proportions), or to use gender-neutral language when referring to the deity. …

‘It’s never going to happen. And when it does…’

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Rod Dreher’s ‘Law Of Merited Impossibility‘ is an epistemological construct governing the paradoxical way overclass opinion makers frame the discourse about the clash between religious liberty and gay civil rights. It is best summed up by the phrase, “It’s a complete absurdity to believe that Christians will suffer a single thing from the expansion of gay rights, and boy, do they deserve what they’re going to get.”’

Or, put more simply: ‘It’s never going to happen. …

A biblical critique of slavery

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It is often supposed that the Bible accepts without question the institution of slavery.  The implication is, of course, that the Bible is wrong, and that we now know better.

But does the Bible itself contain a critique of slavery?  Ian Paul thinks so, and offers the following texts for consideration:

Creation

Genesis 1:26f – God created human beings in his own image.  ‘In contrast to other ANE texts, there is a universality here to the image of God in humanity; it is not confined to one sector or class of humanity…This foundational text…offers a critique of any system which seeks to divide different groups of humanity into fundamentally distinct categories.’…

How important is the gospel?

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It may be that evangelicals suffer from (or think they suffer from) ‘gospel fatigue’.  When everything is claimed to be ‘gospel-centred’ and ‘gospel-driven’, there is a danger of thinking (if not actually saying), “Oh, not again!  Give us a break!!”  Indeed, I have heard people urge that Christian ministry must move beyond the gospel and deal more with its practical outworkings.

Sam Storms invites us to listen to Scripture.  What follows is based on this article.…

Does God hate the wicked?

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You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
the arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.

(Psalm 5:5)

The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.

(Psalm 11:5)

Writing in Hard Sayings of the Bible, Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser comments:

‘Our problem with any description of God’s displeasure with sin, unrighteousness or wickedness is that we define all anger as Aristotle defined it: “the desire for retaliation.”…

Introduction to the Wisdom books

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Here are the notes of a week-day evening session I was invited to do at my home church (Holy Trinity, Norwich).

We’re including under this heading: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon

Warm-up

The books of the Old Testament, set to a possibly recognisable tune!!

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth,
Samuel, Samuel, Kings, Kings and Chronicles,
Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.

Job, Psalms and Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.…

Acts 9:32-43 – “Tabitha, get up!” (sermon notes)

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Text: Acts 9:32-43

How do you like your Christianity?  Spectacular, or ordinary?

1. Spectacular – the dead raised

The gospel has been moving out in ever increasing circles.

Peter and John have been sent from Jerusalem to Samaria, 8:14ff.  Now Peter is moving to the outer regions of Judea.  Visiting the ‘saints’ in Lydda.

First, the healing of Eeneas.

Then 10 miles away, in Joppa, Tabitha/Dorcas has died.

They send for Peter – what did they expect him to do? …

What is the Orthodox Faith?

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If, like me, you’ve heard of the ‘Eastern Orthodox Church’ but wanted to know a bit more about it, then I offer the following as a public service.

1. Eastern Orthodoxy is nearly one thousand years old

Until 1054 there was just one church and no denominations.  In that year of the Great Schism, various tensions reached breaking point and the church split into the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church.

2. There were various reasons for the split

These are complex, and have to do with language (Eastern churches used Greek and Roman churches used Latin), doctrine (the filioque clause of the Nicene Creed was affirmed by the Catholic church but rejected by the Eastern church), liturgy (the Western churches used unleavened bread in the Eucharist, while the Eastern churches did not), and ecclesiastical authority.…