Gender, language, and interpretation

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Women who interpret the Bible find three challenges regarding language and gender.

First, there is the problem of the generic use of words such as ‘man’, ‘mankind’, ‘he’, ‘him’, and so on.  It is argued that the continued use of such vocabulary, in contexts in which both men and women are in view, obscures the participation of women in the stories which the text relates.  Some modern translations of the Bible strive to minimise this problem by using expressions such as ‘brothers and sisters’, ‘person’, ‘human being’, ‘humankind’, where both men and women are being referred to, or where the gender is not specified.…

Discussion starters, Revelation 2-3

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I’m sure you won’t want to plough through all these questions! But I hope they stimulate you to think of the kinds of things it might be helpful for your group to discuss.

1. Looking at the passage as a whole

Each of the seven letters follows a rough pattern. Can you spot the six or so elements that recur in most of the letters?

Can you see any indications within the passage that these letters were intended to be read and taken to heart by all churches, and not just by those to whom they were originally addressed?…

The child in Jesus’ teaching

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In Matthew’s Gospel, the figure of a child features prominently in the teaching of Jesus.  It:-

  1. expresses a doctrine of revelation and election. The Father and the Son are made known to the least likely, to “babes” (nēpioi, Mt 11:25–26); those, that is, who recognize their weakness and utter dependence upon divine grace and accept the invitation of Jesus as the Wisdom* of God (Mt 11:27–29).
  2. expresses a requirement of membership in the kingdom of God: radical humility (Mt 18:1–4; cf.
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Union with Christ

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A. Its nature

  1. A covenantal relationship, analogous to marriage.  For OT background, see Isa 54:5-8; Jer 3:14; 31:32; Hos 2:7,16.  In the NT Eph 5:31-32
  2. Facilitated through the incarnation, Jn 1:14. See also Ro 8:3; 2Co 5:21; Gal 4:4; Php 2:7-8; 1Ti 3:16; Heb 2:14-18
  3. Entered through faith, Jn 3:16. See also Jn 1:12; 2:11; 7:38; Ac 16:31; Ro 3:22; 8:1; 10:9-10; 2Co 5:17; Gal 2:16
  4. Enriched through the sacraments: Baptism, Ro 6:3-5; Gal 3:27.
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Why do we see so few miracles today?

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Miracles: the Bible seems full of them, and yet we see so few today.  How do we account for this?

That question was recently put to John Piper, and here’s the substance of his reply.

1. There were fewer miracles in the Bible than we probably think

See Psalm 77:11 ‘I will remember the works of the Lord. Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago!’

Even in OT times God’s people saw miracles as predominating in days past – especially the days of Moses and Elijah. …

The Spirit and Creation

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Atheism must regard the existence of the cosmos as inexplicable.  Pantheism (which undergirds Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism) robs God of his transcendence, by subsuming the divine within the universe  (‘all is one and all is God’).  Paganism believes that the divine is immanent in nature, and that spells, incantations and rituals enable the individual to control people’s destiny.  Gnosticism posits a dualism between spirit and matter, and has as its aim the ascending, through illumination and secret knowledge, up to God. …

Where is God?

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So Richard Dawkins is out on a lecture tour, promoting his new book, Science in the Soul.  Rory Shiner writes about attending the Dawkins event in Perth, Australia.

Dawkins treated his audience to a passage from the book, in which he substitutes belief in God for belief in Thor, thus demonstrating (to his own satisfaction) the absurdity of the claims of theologians and believers.

Of course, humankind has had its gods for millennia: Thor, Zeus, Baal, Marduk, Ra, Mars, Jupiter, and so on. …

Christ, or the Bible?

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Let’s be clear: we worship Christ, and not the Bible.  But to slide from that position to one which says that ‘infallibility lies with Christ, and not the Bible’, or, ‘the word of God is to be identified with Christ, and not the Bible’, is to get stuck in a quagmire of confusion.  It is to set aside the testimony of Christ himself to the Bible, and also to place in serious jeopardy the Bible’s witness to Christ.…

Healing miracles

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I have recently returned, after a period of absence, to consider the question of miracles in general, and of divine healing in particular.

Looking again at the work of Rex Gardner (a consultant gynaecologist and an ordained minister), I found myself pretty much in agreement with his conclusions:-

  1. Intellectual honesty demands that (after discounting cases with dubious diagnoses, those where psychosomatic considerations are important, and others where the cure might be attributable to adjuvant medical therapy or where spontaneous remission might be the explanation) there remain some cures for which medicine has no explanation.
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What evangelism is not

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Evangelism is not:-

Personal testimony. Telling people what God has done for you may well have a place in evangelism.  But we are not truly evangelistic until we point away from ourselves to Jesus Christ, what he has done to save us, and how we can receive that salvation.

Social action.  Caring for the poor, defending the weak, and working for justice are all close to the heart of God.  By such means we commend the gospel, and demonstrate its outworking in every part of our lives and our world. …