‘The Sin of Certainty’ – 1

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Peter Enns stands in a rather long line of scholars, teachers and leaders (including James Barr, Dave Tomlinson, Brian Maclaren, Robert M. Price, Bart Ehrman, and Steve Chalke) who have, to a lesser or greater extent, turned their backs on the evangelical faith which once nurtured them.  In some cases (Ehrman) it has finished up in agnosticism.  In others (Price) in doubting whether the Jesus of the Bible even existed.  In still others (Tomlinson, Maclaren, and Chalke) there remains a clear profession of Christian faith, while important theological and moral tenets have undergone drastic revision.  …

Make ’em laugh?

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Peter Mead has a short post on pulpit humour.  What follows is based on his thoughts.

Some congregations frown on all attempt by preacher to make them laugh.  For others, it would seem that laughter is next to godliness.  Most of us will take the middle line, avoiding the opposite extremes of laughing at nothing, and laughing at everything.  But even then we need to think carefully about its uses and abuses for the preacher.

  1. Be authentic.  
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Why did Christ become a human being?

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Grudem (Systematic Theology, p541f) outlines a number of reasons.  What follows is based on his discussion.

  1. To be our representative.  Jesus obeyed where Adam had failed to obey.  This is seen in the parallels between the time of testing in the garden, Gen 2:15-3:7, and Jesus’ time of temptation in the wilderness.  It is seen also in Paul’s comparison of Adam and Christ in Rom 5:18f; cf. 1 Cor 15:45,47.
  2. To be our substitute.  
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Docetism in the Qur’an

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Docetism – the belief that Christ did not assume a truly human body at his incarnation – was around in the days of the later New Testament writings, as the epistles of John testify.

It was clearly as rather stubborn heresy, for it is also found within the pages of the Qur’an (7th century).  According to Sura 4:157-158.

And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.”
…

Ten ways in which we subtly undermine the authority of Scripture

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The authority of Scripture can be forthrightly denied; “I don’t believe that!”  But, amongst Christians who claim to believe in biblical authority (including scholars, preachers and pastors) there can be more subtle types of denial.

So writes D.A. Carson in this recent piece in Themelios.  What follows is a precis.

1. Appeal to selective evidence

This is clearly at work in advocates of the ‘prosperity gospel’, who cherry-pick texts that appear to support their message, while ignoring those which speak of cross-carrying and suffering with Christ.  …

1 Cor 2:6-16 The wisdom of the Spirit – sermon notes

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Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

Let’s begin by celebrating some of the great achievements of the human race….

But there is one path of enquiry that is shut to us; one horizon beyond which we are unable to see…

The world, through its own unaided wisdom, cannot, does not, and never will, know God, 1 Cor 1:21.

But there is a wisdom that comes from God, a wisdom of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16.

It is invisible, inaudible, unimaginable, 1 Cor 2:9.…

Christ had a human mind

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Apollinarianism

Whereas the Christian doctrine of the incarnation first came under threat from docetism, which denied that Christ had a real human body, Apollinarianism soon followed, with its denial that that he had a real human psychology.

Apollinaris was, by all accounts, a deeply spiritual man whose theology was in many respects perfectly orthodox.  But he was condemned as a heretic by the Council of Constantinople in 381.  He taught that although Christ took on a human body, he did not take on a human mind.  …

Christ had a human body

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The term ‘docetism’ (from the Greek dokeo, meaning ‘to seem’) covers a range of speculations concerning the person of Christ.  The common feature of the Docetists was an insistence that God could not become man.

At the time of the early church, its main representatives were Cerinthus, Ebion, Marcion and Valentinus.  Their teachings were examined and rebutted by men such as Irenaeus (Against Heresies) and Tertullian (On the Flesh of Christ; Against Marcion).…

Mt 26:1-16 – Judas’ story and Mary’s story – sermon notes

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Text: Matthew 26:1-16

[Note: these are notes of a sermon preached in two parts, separated by a time of reflection and confession.  As you will see, each half was delivered using a 1st-person perspective.]

Judas’ Story

I heard it with my very ears: “In two days’ time, I’m going to be handed over to be crucified.”

A criminal’s death.  The cruelest and most degrading form of death.

He’d said such things before, of course:  ‘[that] he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.’…