April fools?

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April Fool’s Day sets up interesting challenges for readers of newspapers and other media in trying to tell which stories are true and which are pranks.

Which (if any) of the following would you think are true (or at least seriously intended)?

1. Durham University is offering a course on Harry Potter.  The module, entitled Harry Potter and the Age of Illusion includes a section “Welcome to Hogwarts: the commodification of education”.

2. In Sweden, news website The Local reports that workmen digging a rail tunnel under Stockholm have found Mjoelnir, the hammer used in Norse mythology by the thunder god Thor.…

The Parable of the Three Rings

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In his play Nathan the Wise, Gotthold Lessing (1729-1781) re-tells the ancient parable of the three rings.

The story is set in the 12th century, during the Third Crusade.  It incorporates a discussion between the Muslim Sultan, a Jewish sage, and a Christian Knight Templar.

The Muslim Sultan asks the Jewish Sage, “What theological law do you regard as the best?”

Nathan responds by telling his parable.

A man owned an opal ring of great beauty and, reputedly, of magical powers. …

Do we have ‘free will’?

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C.H. Spurgeon had a portrait of John Gill, Baptist preacher and commentator, in his vestry.  The portrait, says Spurgeon, ‘represents him after an interview with an Arminian gentleman, turning up his nose in a most expressive manner, as if he could not endure even the smell of free-will.’ (Commentating and Commentaries, p9)

Spurgeon himself, as a good Calvinist, had a similar distaste for the notion of ‘free will’.  I must say that I sometimes feel that an appeal to free will is used too glibly by preachers in order to explain away some of the tougher points of Christian doctrine and experience.…

What should we do with Christianity’s exclusive truth claims?

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One of the most frequently-heard objections to the Christian faith is this: ‘You Christians are perfectly entitled to belief whatever you want.  But it’s arrogant and narrow-minded of you to suppose that you have an exclusive claim on the truth.  Stop trying to tell us that you are right and that everyone else is wrong.  In a pluralist society it’s too exclusive a way of talking, and in a democratic society it’s too divisive.’

Tim Keller recently addressed this issue in a talk given at the University of Berkeley:-

He began by acknowledging that there is frequently a problem with religious dogmatism. …

The Kingdom of God in Matthew’s Gospel

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Matthew’s Gospel contains rich teaching on the kingdom of God, with thirty-two sayings peculiar to himself.

Mt 3:2 – John preaches repentance in view of the nearness of the kingdom of heaven.

Mt 4:17 – from the time of John’s arrest onwards, the same message is found on the lips of Jesus.

In Mt 4:23; 9:35 this message is linked with Jesus’ ministry of healing.  In Mt 10:5-8 Jesus commissions the Twelve with the same message and ministry.…

The Kingdom of God in Mark’s Gospel

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Mk 1:15 – Mark introduces the public ministry of Jesus with his proclamation that, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel”.

Mk 4 relates the teaching of Jesus in which the mystery of the kingdom is explained to his disicples, but conveyed to others in dark parables, Mk 4:11.  The kingdom is likened to seed which is sown, shoots up, and grows quietly, Mk 4:26.  Mk 4:30 stresses the contrast between the insignificant beginning and the immense growth of the kingdom of God.…

The Cross as the symbol for Christianity

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At first sight, the selection of an instrument of brutal execution as the symbol of a religion of love seems extremely odd, perverse even.

There were, after all, plenty of other candidates.  The church might have chosen

  • the crib in which the baby Jesus was born (emblem of his incarnation)
  • the carpenter’s bench at which he worked in Nazareth (emblem of the dignity of manual labour)
  • the boat on the lake of Galilee which he used as a pulpit (emblem of his teaching ministry)
  • the towel which he tied round him when he washed and wiped his disciples’ feet (emblem of humble servitude)
  • the tomb in which his body was laid and from which he rose (emblem of his resurrection)
  • the throne which he occupies today at the Father’s right hand (emblem of his supreme sovereignty)
  • the dove, the wind or the fire (emblems of the Holy Spirit)

But the cross is the fitting symbol of the Christian faith. …

‘Total depravity’ – an historical note

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In Evangelical Truth (p87) John Stott highlights a report, commissioned in 1945 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher and written by a group of Anglican Catholics with the aim of examining the causes of the current deadlock in Catholic-Protestant dialogue.

The report is entitled Catholicity: A Study in the Conflict of Christian Traditions in the West, and is available in full here.  The authors accused evangelicals of emphasising the doctrine of grace in such a way as to sacrifice the doctrine of the image of God:-

What was sacrificed…was the Biblical doctrine that man was made ‘in the Image of God’, and that this ‘Image’, though defaced by sin, substantially remains in fallen man, and is effectually restored by Baptism into Christ.
…

The old tolerance and the new

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It would be difficult to find a more universally celebrated virtue in modern Western culture than the virtue of tolerance.

The trouble is (writes D.A. Carson) that a new (but not necessarily improved) definition of tolerance has crept up on us and is now accepted virtually without question.

According to the old definition, tolerance meant something like ‘recognition and respect for the views of others without necessarily sympathising or agreeing with them.’

According to the new definition, tolerance means something like ‘acceptance as equally true and valid the views of others.’…

Let’s change the way we pray

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Intercessions in church and in small groups tend to follow a pretty predictable path: jobs, exams, upcoming events, mission partners and, of course, health needs.

Nothing wrong with praying for such things – nothing at all.  But the prayers of the Bible are rarely about such things.  They are much more frequently about one’s own, and other people’s relationship with God.

Suppose, says David Powlinson, someone asks you how they might pray for you.  And imagine the impact of the following response:-

“I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, and have been inattentive and irritable to those nearest and dearest to me.

…