To the reader who is inclined to take Old Testament history seriously, the presence of large numbers – particularly in military accounts – presents a significant problem.
What are we to make of
Clarity of speech is not not just about enuciating your words carefully, although some preachers would benefit from a visit to a voice coach, or even a Speech and Language Therapist. Nor is it the same as clarity of writing, although many speakers seem to think that their task is to write an essay and then read it out in public.
Don Sunukjian has written a helpful article on ‘Skills of Oral Clarity’, in which he spells out some rules that will help the preacher to keep the attention and interest of his hearers.…
For many people, the miracle-stories of the Gospels present the chief difficulty in the way of accepting those writings as historically reliable.
Since these miracle-stories are related by authors who can be shown on other grounds to be trustworthy, then they are worthy at least of serious attention by historians.
The Gospels do not ask us to belief in ridiculous miracles; they are precisely the kinds of work that might be expected from such a person as Jesus is represented to be.…
Chris Tilling has a high regard for the writings of Tom Wright. It is of interest, therefore, that he thinks that many who attempt to reflect Wright’s teaching in their preaching end up saying either of two things:-
1. “You thought this text means this…but you are wrong! It is not about going to heaven when you die. Understood in terms of exile and restoration, it means…” Tilling remarks that this iconoclastic habit has a tendency to undermine hearers’ confidence in Scripture. …
Some early Christian teachers, such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, believed that God could been known through a consideration of philosophical arguments. Tertullian, on the other hand, maintained an extreme fideism, believing that Christian faith is actually contradicted by human philosophy.
Luther emphasised the fallenness of human reason, and the necessity of faith in overcoming reason’s impotence.
Calvin followed closely the Pauline outline sketched above. He held that a seed of knowledge of the divine has been planted in each human heart. …
An episode of Premier Radio’s Unbelievable show (20th August 2011) featured a thoughtful and civilised discussion between Rebekah Bennetch & Sheridan Voysey. (The show’s host, Justin Brierley, also played a major a role in the conversation).
Rebekah had offered to appear on the show in order to explain her ‘deconversion’ from Christianity to atheism. She had been raised in a strongly Christian family, had attended two Bible colleges, taught in Sunday School, and served with her parents in the mission field.…
I’m not a huge movie buff, but, faced with a long rail journey, I settled down to watch Brideshead Revisited on the tiny but effective screen of my iPod.
I won’t attempt to re-tell the story here, but just to say that I was interested in the strong religious thread running through the plot. The leading character, Charles Ryder, is presented as a level-headed, fair-minded atheist. He comes into contact with an aristocratic family with a strong Roman Catholic tradition. …
My attention has been drawn to this recent talk, followed by a Q and A session, by Stephen Kuhrt about his book ‘Tom Wright for Everyone’.
Stephen Kuhrt’s talk on ‘Tom Wright for Everyone’
Stephen is vicar of Christ Church, New Malden. He is clearly an avid fan of Tom Wright and, as the subtitle of his book indicates, he is interested in ‘putting the theology of N.T. Wright into practice in the local church.’
Since I’m reasonably well acquainted with Wright’s more popular writings (but less so the big scholarly tomes), there wasn’t much in Stephen’s talk that was new to me. …
Micah – historical and geographical background
Let me read you the following quotation. “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
That’s from Richard Dawkins, shortly after he swallowed a dictionary.
But is God of the Old Testament really like that?…
If you want to memorise the names of the Minor Prophets in the right order, think of them as a football team:-
Hosea (HOS) is Head of Side
Joel is in goal
Amos and Obadiah (Alpha and Omega) are the two full-backs
Jonah, Micah and Nahum (the three five-letter prophets) are the half-backs
And finally, playing in an HZHZM formation are the five forwards – Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
I picked this up form the spoken ministry of Jonathan Fletcher. …
