Antony Flew, 1923-2010

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Antony Flew, the noted philosopher, died in April of this year.  Albert Mohler has a helpful post explaining why Christians can be encouraged by Flew’s rejection, at the age of 81, of atheism, but why we should also be warned by his rejection of Christianity.

Flew was the son of the Methodist minister, and until his mid-teens regarded himself as a conscientious, if unenthusiastic, Christian believer.  But reflection on the problem of evil (how can God be both all-loving and all-powerful?)…

God of the Gaps

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A ‘God of the gaps’ argument is one which states that if something cannot be explained by scientific evidence and reasoning that it must be attributable to God.

An early instance of this kind of reasoning is found in the work of none other than Isaac Newton, who, finding that he could not fully explain the movements of the planets, postulated that God made periodic adjustments to their orbits.

Probably the most significant modern version of god-of-the-gaps argumentation occurs in Intelligent Design theory. …

Justification and the Lord’s Supper

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John Stott comments on the teaching of the English Reformers, and their determination that their doctrines of justification and of the Lord’s Supper should be compatible with one another:-

They strenuously denied transubstantiation (‘the change is not the nature, but the dignity’ – Latimer), the real presence of Christ in the elements (‘his true body is truly present to them that truly receive him, but spiritually’ – Cranmer), and the notion that the mass could be a propitiatory sacrifice (for then ‘doth this sacrament take upon it the office of Christ’s passion, whereby it might follow that Christ died in vain’ – Ridley). 

…

The Significance of the Last Supper

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According to I.H. Marshall, the Last Supper was a Passover meal, probably held one day before the official date.  But what significance did Jesus intend by it?

1.  The Passover Meal

There is every evidence from the Gospels that Jesus regarded this Passover meal as particularly important, and that he made careful arrangements to celebrate it undisturbed.

The Passover was a celebration of how God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt and set them on their way to the Promised Land. …

Machen and fundamentalism

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J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) was seen as an ally by the fundamentalists, but he did not accept the term for himself. According to John Piper, Machen’s criticisms of fundamentalism were:-

  1. the absence of historical perspective;
  2. the lack of appreciation of scholarship;
  3. the substitution of brief, skeletal creeds for the historic confessions;
  4. the lack of concern with precise formulation of Christian doctrine;
  5. the pietistic, perfectionist tendencies (i.e., hang ups with smoking, etc.);
  6. one-sided other-worldliness (i.e., a lack of effort to transform culture); and
  7. a penchant for futuristic chiliasm (or: pre-millenialism).
…

The ‘Real Presence’

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‘Throughout history,’ writes Donald MacLeod, ‘discussion of the Lord’s Supper has been complicated, if not indeed be-devilled, by the question of the presence of Christ in the sacrament.’

When people speak of ‘the real presence’ they are not using the word ‘real’ merely to mean ‘genuine’, but rather to mean ‘the thing itself’.  ‘The real presence’ then refers to the idea that the body of Jesus is literally present in the bread and wine at Holy Communion.…

The significance of the Lord’s Supper

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Towards the end of his comprehensive survey of the biblical teaching, I.H. Marshall draws the following conclusions about the the significance of the Lord’s Supper:-

1.  The Old Testament Background

The language and concepts of the Lord’s Supper are to be understood in terms of the Old Testament – especially Exodus 24, Isa 53 and Jeremiah 31.  There is a relationship between the acts of God as recorded in the Old Testament and those that are recorded in the New Testament, and this relationship is essentially one of promise and fulfilment.…

Bart Ehrman, the text of the New Testament, and axe-grinding

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“Everyone loves a conspiracy theory” was one of the more sensible statements in The Dan Vinci Code.  And I suppose the love of conspiracy theories is a key reason for the popularity of that book, and also that of the popular works of Bart Ehrman.

Ehrman, it will be recalled, has travelled a road from fundamentalism to scepticism, and so has become something of a patron saint of ex-Christians.  He is a recognised authority on the textual criticism of the New Testament, and his scholarly credentials are not in doubt. …

Resurrection: evangelical and liberal debate

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I’ve been listening to the latest podcast from Premier Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ show.

Last Saturday (7th August) saw Adrian Warnock and Rev Jonathan Clatworthy debate the resurrection of Jesus.

Adrian represented an evangelical perspective, Jonathan a liberal approach.  At one level, Jonathan tried to present the differences as, ‘Well, we both believe in the resurrection; it’s just that you believe in a physical resurrection, whereas I don’t.’  But the more they spoke, the more you could sense the yawning gulf between them. …

How do we get from the Old Testament to the New Testament?

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It strikes me that the relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament is one of the most important challenges in our understanding of the Bible.

I would like to jot down a few thoughts on ways in which it is possible to misunderstand the relationship between the two testaments.

1. Making too much of the difference between the two testaments.

(a) Marcionism

Marcion was a 2nd-century teacher who completely rejected the Old Testament, and regarded its god as a tyrant. …