Read through the Bible in one-year, reflections part VII

In a typical read through the Bible plan, I know I struggle with the big chunk of material in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers that are filled with various minute details of the tabernacle, the garments, the sacrifices, and the numerous codes of conduct. 

#1

I think one perspective to keep in mind as we wade through these sections is the holiness of God. God is perfectly holy, and we are not. The laws are there to hold up a mirror to us to show us we are not holy. We not only fail to keep the letter of the law we fail to even uphold a fraction of the spirit of the law. These laws are in regard to our relationship to God. These laws are in regard to our relationship to each other. And we fall short on both fronts.

#2

Mixed in with all these laws that are a megaphone announcing the holiness of God are the provisions for us to be made right before God. We can’t be made right using our own methods, we need to follow the way set forth by God. Thus, the over-arching theme is God is holy, we are not, God has made a way to be restored, and we need to trust and obey God’s way of restoration. 

#3 

As such, we need to be careful as New Testament Christians how we talk about the Old Covenant. We should not talk down upon the Old Covenant. The stories of God's people who lived and walked in the Old Covenant like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and others are illustrative of the human condition. They stumbled around a lot (we do to) and it was God's mercy and grace that picks them (and us) up!

So yes, the Old Covenant was well ... a certain way at a particular time. And, yes, the New Covenant is well … new! But the message is still the same: God is holy, we are not, God has made a way to be restored, and we need to trust and obey God’s way of restoration. In the New Covenant, the way is through trust and obedience to our Lord and King Jesus! The grace of God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Abraham needed grace. We need grace.

Jesus’ critique of the religious leaders of the time was that they missed the point of the Old Covenant. These religious leaders thought they kept the letter of the Law and that their birthright as the children of Abraham was enough. Regarding the letter of the Law, they under-estimated just how holy God actually is and thought more highly of their own holiness than actually warranted. As such, they also missed the spirit of the law:  God is holy, we are not, God has made a way to be restored, and we need to trust and obey God’s way of restoration. 

Anyway, these handholds have been a helpful 30,000 feet perspective for me. 

Keep reading!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Read through the Bible in one-year, reflections part VI

A large part of the “End Times” teaching from Jesus can be found in Matthew 24-25 with parallel passages in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Suffice to say there are differences in opinion about how to interpret these sections of the Gospels known as the Olivet Discourse. Additionally, Christians through the ages have tried to explain these verses along with discrete portions of teaching in the Apostolic letters that address these concerns. And, of course, there is the unusual book of Revelation that needs to be taken into account. 

#1 The one thing we can say about these teachings is that the timing is in God’s hands and people making claims about knowing when it is going to happen should be ignored. The notion of “signs of the times” that enable prediction needs to be view with skepticism. When taken in the scope of history, one could see these “signs of the times” at many times in human history. The spiritual reality is that the kingdom of God is breaking into the kingdoms of this world and when two geologic plates strike there will be seismic activity along that fault - signs of the times.

Another thing to consider is that while in some parts of the world, Christianity can be above ground, there are parts of the world where Christianity must survive underground. Which part of the world is seeing the “signs of the times” in terms of persecution? 

The reality is that spiritual struggles are happening everywhere. One could say in places where Christianity is above ground face different kinds of spiritual challenges compared to a place with outright persecution. The spiritual indifference due to materialism must be resisted as much as spiritual despair due to persecution. 

#2 When reading these Gospel passages, keep in mind not only the “end of times” perspective but also AD 70 which had not yet occurred when the disciples heard these teachings. In AD 70, Rome destroying the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was a tremendous spiritual earthquake. Thus, when you read these verses, many of them would “fit” in the understanding of a Christian living in AD 71 having heard about or lived through the trauma of AD 70. 

One school of Bible interpretation (Preterist) says that all these verses were fulfilled in AD 70 while others (Partial Preterist) say some but not all were fulfilled by AD 70. Yet another school of thought (Futurist) says most of the verses haven’t been fulfilled yet. My view is that the Partial Preterists are onto something here. 

On a side note, in the USA, the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture is popular. In brief, this is the belief that Christians will depart from the earth into the presence of God prior to a terrible time of disaster on earth. There are honest and vigorous discussions over this point among committed Christians who take the Bible seriously. If one holds this view, one can read it into the Olivet teachings. However, if one does not hold this view, it isn’t at all clear one would come to that conclusion from reading Matthew 24-25 and related passages. 

 #3 Finally, the key thing to remember is that the ultimate victory belongs to God! God is on the move accomplishing His work in this world and we have the blessing and challenge to join into what God is doing. Our call is faithful endurance despite difficulties and generous love to all the people God brings into our lives. I think that is a message we could all agree upon when reading the Olivet teachings from Jesus. 

 Keep reading! 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Read through the Bible in one-year, reflections part V

As we proceed through the Old Testament in the reading plan, all of Genesis and the first half of Exodus are narrative. These are the stories of great pathos and the stuff of movies! When we hit Exodus 20 and the giving of the 10 Commandments, much of the remainder is what is known broadly as “the Law.” 

 #1 We need to start by defining our terms when we think about “the Law.” This concept is used to describe several different things, so we need to understand its different meanings. The various definitions are: 1) it is the 613 commandments as tallied by Jewish scholars; 2) it is the five books from Genesis to Deuteronomy; 3) it is the theology of the Old Testament; and 4) it can also refer to how the Jewish religious leaders at the time of Jesus and the early church interpreted and sometimes mis-interpreted the Law as mentioned in the first sense previously. When we are reading through Exodus and eventually Leviticus and so forth, we are largely thinking of meaning 1 and 3. 

#2 What are the Laws in the 613-commandment sense? They fall into three broad categories: moral law, civil law, and ritual law. For current day Jewish people, the ritual laws that pertain to Temple sacrifice are moot since as there is no longer a Temple and the civil laws don’t apply since whatever country a Jewish person lives in has its civil laws. The Jewish people who are very committed still observe some of the ritual laws. And, of course, the moral law still applies. Likewise, as Christians, the moral law is authoritative since they are largely restated in some form or another in the New Testament while the civil law and ritual law don’t apply. 

#3 What is the purpose of the Law? There are a number of them: 1) they make clear the the holiness of God; 2) they describe the provision of God for restoration and forgiveness when we inevitably fail to live up to the standards set by God; and 3) they point toward Jesus. 

Keep reading! 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Read through the Bible in one-year, reflections part IV

In a “read through the Bible in a year plan,” for the New Testament, we will likely be reading in the Gospels. 

#1 Each Gospel is about Jesus. Note how each Gospel starts by turning the spotlight onto Jesus in its own distinctive way. Matthew 1:1, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Mark 1:1, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Luke 1:1-3 “Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.” John 1:1-5, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” 

So right off the bat, when reading in the Gospel, a good question to ask is who is Jesus in the portion I just read? 

#2 There are Four Gospels. Many analogies have been made for the idea of Four Gospels but one Jesus: one musical score but different instruments playing, or one piece of music but four stereo speakers. There will be something we read in one Gospel, and it will move us in a particular way. We may run into that same teaching in another Gospel, and it will impact us in a different way as it is told in a slightly different way. Over repeated readings of the Gospels, we will be drawn to it in different ways. Using an art analogy, repeated viewing of a masterpiece will reveal new beauty each time. Using a music analogy, repeated listening of a masterpiece will reveal new beauty each time. 

#3 In Matthew, the kingdom of heaven (kingdom of God in other gospels) is a big feature of Matthew. On one hand, the kingdom of God is at hand but also, Jesus teaches the disciples to pray, “thy kingdom come.” From this, we get the idea of the kingdom is “already and not yet.” The kingdom teachings are particularly given in the five extended teaching sections of Jesus:

1. The Sermon on the Mount as the constitution of the kingdom of God (Mt. 5-7) 
2. The kingdom personnel on mission (Mt. 10) 
3. The parables describing the kingdom (Mt. 13) 
4. The relationships in the kingdom (Mt. 18) 
5. The near future (probably fulfilled in AD 70) and final future of the kingdom (Mt. 24-25) 

Keep reading! 

Soli Deo Gloria!

The Horns of Psalm 75

I write periodically over at Center for Chinese Church Studies. Here is a short item I posted over there recently about Psalm 75 and "horns."

Excerpt:
v. 10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off,
but the horns of the righteous shall be lifted up.

The Psalm is clearly about the reality that God is the Judge and that is explicitly stated in v. 7 but what are the horns all about? This is a case where we need a reference work to give us a window into the Ancient Near East usage of metaphors. I turned to Bible Background Commentary – Old Testament and on p. 541 it said, “See the comment on ‘horn’ in the sidebar on common metaphors in Psalms.” Thus, I turned to that item on p. 514 where there was a paragraph on how horns were used in the iconography of the Ancient Near East. For instance, deities were often portrayed as having horns emanating from their crowns. Thus, the bottom line is that horns are used as a symbol for power.

Temple Destruction in AD 70 In Context

As someone sitting in the 21st Century, reading that Jesus forecasted (in ~ AD 33) the destruction of the Temple (see Olivet Discourse Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21) probably doesn't conjure up the full impact of the event that took place in AD 70.

The picture in my head would be of a temple for any number of Asian Eastern Religions found in Chinatowns in any large city in the USA. These buildings can be quite well built but they probably don't match up to the size and grandeur of the Temple of Jerusalem. Additionally, for the Jews of the ancient world, beyond the sheer size and grandeur of the Temple of Jerusalem, it was a singular structure, truly at the center of their religious beliefs and practices and identity as a people.

Of course, if one extends the search for religious structures worldwide, one can find some pretty spectacular structures. A Google search for Buddhist temples yields this tourism web page that has wonderful photos of what they consider the 10 most spectacular Buddhist temples. While at it, the same tourism web page has fantastic photos of the 10 most notable Hindu temples.  An architect offers his opinion of the 10 cathedrals you should see before you die and here is a list of 10 mosques.

However, relative to the Temple of Jerusalem which was the HEART of the people of Israel's faith, these don't compare. They may compare in terms of beauty and the grand scale of a structure but in terms of significance to an entire group of people there would be no comparison.

What did the Temple look like?

Since it was destroyed, one can only attempt to recreate it based on Biblical and historical documents that described it. And a model was built that resides at the Israel Museum. See photo below from Wikipedia.



Does all this context help us understand how traumatic Jesus' prediction of the Temple destruction would be to those who heard it?

However, it was more than just the destruction of a building. The events surrounding it also meant the ending of the Jewish nation of that time and was accompanied by deaths that may have exceed one million.

The Long Life of the Genesis Patriarchs?

Image from p. 12 of the 1995 edition of Spirit Filled Life Bible for Students.

Ever wonder about those people in Genesis who lived a long time?

Certainly, those who take the Scriptures seriously have to grapple with how we should view these texts.

One option would be to suppose that there was something different about the environment of those times or something different about the humans of those times or some combination of both that fostered the longer life spans. From this perspective, the great age of these individuals are taken at face value.

However, could one offer an explanation that takes the integrity of Scripture seriously and yet acknowledges that people rarely live beyond 100 years of age and certainly not many centuries beyond 100 years as the Patriarchs seem to?

One of the principles of Bible interpretation is to recognize the GENRE of the particular text being examined. Thus, is it possible that these long-life recitations fall into a genre that is non-literal?

Was chatting with a friend who is very interested in the Old Testament suggested that this might be the case. Apparently, in the ancient Middle East, other cultures of the time also had documents that claimed people who lived a very long time. For instance, the Babylonian kings. 

Of course, we can only speculate as to what is going on. Scholars suggest that these exaggerated life spans was a way to (1) highlight the greatness of those people, (2) account for the fact the historical memory of ancient events encompassed more years than they could accurately account for, and (3) the inflated numbers were keyed to numerology of the culture.

Thus, could the Genesis genealogies with extended life spans be of that same genre?

A case could be made that there is a "mythic" quality to the accounts of Adam until Abraham. One definition of myth is a fanciful untrue story. However, as a literary style, a myth is a non-literal explanation of reality. And indeed, that is one of the purposes of those early chapters of Genesis. They are attempts to describe how things came to be with particular emphasis on the relationship of God and humanity, God and the creation, and humanity and the creation.

As for numerology in these texts, the one that jumps out right away is that there are 10 generations from Adam to Noah and 10 generations from Noah to Abraham. Because of this, some interpreters have suggested that from Abraham onward, the writing is more historical in the sense we understand literal history and the material prior to Abraham is more mythic in the genre sense of non-literal history.

The challenge of the numerology explanation is the ages specified for the various people in these genealogies. However, the lack of clarity on what the "key" is doesn't change the impact of these texts to describe the reality of the human condition.

The puzzle of Genesis 6:1-4

Like many people, I've started off the new year with a commitment to read the Scriptures. There are various reading plans available. I'm using the "chronological" reading plan.

A few days back, came across the cryptic passage Genesis 6:1-4.

When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, “Mversus y spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years.” The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.

Over the years, the explanation I have heard most frequently was that the "sons of God" were angels and that they mated with the "daughters of men" resulting in the "Nephilim."

I have to say I have never been all that satisfied with that explanation. After all, angels are not humans! They aren't just a different species of animal life, they are a completely different kind of being.

Anyway, having read the passage again because of the reading plan, I found myself scratching that itch of what is this passage about. I went to my copy of the Reformation Study Bible and saw the following interpretation offered: "sons of God. These have been identified as Sethites (the traditional Christian interpretation), as angels (the earliest Jewish interpretation; cf. Job 1:6), and as royal tyrannical successors to Lamech who gathered harems (proposed by rabbis of the second-century AD). All three interpretations can be defended linguistically. On the surface, the first interpretation best fits the immediate preceding context (a contrast of the curse-laden line of Cain with the godly line of Seth), but it fails to explain adequately how “daughters of man” refers specifically to Cainite women. The second view has ancient support, but seems to contradict Jesus’ statement that angels do not marry (Mark 12:25) and does not explain why the focus is on mortals (v. 3) and the judgment on them (vv. 5–7). The third interpretation best explains the phrase “any they chose” (12:10–20; 20:1; 1 Sam. 11) but lacks as much ancient support. The best solution is probably a combination of the last two. These human offspring are also the spiritual offspring of Satan (3:15), empowered by demons (cf. Deut. 32:17)."

What do you think?

Seems to me if one is going to invoke fallen angels then they would have to have "taken" possession of the men in the passage rather than angels who take human form. Or as the notes suggest, the fallen angels took possession of the offspring. This is really the only way around the whole "angels aren't just a different species of animal life, they are a completely different kind of being" problem.

Explanation one has some appeal as that doesn't require invoking angels. As noted, in context, Genesis 4 followed the descendants of Cain while Genesis 5 follows the line of Seth.

It would be simplistic to say Cain's line though cursed was without any "good." If you look at some of his descendants, they are said to have been involved with nomadic herding (Jabal), music (Jubal), and metalworking (Tubal-Cain). I think these can be viewed as positive contributions to society.

Likewise, though Seth's line was chosen to be the ancestors of the People of Israel and ultimately of Jesus, the Christ, it would be simplistic to say that line was "good." In that genealogy, Enoch is explicitly described as walking with God (Genesis 5:24) while that description is sadly absent from the others in list.

The one glimmer of hope can be found in Genesis 4:26, "Seth also had a son, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of the Lord."

Who were these "people?"

Were they limited to the descendants of Seth?

The text doesn't demand that conclusion and I would feel more strongly toward that view if more of the Seth genealogy were positive like Enoch.

Perhaps, the weight isn't on figuring out who are the "sons of god" and "daughters of men" but rather on simply describing the "spirit of that age." Note the two interesting phrases: "they took wives for themselves of all that they chose" and "These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown."

What do we make of that?

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

The "taking" of wives and the "all that they chose" language sounds bad. Makes me think of what is happening with the male ISIS fighters taking wives. I have no knowledge of the Biblical Hebrew language to know if the original language points to this kind of oppression. But in the English translation, it sounds coercive.

As for "heroes" and "warriors of renown," that sounds sort of positive? But then warriors would suggest violence. The archetype of the heroic warrior is the reluctant warrior combating evil. However, what was the nature of the conflict in this context?

What we do know is that after this text, we have the story of Noah where God is in despair over the evil and violence that has filled the earth.

See Genesis 6:11-13: Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 

Perhaps Genesis 6:1-4 is a very terse description to sum up what had happened to humanity?

If so, then invoking angels mating with humans might not really be necessary. Perhaps, the text is simply describing the ethos of the time: the oppressive taking of wives and venerating of those who were violent?

Makes you wonder if Noah would recognize something familiar about the passing scene in the 21st Century?

After I wrote all the material here, I did a search on the phrase "sons of god and daughters of men" and found this analysis by R.C. Sproul.

What do you think?

We share a similar discontentment with the explanations that invoke angels mating with humans. Sproul makes the specific argument that the "sons of god" and "daughters of men" are covenantal terms.

W4C Bible Study Training Part IV - Colossians 3:1-17

West Coast Chinese Christian Conference 2015 Small Group Bible Study Training Video, Part IV. This year's theme: Be Holy Because God is Holy.
Day 1 study 1 Peter 2:4-25
Day 2 study 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
Day 3 study Colossians 3:1-17.

Part IV contents:
Day 3 passage Colossians 3:1-17
Group dynamics
Applications
Final thoughts

W4C Bible Study Training Part III - 1 Corinthians 6:1-20

West Coast Chinese Christian Conference 2015 Small Group Bible Study Training Video, Part III. This year's theme: Be Holy Because God is Holy.
Day 1 study 1 Peter 2:4-25
Day 2 study 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
Day 3 study Colossians 3:1-17.

Please note, I found an error in the slide at 20:48 where "Prison Epistles (62-67)" appears. 1 Timothy and Titus was written in the period after Prison Epistles (61-62) but before 2 Timothy that was written during Paul's 2nd Imprisonment shortly before his death AD 66-67.

Part III content:
Textual analysis
Day 2 passage 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
Question writing

W4C Bible Study Training Part II - 1 Peter 2:4-25

West Coast Chinese Christian Conference 2015 Small Group Bible Study Training Video, Part II. This year's theme: Be Holy Because God is Holy.
Day 1 study 1 Peter 2:4-25
Day 2 study 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
Day 3 study Colossians 3:1-17.

Part II content:
Day 1 passage 1 Peter 2:4-25

W4C Bible Study Training Part I

West Coast Chinese Christian Conference 2015 Small Group Bible Study Training Video, Part I. This year's theme: Be Holy Because God is Holy.
Day 1 study 1 Peter 2:4-25
Day 2 study 1 Corinthians 6:1-20
Day 3 study Colossians 3:1-17.

Part I content:
Overview
Observation
Interpretation

Theology: How much "heresy" is too much heresy?

Was reading in Matthew 24:14 recently: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

This verse is in one of the "end-times" passages. There are probably as many ideas of what the end times will look like as there are people speculating on the end times! If you read all of Matthew 24-25, the safest conclusion I think is: (1) the timing of the end is unknown and (2) it will catch most people by surprise.

But Matthew 24:14 appears to be the most clear cut statement about when it will happen.

And so how are we doing with the world evangelization plan?

The Joshua Project attempts to identify which ethnic groups have not been reached with the good news of Jesus.

One other question I've been pondering is the the role of "heretical" Christianity.

I found out while visiting the library of Uppsala University that has the oldest Bible manuscript in the Goth language is the so called "Silver Bible." In the 4th Century a bishop translated the Bible into Goth and evangelized the Goths of modern day Germany. None of the Bible copies from his time survive but the Silver Bible is a copy prepared in the 6th Century. That copy is in fragments containing much of the 4 Gospels but nothing else. Thus, the scholarly interest in the Silver Bible is for its value as the oldest example of the Gothic written language rather than as a contributor to textual criticism.

What is interesting theologically was that this bishop subscribed to an Arian flavor of Christianity!

My understanding was that the Arian Christology was a disputed and that argument that led to the Nicean formulation of the Trinity. The short version is that the historic view of Christ was that God the Father and God the Son were of the same substance while the Arian view (followers of Bishop Arius of Alexandria) was that God the Son was created by God the Father and thus of lesser substance.

Thus, the Goth people groups were reached with the Gospel by what was considered a heresy! These people who trusted in Jesus had no idea of the strict Christology that was stated in the early church councils! I suppose the bottom line is whether a person's life is transformed by their encounter with Jesus. Thus, their intellectual understanding of who Jesus could be muddled. My guess is that the thief on the Cross who trusted Jesus might not be able to answer all Christological questions but he indeed called on the name of Jesus from whom life and salvation pours forth!

So how much "heresy" is too much heresy?

Theology: What is God's Timetable to Reach All the Nations?

Let me say at the outset that we should try to get our theology correct. I believe there is theological truth out there. However, there are times when there is mystery and uncertainty and I want to be honest about that when I am puzzling over it. Holding comprehension and mystery in tension isn't easy but I take comfort in the fact that it would appear that transformation of life by God takes place often in spite of our theological muddleheadedness.

As a blogger, I put ideas out there and they are not always fully baked; you might say, I'm thinking aloud by typing! That is what this post is about. So with those disclaimers out there, here we go ...

Aside from enjoying the unique scenery and visiting family and friends, I am always thinking "theologically" about the places I visit.

Sadly, like many European countries, Sweden today is nominally a "Christian" nation with many occasions of the liturgical calendar marked off as national holidays but in practice many of the historic churches are nearly empty.

I find it amazing that Christianity began in Jerusalem and in a few centuries became the dominant force in the Roman Empire and eventually the "barbarians" of Northern Europe and all of Scandinavia became "Christianized."

However, the Gospel's eastward movement found a harder path. There are reports that Christianity got to India with the Apostle Thomas. There is one bit of evidence that the Nestorian variant of Christianity made it to China before 1000 AD.

Thus, one might say that Christianity "converted" the "pagans" of Europe but seemed to have been unable to convince the Hindu and Buddhists of India and Asia.

Meanwhile, Christianity continues to grow in South America and Africa such that when Pope Benedict resigned there was talk the next Pope would be elected from one or the other continent. And, indeed, the new Pope Francis is from Argentina.

Why has Christianity succeeded in some places and not others?

And in the case of Europe, after many centuries of dominance, why has Christianity faded from the consciousness of so many?

What is God's Timetable to Reach All the Nations?

Amateur Theologian

I recognize that professional theologians have training in the original languages, taken classes in church history and systematic theology, and spend most of their time mulling over the Bible text and the knots of trying to bridge the thought world of Christian faith and daily life in a world skeptical of god (generic) and Jesus as the Christ (specific). My hats is off to them for their efforts!

In this blog space, I free acknowledge my reflections are in the realm of amateur theology. My goal is to give my best understanding of the Scriptures. Over the years, there have been various "projects" focusing on specific books of the Bible and other times specific topics.

Recently, have noticed that the Apostle Paul gets a lot of the brainpower of professional theologians. Makes sense given that much of the New Testament was written by him. And, not surprisingly, Christian theologians write many volumes about the doctrine of Christ (Christology).

Thus, for my next amateur theologian project, I was thinking of looking at the Apostle Peter's writings pertaining to the Holy Spirit.

Is there as lively a debate in Petrine theology as there is on Pauline theology?

Certainly, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (Pneumatology) is lively in regards to the continualist and cessationist debate. Look for the label Petrine Pneumatology to follow the posts on this topic. Haven't set myself a schedule as regular life often is quite busy. But I wanted to give this topic some thought and see where it leads.

Theology: What does Psalm 110:5 mean?

"The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath." Psalm 110:5 (TNIV)

I've seen three interpretations of this verse:
(1) The Lord God is at Messiah's right hand; God will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
(2) Lord God, at your right hand is Messiah who will crush kings on the day of his wrath.
(3) Messiah is at God's right hand; Messiah will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

For the kings who get crushed on the day of wrath, it doesn't really matter which of the three is the correct interpretation!

Nonetheless, which interpretation is most likely to be correct and why?

Are there some other interpretive options to consider?

Theology: Re-imagining the American Experience

What are the virtues of the American story?

I think Dennis Prager puts it pretty well in the video item below.



To summarize:
Liberty
We are free to pursue our dreams and to go as far in life as hard work and good luck will take us.

E pluribus unum
“From many, one.” Unlike other countries, America is composed of people of every religious, racial, ethnic, cultural and national origin. Out of many people we become one people – Americans.

In God we trust
America was founded on the belief that our rights and liberties have been granted to us by the Creator.

America is far from a perfect place and we have our share of troubles. However, these virtues have meant a great amount to our country and has helped build much good in it.

However, the clear weakness of America in recent decades has been the over-emphasis on the accumulation of wealth and the willingness among some to break rules to do so.

As a follower of Jesus, how might I re-imagine the American narrative bringing it under the Lordship of Christ?

I found myself drawn to St. Paul's letter to the Galatians.

If we speak of liberty as a virtue then we who call Jesus Lord need to heed the following:
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.

If we acknowledge "e pluribus unum" and the great melting pot of America, then we must rise to the challenge of loving our neighbor who may or may not share our religious or political beliefs nor share common cultural traditions or personal interest. As St. Paul put it bluntly:
Galatians 5:14-15
For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

And finally, if in God we trust is to have its fullest expression in us as followers of Christ then we need to yield totally to the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16-17, 22-23
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

The "spirit of the age" has made the acquisition of wealth the central aim. We need the antidote that an attitude of service, the priority of love and the working of the Holy Spirit can provide.

As we celebrate July 4 and the founding of America, let us do so with thanksgiving but also prayerfulness for our citizenship is to the even higher calling of the Kingdom of God!

Theology: Passover and Easter, When?

Saw this item today.

I knew that Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples prior to his death on Good Friday and Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

What I didn't know was that Matthew, Mark and Luke offered that description but that John stated that Jesus died on the day of preparation for the Passover (Friday) which results in a special Sabbath Saturday that was also a Passover remembrance.

Thus, it appears confusing and contradictory!

The article offers this explanation:
Humphreys' research suggests Jesus, and Matthew, Mark and Luke, were using the Pre-Exilic Calendar, which dated from the time of Moses and counted the first day of the new month from the end of the old lunar cycle, while John was referring to the official Jewish calendar of the day.
.......
If the Passover meal and the Last Supper did take place on a Wednesday it would help explain how the large number of events that the Gospels record between the Last Supper and the Crucifixion were able to take place.

With the help of an astronomer, Humphreys reconstructed the Pre-Exilic calendar and placed Passover in the year AD 33, widely accepted as the year of Jesus' crucifixion, on Wednesday April 1.

That means if modern Christians wished to ascribe a date for Easter based on Humphreys' calculations, which he has been mulling over since 1983, Easter Day would fall on the first Sunday in April.

If this analysis correct, Jesus celebrated Passover with his disciples as described in Matthew, Mark and Luke on a date (Wednesday) that was different then the establishment Jewish community of the time which celebrated it on Saturday which was what John was referring.

I look forward to seeing if some other scholars I check out on these theological matters agree with this proposed explanation.

UPDATE: Here you can hear Humphrey's explain in a BBC interview.

Theology: Does the Bible Support Same Sex-Marriage?

According to Prof. Robert Gagnon, no.

In his piece, he addressed the question of analogies to slavery. Excerpt:
Scripture shows no vested interest in preserving the institution of slavery but it does show a strong vested interest from Genesis to Revelation in preserving a male-female prerequisite. Unlike its treatment of the institution of slavery, Scripture treats a male-female prerequisite for sex as a pre-Fall structure.

The Bible accommodates to social systems where sometimes the only alternative to starvation is enslavement. But it clearly shows a critical edge by specifying mandatory release dates and the right of kinship buyback; requiring that Israelites not be treated as slaves; and reminding Israelites that God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt.

Paul urged enslaved believers to use an opportunity for freedom to maximize service to God and encouraged a Christian master (Philemon) to free his slave (Onesimus).

How can changing up on the Bible’s male-female prerequisite for sex be analogous to the church’s revision of the slavery issue if the Bible encourages critique of slavery but discourages critique of a male-female paradigm for sex?

Much closer analogies to the Bible’s rejection of homosexual practice are the Bible’s rejection of incest and the New Testament’s rejection of polyamory (polygamy).

Homosexual practice, incest, and polyamory are all (1) forms of sexual behavior (2) able to be conducted as adult-committed relationships but (3) strongly proscribed because (4) they violate creation structures or natural law.

Like same-sex intercourse, incest is sex between persons too much structurally alike, here as regards kinship rather than gender. Polyamory is a violation of the foundational “twoness” of the sexes.

The church I'm a member of is part of the PCUSA denomination that is currently voting on whether to alter the following language as a standard for ordination of ministers:

Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.

If this standard is repealed, the new wording would make it likely that ordination of practicing homosexual pastors would be allowed.

Theology: Top 10 Theological Issues

Ed. note - this post is periodically updated with new material usually at the bottom.

Saw this item over at Laura's Writings where she highlights ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) as one of the top 10 items cited by Monday Morning Insight who was citing Brian Schulenburg who is writing a book about the subject. Excerpt:

1) Soteriology - I am so concerned as I read more and more people who would self identify as Christians who are saying that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. In a world that has become increasingly diverse, we are seeing more and more people, perhaps because they are afraid of offending, perhaps because they want to create God in their own image, who say that all religions essentially lead to the same place.

2) The Embrace of Open Theism - So many of the college students and young adults that I work with have bought into this doctrine, which among other things, teaches that God does not know the future. They would teach that God knows all of the possible futures, but not a specific future. This has a major impact on how we view the omniscience of God, what we believe about prayer, etc.

3) Homosexuality - How does the church respond to the homosexual community? How do you teach biblical principles regarding homosexuality and still love homosexuals?

4) Ecclesiology - House church? Emerging church? Traditional? Contemporary? Multi-ethnic? Homogeneous? Seeker sensitive? Seeker driven? Gather for edification, scatter for evangelism? Mega-church, bad? Mega-church, good?

5) The Bible - Absolute truth? Inerrant? Infallible? I belive it is with all of my heart. I'm in the minority.

6) Social Justice, Global Warming, etc. - Creation care has caused quite a stir in recent months. Younger Evangelicals are passionate about social justice. Jesus was passionate about social justice. What would Jesus do?

7) Red Letter Christians - Are Jesus' words the most important in all of Scripture? Do we pay as much attention to the teaching of Paul, Peter, John, etc.? What about the Old Testament?

8) Infighting in the Church - Satan is having a heyday here. When does God want us to go to the mat with other Christians? Emerging church vs. Traditional Church? Prayer styles? Worship styles? Theological issues? Urban vs. Suburban?

9) Jesus Junk - The consumerization of the American church. When is enough, enough? What is too much?

10) Friend or Foe? - Is the Gospel a friend to culture or a foe to culture?

What do you think?

UPDATES:

I'll work my way through the list and give my take (worth every cent you are paying for it!) as someone who hasn't been to a theological school and thus don't have a "system" I like to follow. Obviously, I've been influenced by the churches I've been a part of and books I've read!

10) Friend or Foe? - Is the Gospel a friend to culture or a foe to culture?

A bit simplistic to make it an either/or situation don't you think? There are some parts that are good and some parts that aren't. I'd say the American ideal of re-invention and possibility are good things about life in the USA. God's grace in our lives is about possibilities and transformation and growth. From my Chinese culture, I see the strong honor your parents component as consistent with Biblical commands. On the downside, Asian culture stresses conformity which flies against the unity in diversity picture of the multi-racial worship of God the Gospel makes possible. America's keep-up-with-the-Jones mentality skates dangerously close if not into the realm of idolatry.

9) Jesus Junk - The consumerization of the American church. When is enough, enough? What is too much?

No question one of the struggles of life in the United States is being too fond of our "stuff." Our life isn't in stuff yet somehow in the USA, we often feel that we need more stuff to be happy. I don't have a hard rule on how much money should one spend on say a car. However, in my neighborhood there are a lot of very nice cars which I couldn't afford and I'd feel uncomfortable spending that much if I had the money to spend on such a car. Living in Los Angeles it is pretty hard to get by without one. But as a follower of Jesus, how much money is appropriate to spend on a car?

8) Infighting in the Church - Satan is having a heyday here. When does God want us to go to the mat with other Christians? Emerging church vs. Traditional Church? Prayer styles? Worship styles? Theological issues? Urban vs. Suburban?

There is a difference between form and substance. Forms can be influenced by lots of factors like demographics and culture. If you have a ministry to restaurant workers you probably can't schedule activities on weekends for them because they are all at work! If you are in the suburbs and your church has lots of families with young kids then you should plan things to account for that. Likewise, if your congregation is mostly retired people, do what you got to do.

It is really tough when you have a mixture of all of the above under one roof and you don't have the resources to do all things for all people. That is where we really need to learn to be much more charitable with each other and somehow work together!

As for substance, we just need to be honest if we have a difference of opinion. Absolutely, welcome anyone in need who comes through the church doors... atheist, Mormon, Hindu, pagan, confused, whatever... The Good Samaritan didn't check the id of the guy beaten on the roadside in the famous parable and likewise the church must be a place that is an open and safe place for anyone who is in need.

However, for positions of leadership and responsibility then some "theological correctness" in addition to evidence of good character are fair game and just simply the right thing to do. I don't think it is unreasonably for denomination X to expect their pastors to subscribe to the vast majority of their distinctives. Even non-denominational churches have some (or should) doctrinal statements rooted in the historic Christian faith. Clearly there is a lot of debate within the Christian community as to what constitutes the bare essentials. But as one of my old pastors use to say, unity on the essentials and charity on everything else.

7) Red Letter Christians - Are Jesus' words the most important in all of Scripture? Do we pay as much attention to the teaching of Paul, Peter, John, etc.? What about the Old Testament?

I've heard a little bit about this. Seems to me there are two aspects to this movement: political and theological.

The political movement appears to be a reaction to the conservative evangelical support of the Republican party. It is simplistic to say but it is generally true that this new group is composed of Christians who are politically left of center.

The picture of American political views is actually quite a bit more complicated than secular vs. religious and conservative vs. liberal. If those were the only options, there would only be four "tribes" in the American electorate. Instead, it is suggested that there are Twelve Tribes in American politics!

As a theological enterprise, are the Words of Jesus more important than the rest of the Bible?

There is precedent for this kind of thought in the Jewish religion where the Torah, the 5 books of Moses, are held as the highest Scriptures followed by the Prophets and the Writings.

Though in theory many Christians hold all of Scriptures as equally inspired and thus valuable, in practice, most sermons come from the New Testament. And depending on the church, some will be preaching more from the Gospels about Jesus and others from the Letters of the Apostle Paul. It is also probably true that when the Bible is being translated into a new language, the first books to be translated would be the Gospels.

Thus, as a matter of establishing a framework to define the faith, one would naturally go first to the Words and Deeds of Jesus.

However, the temptation of the Red Letter movement would be to discard everything from Romans onward. That would be problematic.

6) Social Justice, Global Warming, etc. - Creation care has caused quite a stir in recent months. Younger Evangelicals are passionate about social justice. Jesus was passionate about social justice. What would Jesus do?

I think Social Justice is a time honored part of Christian spiritual expression. Wilberforce and the fight against slavery would be a part of this tradition. American Christians were at the front of fighting slavery. Religious motivations were behind part of the Civil Rights Movement.

What troubles me today though is that Christians who have strong social justice instincts can wind up somewhat captive to either political party.

For instance, some Christians who are very pro-environment and are very concerned about the global warming issue can become stuck with other things the Democrats support which they really don't like.

Likewise, Christians who see the pro-life issue as a social justice issue get stuck with stuff in the Republican party they don't like.

The Global Warming issue has gotten a lot of press lately. However, I'm concerned that it has taken a life of its own apart from good solid science. Statements like "there are no serious questions about the reality of global warming" is troubling to me. There are scientists who have concerns about the data. Additionally, there is a dollars and sense question of priorities of what to fight: if you have $1 billion to spend, do you spend it on fighting global warming or on malaria in Africa?

Besides global warming, the social justice train is concerned with issues of economics. This can get tricky because economics is tied to questions of political power. It may sound nice in the abstract to redistribute wealth as advocated by socialists and communists but that comes with totalitarian governments and when you give government the power to take people's money and property, they can take other things to.

Likewise, a total free market system can lead to a law of the jungle kind of trouble.

As I see it, I do lean toward the free market because I'd rather have power diffused rather than concentrated in the government. However, I do have to trust that enough people have compassion to ensure that we don't fall into a social Darwinism where a certain segment of the population gets trampled.

5) The Bible - Absolute truth? Inerrant? Infallible?

There is a huge inter-mural debate about which of the above terms best applies to Scripture. Absolute truth? Indeed, about the spiritual condition of man and God's plan of reconciliation!

Inerrant/infallible? Theologians can slug that one out until the cows come home. My bottom line is summarized in this blog post where my I view the Bible as God's message to us.
I recognize the following statements are articles of faith.
(1) I believe that God desires to communicate to humanity certain things.
(2) I believe God interacted with human authors to produce a body of text.
(3) I believe that God guided the church to properly identify which body of text to hold as authoritative.
(4) I believe that God has blessed the community of faith with scribes who have copied the text reliably, scholars who apply textual criticism to remove the boo-boos and translators who bring the text into the many languages of the world accurately.

The Bible I hold in my hands (#4) is a reliable reflection of #1.

4) Ecclesiology - House church? Emerging church? Traditional? Contemporary? Multi-ethnic? Homogeneous? Seeker sensitive? Seeker driven? Gather for edification, scatter for evangelism? Mega-church, bad? Mega-church, good?

I attended a youth workers conference a few years back. The speaker had us gather into groups based on our age by decade. Lots of groups with 20s. Many 30s, a few 40s, and indeed there were groups with 50s and 60s!

The speaker offered this encouragement: look around and see how many different types of people are working with youth; because there are so many different kinds of kids we need all kinds of youth volunteers to serve in youth groups!

So my view on churches styles is simple: unity on the essentials of the faith and diversity of forms to reach people!