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Showing posts from November, 2018

A Perfect Word: The Innerancy of Scripture

Defining and defending the inerrancy of Scripture through the Chicago Statement. On October 26 1978, around 268 participants - pastors, missionaries, and theological scholars like Dr. R.C Sproul and J. I. Packer, gathered for three days to define biblical inerrancy. The following is a short version of The Chicago Statement : 1. God, who is Himself Truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself. 2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms: obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. 3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine Author, both authenticates it to us by H...
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Review: A Little Book for New Theologians

What benefit could a little book on theology offer the average person?  From the opening pages, Kapic attempts to address this very question, contending that the relevance of theology is established in the common questions of humanity. The questions concerning "identity, culture, politics, and ethics" (16), are informed by our concept of the person and character of God. In short, theology is important because we are all theologians. This theme is developed by examining the relationship between the knowledge of God, and the worship of God. As we read Scripture, God's revelation of himself to man, we are exposed to true knowledge; and "when one begins to know God in his beauty and truth, worship springs into being" (24). With this in mind, it becomes crucial that Christians continually pursue a more profound knowledge of God rather than developing individualistic opinions that leave one wanting. This pursuit is a gradual understanding of God, wh...
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A Word of Inspiration

What do we mean when we speak of the Bible being inspired by God? When we hear songwriters discuss what inspired them to pen the words to our favorite songs, many times the lyrics are attributed to something of beauty - a sunrise, the smile of someone they love, even a noble idea like peace and unity. Their songs take the form of a creative commentary, a way of communicating what the artist has observed as beautiful or what they have envisioned as worth pursuing. Their source of inspiration guides them in their craft, creating art that resonates with others. We have all experienced the beauty of a sunrise, felt the warmth from a smile, and cherish the seemingly sporadic moments of peace and tranquility that are sprinkled throughout our busy lives. When we speak of the inspiration of Scripture, there are indeed some parallels that can be drawn, but there are also some vast differences. While it is true that the Bible offers a vivid commentary on the majesty and beauty of God, ...
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Why the Virgin Birth Matters

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary...  Since the era of the Enlightenment, there have been objections to the authenticity of Jesus' birth found in the gospel narratives of Matthew and Luke. Some scholars have suggested that early Christians borrowed mythical elements from ancient literature in an attempt to adapt the gospel to a Hellenistic (Greek) culture (1), while others have suggested that there has been an error in translating the word almah, leading to a conclusion that the original authors did not explicitly express. Many versions of the Bible render this word as virgin while critics argue that it should be translated young woman or maiden. William Beck, who has done extensive research of the word comments,   I have searched exhaustively for instances in which almah might mean a non-virgin or a married woman. Ther...
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Do Not Lose Heart

Anytime someone asks me how God speaks to us today, my first response is through the Bible. God's primary means of communicating to us about who he is and who we are is found in his own revelation to us in Scripture. In the Old Testament, he speaks to us throughout history, through poetry, through his law, and by the mouths of his prophets. In the New Testament, he speaks through his Son - Jesus, as we read the eye-witness accounts of the gospels, see the creation and confession of the early church, and are encouraged by the writings of the apostles. God primarily  speaks through his word... but he can also speak through our circumstances, through situations and other people. This morning, I was reminded of the latter. In our Sunday School class, we have decided to devote one Sunday each month to focus on prayer. Rather than have prayer be the two shorter bookends to a longer lesson or lengthy discussion, one Sunday each month we have decided to invert our "order of se...
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Judge Not

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. Matthew 7:1-6 (ESV)  "Judge not" has become the mantra of our culture as it increasingly seeks to equate tolerance  with acceptance . Many people attempt to use Jesus's words here as a means to prohibit someone from evaluating the choices of another. The irony is, these same people are guilty of the very thing Jesus is warning us about. It is obvious ...
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