2009-05-06

The mp3 recordings of the White-Barker debate at the University of Illinois are now available here. James White vs. Dan Barker- The Triune God of Scripture Lives

Speaking of horrible, sinful things like divorce, Grimmond points out that increasingly our world wants to call everything good, because to do so avoids the stigma associated with divorce, or being a single mom, which, if unacceptable in society, may mean ostricization. But it isn’t freeing. This relativism is oppressive, for it removes the freedom to grieve over terrible things. Many things are sad, and to call everything good denies that this is acceptable. What we need is a way to grieve such sad things without leaving people helpless, and that comes together in the Gospel. God didn’t say, ‘you’re ok the way you are.’ He loved us despite our sin, putting His Son to death to deal with it so as to bring us forgiveness. Jesus offers us a way of both saying that sin is awful and that we must love each other. To mourn or not to mourn-

Patton enumerates three theological options, with pros and cons, for understanding ghosts: i) No there are no ghosts. Any supposed paranormal experience, if authentic, should be labeled as demonic activity. Thus, it is unbiblical to believe in ghosts, due to it’s implication for a particular view of the intermediate state. The best argument for this is that it would seem the Bible teaches, both explicitly and implicitly, that upon death people either go to the presence of God or await judgment. Against this, we don’t know much about the intermediate state. ii) Ghosts may be spirits of disembodied people who are left on the earth without explanation. Against this is that Paul says, ‘to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.’ In favour of it is the appearance of ‘ghosts’ in Scripture (Samuel, transfiguration). [I will note that NDE’s have been replicated in experiments… the experience happens when the brain can’t synchronize sensory input]. iii) All “paranormal” activity has a naturalistic explanation. This is more akin to deism, etc. Do You Believe in Ghosts- A Primer on the Christian View of the Supernatural

This post from Genderblog is a discussion of the intricacies of baseball. “There is a rhythm and pace to baseball that synchs up to the rhythm and pace of real life. Baseball rewards persistence in the face of managed failure.” Diamond Dads- Baseball, Fatherhood, and the Gospel, Part I

Mounce gives some thoughts to a question from a Filipino where the latter wonders if the translations in his language actually came from the Greek. Mounce thinks that they probably did based on the integrity of the translation organizations, if they said it did, but points out that there is a stream in English translations and it is anomalous somewhat to deviate from it (The NLT and NET are exceptions, deviating often from the mainstream). Translators, even working from originals, consult other translations, and three English translations having the same take on a passage will have a lot of weight, so it could have influenced it. There is safety in numbers, as it were, and if faithful to the original, this approach can be good. Are translations really based on the Greek and Hebrew- (Monday with Mounce 31)

Peter Head writes that “the 'New Testament Papyri’ have three things at least in common, they are manuscripts written on papyrus, they contain texts that are customarily included within the New Testament, and they are enumerated according to a standard list.” This post then discusses the difficulty of identifying which ones go on the ‘list’. For example, a manuscript could be a church father quoting the Scriptures, it could even be part of a songbook! i.e. they are not ‘continuous text manuscripts’. These could make the list of one is uncritical, and sometimes there is debate. He also notes that many of the difficult ones are from a later period anyway, and therefore less significant for a Greek New Testament. New Testament Papyri- Part Three

Some people actually allege biblical contradiction because the curse of the serpent involved ‘eating dust’ which they don’t do. AiG answers this by pointing to the typology of the protoevangelium, the first Gospel, iand noting that the “imagery of eating dust is symbolic of a creature low, despicable, abhorrent, and degraded.” http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/04/06/contradictions-left-in-the-dust

Challies has a snippet from The Cross He Bore on the symbolism of the crown of thorns as representative of what sinful man thinks of Christ, and how unmoved the crowd was, preferring deception and hypocrisy to the light of the world, loving their own wickedness so much that they would kill an innocent man. Jesus exposed them for what they were – and they would give no glory to this Jesus, no honor, nothing but shame and contempt. The Cross He Bore - The Crown of Thorns

Carolyn Mahaney reminds women to show their children ‘tender love’ (Titus 2:4), which Ryle describes as “a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys--these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily—these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to their heart.” Discipline devoid of this tender, empathetic, affection will be ineffective. Such tender love displays the love of Christ to our children. One Grand Secret

JT points to a problem with Evangelical ellipses ( the ‘…’). In Joshua 24:15: "Choose this day whom you will serve… as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” – Can you actually explain the choice without looking at your Bible? Proof Texting 101, or The Problem with Evangelical Ellipses

DeYoung corrects a misunderstanding of Matthew 16:18, where some have taken a ‘dungeons and dragons’ type mandate from the phrase ‘the gates of hell’, thinking it is a call to assault Satan’s lair and demons. Rather, the phrase pulai hadou (gates of hell) is a Jewish expression meaning "realm of the dead," representing the passageway from this life to the grave. (See Isa. 38:10; Job 38:17) – It’s a euphemism for death. Christ defeated the devil and our duty is to resist, to stand, (John 16:11; Eph.6). Jesus means that though believers die, they will live.  Exegetical Oops (Matthew 16-18)

Phillips does not think that Obama should participate in national prayer day, since the prayer of one who turns away from God’s law is an abomination (Prov. 28:9) – it repels, disgusts, and offends God. Obama is an enthusiastic advocate of torture-killing (of babies), denier of the exclusivity of Christ, a promoter of greed and covetousness, rewarder of evil, and punisher of good. There shouldn’t even be a national prayer day – “For us as a nation to pray, lifting up our bloody hands and asking God to pile yet more material blessings and protections on our openly defiant heads, is an atrocious insult to God.” He would, however, go to a National Day of Repentance. National Day of Prayer- in which I disagree with Shirley Dobson and everyone

Haykin found a new sermon by Abraham Booth, with a quote to the effect that it is often those that have been ordained ministers who have sought to destroy the very faith they were commissioned to protect. On Abraham Booth- new sermon discovered and a pungent quote

Here’s a list of the most important philosophy of religion articles for the last 50 years. The Most Important Philosophy of Religion Articles