Mounce illustrates from the demon’s plea to Christ (“I adjure you by God…”) and Paul’s “by no means” in Romans 6:15 that translation is not one-to-one, and words and grammatical constructions don’t have exactly the same meanings. All translation is both science and art (he also points out that the NLT is weak in both verses). Mark 5-7- Swear by God (Monday with Mounce 27)
Based on two very rare names (Theophylactus, also named as a scribe of, and Antoninus, named within Codex Sinaiticus as providing the source text for some parts of the Greek Bible) found at the fourth-sixth century monastery, this post suggests that Codex Sinaiticus was produced there. Codex Sinaiticus Produced Near Jerusalem
An interesting post relating the story of a woman who loved Lewis’ The Lion, the witch, and the Wardrobe when she was younger, but when she found out that many of the book’s themes reflected Christian commitments, she felt “tricked, cheated, and betrayed.” She says, ““The Christianity that I knew—the only Christianity I was aware of—was the opposite of Narnia.” Narnia was “liberation and delight” while Christianity was “boredom, subjugation, and reproach.”” Book Rails Against Christianity in Lewis’s Narnia Series
Blaise Pascal wanted to shock apathetic people into caring about ultimate questions concerning God, etc. He was opposed to philosophical reductionism and often contrasted the god of philosophy with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He would say, “the heart has reasons that reason does not know.” Pascal’s wager is a cost-benefit analysis of the rationality of belief in God. Philosophy Word of the Day – Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Francis Beckwith makes some interesting points about Notre Dame inviting Obama to speak and granting him an honorary doctorate. i) The doctorate in law is supposed to honour excellence in the field – but how can ND do this when their own theology says Obama isn’t excellent there (stem cell research, etc)? ii) The real problem is that theology isn’t viewed as knowledge by some, and therefore holds no wait in decision-making. If ND fired a prof. for denying the periodic table people would agree. If they fired one for denying the Apostle’s Creed, would they not opposed it? “if we think theology is true and knowable, that means it’s no different than what we learn in literature or sociology or philosophy.” Is Theology Knowledge- (Pres. Obama and Notre Dame)
Swan examines the verse Catholic apologists say unambiguously teaches purgatory, 2 Maccabees 12: 41-46, since they argue that if Luther didn’t throw it out Protestants have to agree it teaches purgatory. Swan goes to Zachary Hayes, ("a noted Franciscan theologian and Bonaventure scholar, OFM, of the Sacred Heart Province, is a retired professor of systematic theology at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, where he taught for thirty-seven years"), who is far more honest, saying that Trent viewed the text with medieval lenses, and rather argues for purgatory from tradition, and uses the classic acorn and oak tree analogy. Anyway, Swan writes that “2 Maccabees says their idolatry caused the loss of their lives (2 Macc. 12:40). The text says nothing about prayers for these soldiers to exit purgatory, rather it had to do with resurrection (12:43-45).” The Perspicuity of 2 Maccabees 12 on Purgatory-
Ascol provides some quotes from Bauckham’s gospel-centred book What He Must Be, If He Wants To Marry My Daughter. He believes that fathers have a God-given responsibility to see to it that their daughters marry well and that their sons become worthy husbands. Fathers must model, teach, and hunt for biblical manhood on behalf of their daughters. “We must commit ourselves to preparing our children to find suitable mates without relying on the pagan, relativistic mythology that dominates our day. Divorce courts are filled with people who "followed their hearts" and married Mr. or Mrs. Right. There has to be a better way.” What He Must Be, If He Wants to Marry My Daughter-excerpt 1
Turretinfan continues to point out in the debate over the "Homily of the Papyrus of Turin” that it is not written by Athanasius, and even the Romanists’ supposed source in Le Muséon does not insist that the work was authentic. Rather, the author (Lefort) concurs that the authenticity of the work is not to be established on the basis of the fact that work has Athanasius' name at the top. Response to Steve Ray on the Pseudographic Papyrus of Turin
AiG asks, “What is significant about God shutting the door of the Ark?” saying that it provides a demonstration of the twin truths of man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty. “After God shut the door, the time of judgment arrived. Only those who had gone through the doorway would be saved; no one else could enter. Noah and his family had to obey God’s command to build and then enter the Ark for salvation—but it was God who had commanded the Ark to be built as the means of Noah’s family being saved in this time of judgment. ” http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v2/n2/lord-shut-him-in
Phillips points out that Paul's point in 1 Cor. 13:8-13 is to show the superiority of love to prophecies, tongues, and knowledge; and even to faith and hope, and in the course of this he points out that the former are temporary gifts. These gifts are revelatory (tongues=supernaturally speaking other languages; prophecy is communication of direct, inerrrant, binding revelation from; and knowledge is probably revelatory understanding of theological truth. Phillips has argued that the “best contextual counterpart to the bit-by-bit process of revelation is the completed product, which would be the completed Canon of Scripture” All must admit that they are temporary, though. The thing about 1 Corinthians 13-8-13
Hays provides some quotes talking about Funk, the anti-fundamentalist. The tradition often depicts Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, speaking regularly about himself in exalted fashion, and shows that He thought in terms of the saved and the unsaved, and frequently quoted from and alluded to the Bible. “Funk’s historical Jesus, however, is emancipated from all of this. He has no eschatology to speak of, no christology to speak of, and no soteriology (in the traditional sense) to speak of, and he shows little interest in the Bible.” The quotes go on, “Although I may be entirely mistaken in the matter, I cannot but wonder about the relationship between Funk’s theological preferences and his historical conclusions.” Funk’s Jesus is on Funk’s side. “Consider the fact that Funk has labeled Jesus a ‘secular sage’ who was ‘irreligious, irreverent, and impious.’ This novel evaluation, which could arise only in the modern academy, is not very shrewd. It is about as compelling as the legend that Jesus died in Kashmir, or the occasional attempt to turn Jesus into a revolutionary zealot bent on taking up the sword against Caesar.” The anti-fundamentalist
For those interested in textual criticism, Wasserman has some links to some free scholarly resources. Freebies Online
The Virtual Manuscript Room (VMR) - a major digitization program that will be of great significance for New Testament textual criticism - is under construction – more info here. Virtual Manuscript Room Launch in July
Challies quotes this observation about Obama: “"Obama tells us that we can spend our way out of debt. He tells us that even though the government had control over the banks and did nothing to stop the bad that's going on, if we give them more control over more other bank-like things, then they can make sure bad stuff doesn't happen ever again. He says we can get out of all those big wars President Bush caused by sending more troops into Afghanistan. And I don't know. I really don't know."” HT: 2)
JT provides these quotes from David Hart on the New Atheism: ““By comparison to these men [Hume, Gibbon, Neitzsche] today’s gadflies seem far lazier, less insightful, less subtle, less refined, more emotional, more ethically complacent, and far more interested in facile simplifications of history than in sober and demanding investigations of what Christianity has been or is.” “Atheism that consists in vacuous arguments afloat on oceans of historical ignorance, made turbulent by storms of strident self-righteousness, is as contemptible as any other form of dreary fundamentalism.”” David Hart on the New Atheists
John Frame, who has reviewed Peter Enns’ Inspiration and Incarnation and N.T. Wright’s The Last Word, notes the same point lacking in his friend Andrew McGowan’s The Divine Spiration of Scripture: Challenging Evangelical Perspectives (aka. The Divine Authenticity of Scripture): There is an absence of attention to the nature of the book, and they regard the Bible as any other human book, a trend. What books does Frame recommend: i) B. B. Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible; ii) Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics; iii) Meredith G. Kline, The Structure of Biblical Authority; iv) Ned Stonehouse and Paul Woolley, eds., The Infallible Word; Frame on McGowan on Scripture
Adams points out that Peter was carrying a sword because Jesus had commanded the disciples to obtain them. He argues that this was for self-defence, not to advance the kingdom by force, but rather to fend off robbers and bandits on the roads, and so on. Apostles with a Sword
This anecdote is an illustration that you shouldn’t infer God’s intentions and plans from providential happenings, and to temper one’s thinking with the reminder that it’s not all about YOU. It's Not About You
Trueman points to 14 volumes of Barth’s Church Dogmatics being made available in digitized form. “Anyone who wants to understand the pathway of theology from Scheleiermacher to the present has to come to grips with Barth at some point; and, given the current evangelical infatuation with certain aspects of his thought -- or at least, the current evangelical reception of the same -- this project will prove to be immensely helpful.” Karl Barth in searchable form (Carl Trueman)
Mathis quotes Nichols on the heart of the reformation and a recovery of truth: “at the heart of these various Protestant groups who remain faithful to the gospel there is a common core: a theological center that consists of the authority of Scripture alone and insists that salvation comes by faith alone through God's grace alone—and that this salvation comes through the work of Christ alone.” The Lasting Legacy of the Reformation
Here’s a pile of resources recommended by Driscoll on marriage, and a video for husbands. Driscoll and JT both recommend Andreas Kostenberger's book, God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation: HT: God, Marriage, and Family
Mahaney on self-sufficiency: “"The very act of pausing in a busy day to pray is an act of weakening pride in my life, acknowledging that I am a dependent creature. I am not self-sufficient."” Casting our cares upon the Lord and humbling ourselves before him are critical activities, regardless of how busy we are. And this practice cannot be replaced by hours of careful planning and scheduling. http://www.sovgracemin.org/Blog/post/Self-Sufficient.aspx
JT writes that it is a crucial truth of NT ethics that the imperative (what you should do) is built upon the indicative (what God has done) (1 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 6:12-14, 18-19). It is essential to remember this model so as to fight the flesh (Gal. 5:16, 24). He provides an illustration from Piper of Christ asking you to let Him come into his soul and slay the dragon – where the dragon is you – and then handing the sword to you to go and kill it. “The difference between the Christian life and popular American morality is that Christians will not take one step unless the hand of Christ holds the hand that wields the sword of righteousness.” Slaying the Dragon of Flesh
Romanist e-pologist Dave Armstrong really didn’t like Swan’s use of Raymond Brown. The point seemingly missed by the Romanists is that the infallible magisterium has not really helped with interpretive matters, as comparing the apologist/scholarly commentary on Scripture indicates. On The Joys of Interfaith Discourse
Bloom artistically expands the narrative of Thomas and his doubts, and draws this lesson: “Be patient and gracious with the skeptics in your life. We shouldn't assume their outward confidence accurately reflects their inward condition. Keep praying for them and share what seems helpful. Keep confidently and humbly following Jesus. And trust his timing. He knows best how and when to reveal himself to them. ” I Will Never Believe
Bird has some interesting comments on Mark 14:62, and he doesn’t think Jesus was the first one to link Daniel 7 and Psalm 110 in a messianic testimonium. He points out that the blasphemy charge is similar to what Rabbi Akiba was accused of when he said the "thrones" in Dan. 7.9 refers to one throne for the messiah and another throne for Yahweh. It’s not necessarily a Christian retrojection, and is plausible in a purely Jewish context. ) Jesus' words in the verse make sense of the wider narrative which shifts naturally from an allegation about speaking against the temple, to a messianic question, to Jesus' affirmation of his status, which in turn led to the decision to hand him over to the Romans. Back from SCH
Leeman sums up the How to Love the World chapter of Worldliness. Jeff Purswell begins with a biblical theology of creation and concludes with the cross, which interprets and defines all of life. He gives these tasks.“i) enjoy the world, since it's God's witness and God's gift; (ii) engage the world, as part of the cultural mandate through our work, home, education, leisure and sleep; (iii) evangelize the world, both as individuals and as churches, both in word and deed, since only the redeemed can live as God intended--for his glory.” Worldliness--chapter 6 and appendices by Jonathan Leeman
Gilbart-Smith @ 9Marks points to an article relating the story of a man trying to undo his infant baptism. Gilbert observes the separation between infant baptism and membership/church discipline, and for the 60% of the people in the UK who say they’re Christians but don’t go to church, how is it made known to them that the sign of the covenant doesn’t mean they’re Christian? Gilbert agrees with Dever that infant baptism is done in good faith, and that the damage done to genuine Christians may be limited by inconsistency. He says that institutionally throughout Anglican Britain and Roman Catholic Europe that infant baptism has “been one of the most damaging institutional sins in giving people a sense of assurance, even as they are walking towards hell.“ The unintentional yet damaging institutional sin of infant baptism. by Mike Gilbart-Smith
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