It is said there is an anonymous inscription on an old slab in the ancient cathedral in Lübeck, Germany, which reads:
Thus Speaketh Christ our Lord:
You call me Master and Obey me not
You call me Light and See me not
You call me Way and Walk me not
You call me Life and Desire me not
You call me Wise and Follow me not
You call me Fair and Love me not
You call me Rich and Ask me not
You call me Eternal and Seek me not
You call me Gracious and Trust me not
You call me Just and Fear me not
If I condemn you, Blame me not.
That is convicting to me, but even more that that, in Matthew 5:20 Jesus said "For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." There are two ways of interpreting this, one easy and one difficult. Jesus could simply be alluding to his righteousness which is imputed to us. This is the easy way. But Jesus could be saying what we may all fear he is really saying: that unless we live more righteously than the scribes and pharisees lived, we will in no way enter the kingdom of God. This is the difficult way, and I'm troubled that it may be the correct one. This only points to the absolute connection Scripture makes between being redeemed and then as a result living a redeemed life, something easily overlooked today.
What is even more troubling though is that I often have difficulty explaining this necessary connection, as much as I know it to be true in my heart and mind. This disconnect is most obvious in my evangelism. Sure, I try to explain the necessity of the new birth. I try to explain how we should be grateful for to Christ for what he has done for us, and how good trees produce good fruit...but I can't shake the feeling that there is something deficient about my understanding. Just one evidence of my deficiency is that I have yet to work into a gospel presentation how we have been purchased by God like a slave, and how we must surrender everything to him for the righteousness he has. Maybe it is just as simple as that.
So how will I come to a fuller understanding? By much prayer and scripture, primarily. The Holy Spirit has also gifted many members of our body as teachers, both living and deceased. I'm grateful for the rich Christian heritage that we have, men like Martin Luther who stood against the forces of darkness in his own day proclaiming that "justification is by faith alone, but not a faith that is alone." So short, so elegant, so powerful. Let us all prayerfully search the Word of God, pray, and consult the collective wisdom of Christ's Church to aid in our understanding!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
How Should We Then Live: The Decline of Western Thought and Culture
#27 on Jessica's list of 30 things to do by age 30 is to read one book a year of my choosing. I have enjoyed reading a number of books over the last several years, but she may not necessarily enjoy the same things. I want this book to be one that she will learn a lot from and be excited to read. Should it be a historical book? An exposition of Scripture? Perhaps a philosophical/theological work? For 2008, the choice of book is easy.
I've recently finished reading "How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" by Francis A. Schaeffer. Available as a video series (which I gave to my Dad for Christmas) or a more extensive and thorough book, Schaeffer chronicles the changes in philosophy, art, and science from the Roman times until the recent past (1970's), and how each of those fields influences the others. Well written and enjoyable, I have learned a great deal from it and look forward to one day rereading it as well as reading other Schaeffer books.
Christian thought, grounded in the belief that there is one God who is both rational and knowable, who created and governs the universe, provides the basis for true scientific investigation. Both the Chinese and the Persians made short term advances in science, but did not continue their investigations. The Chinese animists were not convinced that the universe was rational, as they believed in various competing deities who changed the rules governing the universe. The same can be said of the Arab/Persian world, with their commitment to belief in Allah, who they believe is completely unknowable, and is even said to deceive people. Christian men like Sir Isaac Newton were convinced that the God of the Bible, who is rational, made a rational world. Such a commitment provides the incentive to invest energy and thought into understanding the world. Not all men who have made scientific advances are Christians, but Christian thought provides the foundation for those advances. The Reformation saw great advances in architecture(and other art), philosophy, and science.
With the Enlightenment and Rationalism, man saw himself as the measure of truth, and thought that by unaided human reason, man was capable of figuring out ultimate reality. For an example in art, Michelangelo's "David" eschewes this philosophical commitment. "David" is not the David of the Bible, as the statue shows an uncircumcises male. No, this David represents how enlightened thinkers saw themselves: "David"'s overly large hands capable of doing anything, capable of achieving physical and mental perfection.
But over time unaided human reason resulted in pessimism that anything was knowable, and the loss for many of the concept of absolute truth. Life, and everything else in existence, becomes meaningless without reference to absolute, universal truth. In the place of absolute truth is relative truth by consensus, and arbitrary absolutes. Think of Supreme Court arbitrary absolutes on the subject of abortion, and countless other relative "truths" which daily affect us.
The philosophical meaninglessness and absurdity to existence was also carried into art, as can be seen in most modern art, and then to books, plays, TV, and cinema. Art, then, is the vehicle to carry ivory tower philosophies to the average joe on the street. Think of the TV show Seinfeld, and the meaninglessness of relationships, sex, or even having a cogent plot. The movies and television shows we watch all carry some sort of philosophical baggage, but we unknowingly ingest these messages. This aspect of the book really opened my eyes to the fact that I really know very little about the meaning of art and how effective it is in molding society.
There are vast area's of the book I have not touched on, that have greatly aided my understanding of the world in which we live. Ideas have power, and we owe it to ourselves and others to know what those ideas are and how they are continuing to affect every area of our lives and society, and "how we should then live". I hope you all will take my recommendation to read this book.
I've recently finished reading "How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture" by Francis A. Schaeffer. Available as a video series (which I gave to my Dad for Christmas) or a more extensive and thorough book, Schaeffer chronicles the changes in philosophy, art, and science from the Roman times until the recent past (1970's), and how each of those fields influences the others. Well written and enjoyable, I have learned a great deal from it and look forward to one day rereading it as well as reading other Schaeffer books.
Christian thought, grounded in the belief that there is one God who is both rational and knowable, who created and governs the universe, provides the basis for true scientific investigation. Both the Chinese and the Persians made short term advances in science, but did not continue their investigations. The Chinese animists were not convinced that the universe was rational, as they believed in various competing deities who changed the rules governing the universe. The same can be said of the Arab/Persian world, with their commitment to belief in Allah, who they believe is completely unknowable, and is even said to deceive people. Christian men like Sir Isaac Newton were convinced that the God of the Bible, who is rational, made a rational world. Such a commitment provides the incentive to invest energy and thought into understanding the world. Not all men who have made scientific advances are Christians, but Christian thought provides the foundation for those advances. The Reformation saw great advances in architecture(and other art), philosophy, and science.
With the Enlightenment and Rationalism, man saw himself as the measure of truth, and thought that by unaided human reason, man was capable of figuring out ultimate reality. For an example in art, Michelangelo's "David" eschewes this philosophical commitment. "David" is not the David of the Bible, as the statue shows an uncircumcises male. No, this David represents how enlightened thinkers saw themselves: "David"'s overly large hands capable of doing anything, capable of achieving physical and mental perfection.
But over time unaided human reason resulted in pessimism that anything was knowable, and the loss for many of the concept of absolute truth. Life, and everything else in existence, becomes meaningless without reference to absolute, universal truth. In the place of absolute truth is relative truth by consensus, and arbitrary absolutes. Think of Supreme Court arbitrary absolutes on the subject of abortion, and countless other relative "truths" which daily affect us.
The philosophical meaninglessness and absurdity to existence was also carried into art, as can be seen in most modern art, and then to books, plays, TV, and cinema. Art, then, is the vehicle to carry ivory tower philosophies to the average joe on the street. Think of the TV show Seinfeld, and the meaninglessness of relationships, sex, or even having a cogent plot. The movies and television shows we watch all carry some sort of philosophical baggage, but we unknowingly ingest these messages. This aspect of the book really opened my eyes to the fact that I really know very little about the meaning of art and how effective it is in molding society.
There are vast area's of the book I have not touched on, that have greatly aided my understanding of the world in which we live. Ideas have power, and we owe it to ourselves and others to know what those ideas are and how they are continuing to affect every area of our lives and society, and "how we should then live". I hope you all will take my recommendation to read this book.
Friday, October 19, 2007
"Creative" Teaching
Wednesday night I remembered how greatly I enjoy teaching.
I had the opportunity to teach the youth class at church, and will get to teach again next week. The youth pastor Aaron Wills and I were chatting about Creationism one night a few weeks back, he had asked me to come and teach about on the subject in his stead while he is out of town.
It was tough for me to decide what exactly to teach. Not because I have so little to teach on, but because there is too much to choose from. The subject matter of Creation, especially in contrast with Naturalism, encompasses every subject there is. From geology, biology, philosophy, and physics, to dinosaurs, world-views, political systems, and ethics, Naturalism is an all encompassing world-view. A big word I learned recently which describes the naturalistic world-view of evolution is "meta-narrative." A meta-narrative is a story to explain all other stories. Naturalism is philosophically committed to trying to explain everything there is in terms of natural causes, completely excluding the possibility of an outside cause such as God. The Evolution model and the Big Bang model are the stories that underpin and try to explain how Naturalism would work. (I say model, because theories can be tested and observed. Evolution and the Big Bang cannot be tested or observed. They are not theories, but models with predictions about how the world should look.)
The Bible is also a meta-narrative in that Scripture can explains all other stories, or to say it another way, can explain how everything came to be, why things exist the way they are now, and where everything is headed in history. I believe the Bible better answers these questions than any other world view, and does so accurately, meaningfully, and without contradiction. Now that is a lot to talk about, a lot more than can fit in a couple hours!
But I gave it my best shot with the time allowed. I finally decided a good place to start is on the Bible's claims about the age of the earth as compared with the Naturalistic/Evolutionary view of billions of years, and various ways you can show that the earth is no more than six to ten thousand years old. I also talked about some of the consequences of the two differing views of the world. The credibility of Jesus, and the entire rest of the Bible, are at stake since Jesus claims that man was made in the beginning, on the sixth day of creation. But as things go, I ran out of time before I could talk about some of my favorite issues. So, I issued a challenge for when the group returns next Wednesday night. The challenge for them is to bring the top 'proofs' offered in their science textbooks for Evolution and/or questions they may have about the Bible's claims for us to discuss. I’m fairly certain my favorite topics will come up from that, but I also want to try and answer what most challenges them. It should prove to be even more exciting than this class was.
What do I hope for them to gain out of all of this? Primarily I want the students’ faith in God’s word to increase and I want them to always be prepared to give an answer for the faith which they have. I also want them to have the same wonder and amazement that I have when I look at the world, to see that the creation proclaims the glory of its Maker.
For your reading and viewing pleasure, here are some recommended websites:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
--has great articles on a large array of subjects.
http://www.creationscience.com/
--has a free online book which is especially strong in its explanations of geology and the physical sciences, written be an engineer. The book is also available for purchase in a hard back version (which I have), suitable for middle school and up.
http://www.nwcreation.net/videos/index.html
Free videos on a wide variety of subjects
Some good books to read:
Scientific Creationism Edited by Henry M. Morris, 1974 .Creation-Life Publishers. ISBN 0-89051-003-2
In The Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood - by Dr. Walt Brown
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe. 1998. Touchstone Books (Simon & Schuster), 320 pages. ISBN # 0-684-82754-9
Bones of Contention: A Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils - Marvin L. Lubenow: 1992 Baker Books. ISBN 0-8010-5677-2
Darwin on Trial - Phillip E. Johnson. 1993 InterVarsity Press, 195 pages.
Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? - by Jonathan Wells. 2002. Regnery Publishing. 338 pages.
I had the opportunity to teach the youth class at church, and will get to teach again next week. The youth pastor Aaron Wills and I were chatting about Creationism one night a few weeks back, he had asked me to come and teach about on the subject in his stead while he is out of town.
It was tough for me to decide what exactly to teach. Not because I have so little to teach on, but because there is too much to choose from. The subject matter of Creation, especially in contrast with Naturalism, encompasses every subject there is. From geology, biology, philosophy, and physics, to dinosaurs, world-views, political systems, and ethics, Naturalism is an all encompassing world-view. A big word I learned recently which describes the naturalistic world-view of evolution is "meta-narrative." A meta-narrative is a story to explain all other stories. Naturalism is philosophically committed to trying to explain everything there is in terms of natural causes, completely excluding the possibility of an outside cause such as God. The Evolution model and the Big Bang model are the stories that underpin and try to explain how Naturalism would work. (I say model, because theories can be tested and observed. Evolution and the Big Bang cannot be tested or observed. They are not theories, but models with predictions about how the world should look.)
The Bible is also a meta-narrative in that Scripture can explains all other stories, or to say it another way, can explain how everything came to be, why things exist the way they are now, and where everything is headed in history. I believe the Bible better answers these questions than any other world view, and does so accurately, meaningfully, and without contradiction. Now that is a lot to talk about, a lot more than can fit in a couple hours!
But I gave it my best shot with the time allowed. I finally decided a good place to start is on the Bible's claims about the age of the earth as compared with the Naturalistic/Evolutionary view of billions of years, and various ways you can show that the earth is no more than six to ten thousand years old. I also talked about some of the consequences of the two differing views of the world. The credibility of Jesus, and the entire rest of the Bible, are at stake since Jesus claims that man was made in the beginning, on the sixth day of creation. But as things go, I ran out of time before I could talk about some of my favorite issues. So, I issued a challenge for when the group returns next Wednesday night. The challenge for them is to bring the top 'proofs' offered in their science textbooks for Evolution and/or questions they may have about the Bible's claims for us to discuss. I’m fairly certain my favorite topics will come up from that, but I also want to try and answer what most challenges them. It should prove to be even more exciting than this class was.
What do I hope for them to gain out of all of this? Primarily I want the students’ faith in God’s word to increase and I want them to always be prepared to give an answer for the faith which they have. I also want them to have the same wonder and amazement that I have when I look at the world, to see that the creation proclaims the glory of its Maker.
For your reading and viewing pleasure, here are some recommended websites:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
--has great articles on a large array of subjects.
http://www.creationscience.com/
--has a free online book which is especially strong in its explanations of geology and the physical sciences, written be an engineer. The book is also available for purchase in a hard back version (which I have), suitable for middle school and up.
http://www.nwcreation.net/videos/index.html
Free videos on a wide variety of subjects
Some good books to read:
Scientific Creationism Edited by Henry M. Morris, 1974 .Creation-Life Publishers. ISBN 0-89051-003-2
In The Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood - by Dr. Walt Brown
Darwin's Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe. 1998. Touchstone Books (Simon & Schuster), 320 pages. ISBN # 0-684-82754-9
Bones of Contention: A Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils - Marvin L. Lubenow: 1992 Baker Books. ISBN 0-8010-5677-2
Darwin on Trial - Phillip E. Johnson. 1993 InterVarsity Press, 195 pages.
Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? - by Jonathan Wells. 2002. Regnery Publishing. 338 pages.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
His yoke is easy, His burden is light
I forget things at times. Ask Jessica and she will tell you I forget much more than I even know (go figure that.) As I was washing every food-caked-dish we own last night, I was jamming out to Caedmon's call. A song (Your love oh Lord) played, and it inspired me to remember what I all too often forget: just how easy the yoke of Jesus is, how light is his burden.
This thought comes on the heels of writing back and forth with someone of a different faith. She wrote:
"the most important aspect of any religion is the concept of SALVATION. this verse, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness" (Romans 4:5) how can ur faith be reckoned as righteousness when you show no good works? there is a reason why we Muslims follow the teachings of Jesus and Muhammed (peace be upon them both)....it is to ACHIEVE salvation as God has ordained for us." (emphasis hers)
What a different view, always looking for a way to earn what is actually a free gift. What a heavy burden to bear. Of course, this passage is not saying that the one saved will show no works. The idea being expressed is "But to the one who does not work [to earn his salvation], but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly [for his salvation], his faith [in Christ's work on his behalf] is reckoned as righteousness." Though not exhaustive, that is the context of the passage. Jesus plain teaching, as with the rest of Scripture, is that salvation can only be received by faith because our works are not good enough.
He says "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."(Matt. 11:29-30) Throughout history, people have sought salvation by works. But, the Bible teaches that they ALL fail at such an attempt. Christians believe that (and the Bible teaches that) the good works necessary for anyone to be saved were performed by Jesus Christ, and credited to our account for anyone who has faith. The works we do now are no longer as a bond servant, forever trying to pay off a debt that grows exponentially every day. No, the works we do now are as sons of God, out of love for our Father. The grace of God so radically changes those who have been redeemed that we long to do what God says, simply because he asks. Because we love Him. Because He loved us first.
Lamentations 3:22-23
"22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Debate with Muslims: Proof, not mere evidence
Recently I've been dialoguing with some Muslim aquaintances of mine about all manner of issue. One of those debates can be found here: The great challenge to produce one chapter like the chapters of the Holy Quran
We've run into a problem here, one which may shed some light on what our debate is really about to anyone else who may be reading this.
Mohammed wrote a number of things about Jesus and the Bible that conflict with what the Bible itself. As a basic tenent of your faith, you must necessarily argue that the Bible is in error. If you are to hold to your faith, it is paramount that you discredit the Bible and assert that the authors of its book misquote Jesus, and so on. If not, Mohammed is wrong and your whole religion crumbles. Would you agree?
Christianity does not need to prove that there has been errors in transmision of the Quran. It can be exactly reproduced from what Mohammed wrote for all we care. All we need to do is show the proof or necessity of Jesus Christ being fully divine and fully human, and that by default makes Mohammed in error. Not that the text was copied inaccurately, but that when he wrote it he was himself wrong.
Thus, Muslims mount evidence, and loads of it, against the Bible. Christians then supply answers for why this evidence is inconclusive, distorted, or plain wrong. And on we go, endlessly. But there is a difference between evidence and proof. Your arguments rely upon a weight of evidence with which you hope to smother the opposition. Christians do the same against evolution, showing by weight of evidence how it is wrong. Proof is different. Proof requires rational arguments that necessarily lead to a conclusion if the premises are correct. In the case of evolution, we can rationally prove that pure chance can't creat anything, and that the world cannot be eternally old and self-existent, otherwise the laws of thermodynamics prove that the universe would have died a cold death. Such arguments don't rely upon a weight of evidence, but upon proof. Proof doesn't need evidence that can be debated back and forth. Proof only needs basic presuppositions we can agree upon, and a line of reasoning that conforms to the rules of logic. The conclusion is then a necessity, whether we like that conclusion or not.
Christianity has survived 2000 years against endless attempt to smother with evidence. The Liberals who hate God, yet want to keep the morality of the Bible, also mount such attacks on the Bible. So do Atheists and Agnostics. It is likely where many of your evidences comes from, such as the late dates of the Gospels, or the JDEP source theory for the Pentateuch. I can show that the Gospels must have had an early date, and Mosaic authorship, but what is the point? A basic tenent on your faith requires you to deny the inerrancy of Scripture, and no weight of evidence will change that, no matter how convincing. You can just say we are wrong.
So what I'm saying is, we are at a dead lock when it comes to "mounting evidence" against each other. I know that no weight of evidence, however true it may be, can convince you that the Quran is wrong. Nor can your weight of evidence convince me the Bible is wrong, because it is only evidence, not proof. I've studied the evidence agaisnt the Bible. I find it faulty, historically ill-supported, and very conjectural.
You need to give me proof that God cannot be Trinity. I need to provide you with proof (logical necessity) that God must be Trinity, and that for God to let anyone into Heaven their sins must be paid for by a worthy sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Everything hinges on that, and everything falls into place if that is true.
Here is the question I pose for us to debate: How can God be both just, and the justifier of men?
Will you grant that God is just? Second, will you grant that all men have a conscience given them by God? Third, will you grant that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments? I think those three would be a good starting place.
We've run into a problem here, one which may shed some light on what our debate is really about to anyone else who may be reading this.
Mohammed wrote a number of things about Jesus and the Bible that conflict with what the Bible itself. As a basic tenent of your faith, you must necessarily argue that the Bible is in error. If you are to hold to your faith, it is paramount that you discredit the Bible and assert that the authors of its book misquote Jesus, and so on. If not, Mohammed is wrong and your whole religion crumbles. Would you agree?
Christianity does not need to prove that there has been errors in transmision of the Quran. It can be exactly reproduced from what Mohammed wrote for all we care. All we need to do is show the proof or necessity of Jesus Christ being fully divine and fully human, and that by default makes Mohammed in error. Not that the text was copied inaccurately, but that when he wrote it he was himself wrong.
Thus, Muslims mount evidence, and loads of it, against the Bible. Christians then supply answers for why this evidence is inconclusive, distorted, or plain wrong. And on we go, endlessly. But there is a difference between evidence and proof. Your arguments rely upon a weight of evidence with which you hope to smother the opposition. Christians do the same against evolution, showing by weight of evidence how it is wrong. Proof is different. Proof requires rational arguments that necessarily lead to a conclusion if the premises are correct. In the case of evolution, we can rationally prove that pure chance can't creat anything, and that the world cannot be eternally old and self-existent, otherwise the laws of thermodynamics prove that the universe would have died a cold death. Such arguments don't rely upon a weight of evidence, but upon proof. Proof doesn't need evidence that can be debated back and forth. Proof only needs basic presuppositions we can agree upon, and a line of reasoning that conforms to the rules of logic. The conclusion is then a necessity, whether we like that conclusion or not.
Christianity has survived 2000 years against endless attempt to smother with evidence. The Liberals who hate God, yet want to keep the morality of the Bible, also mount such attacks on the Bible. So do Atheists and Agnostics. It is likely where many of your evidences comes from, such as the late dates of the Gospels, or the JDEP source theory for the Pentateuch. I can show that the Gospels must have had an early date, and Mosaic authorship, but what is the point? A basic tenent on your faith requires you to deny the inerrancy of Scripture, and no weight of evidence will change that, no matter how convincing. You can just say we are wrong.
So what I'm saying is, we are at a dead lock when it comes to "mounting evidence" against each other. I know that no weight of evidence, however true it may be, can convince you that the Quran is wrong. Nor can your weight of evidence convince me the Bible is wrong, because it is only evidence, not proof. I've studied the evidence agaisnt the Bible. I find it faulty, historically ill-supported, and very conjectural.
You need to give me proof that God cannot be Trinity. I need to provide you with proof (logical necessity) that God must be Trinity, and that for God to let anyone into Heaven their sins must be paid for by a worthy sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Everything hinges on that, and everything falls into place if that is true.
Here is the question I pose for us to debate: How can God be both just, and the justifier of men?
Will you grant that God is just? Second, will you grant that all men have a conscience given them by God? Third, will you grant that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments? I think those three would be a good starting place.
Transparency of Christianity in relation to the Bible
I've been in some discussion lately with some Muslim. Most of it centers around attacks on Scripture and why there would be different books in the Catholic and Protestant Bibles. For the reason why Muslims are so dead set on discrediting the Bible, see this blog. Here is my answer, which I think you will enjoy. (It will also help you debunk Davinci Code theories)
The transparency of Christianity in relation to its texts is a virtue, not a weakness. We don't destroy alternate copies, we preserve them and can show why, how, and when mistakes in copy were made, and can prove definitively what the originals said. The same cannot be said of the Quran...all you have is one edited compiled copy, and you have to trust that the one doing the editing wasn't mistaken, since all of the evidence of other texts has been destroyed. You can't prove it. We can. (But I'm not arguing the Quran has accumulated errors in its transmission, just showing you that if you follow this line of argument you will tear your own Quran apart by the exact same faulty arguments.)
In relation to the Christian cannon, those books Christians hold to be inspired by God and thus infallible, we know much from attacks upon the cannon. The early heretic Marcion made a list of which books of the Old and New Testament he considered to be false, and which were true (even some he edited to fit his strange theology.) By telling us which documents he thought were correct and which he did not, that tells us exactly which documents the early church held to be inspired. Ecclesiasticus, the Maccabees, and a few other books in the Catholic Bible are not on those lists. Marcion did not need to argue that these books were uninspired, because no one believed they were when he was writing. Does that make sense?
There are a number of other lines of reasoning and evidences, such as which Old Testament books are quoted in the New Testament, and so on, but that should suffice I think to show which books the early church father accepted as inspired.
If that didn't make sense yet, here are a couple illustrations to explain further....
I'm not necessarily asking if you agree and think the Bible is inspired or anything, just if the argument is rational. Let me give one last example: Suppose a document were found from the 7th or 8th century which made claims that Surah's 1-100 are not correct, only 101-114 are correct. (I didn't want to list the names of each of the Surah's, but suppose the author had mentioned them by name.) What would that tell us? It would tell us the Muslims of the 7th and 8th century held that Surah's 1-114 are legitimately part of the Koran, otherwise this heretic would not have needed to argue against something no one believed. The author would not need to argue that the Works of Josephus were not a part of the Koran. Why? Because no one thought they were.
In the same way, the heretic Marcion listed all of the 66 books we have in the Bible, arguing some were inspired and others were not. We know why he argued as he did, because he was a Gnostic, trying to mix strange paganism with Christianity. But Marcion didn't argue that The Works of Josephus were not a part of Scripture, nor that they were a part. He didn't even mention them. Why? Because no one thought they were a part of Scripture, hence no reason to even bring them up. the same goes for the extra books of the Apocrapha.
So yes, the 66 books are inspired. Again, this is not why the 66 books were 'chosen.' (that is a whole different subject, and one which we have to cover on a book by book basis...quite a lengthy process) But from our perspective 1900 or so years later, we can know exactly which books of the Bible the early church fathers (those who were the direct disciples of the Apostles) believed were inspired due to attacks upon it, and the true church's response to Marcion in defense of those same 66 books.
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Thailand!
God willing, Jessi and I will be headed to Chiangmai, Thailand this Summer! I had been meaning to post a note here about it for some time, but have been busy studying for finals and such. (still am...or should be...)
We will be gone from July 11 through July 30. While there, I will take a class on "Buddhism and Islam" and an "International Evangelism Practicum." Translation: I get to learn about both of those religions and witness to Imams at Mosques and Monks at Temples. We will also get to go to the Buddhist University near Chiangmai and talk with students who want to improve their english.
Of course we won't be alone. A group from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, another from Southeastern Seminary, and some missionaries from Southeast Asia will all be meeting up in Chiangmai. A couple of our friends who are lifetime missionaries, Katie and Joseph, will also be going. So while Joseph and I are in classes and out at various locations, Jessi will be helping Katie with the kids as they traverse the area witnessing to locals and doing a little shopping/site-seeing.
Thailand is 95% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, and 1% everything else. So, please be praying that God would open the hearts of the Thai people to receive the Gospel, and that we wil be emboldened to share it with them.
Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak in front of the Eisenhauer Road Baptist Church congregation about our trip. It was "Missions Day," so I was able to put in a plug for various kind of missions, as well request for ourselves prayers, encouragement, and financial aid.
One plug I made while talking, which I'm making again here, was for the Cooperative Program of the SBC. Besides cutting my tuition in half for seminary, which is already significantly cheaper then other evangelical seminaries, the Cooperative program supports other efforts including the 5000+ international missionaries and 5000+ North American missionaries. So instead of missionaries spliting their time and energy between missions work and worrying where their next meal will come from (or requesting aid from friends, family, and churches like we are doing) they get to devote all of their time to their work.
The one drawback of the Cooperative program is the annonimity. Most of us don't kno who any of them are. So while their financial needs are met through the Coop. Prog. (most of it from Lotti Moon offering) we do still need to partner with them for prayer and encouragement. Maybe send them care packages occasionaly as well. In many places you can't get BBQ sauce, or coffee, or even a pound of sugar.
Jessica and I might not be called to full time international missions work, and you might not be either (though none of us should ever rule it out and tell God what we won't do!) But we are all given the Great Commission, and one of the ways we can fulfill that is by sending out and supporting missionaries just as Paul and Barnabas were sent out. Pray for them, encourage them, partner with them, let them come tell their stories at your churches when they come back to the States, and give to the Lotti Moon Christmas offering. 100% of that goes directly to funding international missions work. Since I've been here at SWBTS in Ft. Worth I've been able to meet and get to know closely a number of missionaries. I've been highly impressed by their character, so if I come off sounding passionate about missions, its because I've really come to believe that the work they do is of God and worth our support.
Alright, that's the end of my plug for the Cooperative Program. :) If you have any questions about our trip to Thailand, please let me know. If we are able to, Jessi and I will post blogs and pictures from Thailand. Pray for us!
We will be gone from July 11 through July 30. While there, I will take a class on "Buddhism and Islam" and an "International Evangelism Practicum." Translation: I get to learn about both of those religions and witness to Imams at Mosques and Monks at Temples. We will also get to go to the Buddhist University near Chiangmai and talk with students who want to improve their english.
Of course we won't be alone. A group from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, another from Southeastern Seminary, and some missionaries from Southeast Asia will all be meeting up in Chiangmai. A couple of our friends who are lifetime missionaries, Katie and Joseph, will also be going. So while Joseph and I are in classes and out at various locations, Jessi will be helping Katie with the kids as they traverse the area witnessing to locals and doing a little shopping/site-seeing.
Thailand is 95% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, and 1% everything else. So, please be praying that God would open the hearts of the Thai people to receive the Gospel, and that we wil be emboldened to share it with them.
Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to speak in front of the Eisenhauer Road Baptist Church congregation about our trip. It was "Missions Day," so I was able to put in a plug for various kind of missions, as well request for ourselves prayers, encouragement, and financial aid.
One plug I made while talking, which I'm making again here, was for the Cooperative Program of the SBC. Besides cutting my tuition in half for seminary, which is already significantly cheaper then other evangelical seminaries, the Cooperative program supports other efforts including the 5000+ international missionaries and 5000+ North American missionaries. So instead of missionaries spliting their time and energy between missions work and worrying where their next meal will come from (or requesting aid from friends, family, and churches like we are doing) they get to devote all of their time to their work.
The one drawback of the Cooperative program is the annonimity. Most of us don't kno who any of them are. So while their financial needs are met through the Coop. Prog. (most of it from Lotti Moon offering) we do still need to partner with them for prayer and encouragement. Maybe send them care packages occasionaly as well. In many places you can't get BBQ sauce, or coffee, or even a pound of sugar.
Jessica and I might not be called to full time international missions work, and you might not be either (though none of us should ever rule it out and tell God what we won't do!) But we are all given the Great Commission, and one of the ways we can fulfill that is by sending out and supporting missionaries just as Paul and Barnabas were sent out. Pray for them, encourage them, partner with them, let them come tell their stories at your churches when they come back to the States, and give to the Lotti Moon Christmas offering. 100% of that goes directly to funding international missions work. Since I've been here at SWBTS in Ft. Worth I've been able to meet and get to know closely a number of missionaries. I've been highly impressed by their character, so if I come off sounding passionate about missions, its because I've really come to believe that the work they do is of God and worth our support.
Alright, that's the end of my plug for the Cooperative Program. :) If you have any questions about our trip to Thailand, please let me know. If we are able to, Jessi and I will post blogs and pictures from Thailand. Pray for us!
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