Why I Won't Preach Mark 16:9-20
Textual criticism is a highly technical discipline. Ordinary pastors can’t hope to know everything about the subject. But, they can pay attention in Seminary and read enough to be familiar with the basic issues. The congregation has notes in their margins or footnotes, telling them all about Acts 8:37, John 7:53 - 8:11, John 5:7-8 and Mark 16:9-20. A pastor needs to know enough to answer the more obvious questions these footnotes will generate.
In my opinion, these are some very useful tools to help:
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Ending Religion—It’s a Bad Idea … Says Richard Dawkins?
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“Dawkins has spent his life fighting against God (the God he doesn’t believe even exists). But he still recognizes that atheism (the worldview religion of Richard Dawkins) doesn’t provide the foundation for morality that is needed to keep people from doing ‘really bad things.’” - AiG
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The Lordship Salvation Issue
The Lordship Salvation Issue is surely one of those many topics where the less I say the better. Nevertheless, I do want to say something (with some sense of trepidation).
Most of my friends are non-Lordship Salvation. Many are far more informed than I am. In many ways I’m over my head, and would rather avoid division – if for nothing else to avoid embarrassing myself. So in the few discussions I’ve had, I’ve tended not to say much.
Let every person do their own study and come to their own conclusion.
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The Textual Frankenstein of Modern Critical Text Theory
A passionate Textus Receptus advocate named Jonathan Sheffield recently published a video about textual criticism, framed around James White, a well-known Reformed apologist and PhD candidate in textual criticism. Although Sheffield apparently does not realize that Frankenstein is the name of Mary Shelley’s scientist, not the monster (who is never named), he raises a number of objections to modern textual critical theory.
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Covenant in Ezekiel, Part 1
The Glory of the Lord
Ezekiel begins with a vision of what appears to be a moveable throne, with a kind of platform beneath it (Ezek. 1:22-26). At its sides, just below the platform were wheels (Ezek. 1:19-21), and creatures full of life (“living creatures”), who had some sort of symbiotic attachment to each other; the creatures energizing the wheels.1 These are identified later as cherubim (Ezek. 10:1ff.). The “voice of the Almighty” seemed to be heard in the wings of these creatures (Ezek.
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“...whatever faith is and however you might describe it, it is not a work”
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“Twice recently I have heard about those who teach that faith is a work. One variation is simply that: faith is a work, and so we cannot encourage or exhort people to believe. The second variation is: faith is the first work a person does after regeneration.” - Matt Postiff (See also Part 2)
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Do you (at least sometimes) read Puritan writers?
A recent SI post got me thinking about this, and the effect of Puritan writers in my own devotional life. I am not an avid Puritan reader, but an occasional one. On the positive side, their quest and hunger for godliness inspires me. On the negative, they tend to “pound,” and I am the type of person who finds pounding counterproductive. But, despite the negative, I can appreciate the positive.
What about you? Have the Puritan greats (or unknowns) inspired or challenged you?
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The Puritans Had Two Shots at Building a Godly Society
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“In both arenas—that of England and New England—their political experiments collapsed, but they left behind a legacy of personal piety, pastoral purity, and theological rigor that many Christians today rightly find both challenging and inspiring.” - Christianity Today
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What Is the “Law of Christ”? A Bit of Research
Rightly understanding the relationship between today’s Christians and the law delivered to Moses depends on multiple factors. One of them is grasping the meaning of the NT phrase “law of Christ” (See this article and discussion from last week). The phrase, or a very similar one, occurs twice in most translations—in 1 Corinthians 9:21, and Galatians 6:2.
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