As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
If you haven’t stumbled across Simonetta Carr’s excellent set of “Christian Biographies for Young Readers,” you and your children are missing out. Each of the six titles in the series are beautifully illustrated, historically accurate, age-appropriate biographies for upper elementary-aged children. In the last couple years I have reviewed three of the titles and wanted to share about them here for our readers.
Read the series so far.
Progressive revelation relies in the first instance upon the competence of how that revelation has been communicated. To deny this point is to cast doubt upon the utility of the modifier “progressive.” Revelation has to reveal or else it is not a revelation. Progressive revelation has to reveal progressively in a logically connectable way in order to be what it claims to be and to substantiate itself.
Think about the doctrine of the Trinity. It is a classic illustration of progressive revelation. As it starts out, the Bible introduces God. Then it speaks about the Spirit of God who broods in contemplation over the unformed mass (Gen. 1:2). We get to the schema (Deut. 6:4), and we learn that the God who is “one” (echad, which can mean a plurality in unity as in Gen. 2:24) is perhaps just such a plurality in unity. Numbers 6:24-26 hints also at this, as of course do the inner discussions of God with Himself (the “let us” passages) in Genesis 1:26, and 10:7, and the occurrence of the Visitor to Abraham, who, as Yahweh called down fire and brimstone from Yahweh in heaven in Genesis 19:24. Then we read Psalm 110:1 and Proverbs 8:22-31 add to the picture of a Deity who is alone God but is not unitarian. Indeed, Messiah is given Divine attributes in Micah 5:2 and is called “Immanuel” in Isaiah 7:14 and “Mighty God” in Isaiah 9:6. Yahweh is betrayed for thirty pieces of silver in Zechariah 11:12-13.
Poll Results
Did Jesus experience burnout in Mark 3-4 (esp. 3:21,31,4:36 “just as he was”), in your opinion?
Yes, he probably burned out, which is why he slept so deeply. Votes: 0
Almost; he was probably on the verge. Votes: 1
No, he was probably just very tired. Votes: 6
No, not even close. Votes: 1
Other Votes: 1
Read the series so far.
There is a second way in which Auctor (Latin nickname for the author of Hebrews) effectively but succinctly presents his message. Beginning in Hebrews 2:9, he mentions Jesus by his personal name in the first of ten times. But the way in which he does it is obscured by most of the English translations. He piles up the titles and activities of Jesus first and then concludes by mentioning his name. This rhetorical device (climax) builds anticipation on the part of the reader until the climax arrives: JESUS!
The NASB does express the word order correctly the first time this occurs. “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus” (Heb. 2:9). This translation accurately reflects the word order of the Greek sentence. The sentence builds to a climax and then that climax is announced: Jesus. In nine of the ten occurrences he mentions Jesus by that name alone, including our two exemplar texts (Heb. 3:1, 12:2). Listen to them this way. “Fix your thoughts on the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, JESUS” (Heb. 3:1). “Fix our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith, JESUS” (12:2). The parallel structure of the two commands becomes even more evident by his delaying the name of Jesus until the end, thus building anticipation until the rhetorical climax arrives: JESUS.
Read the series so far.
With over 40,000 members, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas is the largest church in the United States. For better or for worse, Lakewood and its leader Joel Osteen are profoundly influential. One significant area of influence is in the realm of spiritual gifts. A search of the terms “spiritual gifts” on Lakewood’s website produced (at the top of the list) a downloadable booklet called Understanding the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, from Joel Osteen Ministries, and authored by Lisa Comes. The booklet explains how and why one should speak in tongues, and cites speaking in tongues as evidence of the baptism of the Holy Spirit (point 5, page 3). The view promoted in the booklet is not original with Lakewood, Osteen, or Comes—in fact, it is the prevailing view in Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations. But is it a biblical view? Is speaking in tongues needed evidence that we have the Holy Spirit?
First, as we considered in the previous article, Romans 8:9 emphatically notes that “if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” By contrast Osteen’s and Comes’s booklet cites Acts (2:17-19, 39), Luke (11:13), and John (7:37-39) to support the point that not every believer has the Holy Spirit. And it is true that Romans presents a very different picture of how one receives the Holy Spirit than do the Gospels and even the book of Acts. But rather than contradicting one another, these books consider different contexts—different times, and different ways in which God has worked over the ages (nothing contradictory at all). To illustrate, Joel Osteen has never (to my knowledge) advocated that believers today should present to the Lord two turtledoves or two young pigeons as is mandated in Leviticus 5:7. Presumably this is because Osteen recognizes that Leviticus was written about a different people and context than the church of today.
“We need to love them more than their gay friends do, and we need to love them more than they love their homosexuality. Only then can we point to the greater love that God has for them” (p. 73).
I am about to work through Hebrews with my Greek Exegesis class, so I am reminded of a discovery I made in Hebrews a few years ago. I am happy to follow up my post of a couple of days ago with some fresh ideas.
Recently I have discovered two effective ways in which Auctor (Latin for author of the Letter to the Hebrews) exhorts us to recognize the main theme in his book—Jesus. First, twice he calls particular attention to the One who is the real answer to his readers’ problems—Jesus. In 3:1 he writes: “Holy brothers, partakers of a heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, JESUS.” And in 12:2 he writes, “Fixing our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith, JESUS.” These two statements, each from one of the two main sections of the book (1:1-10:18 and 10:19-13:25) are strikingly parallel in their structure.
Fix your thoughts on the Apostle and High Priest of our confession Jesus
κατανοήσατε τὸν ἀπόστολον καὶ ἀρχιερέα τῆς ὁμολογίας ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν
Fix our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our faith Jesus
ἀφορῶντες εἰς τὸν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ τελειωτὴν τῆς πίστεως Ἰησοῦν
Discussion