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On July 11, 2019 By In Books, Theology

A Response to Michael Heiser: “Yes, the Bible is All About Jesus!”

“Everything in the Bible isn’t about Jesus.” That’s the thesis of Michael Heiser’s piece at Logos Talk. As examples, he argues that the “procedures for diagnosing and treating leprosy” and the laws “forbidding people who’ve had sex or lost blood from entering sacred space” aren’t about Jesus.” He goes so far as to make the bold assertion that “No Israelite would have thought of a messianic deliverer when reading these or many other passages.” Heiser concludes his essay with his central concern that “While the drama of the biblical epic ultimately leads to Jesus, he isn’t the ultimate focal point of every passage.”

It appears to me that Heiser is particularly concerned about developing a hermeneutic that leaves the interpreter off the hook when it comes to studying the Bible or to make connections to Jesus that simply aren’t there.

I appreciate Heiser’s motivations but believe that his approach is misguided and ultimately can do greater damage to Bible interpreters everywhere. I would begin by stating that Heiser’s approach to the topic is fairly minimalistic. He asserts that unless the New Testament alludes to Old Testament presenting Jesus as the messianic deliver and fulfillment, therefore, Jesus must not be read into such ancient texts. This minimalistic approach actually discourages the reader and forces them to put boundaries in the text that do not exist. But the Holy Spirit is a creative God who moves and lives in the narratives of the Bible and who offers a rich array of harmonious themes throughout. Themes of marriage, war, sea, dry land, and creatures are already presented to us in the early chapters of the Bible to prepare us for all its luxurious repetitions throughout the rest of the Bible. Indeed the Word himself appears in the creation narrative which leads to the question: “How can the One in whom all things cohere not be found in some manner in the stories, laws, and descriptions of the Bible?”

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On July 7, 2019 By In Counseling/Piety, Theology, Wisdom

Merciful Coals of Fire

“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For so you will heap coals of fire on his head, And Yahweh will reward you.” (Prov 25.21-22; cf. also Rom 12.20).

Since the fall, a line of antithesis has been drawn between the serpent and his seed and the woman and her seed (Gen 3.15). We are mortal enemies. We each desire the other’s destruction, though destruction doesn’t mean exactly the same on both sides of the line. The serpent and his seed desire and work toward the annihilation of God and his image; utter destruction. The woman and her seed desire and work toward expulsion or conversion of the serpent’s seed.

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On June 29, 2019 By In Counseling/Piety, Culture, Theology

Gay Christian?

One of the first acts of dominion Adam had was naming the animals. That process involved recognizing certain God-created qualities about the animals and then giving them a name that corresponded to those qualities. Naming was an exercise of authority that set animals in their proper relationships with one another and the man. Names set boundaries, giving the animals and man their respective cultures in which to live. Adam recognized this from the beginning as he was naming all of the animals and realized that among them there was no helper comparable to him. It is not until God creates Eve from Adam’s side that he names her with a name that corresponds to his own. She is ‘issha because she was taken out of ‘ish (Gen 2.23). Indeed, male and female are ‘adam (Gen 1.27).

Names tells us who we are. They tell us our cultural boundaries at macro and micro levels. As humans (or “man”) our name is “image of God.” That name sets the boundaries of our relationship to God, to one another, and the world around us. “Image of God” establishes the God-ordained culture in which we are to live and which we are to cultivate.

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On June 26, 2019 By In Theology

How is God called Father?

Our most basic statement of faith, the Apostles’ Creed sets forth the essential truths about how we are to understand the Christian God. This Creed begins with, “I believe in God the Father Almighty” as the foundational statement of Christian theology and serves to articulate the first leg of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. The term “God the Father” applied to the first member of the Godhead is later complemented by the identification of Jesus as the “God the Son.” Identifying these two persons of the Trinity with titles that are also associated with the human roles of father and son.

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On June 25, 2019 By In Culture, Theology, Wisdom

Toward a Philosophy of Tech Implants, Part 2

Scenarios to Consider

Continuing the discussion from last time, let’s look at a couple of possible scenarios. There are a lot of unknowns about technology so these are really hypothetical scenarios rather than real predictions. These are useful to consider because they help make the five principles concrete. Here are the five principles: 1. Natural form of the body matters, 2. The soul matters to the body, 3. What is the purpose of technology, 4. Treat the body as made in the image of God, 5. Technology is a tool.

The first scenario to consider: a third arm implant. While this might seem strange, this seems like a pretty reasonable development. If there is a way to implant a third arm on a body, then that could offer a number of interesting possibilities for people. An extra hand to hold a phone, operate a machine, complete a complicated task. How do the principles in the last article apply to this?

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On June 20, 2019 By In Culture, Theology, Wisdom

Toward a Philosophy of Tech Implants, Part 1

Introduction

Computer technology is changing rapidly. There are many wonderful gifts with this technological advancement and there are also many issues that accompany it. One of the challenges facing the Church is thinking through the morality of these developments and working out principles that help guide the use of these new tools. There are technological developments where the morality of the issue is not complicated and is obviously wrong (e.g. robosex, etc) and then there are other developments that are more complicated. Acknowledging the complication in this matter is not an excuse to ignore these things, but rather this means we need to think carefully about them. This means that we need to get the conversation going now in order to arrive at a thoughtful position. In keeping with that spirit, this discussion is offered as a prompt (divided into two articles).

In this discussion, I will focus on tech implants. What I mean by that term is a piece of technology that you would physically and permanently attach to your body. These implants could include things like an earphone implant in your ear, a digital bar-code implant in your hand, or even an extra computer arm. While some of these might seem bizarre and far-fetched, the point is to consider the principles involved rather than trying to predict the next technological development.

This is an important discussion because we live in a time which emphasizes the fluidity between the human body and our identity. This discussion on tech implants is downstream from the fundamental questions of what is the human body and how should we understand the relationship between body and soul. In these discussions, we must emphasize that God designed us as bearing His image which in turns gives dignity to the human person.

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On June 16, 2019 By In Theology

God In The Ordinary

Ordinary. That’s a boring word, isn’t it? Monotonous. Monochrome. Bland. Everyone around is always trying to get us to break free from the ordinary. Everything must be extraordinary all the time. Of course, when everything is extraordinary, nothing is. Consequently, there is a constant longing and search for the next great thing. This is a fool’s errand that leads to discontent frustration. The person who is joyful is the person who can learn to be content in the ordinary.

The Church Year has two seasons that help train us to live in the ordinary. They are called, oddly enough, “Ordinary Time.” The origin of the word is not what we understand as “ordinary,” by which we mean mundane. Ordinary time is named thus because it is marked by ordinal numbers: first, second, third, etc. These are the Sundays after Epiphany and the Sundays after Pentecost (or Trinity).

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On June 9, 2019 By In Theology

Water Vs. Spirit?

John the Baptizer proclaimed, “I baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” (Matt 3.11) In his ascension, Jesus received the gift of the Spirit beyond measure and did, indeed, baptize his church with the Holy Spirit and fire.

It is tempting to tease out John’s prophecy into a contrast between water and Spirit, wet versus dry baptism. There was no water involved when the Spirit was poured out on those one hundred twenty disciples in the upper room. There was the sound of a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues of fire, but there was no water to be found. For this reason, some in the church have played “Spirit baptism” against “water baptism.” Water baptism is understood as ritual obedience to the command of Jesus while Spirit baptism is the real baptism, the point at which a person genuinely receives the Holy Spirit. Water versus Spirit baptism is a mere external ritual versus invisible reality.

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On June 6, 2019 By In Theology

What If I Can’t Feel the Holy Spirit: A Thought for Pentecost

The Bible doesn’t teach us that the Holy Spirit announces his presence by an internal feeling that he is there.

When you are on a tourist vacation in a foreign country, you will find yourself constantly checking wherever you have hidden your wallet. You are making sure it is still there. Without it, you will be in great trouble. It carries your identity and your power.

One sad way to live the Christian life is to labor with constant checking that the Holy Spirit is still there, to worry regularly about verifying salvation. This is a very common condition. But it doesn’t need to be.

There are multiple passages that we can misread to lead us into slavery to fear about our salvation. Since we face Pentecost this Sunday, let’s look at a misreading of a verse dealing with the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit’s Presence

In Romans 8, Paul says that true believers have the Holy Spirit, and false believers don’t. Do you have the Holy Spirit? How do you know? What if you can’t feel the presence of the Holy Spirit? If you can’t feel the Spirit, are you not a Christian? (more…)

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On May 26, 2019 By In Theology, Worship

Something Old, Something New

With an accusatory tone, the people surrounding Jesus at Levi’s house queried, “The disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink” (Lk 5.33). They demand an explanation for all of this feasting when it is obvious to them that it is supposed to be a time for fasting.

Jesus doesn’t give the inquisitors a nine-point explanation concerning the necessity of feasting in messianic eschatology. Instead, he talks about a wedding, garments, and wine. Their questions are being answered, but they are answered with rich biblical imagery, which leads the listeners to conclusions about who Jesus is and what he came to do.

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