Jesus the focus of Scripture?

There was a discussion on the biblical studies list regarding the interplay between exegesis and theology that was quickly and decisively stamped out by the list owner/moderator. The list rules are that only issues related to biblical studies can be discussed but issues of faith and theology need to be left out – not that they are bad or inappropriate, just inappropriate for this list as with the insertion of faith and theology – the waters of biblical studies get muddy real fast. And probably, the calvinists would come in and take over like they do on other lists.

The discussion had surrounded what entails proper biblical exegesis – set faith aside and let the text speak for itself then let faith be shaped by exegetical study – other felt theology has to be a part of the process – others felt theology is shaped and responds to the process. One participant had outright called the intrusion of theology into biblical studies “nonsense.”

Before I understood some of this, I wrote:

Here is the sad thing about “exegesis” – folks often (especially on this group list) exit Jesus right out of the discussion and consider him irrelevant. It is either the Christ of history or the Christ of faith – why is he not both/and?

It is sad that those who actually have the audacity to believe that Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the historical one, is also the Christ of faith, the Son of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Everlasting God, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was dead and is alive forevermore – can’t really participate in the list as for some on the list – believe disqualifies the argument and makes it nonsense.

When one asks what the Bible is all about – it is about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who is, in the words of John R. W. Stott, the center of history, the focus of Scripture, and the heart of the Church’s mission in the world.

But I guess that is all nonsense.

To this the list moderator/owner replied:

Because, Brian, one is a confession of faith and one is a historical datum. You and I and others may or may not hold to the one. The other, though, can be discussed here. There are lists elsewhere which do what you recommend. And they are free to do so. But here, for our purposes, faith claims have no privilege.

I know a number of persons who hold quite strong faith positions who participate regularly. They simply play by the rules.

If the Bible were only about Jesus, we would only adhere to the Gospels and a few other snippets in the NT. The OT would have to be utterly abandoned. In sum, then, what you commend to our adherence is marcionitism. And appealing to Stott as an authority not only doesn’t work- it doesn’t prove anything at all.

That last line hurt mainly because I think John Stott is a biblical scholar and theologian par exellance, and in my opinion, as an Anglical scholar, he far and away, outshines a certain Bishop of Durham. But according to the list owner/moderator an appeal to John R. W. Stott is a non-appeal and non-answer.

So, the appeal to John Stoot aside, is Jesus the focus of Scripture?

In reply to the list owner/moderator’s last paragraph above I sent this:

I think the historical Jesus himself would disagree with this assertion. Luke shows us in his Gospel Jesus’ discussion with two men on the road to Emmaus (one was named Cleopas) (Lk 24:13-27; esp v27) that in fact, “Moses and all the Prophets” (ie: the OT) point to the historical Jesus (from his birth to his death and resurrection, even his ascension). So, I think it is fair that in pursuing understanding of the historical Jesus one would indeed need to include large portions of the OT texts. Also note John 5:39 where Jesus says the Scriptures “bear witness about me” (ESV). These Scriptures are none other than the Hebrew Scriptures.

It did not make it onto the list -probably because by the time I sent the reply the topic was shut down.

Am I off? Is Jesus the focus of Scripture or is he not?

not a biblioblog

I just wanted open with you so you all would know I fully recognized this is NOT a “biblioblog!” Well, we all knew that already! I just wanted to be clear about it – that I also don’t intend to be one either. I plan to be more eclectic, covering issues in missions, general theology, pastoral ministry-theology, some biblical studies, books I read, and other miscellaneous events and topics. I know I said I don’t really have a lot of time to blog but I would like to as able and may try to take some of Nick’s advice. It seems he keeps the KISS principle: “Keep It Super Simple.”

Hope this helps! Wahoo!! I am NOT a biblioblogger!! I am Free!!!

Pray for Somalia

The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none. And their tongue is parched with thirst; I, the LORD, will answer them myself. As God of Israel I will not forsake them. Isaiah 41:17

Consider praying for Somalia.

According to UN reports and Reuters’ AlertNet, Somalia tops the list of forgotten and neglected world emergencies.

The group Doctors Without Borders says Somalia’s society as totally fragmented.

According to the BBC, Somalia’s capital is in ruins and under factional control.

It’s government is a transitional national government but is presently considered [one of] the most lawless nations in the world.

All Somalis are Muslim and they are not open to Christianity – immediate death is the consequence for any conversion.

Less than 0.1% of ethnic Somalis are Christians (perhaps as many as 2000 in the whole world).

There is a significant Somali diaspora in Minnesota (some 30,000-50,000 live in and around the Twin Cities).

Consider praying for Somalia.

evangelism and theology

Do they mix? Michael Green in his 1970 work Evangelism in the Early Church (Eerdmans, 1970, 2004) noted in his intro that typically an evangelist is not interested in theology and theologians are not interested in evangelism.

Green wants us to know he is committed to both, but I wonder about his assertion? I don’t know too many evangelists who exemplify good theology or even show interest in larger theological issues – most of the time they are about Jesus and seeing people come to saving faith in his work on the cross – yet I haven’t seen too many ivory tower theologians either out street preaching either. Often they might be more concerned with things like textual criticism, form criticism, source criticism, and other various criticisms along with correct doctrine and theology.

So, do they mix? What say you?

Book Review: The Cry of the Soul

Like others, I am reading more than one book at once. The book I am reading at the moment is Dan Allender and Tremper Longman’s The Cry of the Soul: How Our Emotions Reveal Our Deepest Questions About God (NavPress, 1994). The premise is that:

Every emotion, though horizontally provoked, nevertheless reflects something about the vertical dimension: our relationship with God. This book explores what difficult emotional struggles say about our relationship with God. And every emotion, including those we often view as negative, reveals something about the heart of God.

The are four core convictions that structure their approach to the book:

1) It is our conviction that emotions are not amoral- they vocalize the inner working of our souls and are as tainted as any other portion of our personality. Here they observe, “

Part of understanding difficult emotions, however, is comprehending why we avoid them. The reason we don’t want to feel is that feeling exposes the tragedy of our world and the darkness of our hearts. No wonder we don’t want to feel: feelings expose the illusion that life is safe, good, and predictable.

2) The reason for looking inside is not to effect direct change of negative emotions to positive emotions. Instead, we are to listen to and ponder what we feel in order to be moved to the far deeper issue of what our hearts are doing with God and others. To accentuate this point they aver that

struggling with emotions is not a matter of solving problems with a little more information and practical knowhow. We are not machines that can be repaired through a series of steps – we are relational beings who are transformed by the mystery of relationship. We are radically disposed to idolatry, illusion-making, and attempts to secure our lives without bowing before God. Our core problem is not a lack of information – it is flight and rebellion.

So what they are arguing is that instead of looking for answers that work, pursue relationship with God regardless of the outcome. Going on they write:

Rather then focusing on trying to change our emotions, we are wiser first to listen to them. They tell us how we are dealing with a fallen world, hurtful people and a quizzical God who seldom seems to be or do what we expect of Him. Although emotions are generally aroused in a human context, they always reveal something about how we are dealing with [or relating to] God.

To be certain, they are not encouraging any sort of excessive preoccupation with the self as this hinders true growth and change. Instead they encourage just enough honest inward examination to gain wisdom in determining what is going on with one’s emotions and how one is relating to God.

3) Our guide for this pilgrimage of revelation is the Psalms. The authors argue here that no other portion of Scripture more poignantly exposes the inner world of our heart and more vividly reveals the emotional life of God than the Psalms. This will be interesting to see how the authors work this point. It has been my understanding that Psalms are more about the people praying them than they are about God – they reveal more what the pslamists think about God than what God thinks about the psalmists per se. I agree with Bonhoeffer that the Psalms are the prayer book of the Bible. Even so, they will focus primarily on what Walter Brueggemann has called “Psalms of disorientation” or Psalms of Lament. This type of Psalm, they assert, “captures the struggle of the heart as the poet attempts to grasp the goodness of God in light of the heartache of life.” At the same time, they “will allow the poetry of the Psalms to move us into the divine imagery used by the prophets, Paul, and Jesus Christ as we explore Scriptures invitation to taste the mystery of God’s goodness.”

4) All emotions, including the darker ones, give us a glimpse of the character of God. This is the heart of the book. Far more important than the way in which our most difficult emotions – anger, fear, jealousy, despair, shame, contempt, – uniquely reveal something about the heart of God. The authors are are quick to point out the supposed “positive” emotions (joy, peace, pleasure, etc) also show us much about God. The reason for the focus on the more difficult emotions is to show they can be more positive and necessary to life than most are prone to recognize. It is important to realize that God too feels these emotions (the darker ones) and they reveal something about who he is – but even more interestingly and gloriously (as they put it), each one points to the scandalous wonder of the cross of Christ. As we discover how they point to the cross, they will lead us to the worship of God!

emotional health

Richard Rhodes briefly discussed Peter Scazzero’s book The Emotionally Healthy Church over on the Better Bible’s Blog (8/21/08). It is a good post.

Here is the question of the day:

Is it possible to be a spiritually mature person while remaining emotionally immature?

Yes or no? Why or why not?

If you haven’t read the book, no peeking at the Amazon reviews just yet.

Let me know what you think.

on your mark

The General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God George O. Wood is starting a new video series on the main AG website called “On your Mark!” Check it out and let me know what you think!

I think he is the best leader the AG has had since Carlson who pastored the movement through the Swaggart and Bakker scandals.

I must be an Ent

I must be an Ent – the Ents are not hasty and take a long time to say anything worth saying (especially if it is in Old Entish).

Why do I say this? Well y’all seem to post so quickly that by the time I think of a response or want to write up on it, y’all have moved on and the topic is old already.

So, on the atonement – am sticking to my guns – I fully support PSA and don’t think it is cosmic child abuse but a profound display of the mercy of God. Perhaps I may not know all the details but I do know – with the death of Christ on the cross sin is dealt with and the wrath of God is withheld for those who put their faith in Christ alone.

John R. W. Stott writes in his book “The Cross of Christ”:

The essential background to the cross, therefore, is a balanced understanding of the gravity of sin and the majesty of God. If we diminish either, we thereby diminish the cross. If we reinterpret sin as a lapse instead of a rebellion, and God as indulgent instead of indignant, then naturally the cross appears superfluous. But to dethrone God and and enthrone ourselves not only dispenses with the cross; it also degrades both God and man. A biblical view of God and ourselves, however, that is, of our sin and of God’s wrath, honours both. It honours human beings by affirming them as responsible for their own actions. It honours God by affirming him as having moral character.

To understand the reason for the cross then one must understand the gravity of sin and the majesty of God.

More to come!

aGts Preaching blog

If you are into preaching consider visiting aGts’ new blog for preaching called Karoox (a play of the Greek word for preaching). Looks like it is pretty good. Dr. Doug Oss, Director for the Cordas C. Burnett Center for Expository Preaching at aGts writes:

Thanks for stopping by our blog. We want to hear from you about preaching. At Karoox we believe the life of the church is largely shaped by preaching. So, we are passionate about it. This blog is dedicated to advancing biblical preaching for the church and for the world.

go over and take a look see! Let me know what you think!

The Wizard of Id on Voting

any questions?
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