on the importance of understanding the Trinity

I want to put up Tony’s response from my last post on the lack of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity – it’s too good to let go by in the comments section (I edited it slightly for effect):

The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is the single most important doctrine of Christianity. Everything else depends on it; ecclessiology, christology, pneumatology, interpretation of Scripture, missiology, etc….  It is the most appropriate and timeless way to talk about God. It is what separates us from other religions, it defends the Church from heresy.

This is it.  It is the single most important doctrine of Christianity – in essence it is what separates the wheat from the chaff – true believers from the false ones.  I know Nick has shared it is usually one of the primary reasons a cult is a cult – they dismiss God as Trinity. 

What are some other reasons it is important to know and understand God as Trinity?

Here is a really good book to consider on the Trinity:

Robert Letham, Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P and R Publishing Company, 2005).

Understanding Old Testament Narrative

The following is an essay I wrote in Seminary on understanding Old Testament narrative for a class I took on the Chronicles (from a conservative evangelical point of view of course).

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One of the primary things to keep in mind when studying the historical books of the Old Testament is the theological message presented in narrated form.  The Bible is a spiritual book and it contains a spiritual message.  History may be present but it is history shaped by theological intent.  The central focus of the historical books is both history and theology.  Therefore it is important to keep in mind the relationship between history and theology when reading narrative material.  The historical books’ authors are not just giving the reader a rehearsal of historical events; they are interpreting them as well.  It is narrated history and unlike standard reportorial history, the Bible writers present history in a particularly nuanced and ideological manner. 

The history of the Old Testament is theocentric.  Because the Bible is the Word of God, God is the focus of its message.  The story of the Bible is the story of God’s dealings in the world and in the lives of his people.  It is God’s story.  Since it is God’s story and it is a message about God’s dealings in the world, the history of the Old Testament is also a tendentious and selective history.  It is a theological history of the people of Israel and so highlights only those people and events that highlight God’s activity in the world and the development of the nation of Israel as the people of God.  It is not an economic history nor is it a political history; instead it is a theological history that tells of the relationship of God and Israel in history. 

Another feature of the historical books of the Old Testament to keep in mind is historiography.  Historiography allows for supernatural events as part of the historical fabric of the story.  Theological history is the combination of real historical and supernatural events that communicate the message of the Bible.  It assumes the existence of God and his supernatural interventions in human affairs and integrates these into the historical narrative.  The writers of the Old Testament integrated supernatural events in the historical narrative because they felt they lend credence to the story.  The biblical writers intended for the reader to believe the events were real and to consider them in their understanding of biblical history. 

Another important distinction to keep in mind when reading the Old Testament is the distinction between Old Testament history and the history of ancient Israel.  This was mentioned already in that the history of the Old Testament is not a social, political, or economic history of Israel but rather a theological and interpretive history of God’s dealings with the people of Israel and the nations around them.  This distinction is important because without clarifying the difference one can become confused about the nature and intent of the Old Testament.  The focus of the Old Testament is on the history of God’s people, their relationship to him, and his actions and expectations for them.  It is an overall history more than a chronological history.  This helps in understanding the differences between the various accounts of Israel.  The differences between the Kings, and Chronicles do not make for contradictions but instead they are complimentary and seek to highlight specific events and happenings to communicate a certain theological message.  I & II Kings presents the primary history of Israel before the Babylonian exile whereas I & II Chronicles presents a secondary history of Israel that retells the story from the vantage point of post exile, so the messages are different.  The writers of the Gospels take a similar approach; each of the Gospels present a somewhat unique view of Jesus as the Messiah.  More than history, the Old Testament is historiography and its overarching aim is to paint a picture of God’s dealings with his people that truly represents and interprets the significant parts of Israeli history. 

To become an effective interpreter of the historical parts of the Old Testament three things are needed of the OT student.  The first is literary competence.  One is literarily competent when one has developed an awareness of the conventions and writings of a given literary corpus and also is able to discern what kinds of claims a given corpus may be making.  For example one needs to see how the story is being told so one can know what the story means both for the past and the present.  Through the story of Solomon asking for wisdom over riches the reader becomes aware that God often goes beyond human expectations when he answers prayer.  The story of Jabez is similar.  It is more about answered prayer than about a “get-rich-quick” scheme.

The second thing one needs is theological comprehension. This is necessary for responsible historical reconstruction.  One needs to realize the central focus of the Old Testament is God and his dealings with people.  Through the OT we learn God is both immanent and transcendent in human history; he is the Lord of history.  With this how are the various claims of history to be interpreted?  One needs to realize claims of divine intervention are not grounds for dismissing historical texts.  Instead one need realize historical claims of divine intervention are the basis for many actions, positive or negative.  While one may not understand the claims of divine intervention or think them inappropriate, one with solid theological comprehension will understand their importance to effective historical reconstruction.  If one wishes to understand the history of Israel, one needs to take into consideration the plentiful claims of God’s intervention.  Human influence was not avoided necessarily because the biblical writers show how the various Kings contribute to history.  However, the biblical writers maintained a tension between human responsibility and divine sovereignty in showing that while history is in the frail hands of people, it is also undergirded by the sovereign hand of God. 

Finally, to be an effective interpreter of biblical history one needs to use proper historical method.  In the case of biblical history students of the Bible are to follow the common rules of historical criticism.  While the biblical writers present biblical history from a certain theological viewpoint, it is still presented as a true story where real events happened in the lives of real people.  In light of the literary aspects of the Old Testament historical books, one needs to take their historical truth claims seriously.  Because the Bible consistently presents theological truth as intrinsically bound to historical events it is important to acknowledge the Bible’s historical truth claims for both theological and historical reasons.  This will allow for competent literary reading of the Old Testament and theological reflection on its message.

In sum, realizing the Old Testament historical books are narrative theology one will see that the biblical writers present a certain theological understanding of human history.  This understanding then helps the reader learn about the nature of God and his expectations for both individual people and nations.  From the texts of I & II Chronicles the reader can discern principles for life and living in the present world in light of the ancient past.  Because God never changes one can rest assured that the same grace God extended to the people of old will be extended to his people today.  Perhaps the circumstances are different, but God is the same and his grace is never ending.  In preaching and teaching the Old Testament the preacher/teacher is to focus less on the specifics of particular events and instead highlight how God is working in the events and help people see the character and nature of God and how he works through historical events and in people’s lives.  The preacher/teacher is to help people apply what they know of God to their lives in a modern context. 

talking about the Trinity

Dr. Derek Vreeland talks about the Trinity.

an excerpt:

Why do you think modern Christians aren’t so interested in the Trinity?

I think it is because many Christians in the United States are more interested in seeking God’s hand than seeking his face. They want to know, “What can God do for me?” Instead of “Who is this God?”

Michael Horton in Christless Christianity calls this “moralistic, therapeutic deism.”
Moralistic: people want to be better people, better husbands, fathers, employees.
Therapeutic: We want to feel better; we want God to give us goose bumps on Sunday morning
Deism: God is the maker of heaven and earth, but he has no contact or interaction with his creation

Many who claim to be followers of Christ don’t want to take the time to seek God’s face in a serious way.

And for churches like yours and mine…we are hip, young, cool, and contemporary…we want to know what God is doing now…we don’t have much interest in knowing what God has done in the first couple hundred years of the church.

I would like to add that US American Christians lack interest in the doctrine of the Trinity because we don’t necessarily think it is relevant.  It is also a complex theology and US American Christians typically want a simple theology, why else do we have books like “Simple,” “Simple Church,” “The Bible Made Plain and Simple,” Simple Steps,” and the like?  The problem is there is little that is simple about knowing God – there is much ambiguity in the Christian faith and few Christians can handle ambiguity – we want to be certain about things thus the need for an assurance of salvation and the like.  In studying 1 John we like to know “what we can know and how we can know it” and so on.

What reasons  do you have for a lack of interest in the doctrine of the Trinity?

ps. Here is a really good book to consider on the Trinity:

Robert Letham, Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P and R Publishing Company, 2005).

Go check out the rest of it.

online articles/books on Hebrews.

Brian Small who is currently a Ph.D. candidate in New Testament at Baylor University (his dissertation is on the Book of Hebrews).   He has put up a list of online articles and books related to aspects of the Book of Hebrews.  Go here for the articles.  Go here for the books.   It looks like his blog focuses strictly on Hebrew related issues.  Enjoy. 

HT: Dave Black.

Thoughts for the day: Romans 12:9-21 (TNIV)

Rom 12:9-21 TNIV – It’s one of my favorite passages in Romans. 

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not think you are superior.

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

²⁰ On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

on the value of theological education

I was thinking about education the other day – I guess I tend to do that a lot especially since I earned an Master of Divinity back in 2007 and and tend to think about what the next steps might be and when.  I happen to be part of a fellowship that historically has played down the value of education and folks often warn their young people to stick close to Jesus and not lose faith, especially in “cemetary”  or there are jabs about being a professional student when one seems to always be going to school.  Well, I guess I missed all that because I went to seminary and really grew during the whole process. 

I think there is value in a theological education.  I even think it is good for everyone and not just those intending on going into “the ministry.”  A theological education can and should be integrated into every area of life and not be limted to just “ministry” related avenues.  Scientists, Doctors, Teachers, Lawyers, Business people, Social Workers, Counselors, Moms and Dads, and on and on, can all benefit from a theological education.   Do we “have” to do it?  No, but I think more people should think about it, especially Pastors, and especially Pastors in those groups that do not require the MDiv for ordination. 

What are the benefits?  Well, character development for one.  Seminary is hard work and a masters degree (in any subject)  is not easily earned, especially when one has to juggle life, school, work, family.  Graduates are appropriately congratulated at commencement each year for a job well done.   Is seminary the only way to develop one’s character?  No, of course not.  But I happen to think its one good way more folks should think about.

Spiritual formation is another benefit.  In fact, I would say Seminary in and of itself is a means of spiritual formation.  All aspects of it.  From attending the classes, the engaging discussions, to doing the research and writing of papers, to the discipline of doing such.  All these and more factor into the process of the spiritual formation gained through obtaining a theological education.  Through the process of spiritual formation we come to know God and grow in our relationship with him in ways we hadn’t before realized.  Is it the only way or even the best way to grow spiritually or grow in our knoweldge and understanding of God?  No, of course not, but I think it is a good way.  A really good way to grow. 

Personal growth on a number of levels is another benefit.  In many ways, this encompases the previous two benefits I noted.  Going to seminary is not about being a professional student or trying not to work, or any such thing.  It’s about personal growth and putting onself in a position to “move to the next level” in one’s vocational pursuits and abilities.  I think the same is true of pursuing either the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) or the PhD. 

To be truthful, a Bible college degree, while also valuable, can only take a person so far, vocationally and even personally.  

I would say one difference between what goes on at a Bible school and what goes on at Seminary is the difference between encountering and engaging the biblical text (to use one example).  In Bible school, you learn/encounter the content of the Bible and Theology (and ministry related issues).  At the seminary level, you begin to engage the content of the Bible and Theology and critique it.  You learn different theological perspectives and learn how to evaluate them and their usefulness.  In some respects you even begin to learn how to “do” theology.  You take it to the next level. 

In fact, I personally do not advocate attending Bible School – I prefer to advise folks to either go to a Christian University or State College/University (with a Chi-Alpha of course!) and then later go to Seminary.   This is not to put down Bible College, but practically speaking what can a person do with a Bible college degree?  Not much really.  In a lot of respects its pretty useless, especially for those interested in doing missions work or ministry in some avenue such as inner city ministry – and for Pete’s sake – whatever you do – PLEASE AVOID a degree in Youth Ministry.  Good Grief – this has to be the biggest waste of a degree I’ve ever heard of.    If you want to do cross-cultural missions, think more practically such as something in community development, nursing, or even water treatment.  Even a computer focus can be more useful than a Bible degree.

The main reason to avoid a degree in Youth Ministry?  Very few “youth pastors” are full time, if paid at all, and quite low pay at that - so what will you do to pay the bills?  Bag groceries?  It happens.  Don’t let it be you.  Instead, think about a teaching degree or more preferably a business degree, especially if you intend to become a lead Pastor or plant a church, etc.  Most pastors start out in small churches where they do all the busy work of the church: the accounting, the organizing, the paying and managing of bills, the fundraising and so on (in fact small churches are the overwhelming majority).  All of it.  I can hardly think of a more useful degree for a future pastor than something in business. 

So, I think a theological education is and can be quite valuable and can do more than just abut getting the degree or being that “professional student.”   Think about it.

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Luke over at Think Theology also has some great thoughts on theological education.  

As does Bryan Lilly where he asks do pastors need seminary?

The Parable of the Talents – It’s not about money!

Perhaps this is old news and many of you already caught on but I hadn’t…. until last night. 

I had an epiphany about what Matthew 25:14-30 is “really” talking about (fine, I’ll take something from everyone’s beloved Bishop).   This passage is otherwise known as “The Parable of the Talents” by most accounts.   The TNIV did something really weird with this passage.  They called it “The Parable of the Bags of Gold.”  Totally unrecognizable. 

Anyhow, one aspect of Christian discipleship is teaching folks about money management issues.  It’s a subject the Gospel writers account Jesus as having talked quite a bit about, with Matthew 6:24 (cf. Luke 16:13) serving as a major focal point.   Typically in a Bible study series on money issues, the parable of the talents comes into play.  It’s typically taught that the talents refer our money and that we need to be manging our money appropriately for the Lord or like the unjust manager in Luke 16 – we’ll be called to account and lose our money or responsibilites over the money, after all it is not our money it’s God’s money, we just manage it. 

So, what was my epiphany?  Well, we went over the passage last night in Bible study and while everyone was looking it up, I already had the passage at hand and saw verse 14 and how it says, “”Again, it will be like a man going on a journey...”  I said to myself, ”wait a minute, to what does “it” refer?  So I looked back to fine ”it”s referant.  I looked back up to the beginning of the chapter and noticed 25:1  “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. “   I noticed particularly the first part of the verse, “At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like….“  and it dawned on me, I was about to become a false teacher if I tried to teach that this parable is about how to handle money! 

The parable of the talents is not about money management!  It is about kingdom management!   Jesus is not talking about money issues in this parable (per se).  He is talking about Kingdom responsibilites.  Now, money may be one aspect of that but it is not the only aspect.  There are many aspects involved in being part of the Kingdom of God.  Each person has been given a talent (ταλαντα) or a unit or coinage or a bag of gold (TNIV).   In this passage I do not think the talents are money per se, but a metaphor for whatever giftings or abilities God has given each person, perhaps even a person’s place in the Kingdom. 

The question(s) becomes, what are we doing with the abilities God has given us in our place in the Kingdom?   Are we fulfilling our roles and responsibilities appropriately, even effectively, to the benefit of God’s Kingdom?  How are we doing in serving the King? 

So when we read this parable – we need to ask ourselves, what are we doing to advance the Kingdom of God in this world?  Are we working our jobs well?  Are we managing our money responsibly?  Are we taking care of our families, one another?  and so on. 

When we do well, we enjoy the benefits.  We get to enjoy our master’s happiness (v. 21, 23).   It helps our relationship with the Lord when we have a clean conscience about what we’ve been doing.  If not, we need to think about the consequences of our irresponsibility as members of the Kingdom, and how that will affect our relationship with the Lord as well.  It doesn’t look pretty does it?  

So that was my epiphany – Matthew 25:14-30 – aka: the Parable of the Talents – is not about money – it’s about the Kingdom of God and our responsibilites therein.

Any thoughts?

books on preaching (updated)

TC Robinson has a post campaigning for expository preaching.  Some like it some don’t.  Some know how to do it well, some do not.   It’s quite a discipline and takes work.  I tend to think this is why many pastors resort to topical and thematic preaching because they may not really know how to put together an expository sermon or may feel they don’t always have time so they resort to topical issues.  Here’s how I see it: no one form of preaching is necessarily better then another form per se.   There are those who esteem the expository sermon as being really the only true form of biblical preaching and that other forms are looked down upon.  I do not think that should be the case.   In following Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 I think there is a time the expositional preaching series and there’s the time for the textual sermon, and there is the time for the topical sermon series.   The good Pastor knows when to do which.  My approach would be, zero in on the exposition of scripture and as needed (following the Spirit’s leading) do the topical, textual, thematic, narrative sermon, etc.  Preaching is an art really more than a science.   While it has rules, there is flexibility and you learn to get the feel of it and soon develop your own style - and that takes time (and lots of preaching!). 

That said, here are a few books (among the plethora) I’ve found helpful for preaching (none of which are perfect).  I put them in what I would consider an order of importance:

James Braga’s How to Prepare Bible Messages, 35th Aniv Edition (Multnomah Books, 2005).   

This is a really great book to start out with, if not one of the best for learning the basics of putting a sermon together.  It used to be used a lot in colleges and seminaries but since Braga passed away in 1994, more “newer and better” books have come out.  Well, that’s all good and well, but if I taught a beginning homiletics course this book would be on the list.  It covers basic sermon structure and gives countless examples of outlines and the like.  It shows the basics for the topical, texual and expositional sermon.  A great place to start.   Very foundational. 

Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Preaching: Redeeming the Expository Sermon, 2nd, ed (Baker Academic, 2005). 

This is probably the single best book available on developing skills in expositional preaching, and that from a primairly reformed perspective though easily applicable to nearly any orthodox theological persuasion.   This isn’t just a book on theories – its explcitly a “how to” book on designing, developing, and delivering expository sermons that are faithful to the text, redemptive in focus, and application-oriented in style.  There are a couple of main emphasis that set this book apart from the rest.  The first is in learning to identify the fallen condition focus (FCF) of the text to be preached.   This will help keep the sermon particularly Christ-centered and keep the sermon focused.  Too many sermons lack focus.   The other emphasis is on developing a sound balance between explanation, illustration, and application, which typically, many a serom goes too much on one or the other.  The fact that there is emphasis on developing application points is significant because it helps the preacher to contemporize the biblical text (bridge the gap), help people see abstract truth in a way that is concrete, pictoral, sensible, and drive home the practical significance of the Bible in a way the will encourage both personal and corporate life transformation. 

Michael Quicke’s 360 Degree Preaching: Hearning, Speaking, Living the Word (Baker Academic, 2003).  

This is one of my favorties.  He approaches preaching from a trinitarian perspective and introduces what he calls the preaching swim (how he goes about developing the sermon: immersion into Scripture, interpretation, sermon design, sermon delivery, and outcomes) and then gives one of his own sermons to show what he means.  On the issue of the trinitarian dynamic of preaching, he takes John Stott’s 180 degree approach (the preaching bridge in Between Two Worlds) and completes the circle.  Quicke sees the preaching act as “involving movement through the 360 degress of eventfulness as God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, – speaks through his Word and empowers the preacher and convicts the listeners and transforms the lives of preacher and the listeners.”  It’s good, good stuff.   I want to check out his book 360 Degree Leadership. 

Haddon Robinson’s Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages (Baker Academic, 2001).

This is the standard for expositonal sermons and is used by many a Bible college and Seminary.  Here you learn to zero in on the big idea and figure out what the key ideas are in the text you’ll be preaching, ask the “so  what?” question and so on.  The idea is that it is really important to have a central propostion or one main idea you are trying to communicate so the sermon maintains it focus – one main idea with upt to 3, not  more than 4-5 points used to develop the main idea.  The problem for new preachers is the tendecy to overload the sermon – try to say too much or present too many ideas.  That overwhelms both the preacher and the listener.   I just thought it was interesting at the end he talked about the preacher not being overweight so as to not undermine his message about basic aspects of Christian discipline and such.  I understood the point, but whatever.

Sidney Greidanus’ The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature (Eerdmans 1988). 

This might be from the 80’s but I see it as by no means dated.  This is another one of my favorites.  Lots of good stuff, but most useful is the section where he talks about the different genre of the Bible and how to use that information in understanding the text and preaching it accordingly. 

 

Graeme Goldsworthy’s Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture: The Application of Biblical Theology to Expository Preaching (Eerdman’s 2000). 

This is not a “how to” on designing and developing sermons so much as it focuses on understanding aspects of biblical theology and integrating biblical theology into your preaching.   It helps the reader think through such questions as “What is the relationship between the Old and New Testaments?”  “What is the central message of the bible?”  “How does each passage relate to the central message about Christ?”  “What does this mean to us as we seek to preach it?” and so on.   It emphasizes that the Christian Bible is the One Word Written of the One God about salvation in Jesus Christ.  It’s a book every preacher/teacher needs.   Get this book. 

Edmund P. Clowney.  Preaching Christ in All of Scripture.  Crossway, 2003. 

Don’t let the reformed nature of this approach scare you away.  Where appropriate we can and should preach Christ in all of Scripture, for in the words of John R. W. Stott, Jesus Christ is the center of history, the focus of Scripture, the heart of mission.  So, what makes a sermon distinctively Christian?  Christ does.  A truly Christian sermon from anywhere in the Bible must take into account the full drama of redemption and its realization in Christ.  If you want to preach Christ, get this book. 

 

 

That’s it for now. 

What preaching books have been helpful for you?  There are just so many out there. 

end time speculation nonsense

Here is some more of the latest end-time speculation nonsense from the Left Behind crowd. Really, this video was just making fun of them.

As I understand it, there are only four occurrences of the word “antichrist” in the Bible and they are all in 1 & 2 John. There are two ways one can go with “anti” – one is replacement the other is opposition. In my opinion, the context supports opposition over replacement. So in the context of 1 John “many antichrist have come” and “they went our from us” (1 Jn 2:18,19) and this is because an “antichrist” is any person who denies the Father and the Son (1 Jn 2:22) – John was clearly referring to the false teachers and any person in agreement with them because they would not acknowledge teaching that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh as the Son of God (1 John 4:3; 2 Jn 7).

So who is the antichrist? It is that person who denies that Jesus Christ came in the flesh as the Son of God from the Father. It is that person who in his or her heart intentionally leaves God out of the picture if not outright opposes the things of God.

New Book Giveaway! (now closed)

Go here for the winner. 

Bitsy Griffin over at Jack of all trades,  is giving away a copy of Ravi Zacharias’ The Grand Weaver: How God Shapes Us Through the Events of Our Lives. 

 Here are the giveaway rules:

• Reply to [her] post letting [her] know you want to be entered.
• This is just a plain old drawing – names in a hat. One will be drawn.
• Your name can be added a second time by posting this info on your blog.
• All entering must have a USA mailing address, and the book will be mailed by USPS Media Mail.
• Contest begins immediately and will continue through midnight on Sunday March 22nd (EST).
• [She’ll] draw Monday when [she] get[s] home from school.

Looks great for sermon material.  It’s a key area of discipleship – helping people understand how God shapes usand forms us into the image of his Son Jesus Christ!   Count me in!