Category: New Testament
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Judging People
People can and ought to be judged by the company they keep, the company they keep away from, and those who attack them. Addendum (6/23): S. N. counters thusly: For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking,…
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Seeker and Finder
"Seek, and ye shall find." (Matthew 7:7) But better to be a perpetual seeker than a premature finder.
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Grace
One cannot count on it, but one ought not discount it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth." (John 3:8)
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Overbelief and Romans 1: 18-20
I met with S. N. in Tempe yesterday for philosophy and chess. While we were talking about overbelief, it occurred to me that Romans 1: 18-20 is another good example of overbelief. Now there is an issue that the budding theologian S. N. made me aware of, an issue that the philosopher in me desires…
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A Callable Loan
We who thrive get used to being alive, and forget we have our lives on loan, a loan that can be called on the spot without advance notice. Compare James 4:13-17 (NIV): 13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on…
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More on the Putative Paradox of Forgiveness
This just over the transom: Finally, a post on forgiveness. 🙂 But my spirit within me won't permit me to forgo responding to what you've written. You characterize the paradox this way: It is morally objectionable to forgive those who will not admit wrongdoing, show no remorse, make no amends, do not pay restitution, etc. …
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Scriptural Inerrancy Again
The following is from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous but who wants me "to hear a different perspective on the matter than that of the Calvinists who comment on your blog: I don't want you thinking they are the ones rightly interpreting the Christian texts." ………………. Jesus and Paul had a rather liberal interpretation…
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On Joy at Osama’s Demise: Dennis Prager Responds to Me on the Air
It's been an interesting morning. At 10:30 AM I noticed that my traffic was way up for the day. And then at 11:12 AM I heard Dennis Prager reading on the air the first paragraph of a post of mine from yesterday in which I express my disappointment at Prager for rejoicing over Osama bin Laden's death…
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Easter Morning Thoughts on 1 Corinthians 15:14
Biblia Vulgata: Si autem Christus non resurrexit, inanis est ergo praedicatio nostra, inanis est et fides vestra. King James: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Orthodox Christianity stands and falls with a contingent historical fact, the fact of the resurrection of Christ from the…
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Is Atheism Intellectually Respectable? On Romans 1:18-20
Joe Carter over at First Things argues that "We have to abandon the politically correct notion that atheism is intellectually respectable." My own view is that theism and atheism are both intellectually respectable. Carter makes his case by invoking St. Paul: In Romans, St. Paul is clear that atheism is a case of vincible ignorance: “For his…
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A Different View of the Lewis Trilemma: The Trilemma Vindicated?
Dr. Lukáš Novák e-mails: I am writing to you personally concerning your last post on your blog, "The Lewis Trilemma." I would like to offer you two things: first, a criticism of your criticism of the "trilemma" (you are right with your terminological quibble, but is there any other word to use instead?), and second,…
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Augustine on an Analogy for the Incarnation
On this, the Feast of St. Augustine, it is fitting to meditate on an Augustinian passage. There is an interesting passage in On Christian Doctrine that suggests a way to think about the Incarnation. Commenting on the NT text, "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us," Augustine writes: In order that what we are…
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Is There Any Excuse for Unbelief? Romans 1: 18-20
Rather than quote the whole of the Pauline passage at Romans 1: 18-20, I'll summarize it. Men are godless and wicked and suppress the truth. What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. Human beings have no excuse for their unbelief. "For since the creation…