Note: I wrote this for my wife’s devotional list for today’s (12/30/05) entry. Jody puts out an e-mail devotional every weekday, and has also created a collection for her book, Daily Devotions of Ordinary People – Extraordinary God. I’ve included an ad (Amazon.com) for the book and a link to subscribe to the e-mail list….
I’m back to thinking about inspiration today. Many people think about the terms “inspired” and “canonical” as nearly synonymous. Generally they are not. The term “canon” relates to idea of canon law, in other words a book is canonical when canon laws defines it as authoritative. Now the edges have become blurred over the years,…
I’ve been doing some discussion of the prophecies of the book of Daniel recently on the Compuserve Christian Fellowship Forum. The discussion there is about the Seventh-day Adventist doctrine of the investigative judgment and the time prophecy of Daniel 8:14. But that is not what this post is about. As I reviewed the many related…
There are quite a substantial number of theories about how God inspires people to write his message. Several people have suggested recently that I collect some of my own essays in order to provide a coherent discussion, not just about the results of inspiration, but also the process. I don’t think I’ve written enough about…
17So that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have gone, everything has become new. — 2 Corinthians 5:17 (TFBV) For I did not choose to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. — 1 Corinthians 2:2 (TFBV) One morning as I approached the cabinet in…
Typically we talk about salvation around Good Friday and easter. We are saved by his death and his return to life. And there is certainly something to be said for that. But this constant focus on the sacrifice of Jesus being largely in his death sometimes obscures other meanings that the Jesus’ life, death, and…
I’ve been kind of beating around the bush about the doctrine of the incarnation and what it means as a challenge to Christians. So let’s get down to business. The roots of my view here are in the two commands of Jesus–love for God and love for one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:34-40). These commands are defined…
It’s unlikely that anyone has failed to notice that I have spent no time thus far in trying to demonstrate that the doctrine of the incarnation is true. I’ve just been playing with its meaning. In fact, I generally don’t find it appropriate to try to prove a mystery in the first place. Let’s just…
There are plenty of comments on the Dover decision going around right now. I’d like to recommend just a couple of them, though these are only examples of many good comments. Both provide some good links to more information. Best Possible Result in Dover Caught in their own Wedge I believe that the result of…
We’re so used to talking about what God gives in the incarnation that my title may almost seem sacreligious to some readers. God’s gift cannot have a selfish aspect, can it? Does the cord really have two ends in this case as well? First, at the simplest level, all relationships have more than one side…