Q. It seems clear enough to me that angels and demons, like the Devil himself, are beings or creatures, nor merely forces to be dealt with. How would you view this matter? A. Tom’s chapter is very good on this. He points out that the powers are to be, in some way, pacified and reconciled. Now, I doubt that that extends to the Devil himself, his rebellion is of such a nature that judgment is required. However, there is... Read more
Q. I was surprised that nowhere in this volume is discussed the concept from 1 Peter that Christians are resident aliens on this earth, especially when we also hear that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, nor Scythian, nor barbarian etc. (Gal. 3.28). What do you think Paul means when he says our politeuma is in heaven? A. If I may riff some Tom Wright, I’d say that the church is a politeuma in the sense that we are called to... Read more
Q. Explain why you think a secular liberal democracy is the least objectionable for of human government, especially when this means that Christians will have to tolerate some things that the Bible specifically prohibits? A. Good question. Let me say two things here. First, secularism is a Christian invention! It was initially developed in the eleventh century papal reformatio to secure the freedom of the church from the state hegemony, but then developed later following the “Peace of Westphalia” to... Read more
Q. The question of whether and to what degree Christians can serve in a largely secular government, and perhaps particularly whether they can serve in the military without violating their conscience and the teachings in the Sermon on the Mt. is a difficult one. In my view, Christians cannot undertake tasks which involve violence or killing against other human beings, in which case, at most they could serve as chaplains or medics in the military, like for instance we see... Read more
Q. I was thankful for the discussion of whether and to what degree governments come into the picture when we are talking about the dominion of God. It is one thing to say all authority and power ultimately comes from God, but it would be another thing entirely to say God raised up Adolph Hitler to judge the Jewish people— an idea I would entirely reject. If one reads both Daniel and Revelation for example, it seems that the inhuman... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In