It is hard to estimate the significance and impact of Dallas Willard in the church today. It is also hard to describe his newest book: Knowing Christ Today: Why We Can Trust Spiritual Knowledge . This is a good book, and one that puts together many of Willard’s ideas and proposals. The unifying theme of the book is that “knowledge” of Christ can be claimed as a genuine, intellectual, and responsible form of knowing in our world. That theme, however,... Read more
Here are John the Baptist’s words to those who asked what they needed to do to enter into the kingdom of God: John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should... Read more
No one knows for sure why James moves to Rahab as his second example, though some suggestions are clever. Hospitality seems the best explanation: the messanists for not showing it to the poor, Abraham for entertaining strangers, and Rahab for welcoming Israel’s spies. The Canaanite prostitute Rahab, whose story of hospitality is told in Joshua 2 and whose reward is found in 6:16-25, creates problems for modern interpreters and historians while she resolves a faith-works relationship for James. The writer... Read more
One of the commonly invoked arguments in any discussion of natural theology and the evidence for God is the Anthropic Principle – or put simply, the fact that the universe in which we live is incredibly finely tuned to support the existence of life as we know it. Karl Giberson recently posted on this at Science and the Sacred and I was asked by a reader in an e-mail if, given my rather skeptical attitude toward Intelligent Design (capital I... Read more
Henry David Thoreau, in Walden (Everyman’s Library), speaks to a serious issue more of us might need to ponder in our hurried days: “To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust.” Read more
I grew up in the gospel I sketched Monday, so when I contend that I think it is right but not right enough, you can take it as friendly fire from one who learned the hard way. Three experiences led me not only to embrace a gospel like what we find in Luke but to see the gospel I grew up with as too small to be fully biblical. Today I will sketch those changes. First, as a college student... Read more
1 Corinthians doesn’t have as many good commentaries as does 2 Corinthians, but these are my top four picks: I begin with Gordon Fee: The First Epistle to the Corinthians . Then I back up in time and read C.K. Barrett, whose skill in writing commentaries on Paul has no rival: The First Epistle to Corinthians . Then I read Ben Witheringon’s commentary: Conflict and Community in Corinth: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1 and 2 Corinthians . I finish off... Read more
We better quote the text from James 2:20-24 again: 20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as... Read more
Tom Wright made a fascinating suggestion in chp two of his book, Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision , that I did not mention in our previous summary. He suggested that Ephesians may have begun the new perspective. Until you know what that kind of claim means you should be very careful about criticizing the new perspective. A brief on what he’s saying: what happens to Romans or Galatians if we read them through the lens of the theology of... Read more
Andrew Marin’s new and ground-breaking book, Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation With the Gay Community , proposes — the terms are mine — the power of “with” vs. the power of the battle between “for” or “against.” What does it mean to use the power of “with”? What does it mean to move beyond deciding where you stand on this issue to being someone who loves gays and lesbians and someone who serves gays and lesbians? It will... Read more
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