Elders: Only Male?

Last updated on: September 5, 2008 at 12:30 am By Scot McKnight

Let me try to summarize an argument I’m hearing today. It goes like this: Since Paul’s statements about elders/bishops/overseers/deacons are clearly addressed to males, those “offices” or “roles” or “leadership positions” are designed by God to be for males only. Sometimes folks bring in what might be called a pattern of male leadership in the people of God to support this argument; others bring in the eternal subordination of the Son to the Father. I’m going to ignore these buttressing... Read more

Voting for President? 2

Last updated on: September 5, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

A recent reader of this blog wrote in and I posted the letter. Because there are several issues to be discussed, not the least of which are the different kind of advantages each candidate brings to the table, I thought I’d begin the response today. |inline Read more

What did you think of ….

Last updated on: September 4, 2008 at 12:31 am By Scot McKnight

Sarah Palin’s speech? Two principles we will adhere to on the comments: nothing nasty and nothing about her daughter. Read more

GodViews

Last updated on: September 4, 2008 at 12:20 am By Scot McKnight

I don’t like the image, but there’s something to it: Humans are groping in the dark, they reach out, touch an elephant, and report their findings. Some liken this image to how humans understand God and how much they know about God. In the optimistic views of this sketch, each report tells us something true about God but that no one comes away with the full view. Some of you know that I’m doing some reading and thinking about “God”... Read more

Good Idea

Last updated on: September 4, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

It’s a good idea when seasoned scholars produce a synthetic book that puts a life of study and writing into one big bundle, which is what I. Howard Marshall did when he wrote New Testament Theology. It’s an even better idea when they offer to even more readers a concise version … which is what he has now done with his award-winning study: A Concise New Testament Theology. Bless you, Howard. This is a gift to the church. Students and... Read more

Preaching: Notes or No Notes?

Last updated on: September 3, 2008 at 12:30 am By Scot McKnight

What is the best way to preach? To use notes — even to the point of reading a sermon — or not to use notes? Fred Lybrand, a Southern Baptist preacher who seems to be cutting his own path, opts for the “not to use notes” approach in his new, useful, handy, clear book Preaching on Your Feet. I should perhaps tell my own story before I go any further. |inline Read more

Our Missional God 14

Last updated on: September 3, 2008 at 12:20 am By Scot McKnight

Any reading of the Old Testament immediately confronts a significant “missional” problem: the OT is not “missional”. Chris Wright, however, argues that the great covenant moments of the OT have within them the missional theme. So today we look at chp 10 of The Mission of God, where Wright looks at the covenants with Noah, Abraham, Sinai/Moses, David, and the New Covenant. |inline Read more

Voting for President?

Last updated on: September 3, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

Here is a note from a sensitive reader, and one that feels the weight of the anabaptist tradition in approaching the election this year. I am posting the letter today and I will respond one or two times over the next week. Dear Scot, Greetings from a faithful JesusCreed reader and fellow TEDS alum and blogger! I hope your semester is starting off well at North Park. This will be my first semester teaching so I’m a bit apprehensive but... Read more

Good Teachers 8

Last updated on: September 2, 2008 at 12:30 am By Scot McKnight

How do the best college teachers relate to and with their students? There is a school of thought, and I will call it the authoritative/traditional model, that operates with the teacher as the authority and the primary mode of operation to be passing on the intellectual tradition. But another school of thought not only knows a better way, but it has the evidence in its favor in impacting students the most: it is the learner model. One of the major... Read more

Christology and Science 1 (RJS)

Last updated on: November 27, 2010 at 7:23 pm By RJS

As a working scientist, a professor, and a Christian, the coherence between scientific understanding and theological understanding is a subject of great interest. Most of the books dealing with the conflict between science and faith or reason and faith are limited in scope and confined to description of the world and concordance between scripture and observation. Theological topics are seldom invited to the table – but face it, theology, and for Christians, Christology, is where the rubber meets the road.... Read more