How could there possibly be anything more mysterious and wonderful than the incarnation of Jesus Christ? God became a man. God took on mortal human flesh and became subject to all the things that every other mortal is subject to. He sneezed. He coughed. He got headaches and an upset stomach. Every morning he got up, shook the dust out of His hair, and put his hand to the plow in his Father’s field. Jesus Christ was not only subject to sickness, but also to death. The eternal Son of God was die-able. In fact, he did die. And three days later, what was mortal became swallowed up by immortality…
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When Mary “committed” adultery
When Mary turned up pregnant, everyone assumed that she was guilty of adultery. We all know now that this assumption was a false one, but it was nevertheless what folks thought. It’s precisely why Joseph sought to divorce her. Until an angel appeared to tell him otherwise, he assumed that Mary’s pregnancy came about by the usual means and that she had been unfaithful. But a most unusual messenger showed up to disabuse Joseph of his error. The angel also told Joseph that he must marry Mary and adopt her son as his own. Joseph believed God’s word against appearances, and Joseph obeyed. As a result, Jesus was adopted into…
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Letting go of family rancor at Christmas
Via Igniter Media.
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Who determines meaning? Author, text, or reader? Some thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:8.
How can you tell the difference between a good interpretation of a text and a bad interpretation? This is the fundamental question that every reader has to answer in trying to understand the message of scripture. The traditional approach has been to recognize the author as the ground and the guide of textual meaning. If you want to know the meaning of the text, then you must discern the author’s intent in writing that text.
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The Christmas Scale
The guys from Igniter Media seem to have a ceaseless flow of creative material. Some devotional, some humorous, but all really well done. Last year, they released “The Christmas Scale,” and it’s a classic. Watch it above. Purchase it here.
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Christmas in Kentucky
On his most recent Christmas album, Steven Curtis Chapman sings a song about returning to his hometown of Paducah, Kentucky for Christmas. One might expect a song like this one to be sappy nostalgia along the lines of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” or “Tennessee Christmas,” but it’s not. This is not the song of a child, but the song of a grown man who’s walked long enough with God to know that Christ came not just for folks like him but for the whole world. It’s the best news in the world. I love this song. In the video above, you can hear the song in its entirety as…
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Audio from the Evangelical Theological Society
After my two posts on last week’s ETS meeting, some readers have asked if there is any available audio from the sessions. Yes, there is audio, but unfortunately it’s not free. All of the presentations are available for download (over 620 of them!), but listed below are some of the sessions related to the conference theme—inerrancy. If you’re already planning to buy the Five Views book with Mohler and Enns, some of these papers will probably be superfluous. Nevertheless, the panel discussion with the direct interaction between Mohler and Enns is very interesting. See below.
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Some reflections on the 65th annual meeting of ETS
Yesterday wrapped up the 65th annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in Baltimore, Maryland. For those of you who don’t know, ETS is a society of theologians and biblical scholars who are dedicated to biblical inerrancy and a belief in the Trinity. At the annual meeting, members come together to present academic papers, meet with publishers, and catch up with old friends. What follows are some random reflections about this year’s meeting. 1. It’s been about five years now since Pete Enns left Westminster Theological Seminary because of a conflict about his views on scripture. Upon his departure, he and WTS issued a joint statement saying that “his…
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Michael Gerson on the anniversary of CS Lewis’ death
Michael Gerson on the anniversary of CS Lewis’ death: “This is the achievement of Lewis: to restore the dignity of our desires, which leave us homeless in this world and lead us home.”
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Pedagogical Best Practices for the Doctrine of Inerrancy
I am happy to help get the word out about a session in which I will be speaking at next week’s meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) in Baltimore, Maryland. The theme of the ETS meeting this year is inerrancy, and the session that I am participating is dealing with the question of how we should teach inerrancy in the classroom. Other panelists in this session include Vern Poythress, Garry DeWeese, Doug Blount, Paul D. Wegner, and Tim Anderson. This session is the brainchild of Jason Oakes, and you can read more about what we will be doing here. If you are going to be in Baltimore at the…