Previously in this series, I wrote brief biographic sketches of two men: Anselm of Canterbury and Peter Abelard. Today, I want to contrast their views of the world and theology, particularly the topic of the atonement. Basically, the atonement is a theological shorthand for “how did Jesus’ death save people?” It is a complex issue that has… Read More »
Anselm & Abelard pt 2 – History Fact Fridays
Last week, we began this series with a biographical sketch of Anselm of Canterbury. Today, we continue the series with a sketch of the life of Peter of Abelard. Peter of Abelard, the Peasant Philosopher Unlike Anselm, Peter Abelard was not born into a noble family. His family were Bretons, living in the town of… Read More »
Creed pt 6 – Man and his sin
There are lots of interesting conversations going on about the historicity of the first few chapters of Genesis. All of this seems rather silly to me since there is no way to prove anything about the narratives in Genesis up to at least Abraham. They are prehistoric and most likely were passed down orally from… Read More »
Book Review – The Original Jesus
I have only recently discovered the thoughts of N.T. (Tom) Wright. If you don’t know who he is, Wright is an Anglican bishop who has been very active in the ‘historical Jesus’ debate for some time. After listening to several lectures I found on christianaudio.com, I decided that I should check out some of his… Read More »
Creed pt 5: Why the Gospels and Letters are Inspired
This post is a transcription of a First Sunday (communion service) message I shared at Grace Baptist Church on August 8, 2010. This morning, we look at the Bible. I know that sounds pretty fundamental, but we have to ask the question, “Why 2,000 years after Jesus do we place the Bible in such high… Read More »
Creed, pt 4: The Divine Nature
The divine nature – there is perhaps no single issue that has caused more debate, separation, confusion, schism and frustration. The issue is so divisive that as soon as the Council of Nicaea formulated what is classically understood to be the “Trinity”, Constantine the Great led his armies to destroy a community of people who… Read More »
Historical Jesus pt 4 – The Historical Record
In history, as in journalism, second-hand is usually as good as it gets. We can’t speak as historians. But as journalists, we find those Gospel discrepancies very reassuring. That’s how real events get reported. – Ted Byfield1 One of the harshest realities for Christians to accept is that we do, to a certain extent, recreate… Read More »
Historical Jesus, pt 3 – Breaking Down the Narrative
The historical Jesus is summoned, but the image who appears too often is a (thinly disguised) version of ourselves. – Paula Fredricksen1 In order to “properly” dissect the gospels to discover the historical Jesus, the Jesus Seminar and other “Jesus Scholars” make certain assumptions made about the texts. Paula Fredricksen candidly points out that, as… Read More »
Historical Jesus, pt 2 – The New Spirituality
Learning precisely who wrote the gospels may be beyond us. But it may be more important to learn how the church did, and does, tell the story of Jesus vitally in each new generation. – John P. Meier1 Inherent in the development of Jesus scholarship was the development of a new, strange mold of spirituality.… Read More »
Historical Jesus, pt 1 – The Demotion of Jesus
This week, I will be posting a series of discussions on the Jesus Seminar. These documents were originally written in 2006 in response to reading the works of the Seminar and several of its prominent members. If you are unaware of the work of the Jesus Seminar, you have only to pick up any of… Read More »
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