Christian Theology 1: Day 1

At the eleventh hour, I decided to sign up for Christian Theology 1 and attended class today. It will happen over 2 weekends – 8 hours on Sat, 4 on Sunday afternoon and 3 on Monday evening after work.

All along, I have been going for Biblical Studies classes. The classes I have taken include:

• An Introduction to the Old Testament (2003)
• Greek Elementary 1 (2004)
• Greek Elementary 2 (2004)
• Exegesis of Ephesians (2005)
• Old Testament Hermeneutics and Homiletics (2005)
• Romans (2006-7) uncompleted
• Study of Acts of the Apostles (2006) assignment pending

So it does take some getting used to for this Christian Theology class. We have only covered the study of the study of God and it got me still thinking and trying to work out what it means for me. It challenged me on 3 perspectives:

• I was reminded on things and issues that I need to work out
• I was challenged on some existing thoughts I have
• I was awaken to some issues which I have never much thought of before

What I need to work out
One of the issues I realised I have to work and think out is the theology of work. Throughout my working life I have never thought much about it and just went about working when the time comes after graduating to work. It never occurred to me that I need to have a theology of work to understand and live out my working life. I have been struggling with this issue for a few years now which intensified itself from the mid of last year. What and how to do it – I don’t know yet and this will most probably occupy my mind for the next few months to try to figure it out.

What challenged me
What about my existing thoughts that are being challenged? This is quite hard for me to articulate at the moment because I am still trying to work it out in my mind. During the lecture, as a foundational introduction to the module and understanding of the study of theology, the lecturer brought us briefly through the 4 critical periods leading to the study of God today. Beginning with the Patristic Period, where it is the most exciting and creative era brought about by the active minds and discussion at the presence of severe persecution. The main figures of this era include Justin Martyr, Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen, Tertullian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo. Then came the Dark Ages when Rome fell and Islam expanded. Christianity became a minority religion and shifted its bearings to the West and got somewhat more settled in the 11th century which brings us to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Period, where the first major schism occurred: the splitting of the Christian institution into the Eastern and the Western, bringing into existence 3 main powers:

• Byzantium: centering in Constantinople, now Istanbul, using Greek as the language;
• Western Europe: majoring in France, Germany and Italy with its center in Rome, using Latin as its major language and;
• Caliphate: the Islamic power majoring on the Mediterranean which grew and expanded to rapidly and strong that even Constantinople finally fell to its power

The stronger of the 2 Christian powers were the Western Europe who in the following period of the Reformation, where another major schism occurred: Roman Catholic and Protestants. From these ages, theology flourished but in the western thinking and reasoning. This is where I need to work out my thoughts. The lecturer mentioned about the Asian looking towards the West for most of our Christian thoughts. It is inevitable really, since we are of the colonialised and post-colonialised generation. He felt that we have thrown away a lot of Asian thinking and logic that will be useful for the study of theology: thoughts like narrative theology, other logically thinking like circular logic and parallel logic. It is hard for me because I suppose I am not conscious of what way I am thinking and to say that I need to be thinking Asian now makes me not know what to think. Talking to Noel did not help because he is very much a Western thinking person as he hails from the UK. He could not understand my problem.

What I was awakened to
But regardless of my current confusion over the way of thinking, one thing did awaken me: the thought that the study of theology must happen in a community. Theology is “God talk”: it is a tracking down of what has been said about God. It is thought out and conversed about within the body of Christ, not a do-it-yourself individualistic collection of meditations and thoughts of a hermit, solitary and recluse in his own cave.

Tomorrow, I will be leading in worship and then in the afternoon off the continue with more of Christian Theology. There will be more things to think about then – I hope I will have a big enough mind to take it all in.

Maeghan
Picture by Sanja Gjenero

Total Depravity

We attended church service yesterday evening and spent the day today resting and relaxing at home--it is different and I am not used to it.

Anyway, yesterday's sermon was on Total Depravity. As an Arminian, I could agree with most that was preached, especially on the parts where we as human are total depraved, there is nothing good in us.

But as much as we are in ourselves unable to receive the gift of life, God enables and persuades us to receive him through his prevenient grace. Calvinist will accuse us of work righteousness, but where is works in the decision of receiving of a gift? The glory still resides with the giver, not the receiver.

I was conversing with a Calvinist to find out his stand and find that in general, the Calvinists I know usually do not really know who we are as Arminians, in the classical sense, they do not know what we stand for, and they do not read or find out what we actually believe in. Most of what they say of us are wrong most of the time. Which is sad. I feel that they should at least find out exactly what we believe before "attacking" us, the worst in labeling us Semi-Pelagians, which we are not.

I have read this article written by Roger E. Olson some time ago:
Don't Hate Me Because I'm Arminian
My Reformed friends sometimes treat me like the enemy, but actually we need each other.

Again I reiterate, we need to dialogue. We need to first study and read reliable sources of what we each are, sit down and discuss, not fight or argue or accuse.

There isn't a more comprehensive volume on Classical Arminianism than Roger E. Olson's Arminian Theology, Myths and Realities.

I challenge you to read it--for Arminians or if you suspect you are one, you will get a deeper understanding of what you already know and correct some views as well. For Calvinists, you will at least know what we actually believe in.


Arminian Theology, Myths and Realities
by Roger E. Olson

The 10 myths that Olson interacts with are:

1. Arminian Theology is the Opposite of Calvinist/Reformed Theology.
In reality, Jacob Arminius and most of his faithful followers fall into the broad understanding of the Reformed tradition; the common ground between Arminianism and Calvinism is significant.

2. A Hybrid of Calvinism and Arminianism is Possible.
In reality, in spite of common ground, Calvinism and Arminianism are incommensurable systems of Christian theology; on issues crucial to both there is no stable middle ground between them.

3. Arminianism is not an Orthodox Evangelical Option.
In reality, Classical Arminian theology heartily affirms the fundamentals of Christian orthodoxy and promotes the hallmarks of evangelical Protestant faith; it is neither Arian
nor liberal.

4. The Heart of Arminianism is Belief in Free Will.
In reality, the true heart of Arminian theology is God's loving and just character; the formal principle of Arminianism is the universal will of God for salvation.

5. Arminian Theology denies the Sovereignty of God.
In reality, Classical Arminianism interprets God's sovereignty and providence differently than Calvinism without in any way denying them; God is in charge of everything without controlling everything.

6. Arminiansism is a Human-Centered Theology.
In reality, an optimistic anthropology is alien to true Arminianism, which is thoroughly God-centered. Arminian theology confesses human depravity, including bondage of the will.

7. Arminianism is not a theology of Grace.
In reality, the material principle of classical Arminian thought is prevenient grace. All of salvation is wholly and entirely of God's grace.

8. Arminians do not believe in Predestination.
In reality, predestination is a biblical concept that classical Arminians accept, though they interpret it differently than Calvinists. Predestination is God's sovereign decree to elect believers inJesus Christ, and it includes God's foreknowledge
of those believers' faith.

9. Arminian theology denies justification by Grace alone through faith alone.
In reality, Classical Arminian theology is a Reformation theology. It embraces divine imputation of righteousness by God's grace through faith alone and preserves the distinction between justification and sanctification.

10. All Arminians believe in the governmental theory of the atonement.
In reality, there is no one Arminian doctrine of Christ's atonement. Many Arminians accept the penal substitution theory enthusiastically, but others prefer the governmental theory.

pearlie

Update 3/11/2014: I now need to review my thoughts on Total Depravity. I found myself nodding my head during this sermon and subsequently in CG during the bible study on the same subject. And yet, I'm now convinced that the Calvinist and Arminian understanding of Total Depravity is different. I need to mull more on it to know exactly how it is different, so I will not think about the Calvinist's Total Depravity in the Arminian way.

Christian Theology 2: Day 2

Today's class concentrated on the theology of the Holy Spirit. We spent the whole day on this topic, from who he is to what he does. The usual questions on tongues were brought up and debated upon. For me, it was a "been there done that" kind of thing and was therefore reticent throughout. What I learnt though were these:

1. The speaking in other tongues at Pentecost can be viewed as "an indication of the reversal of the judgement of God at the tower of Babel. Instead of separation, alienation, and antagonism, there is now the formation of a reconciled community from all tongues and nations". But only if you view the event at the tower of Babel a judgement of God, which of course is the common thought. I have blogged this before - an alternate view that the tower of Babel event may point to the origins of cultural difference.

2. The accounts of the filling of the Holy Spirit in Pentecost, in Samaria, in Cornelius and his household are reminiscent of Acts 1:8, "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." I hadn't seen that linkage.

Our lecturer, Christopher, also introduced us to a very interesting painting entitled "The Trinity" by a Russian painter, Andrei Rublev (1370-1430).



Some interesting questions:

1. Why did Rublev paint the Trinity this way?
2. Which do you think were the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
3. What other characteristics of the painting did you notice - colours, items, expressions, etc.?

For more, check it out here.

Alex had commented that because I broke my 6-months-book-fast with the purchase of the book for my Psalms assignment (which by the way has not yet arrived from Amazon.com), I am more on a book diet. Technically yes but I'd rather still call it a fast. However, with this CT2 module, I would like to get a copy of Alister McGrath's Christian Theology, An Introduction since I have a passion for Historical Theology, and Christopher has gotten me interested in Sinclair Fergusen's The Holy Spirit. I think I will wait on Fergusen's but relent on McGrath's. I'll need McGrath for my assignment.

pearlie

note: I will respond to comments in due time. I have been trying to publish this for the past 40 minutes - connections are bad.

My Book Nook

I buy books faster than I can read them. Nevertheless, I still buy them and lay them on the shelves waiting for the right time and moment they will in turn find me.

Pearlie's Book Nook
(My list is now maintained in goodreads.com - check here for the latest.)

1 Corinthians. J. I. Packer, Charles Hodge
24 Italian Songs and Arias - Medium Low Voice
A Biblical Theology of the Old Testament.
A Brief History of Christian Music. Andrew Wilson-Dickson
A Burning and a Shining Light.
A Call to Spiritual Reformation. D. Carson
A Concise Exegetical Grammar of New Testament Greek. Jacob, Harold Greenlee
A Grief Observed. C. S. Lewis
A History of Israel. John Bright
A Model of Christian Maturity. D. Carson
A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. W. Phillip Keller
A Year with C. S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis
Acts. John Calvin, J. I. Packer
All the Prayers of the Bible. Dr. Herbert Lockyer
Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible. John W. Haley
An Introduction to Wisdom and Poetry of the Old Testament. Donald K. Berry
Analytical Lexicon to the Greek New Testament, The. William D. Mounce
Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?.
Baptism and Fullness. John R. W. Stott
Basic Christianity. Rick Warren, John R. W. Stott
Basics for Believers. D. Carson
Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church. D. Carson
Behind the Scenes of the New Testament. Paul William Barnett
Beliefs of a United Methodist Christian. Emerson Colaw
Believing and Belonging. Richard Bingham Gorrie
Believing God. R. T. Kendall
Bethlehem to Patmos. Paul Barnett
Between Two Worlds. John R. W. Stott
Beyond the Bible. Marshall, I. Howard Marshall, Stanley E., Kevin J./ Porter, Howard I./ Vanhoozer, I. Howard/ Marshall
Biblical Inspiration. I. Howard Marshall
Born for Battle. Arthur R. Matthews
Brother of Jesus, Friend of God. Luke, Timothy Johnson
C.S. Lewis & Francis Schaeffer. Jerry L. Walls, Scott R. Burson
C.S. Lewis's Dangerous Idea. Victor Reppert
Calling Christian Leaders. John Stott
Can Man Live without God. Ravi Zacharias
Can We Believe Genesis Today?. Ernest Lucas
Celebration of Discipline. Richard Foster
Christian Apologetics. Norman L. Geisler
Christian Ethics. Norman L. Geisler
Christian Theology of the Old Testament. George Knight
City of God. Augustine of Hippo, G. R. Evans
Compelling Reason. C.S. Lewis
Complete in Christ. Nigel M. De S. Cameron, Nigel M. Cameron
Contagious Holiness. Craig L. Blomberg
Continuity and Discontinuity. C. Samuel Storms, John A. Sproule
Cover to Cover Through the Bible. Selwyn Hughes
Creating God in the Image of Man?. Norman L. Geisler
Creation Regained. Albert M. Wolters
David. Stuart Briscoe
Deliver Us From Evil. Ravi Zacharias
Deuteronomy. Christopher J. H. Wright
Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-45,. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Divine Foreknowledge.
Doctrines That Divide, The. Erwin Lutzer
E M Bounds. Harold J. Chadwick, E. M. Bounds
Emotions - Can You Trust Them?. Dr. James Dobson
Encountering the Manuscripts. Philip Wesley Comfort
Epistles of John. I. Howard Marshall
Every Name Of God In The Bible Everything In The Bible Series. Larry Richards
Evidence for Jesus. R. T. France, France
Evidence That Demands a Verdict. Josh McDowell
Exegetical Fallacies,. D. Carson
Five Festal Garments. Barry G. Webb
Five Views on Law and Gospel.
Five Views on Sanctification.
For the Love of God. D. Carson
For the Love of God. D. Carson
Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World. Alister McGrath
From God To Us. Norman L. Geisler, William Nix
Fundamentalism and the Word of God. J. I. Packer
Gagging of God Ivp UK. D. Carson
God Has Spoken. J. I. Packer
God in the Dock. C. S. Lewis
God the Creator, God the Redeemer. John Calvin
Gospel According to Matthew. R.T. France
Graded Reader of Biblical Greek, A. William D. Mounce
Grammatical Aids for Students of New Testament Greek. Walter Mueller
Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics. Wallace, Daniel B. Wallace, Daniel B.
Hard Sayings of Jesus. Frederick Fyvie Bruce
Hard Sayings of the Bible. Frederick Fyvie Bruce, Peter H. Davids, Manfred T. Brauch
Harry Potter and the Bible. Richard Abanes, J. K. Rowling
Harry Potter, Narnia, and The Lord of the Rings. Richard, Richard Abanes, J. K. Rowling, Abanes
Hearing God's Voice Above the Noise. Stuart Briscoe
Hearing God's Words. Peter Adam
His Greatest Sermons. Jonathan Edwards
Historical Survey of the Old Testament, An,. Eugene H. Merrill
How Do You Know Youre Not Wrong?. Paul Copan
How On Earth Did Jesus Become A God?. Larry W. Hurtado
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Gordon D. Fee, Douglas Stuart
How to Read the New Testament. Etienne Charpentier
Humility. Andrew Murray
In the Beginning. Alister McGrath
In Understanding Be Men. T. Hammond
Intro to Old Testament Theology. J. N. Schofield, Schofield
Introducing New Testament Theology. A M Hunter
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation. Craig L. Blomberg, Robert L. Hubbard, William W. Klein
Introduction to Christian Worship. James F. White
Introduction to Philosophy. Norman L. Geisler, Paul D. Feinberg
Introduction to the New Testament, An. D. Carson, Dr. Leon Morris, Douglas J. Moo
Israel and the Nations. Frederick Fyvie Bruce, David F. Payne
Its Still Greek to Me. David Alan Black
Jerusalem. Amos Elon
Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity. Paul Barnett
Jesus according to Scripture. Darrell L. Bock
Jesus and His Friends. D. Carson
Jesus and the Logic of History. Paul Barnett
Jesus Christ the Witness of History. Sir Norman Anderson
Jesus Spells Freedom. Michael Green
Jesus Under Fire. James Porter (EDT), Michael J./ Moreland, Michael J. (EDT)/ Wilkins, Wilkins
Jewish Antiquities. Flavius Josephus
Joy Unspeakable. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Justification.
Keep in Step With the Spirit. J. I. Packer
Knowing God. J. I. Packer
Last Supper and Lords Supper. I. Howard Marshall
Lead on. John Edmund Haggai
Let's Weigh the Evidence. Barry Burton
Listening to the Spirit in the Text. Gordon D. Fee
Love in Hard Places. D. Carson
Men and Women of the Old Testament. Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Mere Christianity. C.S. Lewis
Message of the New Testament. Frederick Fyvie Bruce
Methodism. Rupert Davies
Mid-Course Correction. Gordon MacDonald
Miracles. C. S. Lewis
Morphology of Biblical Greek, The. William D. Mounce
Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. William D. Mounce
My Utmost for His Highest. Oswald Chambers
Names Of God. Nathan Stone
Neither Poverty Nor Riches. Craig L. Blomberg
Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Manners And Customs How The People Of The Bible Really Lived. Howard F. Vos
New Testament Commentary Survey. D. Carson
New Testament Exegesis. Gordon D. Fee
New Testament Interpretation. I. Howard Marshall
New Worship, The, exp. ed.. Barry Liesch
None of These Diseases,. David E. Stern, S. I. McMillen
Now My Eyes Have Seen You. Robert Fyall
Old Testament Exegesis. Stuart, Douglas K. Stuart, Douglas K.
Old Testament Survey. David Allan Hubbard, William Sanford La Sor, Frederic William Bush, Leslie C. Allen, William Sanford Lasor
One hundred and one hymn stories. Carl Fowler Price
Ordering Your Private World. Gordon MacDonald
Out Of The Saltshaker And Into The World. Rebecca Manley Pippert
Parables of Jesus. Dwight Pentecost
Paul's Letter to the Philippians. Gordon D. Fee
Paul, Apostle of God's Glory in Christ. Thomas R. Schreiner
Paul, the Spirit, and the People of God. Gordon D. Fee
Paul, Women, and Wives. Craig S. Keener
Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees in Palestinian Society. Anthony J. Saldarini
Philippians. J. B. Lightfoot, Alister McGrath
Philosophy and the Christian Faith. Colin Brown
Prayers from the Heart. Richard J. Foster
Praying God's Will. Lee Roberts
Preaching from the Old Testament. Elizabeth Achtemeier
Preaching Hard Texts of the Old Testament. Elizabeth Achtemeier
Predestination and Free Will. David Basinger, Randall Basinger
Psalms. J. I. Packer, Charles H. Spurgeon
Reading Scripture With the Church Fathers. Christopher A. Hall
Reasonable Faith. William Lane Craig
Reasons. Josh McDowell, Don Stewart
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. John Piper
Redemption Accomplished and Applied. John Murray
Reinhold Niebuhr 1892-1971,. Reinhold Niebuhr
Resurrection The Capstone In The Arch Of Christianity. Hanegraaff, Hank Hanegraaff, Hank
Runaway World. Michael Green
Scaling the Secular City. James Porter Moreland
Science & Christianity.
Selected Books. C.S. Lewis
Sermon on the Mount. D. Carson
Shorter Life of Christ, A. Dr. Donald Guthrie
Showing the Spirit. D. Carson
Solid Answers. James C. Dobson
Sophie's World. Jostein Gaarder
Studying the Historical Jesus. Darrell L. Bock
Studying the Synoptic Gospels,. Robert H. Stein
Surprised By Joy. C.S. Lewis
Systematic Theology. Wayne Grudem
Table Talk. Martin Luther
Talking with Catholic Friends and Family. James G. McCarthy
Testimony of the Evangelists, The. Simon Greenleaf
That Hideous Strength. C.S. Lewis
The Abolition of Man. C. S. Lewis
The Acts of the Apostles. Ben Witherington III
The Authority of the Old Testament. John Bright
The Believer's Prayer Life. Andrew Murray
The Bible Application Handbook. J. I. Packer, Derek Williams
The Book of Revelation. Canon Leon Morris
The Book of the Acts. Bruce, Frederick Fyvie Bruce, Frederick Fyvie
The Business of Heaven. C.S. Lewis
The Case for a Creator. Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ. Lee Strobel
The Case for Faith. Lee Strobel
The Christian Doctrine of Reconciliation. James Denney
The Christian's Secret to a Happy Life. Hannah Whitall Smith
The Complete Worship Leader. Kevin J. Navarro
The Cross and Christian Ministry. D. Carson
The Cross of Christ. J. Stott, D. Stone
The Cross of Jesus. Leon Morris
The Dawkins Delusion?. Alister E. McGrath, Joanna Collicutt Mcgrath
The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. D. Carson, Carson, D. A.
The Divine Conspiracy. Dallas Willard
The Epistle of James. Peter Davids
The Epistle to the Hebrews. Bruce, Frederick Fyvie Bruce, Frederick Fyvie
The Epistle to the Romans. Douglas J. Moo
The Epistle to the Romans. Leon Morris
The Epistle to the Romans. C. E. B. Cranfield
The Epistle to the Romans 1-8. C. E. B. Cranfield
The Four Loves. C. S. Lewis
The God Delusion. Richard Dawkins
The Gospel According to John. Leon Morris
The Gospel According to Mark. William Lane
The Gospel of Luke. Joel B. Green
The Gospel of Mark. R. T. France
The Great Divorce. C. S. Lewis
The Great Omission. Dallas Willard
The Historical Reliability of the Gospels. Craig L. Blomberg
The History of the Church. Eusebius
The Holy Spirit and Spiritual Gifts. Max Turner
The Incomparable Christ. John R.W. Stott
The IVP Bible Background Commentary. Victor H. Matthews, John H. Walton, Mark W. Chavalas
The IVP Bible Background Commentary. Craig S. Keener
The Justification Reader. Thomas C. Oden
The Language of God. Francis S. Collins
The Letter to the Ephesians. Peter T. O'Brien
The Magic Never Ends The Life And Works Of C.s. Lewis. John Ryan Duncan
The Message of Romans. J. Stott
The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict Fully Updated To Answer The Questions Challenging Christians Today. Josh McDowell
The New Testament Documents. F.F. Bruce
The New Testament Story. Ben Witherington III
The Old Testament & Criticism. Carl E. Amerding
The One Year Book of Poetry. Philip Wesley Comfort, Daniel Partner
The Origin of the Bible.
The Oxford Companion to the Bible.
The Parables of Jesus. Arland J. Hultgren
The Power of a Praying® Husband Book of Prayers. Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying® Parent. Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying® Wife Book of Prayers. Stormie Omartian
The Problem of Pain. C.S. Lewis
The Progress of Redemption. Willem VanGemeren
The Psalms. James L. Crenshaw
The Psalms. Samuel Terrien
The Screwtape Letters. C.S. Lewis
The Soul of Prayer. Eugene H. Peterson, P.T. Forsyth, P. Forsyth
The Spirit of Hinduism. David Burnett
The Spirit-controlled woman. Beverly LaHaye
The Story of Christian Theology. Roger E. Olson
The Strong-Willed Child. James C. Dobson
The Trinity. Christopher A. Hall, Roger E. Olson
The Weight of Glory. C. S. Lewis
Theology for the Community of God. Stanley J. Grenz
Three Views on Creation and Evolution. Paul Nelson, Howard J. Van Till, John J. Davis
Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond.
To Everyone an Answer.
Total Truth. Phillip E. Johnson, Nancy R. Pearcey
Trinitarian Doctrine for Today's Mission. Lesslie Newbigin
Two Views on Women in Ministry (Counterpoints.
Unapologetic Apologetics.
Understanding the Bible. Dr. John R.W. Stott
What about Other Faiths?. Martin Goldsmith
When Skeptics Ask. Norman L. Geisler, Ronald M. Brooks
Which Bible?. David Dewey
Who Made God?. Norman L. (EDT), Ravi K. (EDT)/ Geisler, Zacharias
Who Needs Theology?. Stanley J. Grenz, Roger E. Olson
Witchcraft Goes Mainstream. Brooks Alexander
Your Temperament. Tim F. LaHaye

pearlie

Ecc 4 to 10 - Be Wise and Fear God

I continue with my study on the book of Ecclesiastes, where I left off when I went for Christian Theology 1.

Scofield’s third division on the book of Ecclesiastes covers 7 chapters, from 4 to 10. The Qoheleth expounds in depth here the theme of vanity in the light of human suffering, hypocrisies, uncertainties, poverty and riches.

In summary, these are the headers found in the ESV:

4:1-16 Evil Under the Sun – the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet (4:1, The Message)

5:1-7 Fear God – For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear. (5:7, ESV)

5:8-6:12 The Vanity of Wealth and Honour – For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? (6:12, ESV)

7:1-29 The Contrast of Wisdom and Folly – God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes. (7:29, ESV)

8:1-9 Keep the King’s Command – For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? (8:7, ESV)

8:10-13 Those Who Fear God Will Do Well – I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence (8:12, The Message)

8:14-17 Men Cannot Know God’s Ways – you'll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you're not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won't get to the bottom of it. (8:17, The Message)

9:1-6 Death Comes to All – Life leads to death. That's it. (9:3, The Message)

9:7-10 Enjoy Life with the One You Love – for God has already approved what you do. (9:7, ESV)

9:11-10:20 Wisdom Better than Folly – One day as I was observing how wisdom fares on this earth, I saw something that made me sit up and take notice. (9:13, The Message)

There is much evil. And since we are still stuck here in the now and not yet, we need to be wise and fear God. The wealth the honour, the things and the fame we have is nothing in comparison to Him. Know the Lord, and keep His word, live reverently in His presence, He is here. We are weak and life will come to an end. So why worry, cherish every moment with the people that God has given you to love, for this is the wisdom God gave us.

Maeghan
Picture by Rodolfo Clix

Biblical Interpretation: Day 1

I know I really enjoy biblical classes and I thoroughly enjoyed the biblical interpretation class today. Compared to the Christian Theology class I attended, I think I can conclude that I enjoy biblical classes more. I will think of a reason why later. Right now, I am just too exhausted, especially after spending about 3 hours on our daily assignment on a textual criticism of Luke 10:1 and Ephesians 1:1.

Here is a gist of what I have learnt today:

Introduction
There is a tendency these days that Scripture is wrongly applied and even abused. We therefore need to sharpen our skills in biblical interpretation in order to be more in the alert when we read, when we are in discussion with others on biblical texts and even when we sing songs. Songs take a very important and crucial part of our lives – for example it is during our hard and difficult times that songs stay close to our heart. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the songs we use are at least theologically sound. An example, KarYong, our lecturer gave was this song entitled, My All in All. In one of its verses, there is this line which says, “taking my sin, my cross, my shame”. We will have no problems with the first and the third, but the second is questionable since we are required to take up our own crosses. When we sing this song, it seem to imply that we do not even need to bear the cross anymore because Christ has taken it.

Context
When we read the bible, there are many gaps we encounter: linguistic, cultural, geographical and historical. In reading the bible, context must first and foremost be established.

Presuppositions
We all come to the bible with our own presuppositions, be it our culture, our church tradition, our social upbringing, our values. These are the elements that we bring along when we read the bible, which will greatly influence what we read. We have our own lenses when we read the bible and we need to be aware of the lenses used by ourselves and others.

For example, just imagine putting together a Methodist, an Anglican, a Brethren and a Presbyterian to study the Eucharist. It will definitely be quite an intense debate.

The questions for reflection thrown at us are these: what are my own presuppositions? What is my view on the authority, the inspiration, the sufficiency of the bible? How can the Word of God be relevant to me?

This is relevant for me because I do have a friend who is more inclined to the Pentecostal tradition and the Prosperity Gospel. I have come to a stage where I decided to still regard her as a good friend even though both of us use quite different lenses in our biblical and theological understanding. But do I need to go further than just accepting it, that we just use different lenses and that’s it? And what will happen if I go forward to "correct” other her lenses? Do I have a right to do it in the first place, to decide my lenses are better than hers? This rings in the same tone some questions I had during one of the Christian Theology classes.

Observation
We also did some work on observation of several texts. We were broken into several groups and our group was given Acts 1:8. We were required to produce 50 observation points from just that one verse. It was not easy but I think we managed it, albeit barely. Kar Yong however, commented that he can get 100 observations from just that one verse! I am not sure if I can even muster more than the 50 we did, it was even questionable that we even did 50 because we did not really number them! But it was a really good exercise.

Textual Criticism
Then came the more technical side of biblical interpretation: textual criticism. I learnt quite a bit here as I discovered how to read the footnotes in my Greek bible in identifying the manuscripts that accounts for the variants in the reading.

Kar Yong gave some examples of textual variants and one that interests me most is this one on 1 Cor 11:24.

The KJV reads, “And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me,” while the NASB version reads, “and when he had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” All my life as a Christian, this phrase “broken for you” has been deeply imbedded in me. If I am not mistaken, it is in our Methodist communion readings (I have to find out to confirm if this is true) and I have been singing this song, “This is my body, broken for you, bringing forgiveness, setting you free, take it and eat it and as you do, do it in love for me.” On top of that, during communion, the minister who gives out the bread, in the form of wafer, literally breaks it before giving it out to us.

And now I am being told that the phrase “broken for you” should not be there as it was added onto the later manuscripts which KJV was based on. I would agree because Jesus was not broken. John 19:36 reads, “For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.” Even though we may say that the bread is broken, Jesus’ body is not. The phrase “this is my body, broken” would imply that the verb broken would modify “body” and not “bread”. I am convinced.

Homework
We concluded with Kar Yong blessing us with an assignment on textual criticism. We were required to conclude based on external textual data evidence (those variants provided in the Greek text) and on internal evidence of the text whether Jesus sent out seventy or seventy-two disciples (Luke 10:1) or if “in Ephesus” was an original text or a later addition? It took Lee Mei and I three hours to get these done, but it was fun, at least for me.

More Work
Not forgetting also that in the morning, we were given some Historical and Cultural Context Study questions to choose from and I chose this:

Read 2 Timothy. How does it provide clues for the season for the writing and Paul’s imprisonment condition? Find out facts about Roman prison.

More tomorrow.

pearlie
Picture from http://www.stpaulsirvine.org

Book Review: Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology

Foundations of Wesleyan-Arminian Theology
by Mildred Bangs Wynkoop

Noel recommended me this book by a very brilliant writer, minister and PhD holder, Dr. Mildred Bangs Wynkoop (1905-1997).

I recommend this book to anyone who wants a short and summarised read of the life of James Arminius, and a brief history of how Calvinism and Arminianism came about, as well as their theological characteristics and differences.

I can't say enough that she was brilliant. I like how she brought out the historical background of these different thrusts of theology and insisted that one needs to know its history to fully understand where each is coming from. Failing which she referred it to as "confusion of mind which ignorance of historical fact engenders."

She also touched on Theological Provincialism where, "Lifting one aspect of doctrine into a central dominating position, away from its proper place in the whole doctrine, is provincialism. Such theological provincialisms are not necessarily untruths but they invariably distort the Christian gospel because they, apart from the whole gospel, are made to become themselves the judge of truth and actually the gospel."

She also said, "Can we read the Bible objectively? None of us is intellectually neutral. We are committed. Our personal prejudices can and do blind us to truth. We tend to find in the Bible, or in nature anywhere, about what we want to find. Our own fixed point of view “filters out” some of the truths we hear. In fact, our prejudices become the “filter” and hence the judge of truth. Or, to change the figure, the shadow of our own provincialism falls on the truth and we interpret the material according to the pattern formed by our prejudices."

This is so true and quite saddening for me to attend service today and have pastor preach on Limited Atonement, and why the cross of Christ is only for a selected groups of people rather than what is so clearly and simply stated in Scripture where Christ died:

1. For all (Isa. 53:6; Luke 19:10; Matt. 18:14; 2 Cor. 5:14-15; I Tim. 2:4, 6; 2 Pet 3:9)
2. For every man (Heb. 2:9)
3. For the world (John 3:16-17)
4. For the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2)
5. For the ungodly (Rom. 5:6)
6. For many (Matt. 20:28)
7. For the Church (Eph. 5:25)
8. For “me” (Gal. 2:20)

While I admit that I am wearing my own Arminian glasses and having my own filters but I believe I am seeing these verses in Scriptures as they were intended to be - for all, for the world, for the ungodly, for many, for the Church, for me. The words mean what they mean - all, world, ungodly, many, Church and me.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance (2 Peter 3:9 ESV), who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4 ESV)

I really encourage you to read Wynkoop's book. Here is a cross section of what she wrote on:

I. Background of the Doctrine of Personal Predestination
- Early Christian Ecumenicity
- Development of Divisions
- Theological Provincialism
- The Pelagian-Augustinian Controversy

II. The Development of the Doctrine of Personal Predestination
- Augustine’s Concepts
- Calvin’s Concept of Personal and Double Predestination
- Double Predestination and Divine Decrees
- Arminius’ Concept of Divine Decrees
- Summary of the Arminian Views

III. Theological Characteristics of Calvinism, Arminianism and Wesleyanism
- Synod of Dort
- High Calvinism
- Arminianism
- Wesleyanism
- Wesleyan-Arminianism

IV. Wesleyan Influence on Classical Theology
- Neo-Calvinism (Mild, or Low Calvinism)
- Wesleyan Calvinism
- Calvinistic Wesleyanism
- Doctrinal Differences in the Light of Biblical Interpretation

V. Theological Tensions Raised by the Doctrine of Particular Predestination
- God’s Will and Man’s Will
- God’s Will and God’s Grace
- God’s Grace and Man’s Sin
- Salvation by Decree or by Faith?

VI. Influence of the Wesleyan Doctrine of the Holy Spirit on Theology
- The Work of the Holy Spirit
- The Holy Spirit and Christian Assurance

pearlie

Christian Theology 1: Day 3

We had our lecture today after work for 3 hours in the evening. We had a short discussion about modernity and post-modernity, which we, being Asian never actually experienced. We felt that we experienced more of colonialism and post-colonialism with the effects of modernity and post-modernity.

All this brings me back to one thought I had about theological studies. Over the years of fervent reading and in-depth study of my faith and belief, I have been told that the line of thought that I am using and being exposed to at the moment is the “correct” one as opposed to the other thoughts over different periods of time.

It all started with my OT lecturer. His view of the bible and the Old Testament is slightly different and upon discussion with some friends, I was told that he was under the tutelage of a time when that line of thinking was prevalent and being schooled in that era shaped his understanding of the bible which flowed into his teaching. I was told that though not wrong, it was not really the “correct” way.

And that made me think: if that is true then what I am being taught and the way I am thinking now might as well become obsolete one day as well.

My thoughts are confirmed just after 3 days of Christian Theology, because my thoughts and line of belief and thinking is being challenged. Don’t get me wrong, the core of my belief remain strong and unmoved. It is the way of thinking, reasoning and logic that is being challenged.

We are now exposed to the many eras and cultures that form and shape the people they engulf: the Roman Catholic, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, the grass root people, the Western Church, the Evangelicals, the list goes on. There is no one way that is “correct”. God is so vast and so different from us in quality and substance that our language is just not sufficient to hold Him. If it can hold God, He is no longer God.

Maeghan
Picture by Tibor Fazakas

Another good lunch

It’s another lunch day and as interesting as life would have it, whilst yesterday’s lunch-mate was my colleague, this round was with Chris, my TEE classmate. Whilst yesterday’s lunch-topic was theology, this round was biblical studies.

Chris owns UBSD Distribution, a book distribution company, and I just picked up from him a copy of Alister McGrath’s Christian Theology. It’s about time since I have ordered it quite a few months ago and what more, my assignments on Christian Theology will be due in no time!

Other than conversing about the papers we took, we talked about our experience in researching, getting materials, the encounters we had with the different lecturers; we also asked the whys and wherefores of studying and going the scholarly route of our Christian walk with God.

At times when we face the frustrations of cracking our heads to understand the theological and biblical mysteries, cracking our budget to get more books and burning dry our midnight oil to complete the assignments, not to mention sacrificing the little time we have with our family as a result, we do wonder what for.

But it is a sacrifice some of us are willing to make, especially if we preach and teach the Word. If we look at the diagrams I have created below, it is pretty clear that it is pertinent we expand what we know about what we belief, in the right way and in the right mind.



My favourite verse on this is definitely and always will be 2 Tim 2:7, “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. ” To gain understanding, we must first consider it, grapple with it, wrestle with it and agonise over it. It takes time and it takes considerable effort but it is well worth it. Imagine the size of the green-box you will bring to heaven!

These verses I found in 2 Peter is very timely. The green-box seems to be in v.11!

2 Peter 1:4-11
4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; 11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.

I have yet to study these verses to find out more of its gems and treasures of truth. Now I will have something to work on … on top of a whole of other “somethings” that is, but work on it I will.

pearlie

p/s it was not planned but looks like it is a good week with 3 "good" posts in a row! That is something worth celebrating for. Hallelujah!

Christian Theology 1: Day 6

We did not have any lectures today but spent the evening sharing our thoughts, what we learnt and what we can take away from the past 5 days of learning.

Many brought up the issue of living out our theology. But I feel it is hard if we don’t first know what it is. On the outset, I may think that I do but after having encountered the many lines of thoughts, i.e. Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic (I have been googling for Theology of Work and found most of it in Roman Catholic sites), I am not sure what to live out anymore. So it still boils down back to the faith community that I place myself in – my church, my thinking Christian friends and my family – the need to have one another to check and counter check what we think, we say and we do.

Maeghan
Picture by Julia Freeman-Woolpert

Interpreting the NT: Day 1

I started my class on Interpreting the NT this evening, with about 2 hours of lecture, again by Dr Lim Kar Yong. I signed up for this class on the condition that I push myself to complete the assignments on Christian Theology 1. I finished the reflection paper and almost finished the theological one, so I am good and was looking forward to this new module.

The evening was spent mainly on an introduction to the module. It is a study on the book of Mark. So we covered briefly on the synopsis problem, a brief overview of the 4 gospels and a brief introduction to Mark.

More tomorrow as I need to go to bed now, so that I can wake up early for class at 9am. This time, classes are not held in STM, Seremban but in Petaling Jaya, about 1/2 hour's drive for me. I therefore, do not have the luxury to wake up just in time and walk over for class.

So more tomorrow.

pearlie

The worker's theology

Albert Nolan, O.P is a brother of the Vicariate General of Southern Africa. He is currently the Novice Master of the vicariate. He is a well known author with three major titles to his name, Jesus Before Christianity, God in South Africa and Jesus Today. In the 1990s, as a result of his conviction that theology must come from the grassroots level and not an academic, he started a radical church magazine called Challenge, of which he was the editor for many years.

In his article "Work, the Bible, Workers, and Theologians: Elements of a Workers' Theology" (1996), he is convinced that "a genuine theology of work will have to be a worker's theology, that is to say, a theology constructed by workers and for workers - a theological reflection of workers upon their experience of work and their experience of struggle." This is so that they can determine whether their interests are being addressed.

He feels that theologians know about it, heard about it, read about it and have talked about it, but it is not their experience. They deal with it and speculate about it secondhand. As such, he concludes that their theology of work will be of minimal interest and value to Christian workers. He continues saying that they who do not have the experience of work, no matter how well they know the Bible and the Christian tradition, they will never be able to see in God's word what the workers see in God's word.

I am not sure if I agree completely with him. To a certain extent, he may be right. But is there really a dichotomy between the work of pastors/theologians/bible scholars and the rest of us? Should there be? Don't we face the same struggles and issues? We both serve men, but ultimately we both serve God. We both face stress of deadlines, of work pressures. We both work hard, be it physically or mentally. Is there a difference?

Nolan suggested a framework for us to start thinking about the theology work: in the form of a series of questions.

1. Is work a blessing or a curse?
2. Does the Bible see work as a blessing or as curse?
3. How can work be redeemed?
4. How does the redemption of work fit into God's redemption?

What are your thoughts?

pearlie
Picture by Gfree

Christian Theology 1: Day 2

There was a lot of emphasis on relational theology in our lecture today. There is a calling to read the Scripture vertically in a relational way through the language of prayer and worship and through narrative theology. Our experience then need to be discussed horizontally within our community through the language of discourse and then brought back into the relational through prayer, worship and narrative.

We shared with each other our own distinct implication when we look at theology, Scripture, our ministry and life in a relational way. In living our life and in carrying out the mission God set us out for, we need to relate it as an offering of worship to our God and we need to carry it out in love and touch the people around us. That’s relational. It is more than thinking and talking and studying Scriptures. It is living the Scriptures.

I have been trying to guard myself against studying and reading Scripture academically. In fact, it is an academic activity for me and I love doing it – I delight in reading, doing research and to logic things out but I have been trying my best not to just let it remain head knowledge but to live it as well. Therefore, the lecture today has been encouraging. It motivates me to be more active in working out my thoughts and transforming it into practical. It helps me make things more practical and believe it or not, to think less and do more.

But I am not sure if this is a good thing! – to think less … I need to think about it.

Maeghan
Picture by Julia Freeman-Woolpert

Woohoo!

I first posted this picture on October 22, 2006 with a Woohoo! on my "Exegesis on Ephesians" paper, and then posted it again on September 12, 2007 with a second Woohoo! on my "Christian Theology 1" paper.

This is my third Woohoo! And it has certainly been awhile.

This third Woohoo! comes in three: an A- in "Exegesis on 1 Corinthians", an A- in "Biblical Theology" and an A in "Major Religion in Malaysia (Islam)".

I am happy, I am dancing. And now, to get myself working on my last 2 assignments.

pearlie
Photo (c) 2006 Yi-Chen Lin

Christian Theology 2: Day 1

This is irrelevant and it isn’t about theology but for whatever it’s worth:

We weren’t expecting this
Have we so much gone amiss
Along it came no less
That without much finesse
The thing that got to us
Has made us gloomy Gus
Everything is now a mess
All Rights Reserved © 2008 Pearlie Ng

We began our CT2 class today led by Christopher Cheah – on these topics:
- The Doctrine of Humanity
- The Image of God
- The Essential Human Nature
- The Fall and the Nature of Sin

I may have been doing too much exegesis because I find that I keep doing exegesis work today on the passages presented for the various topics.

For example, there was this section where we were looking at the account of the temptation that led to the fall. Christopher commented that it is a common view that the blame always fall on the woman for being the one that listened to the devil, replied him, got enticed by him, ate the forbidden fruit, and somehow got man to eat it too, thus causing the fall.

Scanning through the passage given, I began to see it differently. I know I am not in a biblical study class but humour me as I articulate this:

If we read Genesis 3:1 in a non-literal manner as how you might want to read the creation story in the same way, I find that the author may have purposed it in the way that he designed his story as a way to explain the original sin.

In the setting of the narrative, the serpent asked both man and woman present, the question tempting them to disobey. It was Eve who answered, who went along with the serpent's suggestion, twisted God's word, saw the fruit, took the fruit, ate it and passed it along to Adam. Adam was quiet through the entire transaction - he did not object or question. He willingly went along with it.

Had Adam did what Eve had done, the doctrine of the fall and the nature of sin could have been very different and the Feminist Theology could have been made stronger. But it was Eve who was set in the narrative to have done all that, with the husband's silent consent.

I propose that the author did this with the purpose to include woman into the fall and the act of disobedience. Just because the man was the rightful head of the union, the woman can in no way blame it solely on the man in saying that she was forced into it. Nor can a single woman claim that she is without sin, because according to the account she inherited the sin because Eve was the one who made the move with the consent of the man. (A single man can in no way claim he is without the original sin because being the head, Adam consented to Eve's action).

Can this exegesis carry water?

Again, I know I am suppose to talk about theology - let me get into it slowly, maybe tomorrow.

pearlie

Christian Perfection

I have begun work on my paper on Methodism, which consist of a 3-part paper: (1) Wesley’s Doctrine of Sanctification, (2) his methods to promote Christian holiness and (3) how it can be applied in our church today.

The doctrine of Entire Sanctification is the most distinctive aspect of Wesleyan theology and to begin with I was not sure if I even agree with it. I am doing quite a bit of reading and I am beginning to understand where Wesley is coming from. His understanding of Christian perfection is not one of absolute perfection but almost an antithesis of imperfect perfection, so to speak. He kept firmly to the doctrine of original sin and total depravity. He posits that a person is either a “whole Christian” or not a Christian at all. It is this perfection of a “whole Christian” that he is trying to explain – that a Christian is “perfect” in relation to his personal relationship with Christ, who is the Light of the world. Apart from Christ, there is darkness.

I know it is not easy to understand Christian perfection in this imperfect and fallen world. Even Wesley admits that “there is scarce any expression in Holy Writ which has given more offence than this. The word perfect is what many cannot bear. The very sound of it is an abomination to them. And whosoever preaches perfection (as the phrase is,) that is, asserts that it is attainable in this life, runs great hazard of being accounted by them worse than a heathen man or a publican” (Wesley, Sermon 40, Christian Perfection, 1872). But if it is understood in relation to Christ, we can be holy as He is holy: to live a life that is dependent on His grace, in an unbroken conscious relationship with Christ, in an absolute conformity to the perfect will of God that there is a necessity for the Christian who is perfect in relation to Christ, to confess our sins and grow in grace.

In a sense, it is perfect but not perfect – here but not yet.

pearlie

A Booky Day

It has been quite awhile since I read and finished a book - and I finished Alister McGrath's In the Beginning, The Story of the King James Bible yesterday night. Anyway, it was an easy read with it being a story book. I find it excellent because as I have mentioned here somewhere, it covers all three of my current interest: theology, English and history.

It was a booky day yesterday. I had absolutely forgotten about the lunch arrangement with Noel, where we agreed to go visit a bookshop that is new to us. So as payback, I had to bring him there after work.

So we visited CanaanLand. We did not have much time there though. We arrived shortly after 6 and the store closes at 7. But we were so much liked by the people there that they extended their hours just for us. Just kidding! They were so absolutely nice that they allowed us to stay on a little while longer just to complete our purchases. I am a total convert now - CanaanLand over Sufes. And I get a 10% discount on all books in CanaanLand. I left with 4 books and Noel with 3, I think.


I was delighted they had copies of Stanley Grenz's Theology for the Community of God, which is the text for my Christian Theology 1 (CT1) paper. Sufes was out of stock on this one.


I was looking for books for my CT1 assignment on the historical Jesus. There is this one called Studying the Historical Jesus by Darell Bock but it was out of stock. I found Larry W. Hurtado's How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? but I am not sure if it is relevant to my paper.


Noel convinced me to get Nancy Pearcey's Total Truth which won a Gold Medallion Award. It talks about worldviews, Pearcey is an excellent author I was told and so I think it will be good.


And finally, it was Alex who introduced me to this much needed book. He wasn't there with us but knowing that we are off to a bookstore, he gave us his booklist and this was one of them, DA Carson's Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church. I was recently been confronted with the Emergent Movement and I need to find out more about it before I say anything. And at The Thinklings, I came across a post which led to these articles by Mark Driscoll and Scot McKnight. McKnight's article is a good introduction to the Emergent Movement but is in criticism to Carson's book. I had a problem creating links to the articles, so here they are if you are interested:

A Pastoral Perspective on the Emergent Church
by Mark Driscoll
http://criswell.wordpress.com/files/2006/03/3,2%20APastoralPerspectiveontheEmergentChurch[Driscoll].PDF

What is the Emerging Church?
by Scot McKnight
http://www.foolishsage.com/wp-content/uploads/McKnight%20-%20What%20is%20the%20Emerging%20Church.pdf

pearlie

Just 2 more months

I took Christian Theology 1 in January and it is already April and I have only 2 more months to work on 2 assignments.

1. A reflection paper of about 1,000 words based on topics of discussion during class.
I think I will be doing one on the deficiencies in the different forms of Church's corporate worship today in terms of the reflection of God's immanence and transcendence. The other one which I may also think about doing is to reflect based on my understanding of the purpose of God's plan, how life of my faith community should look like. The first one would be good for me to work at because of my involvement in the worship ministry whereas the second one will be also close to heart with my recent change of my faith community so to speak.

2. A theological essay of about 2,000 words.
There are 10 questions to choose from and the one that attracted me sounds like this: defend the divinity of Jesus Christ by presenting the possible historical bases for this claim. A big question. I hope I can do justice. If I cannot get started on this question, then I might do the one where I am required to explore in reasonable detail the major theological contribution of one key theologian from either the Patristic Period (100-451) or the Middle Ages (1050-1500).

I have only 2 months. This means that I have 2 weeks for the first one and 6 weeks for the second. Oh boy ...

pearlie
Picture by Marja F-B

Only preach hope

Rev Vincent Lau was our guest speaker today. He was with us this year for the 4th or 5th time already. But this round, he stayed back for quite a considerable length of time to chat with some of us. SH and I had the privilege of his attendance, and also his wife Jaycee.

We spoke about a lot of things, but we soon found ourselves talking about preaching. I had commented that preaching is hard to do, that it is indeed a very pastoral thing. What he said in response I find very interesting but I am still mulling about it though.

He said that he became a Christian at age 19, and began preaching when he was 21. When he started, he was preaching from life experience. But soon, he found himself in a seminary and from then on, he began to preach theology. He found that he “turned dry” in his preaching. There was no life. But after many years of doing it, he concluded on this one thing – that in preaching, the end of the message has to be hope. A preacher can, and in fact should, discipline and exhort, but in the end of it all, there must be hope.

I agree with him on the message of hope. As one worships in a faith community, one also yearns for life and yearns for God. And hope is the Lord’s to give and He will give hope. But I am not sure about not preaching theology.

To me, right theology should drive our lives, right theology should shape our talk and right theology should pace our walk. I would however, have to agree that if theology is all we are, with no compassion, no love, and no hope, we are nothing. After all … If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. (1 Cor 13:1)

Preaching is a message of love and a message of hope. And indeed Rev Vincent does preach hope in our church. We are usually left with a message that encourages us in our walk with our Lord. Yes, as a result of his messages, we do acknowledge our weaknesses and confess our sins, but we are then given a sense of hope in the Lord -- For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:17)

I am so grateful to You, O Lord, that You are a God of love, and a God of hope. In our fleeting lives, that is all that we can hang on to. Amen.

pearlie

Christian Theology 1: Day 5

A lot of things have been going round and round in my mind since CT1 started and it has brought up many things which I have tried to keep a low on.

Today’s lecture is on the doctrine of Christology. The group reflection topic sounds like this: The Evangelical tradition speaks of Christ mostly as the bearer of salvation, and hardly emphasises the role of Christ as an ethical and spiritual example to those who follow him. Consider how this missing dimension of Christian spirituality may be practically recovered in the life of your community.

The discussion we had centered on the church. I was mostly quiet throughout this discussion because as far as my thoughts about it are concerned, I am so disturbed over its current state. I am not able to fully articulate it at the moment but basically it boils down to these few worries:
• The spiritual health of the clergy
• The influence of the secular world creeping into clergy: pastors as managers and CEOs
• The quality of pastoral care
• The quality of pulpit ministry
• The spiritual health of Christians
• The trend of the inward view of Christians as opposed to an outward flow of the love of God

I feel so helpless but since I am studying Ecclesiastes, the end of the matter; all has been heard. What I need to do is to fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, it is my whole duty indeed.

Maeghan
Picture by Sharon Bellingeri