Author Archives: Michael Kruger

Ten Basic Facts about the NT Canon that Every Christian Should Memorize: #7: “Early Christians Often Used Non-Canonical Writings.”

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P.Oxy. 2949 Gospel of Peter

Full blog series can be found here.

For Christians struggling to understand the development of the New Testament canon, one of the most confusing (and perhaps concerning) facts is that early Christian writers often cited from and used non-canonical writings.   In other words, early Christians did not just use books from our current New Testament, but also read books like the Shepherd of Hermas, the Gospel of Peter, and the Epistle of Barnabas.

Usually Christians discover this fact as they read a book or article that is highly critical of the New Testament canon, and this fact is used as a reason to think that …

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Are All Sins Equally Heinous? A Response to Barnabas Piper

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balance

In a recent article, Barnabas Piper criticizes Christians for the manner in which they confront the sin of homosexuality.  The problem with these confrontations, argues Piper, is that they are not equally distributed over other sins.  What about the sin of fornication?  Or divorce?  Why do these not get equal attention?

This is certainly one of the most common objections to Christians who confront homosexuality.  But, I think there are a number of problems with it.  Let me mention just a few:

1.  This objection can be a distraction from the real issue.  When someone is confronted with sin, one of the most common defenses is to “accuse …

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The Arrogance of the Urban: Part 2

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urban

A while ago, I posted a blog article entitled “The Arrogance of the Urban” where I expressed concern over the attitude prevalent in many ministry circles today that “real” ministry happens in the inner city, while those in suburbia are out of touch and concerned only about their own safety and prosperity.

Part of the reason that urban ministry is regarded as more relevant is because of the belief that it is filled with minority poor that have been neglected by the mainstream church.  While this is no doubt still true in some places, it is a vast oversimplification. In my original article I wrote:

Suburbia is not

…

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“Detheologizing Christianity”: My Review of Rob Bell’s New Book

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Rob Bell

In 1941, Rudolph Bultmann published a very famous essay on “demythologizing” the New Testament.  For Bultmann, the New Testament was filled with myths of miracles that no modern person could accept.  Thus, in an effort to save Christianity, he attempted to strip it of all its supernatural elements.  After all, we don’t want the concept of “God” to become out of date.

Rob Bell’s recent book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God (HarperOne, 2013), brings up many memories of Bultmann.  While Bell is not trying to take away the supernatural elements of the faith, he is trying to purge it of elements that he thinks will make …

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