How Do You Obey God When He Asks You To Do the Impossible?
In all of the many Star Wars films (and there are too many now), one of my favorite segments is where Yoda is training the young Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back.
After Luke fails to lift his X-wing fighter out of the swamp by using the Force, he complains to Yoda, “You want the impossible.” Then he walks off into the woods to pout.
Of course, Yoda then proceeds to lift the X-wing fighter out of the swamp himself and sets it on dry land. Luke stares in amazement, “I don’t believe it.”
Yoda’s reply is classic, “That is why you fail.”
While the quasi-Gnostic, New Age … Continue reading...
Did Early Christians Believe That Jesus Would Return in Their Own Lifetime? Implications for Canon
One of the most-oft repeated ideas about the earliest Christians is that they believed that the Kingdom of God would come (apocalyptically) within their own lifetime. In fact Schweitzer famously argued that Jesus himself thought the world would end in his own lifetime; of course the world didn’t end and Jesus died disillusioned on the cross saying, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).
In recent years, some have suggested that this belief in early Christianity would even have affected the development of the canon. If Christians thought the world would end in their own lifetime, then, it is argued, they would not have … Continue reading...
Scripture in the Early Church: The 2017 Ligonier Winter Conference
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to join R.C. Sproul, Michael Haykin, and Stephen Nichols for the Ligonier 2017 Winter Conference. The theme was “Scripture in the Early Church.”
There were a number of great sessions on a variety of topics related to early Christianity, such as “Preaching God’s Word in the Early Church,” “Living God’s Word in the Early Church,” and “Heresy in the Early Church.”
My session was on “God’s Word in the Early Church,” where I explored the unique qualities of our four gospels over against apocryphal texts like the Gospel of Thomas. You can watch here:… Continue reading...
Are Christians Arrogant? Rethinking the Definition of Humility
One of the most common objections made to the absolute claims of Christianity is that Christians are arrogant. Christians are arrogant to claim that they are right; arrogant to claim others are wrong; arrogant to claim that truth can be known.
Unfortunately, in the midst of such accusations, no one bothers to ask which definition of humility is being used.
Over the years, the definition of humility has undergone a gradual but nonetheless profound change. Especially in the intellectual community. In the modern day, humility has basically become synonymous with another word: uncertainty.
To be uncertain is to be humble. To be certain is to be arrogant. Thus, the … Continue reading...
Taking Back Christianese #7: “America is a Christian Nation”
In any election year (especially one as tumultuous and exhausting as 2016), there will be claims and counter-claims about what values and principles should guide the United States of America.
And such debates inevitably lead to appeals to the history and heritage of our country. What principles guided the founding fathers? Were the founding fathers Christians? Were the founding documents Christian in nature?
Thus we come to the next phrase in our “Taking Back Christianese” series: “America is a Christian nation.”
Our purpose in this post (as in all the posts in this series) is simply to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of this phrase. We will do this by … Continue reading...