Blogogetics

Giving an apologia (defense) for the faith we have

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The Church and the Parachurch

Sep 8

Posted by Sam Shin in General Info | 3 Comments

THE CHURCH AND THE PARACHURCH

There’s an old hand gesture that children do to describe the church. It goes like this: “Here is the church, here is the steeple, open the doors and see all the people.” It’s funny how children’s rhymes can sometimes carry deep meaning. Indeed, the church is much more than a building, it’s a community. Edmund Clowney writes: “According to the Bible, the church is the people of God, the assembly and body of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” It is a reflection of the old covenant community now realized as a new community, in essence a new covenant community. Peter describes the people of this new community as “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God” (1 Pe. 2:9). The church is God’s vehicle to bring His Kingdom to the world.

The question is, “What does God’s church look like?” If it is about the people, how is it displayed and how is it formed? We hear terms like “universal” and “local,” “church” and “parachurch,” and many of these phrases can be quite confusing. Also, what model represents the biblical understanding of the word “church”? Many of these issues were dealt with in Phase 3, Week 8 of membership so we will be narrowing the subject to the church-parachurch relationship (so there will be much cross-referencing to this earlier work now known as P3W8).
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The Problem of Pigs

Sep 2

Posted by Thomas Moller in General Info | No Comments

“Whither is God?” he cried; “I will tell you. We have killed him—you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? …. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.”

From “The Madman”, Friedrich Nietzsche in “The Gay Science” #125

I have been trying to build the case that if we cease believing in a moral law-giver our beliefs and actions will be pragmatic and practical where individuals will not believe in nothing but rather they will believe in anything. Our values and beliefs therefore, will ultimately reside on Wall Street, gazing into the pool of Narcissus, rather than in Wisdom, bathing in the ocean of Grace . So humans may have value if it informs our pride and pads our pocketbook and just as easily lose that value if we deem the cost too great or our chests too flat.

To rightfully establish a moral right requires a moral Maker but moral rights cannot be separated from moral obligations and this is where the modernist tension lies. Former Yale Law Professor Arthur Leff brilliantly illustrates this tension between moral rights and moral obligations.

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God

Aug 11

Posted by Sam Shin in General Info | No Comments

Introduction

God’s nature and character have been the central topic for many theologians throughout the centuries. This is not to assume that anyone is able to completely understand and know God for His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8). However, it is to say that there is no greater joy than to desire to know God.

This section is only a cursory glance at the attributes of God, as this whole study will be examined for weeks to come. May the Lord grant you His wisdom as you worship Him in the study of His Word.

His Nature and Character

Incommunicable Attributes – Those attributes that God does not have in common or “communicate” to human beings.

1. Independence – God does not need anything from human beings to make up who He is. God is completely independent from His creatures. (cf. Acts 17:24-25; Job 41:11; Psalm 50:10-12). God never “needs” human beings to satisfy loneliness. Indeed, God’s glory was always full and wondrous even before the creation of the world: “5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). This correlates to the community nature of the Trinity, which assumes that there is full independence from creation, in light of the dependence between Father, Son, and Spirit.

2. Unchangeableness/Immutability – J.I. Packer writes:
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A Response to The New Perspective of Paul (NPP)

Aug 5

Posted by Duane Smets in General Info | 2 Comments

apostle-paul

The New Perspective of Paul (NPP):
A scholarly re-interpretation of Paul’s thought concerning justification by faith which has been held by Protestants since the reformation. The new interpretation is that justification is not a legal status of one’s standing before God but rather filial declaration by God that Jesus is the messiah of God’s people.

Main Points of NPP:
- Judaism was a religion of grace and inclusivism rather exclusivistic communal competition and striving for individual righteousness with God.
- Law was not something one used to earn favor with God but was merely a Jew’s identity mark as being a people of God.
- Jews boasting that they were elect/favored/chosen was the main problem Paul is addressing in Romans.
- Justification does not have to do with one’s standing before God but one’s identity with a people group of God.
- Jesus does not satisfy the wrath of God and then transfer that acquired righteousness to us.
- A person does not need to individually put faith in Jesus but just realize God accepts them as they are and join the community of God.

Main Proponents of NPP:
- Dr. James D.G. Dunn
- Dr. E.P. Sanders
- Dr. N.T. Wright

My Contentions:
- Judaism was clearly one of exclusivism and religious competition both according to Jesus and Paul and this is not eisogesis (Mat 5:17-20, Phil 3:4-8 ). Notice Jesus distinction of the individual ["whoever" vs. "others" and what they are called] and notice Paul’s use of “I” and “myself.”
- “Law” is used in three different ways in Romans. To minimalize these contextual and exegetical observations and to reduce them to merely being a “boundary marker” is to do violence to the text.

- The main problem Paul is addressing in Romans is sin, idolatry deep in mankind’s heart, not boasting (Rom 1:18-:24).
- A thorough study of the Greek word, dikaisune clearly shows that righteousness is not merely communal identity. Here is a link to my work on the diakio word group in Romans 1-8: dikaiosune.pdf
- A study of the word “propitation” in Rom 3:25 and a study of the word “counts” in Rom 4:23-24 clearly teach the imputed righteousness of Christ. Here are links to my work dealing with these passages: propitiation.pdf and imputation.pdf
- Propenents of NPP utilize a form of “chronological snobbery” as C.S. Lewis once described it. Basically this means they caricaturize the classical reformed view of
justication by faith as being primitive and scholastically unwarranted and that if one was to believe this “new” theory, only then could they claim intellectual warrant.
- I believe NPP is self-refuting in its charges against cultural eisogesis. NPP reeks of the postmodern virtue of pluralistic inclusivism and is not the result of solid exegesis but rather the attempt to force Paul and Romans into a postmodern framework.
- I believe that NPP is dangerous and is heresy because it eliminates not only the Jew’s need for Jesus but as a result all other’s need. Faith is not merely a realization of what you already are. This is a serious conflagration between the doctrines of justification and sanctification.
- An acceptance of this doctrine will set the church back to a pre-reformation setting and the gospel will be lost. As Martin Luther said, “justification by faith” is the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls.

Below is a brief bibliography on the subject:

In favor of NPP:
_ James Dunn, Jesus, Paul, and the Law: Studies in Mark and Galatians.
(Louisville:Westminster/John Knox, 1990) ISBN 0664250955
_ E.P. Sanders, Paul and Palestinian Judaism. (Fortress, 1977) ISBN 0800618998
_ N.T. Wright, What Saint Paul Really Said: Was Paul of Tarsus the Real Founder of
Christianity?. (Eerdmans, 1997) ISBN 0802844456

Refuting NPP:
_ D.A. Carson, Peter O’Brien, and Mark Seifrid (eds.), Justification And Variegated Nomism. 2 volumes (Baker Academic, 2001 & 2004) vol. 1 – ISBN 080102272X / vol. 2 – ISBN 0801027411
_ Piper, John. The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright. (Crossway, 2007) ISBN 9781581349641

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The Inerrancy of Scripture

Jul 5

Posted by Sam Shin in General Info | 1 Comment

Introduction

If there is one subject that has caused division amongst Evangelicals today, it is the authority of Scripture. Although the word “Evangelical” usually meant that this particular person believed in the inerrancy of Scripture, this can no longer be assumed. But the “Bible debate” is not just a product of this century. In fact the authority and inspiration of Scripture has been challenged since the Enlightenment period. No longer was God’s Word seen without error or “inerrant.”

Today, inerrancy usually is associated with fundamentalism1, or close-mindedness, or even anti-intellectualism. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Inerrancy believes that our only standard of truth is the Word of God. In presupposing that God is perfect, the result of that perfection is the Word He gives. This definition has often led to much confusion and therefore, many misinterpretations of what evangelicals define as inerrancy.

The ultimate question is, “If the Bible says it, can I believe it, and can I base my life around it?” There is nothing more central to the Christian faith than the infallibility of Scripture. Millard Erickson writes:
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Tell a friend

Jun 26

Posted by admin in General Info | No Comments

Now that we’ve launched blogogetics.com we hope that you can help spread the word. First, consider adding us to your blogrolls or even adding our banner to your site. Other ways to spread the word is to link to us in the forums and chat rooms you visit or add us to your favorite social networking site. You can even check out our Technorati Profile.

Be sure to bookmark our new site and subscribe either by email or RSS feed to keep up to date on the latest posts. You can also subscribe to comments so you can follow the discussions of other visitors. And finally, I encourage you to promote our site to your friends and family and to your own site visitors (as may apply). More links and visitors improves our visibility in the search engines which makes it easier for people to find us and, more importantly, find the answers in the topics we cover.

Also, please let me know if there is anything you’d like to see changed on the site. I’ve tried to make it user friendly and avoid anything that would distract from glorifying God, but there is always room for improvement.

The Image of God, Sin, and Depravity

Jun 11

Posted by Sam Shin in General Info | No Comments

Introduction

Of all of God’s creation, none comes close in grandeur and splendor to the creation of humanity. Human beings alone were created with an image and a task, i.e., the image of God and the task to rule over God’s creation. One scholar makes the distinction between God as suzerain-king, and humanity as vassal-king. Yet, despite this wondrous blessing, humanity turned away from God’s provisions, and rebelled against this King, in an attempt to usurp the kingly rule of God. God was not overthrown; instead, it would be humanity that is ejected from the Garden of Paradise. The study of the image of God, sin, and depravity is necessary in understanding humanity’s place in God’s redemptive plan. That God would continue to show mercy and grace to a people who would continually rebel against Him (cf. Rom. 3; 5:10), is indeed amazing grace. So to understand the work of Christ, one must comprehend the fallen work of humanity to capture the full power and glory of the cross. May you worship Him as you learn of our fallenness and God’s incredible grace!

The Image of God

The term image of God is from Genesis 1:26-27:

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Humanity’s distinctiveness is marked by the very fact that human beings are the only creatures which are labeled as beings created “in the image of God.” But what exactly does it mean to be created in the image of God? Anthony Hoekema writes: “But we should note at the outset that the concept of man as the image or likeness of God tells us that man as he was created was to mirror God and to represent God.” This too is a quandary, as what it exactly means to “represent” God or “mirror” God, remains ambiguous. The Hebrew word for image is tselem which primarily means “something similar.” “Likeness” or demut in Hebrew conveys a similar meaning. But how is the human image, “similar” or in the “likeness” of God?
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Hello world!

Jun 8

Posted by Luke Shiras in General Info | 1 Comment

Christian apologetics is the field of study concerned with the systematic defense of Christianity. The term “apologetic” comes from the Greek word apologia, which means in defense of; therefore a person involved in Christian or Bible Apologetics is a defender of Christianity. Someone who engages in Christian apologetics is called a “Christian apologist”. Christian apologetics have taken many forms over the centuries, starting with Paul of Tarsus, including renowned writers such as Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Aquinas, and continuing today with the modern Christian community through authors such as Karl Keating and Jimmy Akin. Apologists have based their defense of Christianity on favoring interpretations of historical evidence, philosophical arguments, scientific investigation, and other avenues.

This Classical Greek term appears in the Koine (i.e. common) Greek of the New Testament. The apostle Paul employed the term “apologia” in his trial speech to Festus and Agrippa when he said, “I make my defense” (Acts 26:2). In the English language, the word apology, derived from the Greek word “apologia”, usually refers to asking for forgiveness for an action that is open to blame. Christian apologetics are meant, however, to argue that Christianity is reasonable and in accordance with the evidence that can be examined, analogous to the use of the term in the Apology of Socrates, written by Plato.

“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” (1 Peter 3:15).

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