The writers of the New Testament are struggling to find a way of speaking adequately concerning something for which there is no precedent, struggling to find a way of making real- for the reader and the hearer- a mystery.
- Rowan Williams
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Reflections on 2 Timothy 3:1-9
A few weeks past, I was looking at the day's epistle reading from the lectionary in my Bible. It came from Saint Paul's second letter to Timothy. As I read, I started jotting down some thoughts; as tends to happen, this then turned into a longer meditation on how we see the world, and how modern technology hinders our moral efforts and enables our decline. Given our present anxieties about what the future may bring, I thought it would be worth putting it out as an article, if only as a help to myself to get my own thoughts in...
Reflections on 2 Timothy 3:1-9
A few weeks past, I was looking at the day's epistle reading from the lectionary in my Bible. It came from Saint Paul's second letter to Timothy. As I read, I started jotting down some thoughts; as tends to happen, this then turned into a longer meditation on how we see the world, and how modern technology hinders our moral efforts and enables our decline. Given our present anxieties about what the future may bring, I thought it would be worth putting it out as an article, if only as a help to myself to get my own thoughts in...
Theological reflections on God of War (2018)
Not too long ago, I found myself watching the end credits of 2018's God of War, thinking "this game was better than it had any right to be." This was not a game which required all that much in the way of reflective storytelling; its developers did not need to go too far beyond "a big, angry Greek goes to the frozen north with an axe", and it would have been more than entertaining enough. When first I sat down to play it, my expectations were not set overly high: I anticipated a few hours' worth of hacking and slashing...
Theological reflections on God of War (2018)
Not too long ago, I found myself watching the end credits of 2018's God of War, thinking "this game was better than it had any right to be." This was not a game which required all that much in the way of reflective storytelling; its developers did not need to go too far beyond "a big, angry Greek goes to the frozen north with an axe", and it would have been more than entertaining enough. When first I sat down to play it, my expectations were not set overly high: I anticipated a few hours' worth of hacking and slashing...
Some reasons for trusting the Gospel accounts
In the last two articles on the "lunatic of Galilee", I've offered a treatment of the Lewis trilemma, and explained why I don't find it credible that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. Naturally, this trilemma rests on Jesus's words really being Jesus's words, and not somebody else's. In this article, I defend that proposition: I think we have very good reasons to believe that the words of Jesus (and other things) relayed to us by the New Testament are genuine, and can be taken as evidentially sound. This isn't a comprehensive apologia on the topic, by any means; the...
Some reasons for trusting the Gospel accounts
In the last two articles on the "lunatic of Galilee", I've offered a treatment of the Lewis trilemma, and explained why I don't find it credible that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. Naturally, this trilemma rests on Jesus's words really being Jesus's words, and not somebody else's. In this article, I defend that proposition: I think we have very good reasons to believe that the words of Jesus (and other things) relayed to us by the New Testament are genuine, and can be taken as evidentially sound. This isn't a comprehensive apologia on the topic, by any means; the...
Further preposterous claims from Jesus of Nazareth
In the last article I wrote on this subject, I looked at two compelling lines of evidence from the gospels of Mark and Matthew which pose problems for the idea that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. There are more to come; this article will do the same for the gospels of Luke and John, and will cover some interesting ground. The intent here is to force us back into the realm of the Lewis trilemma, popularly expressed with the formula "liar, lunatic, or Lord"; at the end of the article I will give a summary of my thoughts...
Further preposterous claims from Jesus of Nazareth
In the last article I wrote on this subject, I looked at two compelling lines of evidence from the gospels of Mark and Matthew which pose problems for the idea that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. There are more to come; this article will do the same for the gospels of Luke and John, and will cover some interesting ground. The intent here is to force us back into the realm of the Lewis trilemma, popularly expressed with the formula "liar, lunatic, or Lord"; at the end of the article I will give a summary of my thoughts...
Christ's outrageous claims about himself
I would like to take a brief diversion from the Book of Job and look at another subject which I have previously touched on: the person of Christ. I've had the opportunity to prepare for a presentation on this subject recently, and would like to expand on some of my thoughts here. It's a common refrain to hear: "I believe that Jesus was a good man who taught a lot of good things, but I don't think he was God." Now, Jesus of Nazareth is an endlessly fascinating man- and the more you learn about the context in which he...
Christ's outrageous claims about himself
I would like to take a brief diversion from the Book of Job and look at another subject which I have previously touched on: the person of Christ. I've had the opportunity to prepare for a presentation on this subject recently, and would like to expand on some of my thoughts here. It's a common refrain to hear: "I believe that Jesus was a good man who taught a lot of good things, but I don't think he was God." Now, Jesus of Nazareth is an endlessly fascinating man- and the more you learn about the context in which he...
Existentialism the Book of Job
In my last post about the Book of Job I confronted a popular misconception: that God allowed the Devil to torture an innocent man just to win a bet. This reading of the text collapses on a close examination of Job 1:6-12; not only is a bet never made in this passage, it could never have been made. Setting aside the broader world of Christian theology, the possibility of a bet is precluded by the Book of Job's own understanding of divine omniscience. God knows that Job is a righteous man, and He knows all He needs to about the...
Existentialism the Book of Job
In my last post about the Book of Job I confronted a popular misconception: that God allowed the Devil to torture an innocent man just to win a bet. This reading of the text collapses on a close examination of Job 1:6-12; not only is a bet never made in this passage, it could never have been made. Setting aside the broader world of Christian theology, the possibility of a bet is precluded by the Book of Job's own understanding of divine omniscience. God knows that Job is a righteous man, and He knows all He needs to about the...
Misreading the Book of Job
It's very hard to do justice to the Book of Job. It's one of the most challenging, most thought-provoking works of theology ever written; for more than two millennia, it has been a source of intrigue, insight, outrage, and bewilderment to its readers. For those unaware, the Book of Job describes the suffering of a righteous man, whose family, possessions, and health are taken from him by a divine adversary (Hebrew hassatan, "the accuser", from which we get the proper name "Satan"). This is only possible because God has allowed it in response to Satan's challenge: Job only worships God...
Misreading the Book of Job
It's very hard to do justice to the Book of Job. It's one of the most challenging, most thought-provoking works of theology ever written; for more than two millennia, it has been a source of intrigue, insight, outrage, and bewilderment to its readers. For those unaware, the Book of Job describes the suffering of a righteous man, whose family, possessions, and health are taken from him by a divine adversary (Hebrew hassatan, "the accuser", from which we get the proper name "Satan"). This is only possible because God has allowed it in response to Satan's challenge: Job only worships God...
Trying to capture the mysteriousness of the Gospels
I concluded my last post by talking about the magnitude of the Easter event. It seems clear that whatever happened, it isn't to be taken lightly; unfortunately, that's exactly what we tend to do. It's very easy for us, as enlightened moderns, to dismiss stories which involve the miraculous- or, if we do profess to believe it, then we don't often feel the full force of what we're being told. In the one case, the problem is scepticism; in the other, the problem is over-familiarity. I think that Williams himself is aware of both these barriers, and seeks to overcome...
Trying to capture the mysteriousness of the Gospels
I concluded my last post by talking about the magnitude of the Easter event. It seems clear that whatever happened, it isn't to be taken lightly; unfortunately, that's exactly what we tend to do. It's very easy for us, as enlightened moderns, to dismiss stories which involve the miraculous- or, if we do profess to believe it, then we don't often feel the full force of what we're being told. In the one case, the problem is scepticism; in the other, the problem is over-familiarity. I think that Williams himself is aware of both these barriers, and seeks to overcome...
Things we miss when we read about the resurrection
I recently had the pleasure of reading a book (God with Us) by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. It was an elegantly-written treatment of some deep theological issues; towards the end I came across a long section which dealt with the foundational claim of the Christian story, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As I read, I found myself reflecting on the bizarre character of the Gospel accounts, and how they tend to be misread and misunderstood by modern readers. I thought I would put down some of my thoughts for consideration. For readability's sake, I will split my...
Things we miss when we read about the resurrection
I recently had the pleasure of reading a book (God with Us) by the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. It was an elegantly-written treatment of some deep theological issues; towards the end I came across a long section which dealt with the foundational claim of the Christian story, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As I read, I found myself reflecting on the bizarre character of the Gospel accounts, and how they tend to be misread and misunderstood by modern readers. I thought I would put down some of my thoughts for consideration. For readability's sake, I will split my...
Some thoughts on a debate between Glen Scrivener and John Richards
"There is a semi-autonomous helicopter on Mars. Do you need any more reasons why we should continue with science?" This remark came from John Richards, president of Atheism UK, partway through a debate with Glen Scrivener, evangelist and Christian apologist. The debate was not nominally about science, and its focus was meant to be on the origins of Western values; however, it seemed to cover much wider ground. At this point in the debate, Scrivener had raised a problem: if you don't have an underlying framework of values, then reality is just a puzzle with no solution, and there is ultimately...
Some thoughts on a debate between Glen Scrivener and John Richards
"There is a semi-autonomous helicopter on Mars. Do you need any more reasons why we should continue with science?" This remark came from John Richards, president of Atheism UK, partway through a debate with Glen Scrivener, evangelist and Christian apologist. The debate was not nominally about science, and its focus was meant to be on the origins of Western values; however, it seemed to cover much wider ground. At this point in the debate, Scrivener had raised a problem: if you don't have an underlying framework of values, then reality is just a puzzle with no solution, and there is ultimately...