I recently had to read a few passages for class in light of Ephesians 2:8-9 and post this message in the class discussion board. The passages and the issue are described below. This is an exciting study to dig into and ponder over. I thought might benefit from and enjoy taking a look at it...
In my morning quiet time, I've been studying through John Macarthur's commentaries on Romans and when I found this issue and compared it with James, I ran into a bit of a pickle. I was reading Romans 4:1-5. Verses 2-3 stood out to me particularly, "If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about?but not before God. What does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'"
Here we have Paul saying Abraham was specifically justified by faith and James seeming to say the same Abraham was justified by works in James 2:21, 24. I've always heard James 2 taught to convey the message from (as our materials say) that James was simply placing a different emphasis on salvation. He was saying that true faith produces works in the life of a believer. While I must default to this position due to my presupposition that the Bible never contradicts itself and God's Word is always true, I have always wondered... are we departing from the Literal approach to interpretation to harmonize these two passages? If anyone can help me dig into this, I would appreciate it.
In my search for clarification on this a while back, I found Matthew Henry's commentary on James 2. In it he adds a valuable perspective that affirms what I've been taught with a logical conclusion. He says, "The justification of which Paul speaks is different from that spoken of by James; the one speaks of our persons being justified before God, the other speaks of our faith being justified before men: 'Show me thy faith by thy works,' says James, 'let thy faith be justified in the eyes of those that behold thee by thy works;' but Paul speaks of justification in the sight of God, who justifies those only that believe in Jesus, and purely on account of the redemption that is in him. Thus we see that our persons are justified before God by faith, but our faith is justified before men by works."
The whole commentary can be found at... http://blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Jam/Jam002.htmlhttp://blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Jam/Jam002.html
In other news, I found out my car's fuel pump went out and will cost $500 to fix. Oh well.. God's still in control, right? I also finished the big paper I had to write for class. It was where I chose a passage to interpret and then had to critique it from an Allegorical, Literal, and Historical perspective. While the assignment was helpful in solidifying my understanding of these 3 schools of methodology. it was a grueling grind of an experience to squeeze out 6 pages to do this. I really should have chosen a better fuller passage that would give room to write with ease from each perspective. My Midterm is at the end of this week so please pray that I can diligently read and complete all the assignments (and there are MANY) early enough to have time to actually study for the midterm. Those prayers are GREATLY appreciated.
I heard recently a quote from Charles Spurgeon, "Don't let your fire go out while you're picking up sticks." I was reminded that I still need to continue seeking the lost for Jesus to save them even while I'm studying in Bible college and I'm looking forward to spending time out witnessing tonight for that very reason! Well... back to reading!
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Modern/Postmodern Survey... Where do YOU land?
I had to make this survey and interview someone under 30 and over 65. So far I've come up with some interesting results. Feel free to take it yourself and see if you lean more toward a Modern or Postmodern worldview...
1. If you were to find buried in your backyard a 1,500 year old letter written in another language, do you think it would be possible to find out what the author of the letter's purpose was in writing it, his meaning?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Maybe
2. In this process, what is the role and importance of the person reading the ancient letter?
3. Can the reader's conclusions about the ancient letter be wrong compared to another reader's conclusions? How so or how not?
4. Could there be more than one meaning to the statements made in the ancient letter?
A. Yes
B. No
5. Is there such a thing as absolute truth?
A. Yes
B. No
6. Can we know the absolute truth on a subject, especially if it is controversial?
A. Yes
B. No
7. Can we have an adequate understanding of a subject to the degree that we can take a stance?
A. Yes
B. No
8. Why do you personally think there are so many religions and faiths in the world?
9. Is it possible for there to be one faith that is correct and the others incorrect?
A. Yes
B. No
10. Which is a better course of action: 1. To search for a “correct” faith if one exists and adapt your life to that faith. Or 2. To discover your own personal faith journey and live by what feels best for you?
A. Option 1
B. Option 2
C. Both, because...
1. If you were to find buried in your backyard a 1,500 year old letter written in another language, do you think it would be possible to find out what the author of the letter's purpose was in writing it, his meaning?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Maybe
2. In this process, what is the role and importance of the person reading the ancient letter?
3. Can the reader's conclusions about the ancient letter be wrong compared to another reader's conclusions? How so or how not?
4. Could there be more than one meaning to the statements made in the ancient letter?
A. Yes
B. No
5. Is there such a thing as absolute truth?
A. Yes
B. No
6. Can we know the absolute truth on a subject, especially if it is controversial?
A. Yes
B. No
7. Can we have an adequate understanding of a subject to the degree that we can take a stance?
A. Yes
B. No
8. Why do you personally think there are so many religions and faiths in the world?
9. Is it possible for there to be one faith that is correct and the others incorrect?
A. Yes
B. No
10. Which is a better course of action: 1. To search for a “correct” faith if one exists and adapt your life to that faith. Or 2. To discover your own personal faith journey and live by what feels best for you?
A. Option 1
B. Option 2
C. Both, because...
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Cat Hermeneutics and My BC Friend got saved!
I got to thinking today... sometimes in the mornings before leaving as I feed my cat, I do something funny that could relate to hermeneutics. There is a right and wrong way to go about interpretation. Two simple terms for this are...
"Exegesis" - to "lead out" the meaning of a biblical text. This means to desire to draw the meaning of the Bible passage out.
"Eisegesis" - To read the meaning into a biblical text.
As I prepare for feeding my cat, he meows and rubs up against my leg. Often I'll say, "Aww, I love you too." You and I both know the cat isn't telling me how wonderful I am or how much he loves me... he's saying something like "food! food! I'm hungry!" While we don't know cat language, we CAN tell by looking at the context of the situation that the cat probably isn't saying that he loves me or speaking kind words of encouragement. For me to assume he was saying those things is obviously an example in Eisegesis... while my cat isn't a text.
Good news... on the way home from work today, I stopped by an old friend's house. We were friends for years before I was saved. Afterward there was a kind of falling out for obvious reasons. I decided to drop in and another of my old friends was there and He just recently got saved! him and his mom both! He said he was saved a while back but realized he really wasn't until just recently. He works for a small ministry locally. I also go to talk to his mom on the phone. She was excited to hear my voice and to know that I was going to Bible college.
He updated me on all the major things that have happened in his life and the things still to come. I praised God on the way home for the work He had done in this heart!
"Exegesis" - to "lead out" the meaning of a biblical text. This means to desire to draw the meaning of the Bible passage out.
"Eisegesis" - To read the meaning into a biblical text.
As I prepare for feeding my cat, he meows and rubs up against my leg. Often I'll say, "Aww, I love you too." You and I both know the cat isn't telling me how wonderful I am or how much he loves me... he's saying something like "food! food! I'm hungry!" While we don't know cat language, we CAN tell by looking at the context of the situation that the cat probably isn't saying that he loves me or speaking kind words of encouragement. For me to assume he was saying those things is obviously an example in Eisegesis... while my cat isn't a text.
Good news... on the way home from work today, I stopped by an old friend's house. We were friends for years before I was saved. Afterward there was a kind of falling out for obvious reasons. I decided to drop in and another of my old friends was there and He just recently got saved! him and his mom both! He said he was saved a while back but realized he really wasn't until just recently. He works for a small ministry locally. I also go to talk to his mom on the phone. She was excited to hear my voice and to know that I was going to Bible college.
He updated me on all the major things that have happened in his life and the things still to come. I praised God on the way home for the work He had done in this heart!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Car Problems
I had a busy day today... studying from 6-11am, picked up a dessert dish for the church picnic tomorrow, got a haircut, and went to my sister's birthday party. As I tried to leave, I noticed that the car wouldn't start. It "turned over," but it wouldn't start. We tried jumping it and still no success. We eventually gave up and my dad came to pick me up. The timing seems just right for another car problem. I didn't need any more issues with this thing. I can barely save money to replace the money I spent on class already! I guess I'll have to go back to being ultra strict with my money and try to study at home instead of going out places.
I have the old loaner car for now, but I've just gotta be careful. Thankfully my raise came in at work! it looks like I'll be doing nothing but saving money until I can get back to a comfortable place... I don't know what's wrong with the car yet or how much it will cost, but we'll likely have to have it towed. I wonder if the heat got to it or something?
By the time I arrived home, it was about 5 minutes before I would normally leave for downtown, I was hot and tired. Travis said he'd be out this weekend as well. So I ended up not going. This isn't usual for me. It will give me time to work on and likely finish a paper in advance for class, but is it worth the trade? I did get to take a short nap earlier.
No Hermeneutical tidbits today... it's time to tackle a paper!
I have the old loaner car for now, but I've just gotta be careful. Thankfully my raise came in at work! it looks like I'll be doing nothing but saving money until I can get back to a comfortable place... I don't know what's wrong with the car yet or how much it will cost, but we'll likely have to have it towed. I wonder if the heat got to it or something?
By the time I arrived home, it was about 5 minutes before I would normally leave for downtown, I was hot and tired. Travis said he'd be out this weekend as well. So I ended up not going. This isn't usual for me. It will give me time to work on and likely finish a paper in advance for class, but is it worth the trade? I did get to take a short nap earlier.
No Hermeneutical tidbits today... it's time to tackle a paper!
Friday, June 1, 2007
Views on God's Law ...the system.
Sup?
I've been studying away and I found something that might interest some of you. These are the dominant views of the Old Testament Law. I tend to lean toward Luther's view, in regard to the 10 Commandments being primary in that. In my studying I've also realized that I've taken up some of Aquinas' view at times to explain to people why the 10 Commandments are still valid. After some thought on the subject, I've come to a conclusion that is a bit more specific for understanding purposes. In my effort to explain why we used the law in evangelism to a nonbeliever, my zeal forgot the fact that "The law is a system. We are no longer under that system." -Dr. Mal Couch.
That being said, humanity is not under the law as a system, but it is under the fact that God requires perfection and no one is perfect. THAT is what the 10 Commandments show them (Romans 7:13, Galatians 3:24). They aren't given to show someone that they need to live better, but that they have already not lived good enough. So to answer the question... We present the moral commandments not because humanity is under Jewish law as a whole (because the system cannot be divided or compartmentalized), but because it shows someone sin in it's true light. It shows them they aren't "good" enough for God. That IS its' purpose. God used it to show His chosen people they need to run to His mercy in devotion because they weren't perfect... just as we can use it today in breaking ground for the gospel and the same purpose.
Antinomianism (from nomos=law):
Against the law—the Law has no proper role in guiding the life of the believer
Aquinas’ threefold division:
Distinguished between moral, civil, and ceremonial elements within the Law; and viewed the ceremonial as no longer needed in light of the work of Christ
Luther:
Emphasized how the Law points out sin
Calvin:
Emphasized the Law as a guide for Christian living
Theonomy/ Dominion Theology/ Christian Reconstructionism:
Desires to implement Old Testament civil laws in modern government in order to establish a Christian theocracy
Messianic Jewish Halachic Observance:
Some Jewish Christians encourage the observance of rabbinic rules as a measure of their spirituality
Also, I have the online discussion from my Hermeneutics class about the interpretation of women's roles and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 saved on a Word document if anyone wants it. It was a good discussion with a variety of angles on the passage. The teacher comments at the end. Just let me know...
I've been studying away and I found something that might interest some of you. These are the dominant views of the Old Testament Law. I tend to lean toward Luther's view, in regard to the 10 Commandments being primary in that. In my studying I've also realized that I've taken up some of Aquinas' view at times to explain to people why the 10 Commandments are still valid. After some thought on the subject, I've come to a conclusion that is a bit more specific for understanding purposes. In my effort to explain why we used the law in evangelism to a nonbeliever, my zeal forgot the fact that "The law is a system. We are no longer under that system." -Dr. Mal Couch.
That being said, humanity is not under the law as a system, but it is under the fact that God requires perfection and no one is perfect. THAT is what the 10 Commandments show them (Romans 7:13, Galatians 3:24). They aren't given to show someone that they need to live better, but that they have already not lived good enough. So to answer the question... We present the moral commandments not because humanity is under Jewish law as a whole (because the system cannot be divided or compartmentalized), but because it shows someone sin in it's true light. It shows them they aren't "good" enough for God. That IS its' purpose. God used it to show His chosen people they need to run to His mercy in devotion because they weren't perfect... just as we can use it today in breaking ground for the gospel and the same purpose.
Antinomianism (from nomos=law):
Against the law—the Law has no proper role in guiding the life of the believer
Aquinas’ threefold division:
Distinguished between moral, civil, and ceremonial elements within the Law; and viewed the ceremonial as no longer needed in light of the work of Christ
Luther:
Emphasized how the Law points out sin
Calvin:
Emphasized the Law as a guide for Christian living
Theonomy/ Dominion Theology/ Christian Reconstructionism:
Desires to implement Old Testament civil laws in modern government in order to establish a Christian theocracy
Messianic Jewish Halachic Observance:
Some Jewish Christians encourage the observance of rabbinic rules as a measure of their spirituality
Also, I have the online discussion from my Hermeneutics class about the interpretation of women's roles and 1 Timothy 2:11-12 saved on a Word document if anyone wants it. It was a good discussion with a variety of angles on the passage. The teacher comments at the end. Just let me know...
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