The Biblical Worldview (Against All Others) – Pt.1

This is the working document I used for my talk at the Bible and Beer Consortium in Fort Worth last week.  As you will discover if you watch the presentation itself, I departed from the notes quite a bit (which is not unusual for me).   Intro. Let me begin with a few lines from T. S. Eliot: “Endless invention, endless experiment, Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness; Knowledge of speech, but not of silence; Knowledge of words,

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SOME NOTES ON JONATHAN EDWARDS’ SERMON, “A DIVINE AND SUPERNATURAL LIGHT…”

These are some notes i made on one of Jonathan Edwards’ most famous sermons.  Edwards got to the heart through the mind, as all real preaching does.  I re-post this because I was reminded of the sermon yesterday by a preacher I heard. Following the standard Puritan model of composition (outlined by William Perkins) Edwards gives a brief exposition of his text: Matt. 16:17. He then explains the doctrinal content of the passage, before closing with application. Exposition The knowledge

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Speaking in Fort Worth on the 25th

This coming Sunday (the 25th Oct.) I shall be giving a talk for The Bible and Beer Consortium The ministry of BBC is explained by my friend Ezra Boggs in the link above.  Basically, it is having Christian speakers give presentations or do debates in bars and pubs in the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex. This creates an opportunity for those who would never usually come into contact with the message of Christ to hear about it. The talk I am to

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Is the Covenant with Noah a Recapitulation of a Previous Covenant? (2)

Part One The second argument, that there are covenantal elements in the Creation narratives, is somewhat dependent upon the first for its advocacy.  Nobody denies that there is a repetition of parts of the Creation mandate in Genesis 9.  But such a repetition was necessary seeing that God had just wiped out every living thing from the map.  That necessity doesn’t extend however, to requiring a covenant given to Adam in the Garden.  And we are not justified in drawing

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Is the Covenant with Noah a Recapitulation of a Previous Covenant? (1)

More material from the “big book”. There need not be much dissension from the view that Genesis 6:18 may refer to a previous understanding of covenant on Noah’s part.[1]  It could equally mean that the covenant was “in God’s mind” before the waters came and He chose out Noah.[2]  In either case the interpretation stresses the gracious (hen) movement of God towards Noah (6:8). But could it, indeed, should it, be construed as a reference to a “Creation covenant,” instituted

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Apologetics and Your Kids (Pt.10) – Another Slogan

Part Nine In the last installment of this series we were looking at a motto which is often misused by the Christian community, and which could mislead young people if not carefully explained.  That motto was “All truth is God’s truth.”  This time round I want to take a look at another slogan; a slogan which should not be adopted by Bible believers, even though some prominent and respected authorities use it.  The phrase I have in mind is this:

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My Materials on Biblical Covenantalism

I have been asked to put my stuff on Biblical Covenantalism in one place.  These are the main posts which, I think, define and expound the concept and indicate where I am going with it.  I hope placing them together helps out. The Main Articles, the ‘Book’, and the Videos:  Biblical Covenants and Normative Hermeneutics 1, 2 Explaining why the Biblical Covenants provide a hermeneutics for the Bible. Dispensationalism & Biblical Covenantalism: What’s in a Name? (link) A comparison of

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A Review of ‘Understanding Prophecy’ by Bandy & Merkle

Review of Understanding Prophecy: A Biblical-Theological Approach, by Alan S. Bandy and Benjamin L. Merkle, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015, 264 pages, paperback  N.B. This review is from the perspective of someone who is less than an enthusiastic supporter of symbolical cum typological interpretations of the Bible, so it will be mainly critical.  However, for those in-tune with the approach of the writers, the book can be recommended as a good explication of the redemptive-historical method.  This new book on prophecy

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Descending to Demonism: From Cain to the Sons of God

The scenes from the story of Cain and Abel, up until the “sons of God”, and the global Flood cover a period of perhaps two thousand years.  Genesis 4 properly belongs with the previous three chapters.  It begins and ends with namings; the naming of Cain (“acquired”, or “brought forth”), and the naming of Seth (“granted [substitute]”), and then Seth’s naming of Enosh (“frailty”).  In the beginning of this chapter we find two brothers, Cain and Abel, who are worshipping

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‘The Making of an Atheist’ – A Short Review

Review of James S. Spiegel, The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief, Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2010, 141 pages  James Spiegel’s books are usually worth a gander because he writes about important but often neglected subjects.  Witness his books on Hypocrisy and Providence.  This book makes a helpful contribution to the usual run of apologetics resources by looking at some intriguing facts surrounding how atheists are made. Some atheists, of course, make the claim that atheism is the

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