Part Three Revelation Cannot Be Divorced From the Character of the Revealer Plain-speaking is usually thought to be a virtue. One should say what one means. On the other hand, it is not a virtue to use words which one knows beforehand may lead another person to conclude we mean one thing, when, in actuality, we mean something more obscure and inscrutable, or even utterly different. To show how impactful this truth is, I’ll pick an example from another sphere. …
Category: Biblical Studies
This is a response to comments left for me in the combox at this post about Sam Storms’s views on eschatology. I appreciate the brother bringing them to my attention. I am responding mainly to this: Thanks for the post. I am not sure the last section really represents Sam’s view. He would say that Paul and Peter leave no room for a milennium since Paul has the last enemy death defeated at the parousia in 1Cor 15:24ff, 50 therefore …
Part Two We have seen that the idea of progressive revelation is connected to two things: the intent behind the communication, and the boundaries prescribed by previous revelation/communication. I have said that these two concerns, together with a definition of the adjective “progressive” as building or augmenting one thing upon another, necessitates an approach in which the picture does not change out of recognition, but is trackable both forwards and backwards from every point in the progression. This implies that …
Part One Towards a Definition of Progressive Revelation Progressive revelation relies in the first instance upon the competence of how that revelation has been communicated. To deny this point is to cast doubt upon the utility of the modifier “progressive.” Revelation has to reveal or else it is not a revelation. Progressive revelation has to reveal progressively in a logically connectable way in order to be what it claims to be, and to thereby substantiate itself. The Example of the …
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” One of the greatest difficulties for believers when they are praying is perspective. By this I have in mind particularly the perspective of time. God’s time-table is stretched out and often overruns the short span of our brief lives. Like the stride of a giant overtakes the scurrying of an ant, it can appear that God is hardly “in” our situation, because He has the vista of the whole …
Introduction: The Bible as a Communication The Bible is one Book, not two. It should be read from front to back, not in reverse. Tracing the chronology of Scripture is, in general terms, an important part of Bible study. Everyone is aware that there are cases where specific time-slots cannot be allocated with certainty to some episodes in Judges or the historical vantage point of Obadiah. You will always find a more liberally inclined person ready to correct you about …
SERIES: Christ at the Center: The Fulcrum of Biblical Covenantalism – 1. Introduction: Part 1a, 1b, 1c 2. Jesus and the New Covenant: Part 2a, 2b, 2c, 3. The Covenant God Incarnate: Part 3a, 3b, 4. The Role of Jesus, the Word, as the Ground of Meaning and Significance: Part 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d 5. Christ and the Triadic People of God: Part 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d 6. Jesus and the Restitution of All Things: Part 6a. 6b 7. Christ …
SERIES: Christ at the Center: The Fulcrum of Biblical Covenantalism – Introduction: Part 1a, 1b, 1c Jesus and the New Covenant: Part 2a, 2b, 2c, The Covenant God Incarnate: Part 3a, 3b, The Role of Jesus, the Word, as the Ground of Meaning and Significance: Part 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d Christ and the Triadic People of God: Part 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d Jesus and the Restitution of All Things: Part 6a. 6b Jesus Christ in Biblical and Systematic Theology Christ …
Part Three NPP Righteousness versus Pauline Righteousness: The “Works of the Law” In an excellent piece for Christianity Today entitled, “What Did Paul Really Mean?”, (w/thx to Filops!) Simon Gathercole called attention to the way New Perspective scholars interpret the phrase “the works of the law.” He writes: According to the new perspective, Paul is only focusing on these aspects of Jewish life (Sabbath, circumcision, food laws) when he mentions “works of the law.” His problem isn’t legalistic self-righteousness in …
SERIES: Christ at the Center: The Fulcrum of Biblical Covenantalism – Introduction: Part 1a, 1b, 1c Jesus and the New Covenant: Part 2a, 2b, 2c, The Covenant God Incarnate: Part 3a, 3b, The Role of Jesus, the Word, as the Ground of Meaning and Significance: Part 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d Christ and the Triadic People of God: Part 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d Jesus and the Restitution of All Things: Part 6a Jesus is supremely an eschatological Figure. By “eschatological” I …
