A review of Eugene H. Merrill, A Commentary on 1 & 2 Chronicles, Grand Rapids: Kregel Academic, 2015, 637 pages, hdbk Among readers of the Old Testament (you know, those creatures of legend that used to inhabit churches), the Books of 1 and 2 Chronicles would not rank too high on their list of favorites. Even zealous preachers would, given the choice, prefer to go through 1 & 2 Kings rather than Chronicles. But these neglected books (one book in the …
Category: Articles
The Spirit and Plurality in the Godhead What is clear from the second verse of the Bible is that the Spirit of God was superintending the process of creation. The word for “was hovering” or “brooded” (merakhepet, 1:2) implies a determination to act. It strains credulity to think that the Spirit brooded over a glob of matter for billions of years before deciding to do something with it. There is no logic to starting the work of creation by bringing …
Part One The Bible’s Opening Verse As has often been observed, the opening verse of the Bible does not give an argument for the existence of God. In line with its claim to be the Word of God it assumes a position of Divine authority immediately. Scripture has the right to tell us! It does not pander to our fallen desire for proof. The proof is in the address. God will eventually reveal Himself as the “I Am” – the …
Creation and Communication Without the creation of Adam and Eve the whole sequence of days which preceded them would be a rather futile exercise. If the sequence found in the Bible’s very first chapter is to signify anything as a sequence, it had to be an actual seven day sequence. Otherwise it is hard to see why ordinal numbers would be used to describe the process. Also, without observers capable of recognizing and wondering after God’s wonders around them, God’s …
The Territories of Science and Religion by Peter Harrison, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015, 320 pages. The battle between Science and Religion has been presented to the wider public as a struggle between reason and superstition. In the present intellectual climate, where the ghosts of logical positivism have been far from exorcised from the corridors of scientific thinking, any countering of the reigning attitude is most welcome. The volume under review is an absorbing historical account of the way …
“Rule” 7 Parameters of Meaning – Rule 8: Never ground a teaching on disputed, ambiguous or debated texts (e.g. Matt. 10:23). At best they may serve to support a given position. Doctrines should come from the strongest possible connections between text and teaching. When one is setting forth a proposition, the cogency of it and the logical extent to which it may be propounded depends much on the quality of its substantiation. The gauge of “quality” would include things such …
A follow up to Scientism isn’t Science Naturalism is defined by Stewart Goetz & Charles Taliaferro in this way: Naturalism – very roughly – may be defined as the philosophy that everything that exists is a part of nature and that there is no reality beyond or outside of nature. – Naturalism, 6 Something being “a part of nature” is here meant to exclude the supernatural. Naturalism then is opposed to supernaturalism. It is seeing all things as natural and …
Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament by Walter C. Kaiser, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2015, 176 pages, pbk God Almighty will always have to suffer the inquisitions of his rebellious creatures, at least until He sorts out the waywardness epidemic of creaturely independence which is the bequest of the presence of sin. It won’t do to answer these jibes with “God can do anything He likes”, we must be prepared to educate unbelievers about the justice …
In the previous post I concentrated on men in England who helped me learn about the Bible and Theology. Quite unexpectedly, in God’s providence I came to the States in 1996 to work at a Baptist Church in Fairfield, California. That only lasted a year but I made some good friends. I also met the future Mrs H. there! Anyway, after leaving the church in Fairfield I started a church plant in Napa, which I pastored for over five years …
I thought I’d do something different for a change. I seldom write anything about myself on this blog, but I had the idea of putting down a few words about the men who trained me and to whom, to one degree or another, I owe a debt. None of them is responsible for how I turned out. The monster was self-made. But I want to introduce you to these men: The first man is David N. Myers M.Min., a knowledgeable …
