Why did Jesus Die?

“On the surface of things, it seems that Jesus was in the wrong place at the wrong time — a victim of circumstance, crushed by political machinations that were far bigger than he could humanly control. …

But history also tells us something else. It tell us that not long after these events, Jesus’ followers reassembled and began boldly proclaiming that on the Sunday after his death Jesus had emerged from his tomb alive again…”

– Dr. George Athas at Moore College asks “Why did Jesus die?”

Themelios, April 2012

The latest issue of Themelios, is now available from the Gospel Coalition website in PDF and html formats.

Dr Peter O’Brien in conversation on Hebrews

Dr Peter O’Brien recently sat down with John Gray and Keith Baker at St. Paul’s Castle Hill for a relaxed chat about the letter to the Hebrews.

Most encouraging.

See the conversation in segments of about 5 minutes each on Vimeo –

  1. What points of similarity are there between the first readers of Hebrews and Sydney Christians today?.
  2. What should we make of the call to be certain of what we do not see?
  3. When we go through hard times, can we discern between God’s discipline and simply living in a fallen world?
  4. What does the call to follow in the suffering footsteps of Jesus mean today?
  5. In Hebrews 12, what does it mean to say the readers have come to the new Jerusalem?
  6. Who is Melchizedek?

Related:

Christian Voices in the Public Square

“In 2007, a furore erupted when the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell stated that Catholic MPs might face ‘consequences’ if they supported a bill that would expand stem cell research in 2007. The backlash against him was swift, with the then Emergency Services Minister Nathan Rees saying he considered Cardinal Pell’s statements ‘a clear and arguably contemptuous incursion into deliberations of the elected members of Parliament’. Others accepted his entitlement to his opinion, but said he should keep out of politics.

A similar reaction emerged earlier this year around Melinda Tankard-Reist, a social commentator who opposes the sexualisation of girls and the ‘pornification’ that invades every area of public life. It was charged that her Christian background somehow disqualified her from making statements that might affect others, since any such influence would amount to her ‘imposing’ her beliefs…”

– At Moore College, Andrew Cameron gives notice of a Centre for Christian Living Open Night on Monday April 2nd.

Selling Boxing Day: Humans as Units of Production

“Once again we have a government in NSW that is moving to undermine public holidays.

The State Government has announced its intention to change the rules concerning shopping on Boxing Day. Instead of tightening the rules to remove the exceptions for city shopping, they are relaxing the rules to allow any, or all, shops to open.

This is an appalling concession to the wealthy; the large shops, the retail chains, the shopping malls, the senior management, the shareholders and investors. But it is no protection to those who have to serve in shops or the transport workers, the security services, the cleaners, the warehouse workers, the truck drivers, the small lease holders in shopping malls, the myriad of ordinary people who make the retail system work…”

– It’s worth taking the time to read this social commentary by Dean of Sydney Phillip Jensen.

It’s all in the projection

“Most of us preside over church meetings/services (choose your language as appropriate). And an increasing number of us do that in churches which don’t use hymn books or printed sheets but by means of projection.

There are good reasons for this being a good idea. People tend to sing into books/sheets. Most churches notice, when switching from paper to projection, that the singing improves and, I think, it is far easier for singing this way to be the encouraging corporate thing it ought to be.

But we’d be naïve to pretend that there were not issues with it…”

– Adrian Reynolds at the Proc Trust has a simple observation worth considering.

Evangelical Ecclesiology

“If an evangelical were to be asked to say what he believed about the death of Christ or the inspiration of Holy Scripture, then in most cases he would be able to do so with relative ease. But if that same evangelical were to be asked to relate the essentials of his beliefs about the church, that might prove to be a little more difficult.

As a result of this lack of clarity in thinking about the church, evangelicals become all the more prone to accept views about the church which are far from Scriptural, and certainly in the Church of England that means quasi-Catholic views of the church – this happening almost by default.”

– Church Society continues to republish articles from Churchman. In this 1991 paper “Towards an Evangelical Ecclesiology” by Melvin Tinker, he argued that many evangelicals need to think clearly about what church is. Relevant in 1991, and relevant now.

It’s available as a PDF file from Church Society.

The Archbishop we don’t need (but will probably get)

“Central to the role of the next Archbishop of Canterbury will be his views on human sexuality, not because that is the most important thing about Christian theology (though it is quite important), but because the agenda of our society will make it so…”

– John Richardson calls for an Archbishop of Canterbury who will ‘uphold sound and wholesome doctrine, and … banish and drive away all erroneous and strange opinions’. At the Ugley Vicar.

Daniel B. Wallace on the New Testament Manuscripts

At Between Two Worlds, Justin Taylor has an interview with Daniel Wallace –

“In addition to teaching New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, he serves as executive director of the cutting-edge Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts… He recently made quite a stir when he announced that next year an academic publication will reveal the discovery of a first-century fragment from the Gospel of Mark…”

– Wallace answers questions about textual criticism, the number of NT manuscripts there are, which are the earliest, and more. Read it all here.

Farewell Rowan Williams

ACL President Mark Thompson offers these thoughts on the legacy of Rowan Williams as Archbishop of Canterbury –

“Rowan Williams has occupied Lambeth Palace at an extraordinarily difficult period in Anglican history.”

“It is now official that the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, will resign at the end of this year. The news is not really a surprise. Rumours have abounded for the past year about an early retirement and return to academia. It is generally recognised that the last decade has been an extremely taxing time for Rowan Williams and the pressure upon him from all sides has been extreme.

Already a great number of valedictory notices have appeared on the net and in the church press. His intellectual prowess is universally acknowledged, even if it is often qualified with exasperation at his highly abstract way of communicating his ideas. He has been described in one recent piece as ‘the theologian’s theologian’, no doubt a reference to the fact that he has never been satisfied with easy answers and has preferred oblique approaches to thorny issues rather than a direct frontal assault. He has challenged his readers and others to deep thought and a refusal to foreclose on the answers. Perhaps too, it might be said, his difficult and abstract prose has had a particular appeal to those too ready to assume that the difficulty lies in the profundity of his ideas rather than an unwillingness to nail his colours to the mast, those who prefer asking questions to giving answers. And yet, it must also be said, there have been fleeting moments of remarkable lucidity in which he has confessed faith in Christ in the midst of uncertainty, suffering and brokenness.  Read more

Tolerance on Trial: A Conversation with Don Carson

Albert Mohler and Don Carson chat about issues related to Carson’s new book The Intolerance of Tolerance.

At Al Mohler’s ‘Thinking in Public’ podcast. 47 minutes / 64 mp3 file.

Trellis and Vine Talk No. 6 — at The Briefing

Over at The Briefing, the latest episode of the ‘Trellis and Vine Talks’ has been posted. Col Marshall and Tony Payne chat about Discipleship teams. It’s episode 6, and the others in the series are listed here.

The Challenges we face

“The church, like the Bible, is not primarily concerned with human sexual behavior. Our main concern is to seek the glory of God in all things, and to bear witness to the saving power of Christ’s gospel. But the Bible makes clear that God’s glory is inherently connected to our sexual behavior and our identity before the Creator. Furthermore, the gospel requires a clear understanding of human sinfulness, including, very specifically, sexual sins.

One thing is clear – the church has to learn how to speak honestly and courageously about sexual morality, but also to speak with true gospel humility. In other words, we must make clear that we are not moral superiors speaking to moral inferiors, but those who have been redeemed by God’s grace pointing others to his grace to us in Christ…”

– Albert Mohler outlines some of the key issues facing a new generation of ministers of the gospel.

Visual Theology — The Trinity

Tim Challies has produced another ‘infographic’ in his ‘Visual Theology’ series.

“It seeks to show what we must and must not believe about the Godhead while also explaining the complementary roles of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” – See it here.

What marriage is, and why it matters

“Why do Christians care about marriage, and what does it mean to them? The answer is quite simple, though it demands a considerable amount of unpacking: just as, according to Genesis 1:27, human beings ‘image’ God, so marriage ‘images’ the relationship between Christ and the Church, or to put it another way, the relationship between the Creator-Redeemer God and his created-redeemed people…”

– John Richardson in the UK seeks to flesh out (so to speak) the significance of marriage – at The Ugley Vicar.

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