I don’t know about you, but one thing I don’t like . . . I mean, really don’t like . . . is when there is a piano playing softly in the background while someone is praying during service. You know, this always happens during the nice sweet tender moments of a message. It may be at the giving of the Gospel, the conclusion of a message, or during the prayer. Slowly in the background, somehow without you noticing, the pianist has stuck back up to the stage and began playing softly. Continue Reading »

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1 Timothy 2:12-14
“But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet. For Adam was formed first and then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression.”

There are a few ways in which this passage has been taken. These go from the most conservative (hard complementarian) to the most liberal (hard egalitarian):

1. Under no circumstances can women teach men in any setting.

2. Under no circumstances can women teach men spiritual truths.

3. Under no circumstances can women teach men theology. Continue Reading »

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New Online Introduction to Theology Course
June 3—Aug 5, 3pm EST—4pm EST
Teacher: C. Michael Patton
Cost: $100
Scholarships available: Contact Carrie
Enroll

This is the first time that we have done this, but we are going to offer an online course mid-day! At least mid-day here in America. We are offering this for those of you who have not been able to join us at the traditional evening time. This means that we are open to many of our brothers and sisters from other countries!

Questions? Leave them here on the blog.

Find out more

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Many ask me about my theological convictions. “Where do you stand on . . .” Granted, those of you who have been through The Theology Program or are regular readers of this blog not only know where I stand, but how strongly I take a stand on most issues. But for those of you who ask, I will give you a brief synopsis of where I am at on many important and controversial theological issues. I will also give you a number of 1-10 letting you know my conviction level. 

Please note: my conviction level is not based on the importance of the doctrine, but the clarity that God’s revelation affords to it. 

A “1″ means that while I am convicted of the truthfulness of the doctrine, my conviction level is as low as it could be. This does not mean that I am unsure of something, just that I am less-sure of it than I could be.

A “10″ represents a very high conviction level (as high as it possible for a non-divine being!). (Please understand that I very rarely give a 10 to an issue. A 10 is reserved for those which I believe the Scripture leaves no room for honest debate such as the physical resurrection of Christ, Christ’s deity, that Christ is coming back, etc.)

Calvinistic (8):

I am a five-point Calvinist and don’t take shame in calling myself such. I am not equally convicted of all five points (as none should be), but I ascribe to all five nonetheless.

Total depravity-9
Unconditional election/predestination-7
Limited atonement-1
Irresistible grace-7
Perseverance of the Saints-7

As well, I am an infralapsarian Calvinist which means that I believe that God decreed to permit the fall before electing people. I don’t believe in double predestination as God’s active election of people to damnation. I believe that God, in his secret will, passed over those who were already damned. I am a 5 with regards to infralapsarian. Continue Reading »

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Here is today’s word:

Supralapsarianism
Lat. “before the fall”
also antelapsarianism

A system of belief among certain Calvinists believing in a theoretical plan of God that occurred before creation concerning his decree to save mankind. In the supra scheme, God first decreed who the elect and reprobate (non-elect) were, second he created both the elect and reprobate, third he decreed the fall as a means of damnation for the non-elect, and forth he decreed the atonement as a means of salvation for the elect. In this order one can surmise that the damnation of the reprobate primarily came as a result of God’s reprobating (non-electing), and only secondarily through the fall. This is to be distinguished from other more moderate forms of Calvinism such as infralapsarianism and sublapsarianism. Supralapsarianism is held by most proponents of double predestination.

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CNN and AP broke the news on Friday, May 3, about a statement by evangelical leaders that is scheduled for release on Wednesday, May 7. Here’s a portion of the story:

Conservative Christian leaders who believe the word “evangelical” has lost its religious meaning plan to release a starkly self-critical document saying the movement has become too political and has diminished the Gospel through its approach to the culture wars.

The declaration encourages Christians to uphold traditional marriage, as in this Massachusetts protest.

The statement, called “An Evangelical Manifesto,” condemns Christians on the right and left for using faith to express political views without regard to the truth of the Bible, according to a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

From what I gather, it’s especially focusing on the relation of evangelicals to political concerns. More than 80 evangelical leaders have signed it. Like everyone else, I’m waiting for the full announcement on Wednesday, but from the way the AP story reads, it looks as though the alignment of evangelicalism with conservative politics will be strongly challenged. From where I sit, evangelicals need to emphasize high ethical values in relation not only to abortion but also in relation to civil rights, justice, the environment, fiscal responsibility, etc. One of the things that I’ve found fascinating is that liberal theologians often accent social justice and are troubled by the politically-conservative evangelical one-size-fits-all morality (i.e., focusing just on the abortion issue). I’m not sure why social justice should be the provenance of only liberals. Same with the environment. Continue Reading »

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Considering the topic as of late, I thought that this might even be better to lighten the mood a bit before round two (I have no idea where this comes from, but have been using it for years.)

Let’s say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine. He asks her out to a movie; she accepts; they have a pretty good time. A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves. They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither one of them is seeing anybody else.

And then, one evening when they’re driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and, without really thinking, she says it aloud: “Do you realize that, as of tonight, we’ve been seeing each other for exactly six months?”

And then there is silence in the car. To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence. She thinks to herself: Geez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that. Maybe he’s been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I’m trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn’t want, or isn’t sure of.

And Roger is thinking: Gosh. Six months.

And Elaine is thinking: But, hey, I’m not so sure I want this kind of relationship, either. Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I’d have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward … I mean, where are we
going? Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy? Are we heading toward marriage? Toward children? Toward a lifetime together? Am I ready for that level of commitment? Do I really even know this person? Continue Reading »

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I thought that I would lighten things up here with this post. Believe it or not this is the most popular post in the history of Parchment and Pen. I am not so sure how to take that.

20. “I am not overweight. The word ‘glory’ in Hebrew is kabod which according to HALOT literally means ‘heaviness.’ The Bible also says that we are to reflect God’s glory. Therefore, I am just doing what the Bible says.” Continue Reading »

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[Congratulations to Shaun Sells. His post was selected for our “Friday Night is Yours” blog post. -CMP]

Suicide from a Biblical Perspective for the Surviving Family Member.

Introduction.

The purpose of this is to bring comfort to the surviving family members of one who has commited suicide by bringing to light God’s perspective from the scriptures. It is my hope that any who read this will recognize three things:

1. Godly people in scripture were tempted by suicide, and some committed suicide.
2. Suicide is not an unforgivable sin.
3. You are not responsible for the actions of this person. Continue Reading »

This post was submitted by Shaun Sells.

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I have no delusions that issues of gender equality has a simple solution. “Read your Bible. Whatever it says, do.” Yes, this is a nice way to go in a world where things are not so complicated, where sinners are all trying their darnedest to not sin, where repentance and change is the norm. But things are not always so simple. Yet the Bible does speak and sometimes what it says we don’t really like. Give us time and we will find a “better” answer. If it makes you feel bad about yourself, your gender, or your gifts, let’s fix it. We don’t want anyone to feel bad.

“Wives submit to your husband” (Eph. 5:22). ”I don’t allow a woman to teach” (1 Tim 2:12). ”The husband is the head of the wife” (Eph. 5:23). Don’t these represent the problem? Advancements and new discoveries nuance these passages taking away some of the sting, but in the end, you have to refresh your brain each time the issue is brought up to remind yourself how it does not mean what it seems to mean. Believe me, I have gone there. I am one who loves to take away stings. I still go there. I don’t want anyone to feel bad. I like happy people. Shinny happy people holding hands. Continue Reading »

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Concerning my gender issues posts, the issue of submission has shown up and asked for time. The discussion has moved to Eph. 5:21ff. 

21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Speaking to this, one commenter gives a good summary of the egalitarian side (mutual submission):

“. . . Verse 22 is INSEPARABLY connected to verse 21. So, in my own personal paraphrase it would come out to something like this: Continue Reading »

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Dan Wallace joined us last evening for a wonderful Wednesday evening session of Converse with Scholars. He spoke about his recent book “Dethroning Jesus” co-authored with Darrell Bock.

Dan discussed the importance of textual criticism in defending the historical Jesus. Also from last night, a rare appearance by Rhome Dyck! Although we missed Michael Patton’s presence we know he was there in spirit. Rhome did a fantastic job with the interview.

Have a listen in to the audio below!

 

 Dethroning Jesus - Importance of Textual Criticism in Defending the Historical Jesus: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (933)

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I think we have a great audience on Parchment and Pen. It is varied and representative of a diversity of Christian thought. I appreciate this. I need this. Thank you all for being a part of the serious thought.

I have a question for you. I am sitting here thinking through a class I am teaching tonight on essentials and non-essentials. It is very windy. There is a large oak tree outside that is catching the wind. Its strength amazes me. How does it withstand so much wind? It brought to mind a very familiar passage of Scripture: Continue Reading »

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I have taught a Humanity and Sin course in The Theology Program many times. Before we begin our session on the theology of genders, I spend some time asking both the men and the women some questions. I don’t want people to think that this is necessarily leading anywhere so that their answers are not representative of a loaded defense of any particular theological position. In fact, when I started teaching this course, I was simply curious, not knowing how people would respond.

The questions are simple. Women, what do you like best about being a woman? What do you like least about being a woman. The same question is asked to the men about their gender. Having done this numerous times to people all over the world for many years, I found that the answers were always the same. Yes, there were a few exceptions here and there, but greater than 90% of the time, women and men answered the same.  Each semester I would take these results and write them all down and compare them to the previous semester. 

Below represents an agglomerated summery of the answers I always receive from each group.  Continue Reading »

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Have you noticed it? Do you feel small? Do you feel inadequate to have opinions anymore? Do you feel a heavy hand upon your head? Do you feel demeaned, disenfranchised, demoted?

That is what it is beginning to feel like to be an Evangelical.

There is a new elitism that is sweeping Christianity. Oh, it does not go by any such name. In fact, it claims to be anti-elite. Its characteristics are those which discount opinions with too many raised hands. It promotes evangelical vertigo, western fatigue, and uncertain hope. It goes by many names: emergent, post-colonialism, post-conservative, post-modern, post-fundamental, post-Christian, and the like. It promotes all things “re-.” Re-imagine, re-construct, re-think, re-form, re-(ahem) claim. It is theology 2.0. Continue Reading »

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