Hermeneutics #2: How to Interpret the Scriptures.
Join us as we discuss issues relating to the interpretation of the Scriptures.
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Wow! Nearly five dozen brave people have put their reputations on the line by taking this little quiz. Well done, folks. You all get an A just for courage. Now, for the questions again with their answers and explanations:
1. The first published Greek New Testament was:
a. UBS1
b. Complutensian Polyglot
c. Novum Instrumentum
d. Textus Receptus
The correct answer is “c.†The UBS1 (or first edition of the United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament was published in 1966). The Complutensian Polyglot was the first printed Greek New Testament (1514), but it was not published for eight more years. The Textus Receptus is the name that was finally given to that form of text that finds its roots in Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum Omne. But the Novum Instrumentum, published on March 1, 1516, has the honor of being the first Greek New Testament printed by a moveable type printing press to be published.
2. How many of the original New Testament books still exist? Continue Reading »
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I am an Evangelical . . . a “Historic Evangelical.” Meaningless, I know. But let me respond to many of you by taking the next step in putting some flesh on this proposed new name for an old tradition.
Reason for the Change:
1. Evangelicalism has lost its meaning in most circles today. “Evangelicalism” means both everything and nothing at the same time. It is fast becoming identified as a movement of political agendas, entertainment, health-wealth theology, radical separatists, and white Americans. While there are a great many Evangelicals who should not be identified with these characteristics holding the fort, remodeling is happening from the outside and no one asked for permission. These things happen.
2. The Emerging Church showed some potential and promise, but has, as of late, began to define itself as a movement holding hands with compromise. I understand that there are emergers such as Scot McKnight and Dan Kimball who are not compromising, but, while I admire and respect their continued battle in the emerging church, I don’t think that they can rescue it from irrelevance and heresy.
3. Evangelicalism ironically seems to have lost the ability to reform. It is ironic because Evangelicalism has traditionally found its identification in the roots of the Great Reformation whose principled admonition to the future church was semper reformanda (always reforming). Often to be deep in the theology of Evangelicalism means being deep in an unqualified sixteenth century anti-Catholic (Roman) polemic. This needs to be rethought based upon the current state-of-affairs and a humble recognition that while the Reformation was necessary we should not find all our roots in its soil.
How “Historic Evangelical” looks Evangelical:Â
Twentieth-century Evangelicalism sought to distance itself from the increasingly radical perception of “Fundamentalism.” Continue Reading »
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Considering the current discussion on the blog about the crisis in Evangelicalism, I found that Michael Spencer posted on this subject a few days ago. He lists 13 critical problems facing contemporary evangelicalism. I agree with all thirteen. I will also add mine to the end in brackets.
1. Vast evidence of a growing doctrinal deterioration on the essentials and implications of the Gospel.
2. The expansion and influence of the “Prosperity Gospel†throughout evangelicalism.
3. The loss of the concept of meaningful church membership and the rise of the “audience-only†model of church participation. Continue Reading »
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Hermeneutics #1: How to interpret the Scriptures.
Join us as we discuss issues relating to the interpretation of the Scriptures.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
It would seem that every so often designations lose their value. I have talked about this much in this blog as I have lamented the demise of evangelicalism. I have watched the roots of evangelicalism rot, splinter, dry out, and die. I am was an evangelical. I find that it is hard to call myself such without dying the death of a thousand qualifications as I attempt to disassociate my designation of this tradition from the aberrant free-church, modern, postmodern, entertainment driven, and emerging nuances that haved turned the rich traditions of evangelicalism into something that no longer represents what it once meant. If Joel Osteen, R.C. Sproul, Benny Hinn, Chuck Swindoll, Oral Roberts, J.P. Moreland, T.D. Jakes, Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham, Brian Mclaren, Pat Robertson, and John Piper all distinguish themselves as evangelicals, then we must admit that the disignation both means everything and nothing at the same time. Continue Reading »
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Michael Patton put up “A Brief Primer on Textual Criticism” last week without my knowledge. He didn’t know that I wanted to begin something of a series on this topic. Sheesh! We need to talk to each other a bit more often! I’ll try not to duplicate what he has written too much. But I do want to introduce you to this vital topic. And, just for fun, I’d like to start with a quiz. (This will help me to know how to ‘pitch’ this series of blogs.) I’m going to ask ten multiple-choice questions. Simply give your answers to the questions in your response. Do not add any commentary; just give your answers. In a few days, I’ll supply the right answers along with an explanation. If you’re too embarrassed to give your name in your comment, just say you’re Michael Patton using someone else’s computer. Continue Reading »
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I don’t know about you, but the copyright date on my Bible is 2002. What does that mean? It means that the Bible that I read from, study from, and teach from is nearly 2000 years newer than the original. How do we know that errors have not crept in after 2000 years. You may have a older version. If you use an NASB or NIV, your Bible will not be much better off. Thirty years closer to the original is not saying much. Even if you are a hard core KJV advocate, using an “original” 1611 version, your Bible is still over fifteen hundred years past the original New Testament and over two thousand years newer than the Old Testament. More than that, these Bible’s are all in English and the New Testament was written in Greek and the Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew. More than that, the Greek and Hebrew of the Scriptures are both dead languages, meaning that they are not spoken anymore.
With all this time and change, doesn’t it seem likely that there have been many errors in transcription that have crept into the text, corrupting the original beyond repair? How can we know our Bible is reliable? Continue Reading »
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One person has rightly said that all people are theologians, you just have to decide what type of theologian you are going to be. Are you going to be a good theologian or a sloppy theologian?
Tabloid journalism. You know what this is. It is sensationalistic journalism. It is a billion dollar business. It preys on our naivety to believe something unbelievable. It exists because we like to let down our critical guard and indulge our minds by believing that which naturally would be rejected. From alien abductions to pregnant men, the tabloids have it all.
Tabloid theology is the same. It is sensationalistic theology. More than this, it describes the attitude of much of our religious culture today. It is the result of a culture that dichotomizes between the intellect and faith. It is fueled by peoples uncritical methodology. A tabloid theologian is one who constructs his or her theology based upon naivety. In the Bible, this is called a “simpleton.” In Christianity, as long as something tags their message with the name “Jesus,” with a prayer, or a Bible verse, tabloid theologians will believe it.Â
Some examples of tabloid theology:
1. The pancake with Jesus’ image proves that Jesus is real.
2. Stories of miraculous healings need to be believed without question. Continue Reading »
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My best friend while I was at seminary, Chris Woodall, has recently converted to Anglicanism. He wrote about this in his blog recently. It is worth a read. Give him some trouble—he always does me!
Here is a nice statement made by Chris: Continue Reading »
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Dear friends,
A different sort of blog this time, but one I can hardly keep to myself. As many of you know, the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (www.csntm.org) sent out two teams on expeditions this past summer—one to Patmos and one to an eastern European country. The expeditions accomplished far more than we thought they would: 25,000 images shot with high-resolution digital cameras, more than sixty manuscripts photographed altogether. Not only that, but we discovered several manuscripts that are up till now unknown to western scholarship. We’re not sure exactly what we have found in all instances so far because with thousands of images to go through it takes time to determine exactly what each manuscript contains. But we’ve been working through the images and documenting what we have found. Continue Reading »
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It is no secret that our culture today is undergoing a massive paradigm shift with regards to the way people come to know truth. The atmosphere of the intellectual landscape has changed. Confidence, certainty, and dogmatism have been replaced with doubt, skepticism, and agnosticism. All truth claims are held in high suspicion. Those still working under the old paradigm of absolute truth are thought by this new generation of thinkers to be naive at best and power mongering manipulators at worst.
Within the philosophical and theological communities, this new generation goes by many names: Post-fundamentalism, Post-Christian, Post-Evangelical, Post-Liberal, and the most common Post-modern. While these names may not be sufficient to completely convey the ethos of this generation, they all have one important element in common—they are all post something. The culture is moving beyond where it was before. Continue Reading »
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I grew up as a surf bum in Newport Beach, California. You probably already have the wrong image: I was too poor to own a surfboard or a wetsuit, but I could buy a “Duckfoot†swim fin and go bodysurfing all summer long. I miss that Duck Foot, that lifestyle, that city, that era of my life.
I miss not having to think too much about what to wear (regular Bermudas, grunge Bermudas, dress Bermudas, or well-worn 501 Levi’s were the only real choices for pants; t-shirts were mandatory, and sandals or Sperry Topsiders completed the ensemble). I miss the lively worship of Mariners Church (where I was for a time the youth pastor), and especially the Sunday evening ‘body life’ that functioned much the way I envision the early church functioning. But, at the time, I didn’t realize that there was a long history of worship that looked quite different from the Bible churches of America. Continue Reading »
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Just to let you all know . . .
1. Blogging may be sporadic. I am in the middle of a move. Our house sold. We are heading to Norman, OK (Home of the Oklahoma Sooner and my home state). Reclaiming the Mind Ministries will occupy a large building off I35! I will send pictures soon.
2. I am really, really cool.
3. If you have not seen the IVP Commentaries online, you need to check them out. Bookmark these. Kudos to IVP and Biblegateway.com for making these available.
4. I have been in conversation with J.P. Moreland about teaching an elective online course for The Theology Program next semester. It will probably be a 5 week session. What would you prefer:
5. OU WILL win the national championship. My prediction.
6. Controversy over the “Expelled Movie.”
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In times past, most serious theologians and biblical scholars could look to the modern Charismatic movement merely as the latest movement among folk Christianity that doesn’t take intellectual studies seriously. The sensationalistic tendencies of the movement could be easily written off knowing that soon this fad would end with disillusionment and an “I told you so” that followed.
Such is not the case any longer.
The answer to the question of whether one is a cessationist or a continuationist does separate the sheep and the goats like it once did. A cessationist is one who believes that the supernatural sign gifts of the Bible such as healing, tongues, and prophecy ceased at the end of the first century with the death of the last apostle. A continuationist (Charismatic) is one who believes that these gifts have continued throughout history and should be sought today by the church. Continue Reading »
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