Utilizing Grace

“God promises to work in us what He requires of us. There are many examples in scripture of people being commanded to do what is impossible for them to do. Yet when they attempt to obey, they found the healing power of God enabling them to do what previously they had found to be impossible: for example, the man with the withered hand, Lazarus being raised from the dead and the widow’s son at Nain.
Our duty is to attempt to obey God’s commands, and His work is to enable us to obey them. So those who sit back and do nothing- because they say they can do nothing until God works grace in them- show that they have no interest or concern for the things of God. Where a person does nothing, the Holy Spirit does nothing also.
Although there is no grace in a believer except by the Holy Spirit, yet to grow in grace, to thrive in holiness, and righteousness, depends on the believer using the grace he has received. We have been given arms and legs. If they are to grow strong and healthy, they must be used. Not to use them will be the most effective way of losing them. Therefore to be lazy and negligent in those things on which our spiritual growth depends, and which concern the eternal welfare of the soul, on the pretext that without the Spirit we can do nothing, is both unreasonable and stupid, as well as dangerous.”
The Holy Spiritpg. 44
John Owen

Hermeneutics week 2

This week we are going to take some time to look things that play a huge part in hermeneutics.

Last week we saw that we have to interpret as Christians because our main source of revelation is found in the bible, a book.

So, let’s take a look at the bible and examine some things that we must keep in mind as we go to it for information.

First, we have to realize that the bible is a piece of literature and must be interpreted as any other piece of literature would be, but we also must remember that this piece of writing is from the very lips of God. The words that we read in our bible are breathed out by God, so we must treat these words with the utmost care and honor.

What we must do next is examine the piece of the bible that we are trying to interpret. Our bible is one unified whole that is made up of many different parts. The parts are sixty- six separate books that can all be arranged into several separate genres.

Recognizing the genre of a book is one of the key factors to interpreting that book. When we determine what genre a book falls under we can understand the type of information that is going to be given to us and also we can understand how that information will be presented to us.

For example a passage from the book of Ephesians will present things much differently from the book of acts, and that is because they are in different genres of literature. So even though these two books cover some of the same topics they look completely different. That is because Acts is a narrative which means that it will tell us a story that has a meaning that must be determined and Ephesians is an epistle which means that it will present us with a direct argument that we can understand more readily.

The main genres found in the bible are
Narrative- like Genesis or Luke
History- like Ezra, Nehemiah, or Acts
Poetry- like Psalms and Lamentations
Wisdom- like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs
Prophecy- like Isaiah and Zachariah
Apocalyptic- like Ezekiel and Revelation
Epistles- like Galatians and Titus

If you notice I said that the book of Acts is both narrative and history. There are two reasons for this.

First, because it is not as simple as just putting these books into one category and keeping them there. There is a blending of genre that is done within each book of the bible. What we have done above is recognize the overall genre of particular books, but within each one of them we can find several other genres mixed in.

Secondly, I wanted to show this because we can never think of the stories told in the bible as fiction. All of the narratives found in the bible, with the exception of parables, are historical. We must never forget that what we are reading is true.

This week what I would like for us to do as homework is to read a few chapters in Daniel.
Daniel is a book of prophecy, but I want us to read a few chapters of it and see if we can find any mixing of genre within this one book. Then if we do see some mixing of genre which ones are present? How would this change the way we interpret these different sections found in this one book?

Have fun

Book Review- Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman

I just finished reading a great book about evangelism. “Questioning Evangelism” by Randy Newman is a very well written book. The author has worked with Campus Crusade for over twenty years, and has taught at many colleges across the country. This book is filled with the wisdom that is found in scripture as well as the knowledge that comes from thousands of evangelistic conversations.

The whole point of the book is to get past the traditional methods of evangelism where we Christians basically wait for opportunities to barrage people with tons of information that they have to believe or not believe. Mr. Newman on the other hand suggest that we develop a different set of skills to engage our neighbors. He suggests that we ask questions at appropriate times in conversations that will not force someone to a decision, but will allow the other person to understand their own point of view. One of the key elements involved in this process is developing caring relationships with the people we are having conversations with, something that is missing from the traditional method of evangelism, in which we ask a spiritual question then unload the dump truck of information onto our unsuspecting subjects.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to share the gospel with people who are strangers to the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

Hermeneutics

First things first, let’s start with what hermeneutics is and why it is so important.

What is hermeneutics?
Hermeneutics is the art and science of interpretation. The particular type of hermeneutics we will be discussing is biblical hermeneutics, or the art and science of interpreting the bible.

If you’re like me you are thinking to yourself, “Why didn’t he just say that in the first place?” Why is it that we in the field of biblical studies always have weird names for things? Are we just trying to sound smart?

Well let me tell you it is not all about exclusivity. These words, like hermeneutics, have very rich meanings behind them, and not just simple definitions. For example the word “hermeneutics actually comes from the classic Greek word hermeneus, which means an interpreter, or someone who explains things.”

Also in Greek mythology the character Hermes was a messenger between the Gods and man. His job was to deliver the message of the Gods to the people. He served as an interpreter for the message of the Gods. In much the same way biblical hermeneutics is the way in which we interpret the word of God.

So, as we look into the background of the word we start to understand why the word hermeneutics was chosen for the study of interpretation. Also as we look into the background of the word we start to understand what it is we must do to use it to our advantage.

Why is hermeneutics important?
It is important because we as Christians have to interpret. So, we must do our best to interpret correctly, that is to see what it true.

God has chosen to reveal Himself to man in many ways, the greatest of which was in His son Jesus the Christ. God literally walked the earth and spoke to people. He taught and answered questions that people had which allowed them to understand things that they had misunderstood at first hearing. This was God’s greatest revelation; He would correct those around Him when they misunderstood what He was saying.

We as Christians today do not have this benefit. Our revelation comes mainly from the bible. The bible is static; it is the same today as the day when it was inspired, minus minor errors between original manuscripts and the copies we have today. This means that we cannot simply ask a question and expect a clarifying statement to be made, as the disciples did. The bible will never respond when we ask it to clarify something for us.

However, we can look at the text of the bible as it is and find answers to questions that are already present in the text. This is what makes us interpreters, we have to look into a text that is not changing ask a question of it and then find an answer for that question within it without clarification or guidance from the source.

This means two important things. One, we will only find answers for the questions that we ask of the text, which means we are limited by our own ability to interrogate. Two, we will find answers to the questions that we ask by our own searching and by our own interpretation.

Do you see why this stuff is important? It is not all theological mumbo jumbo. This is one of the contributing factors in understanding who God is, and who we are. This matter of hermeneutics is a matter of life and death.

I hope that we all understand the weight that this matter has not only in this life, but in the one to come. With this new or renewed understanding I hope and pray that we will all devote ourselves to the careful matter of interp… I mean hermeneutics.

Next week we will go over some important principle to keep in place when you are interpreting.

HOMEWORK- read 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 1 Peter 1:19-21

Here we go

Over the past two years I have done alot of learning. When I first started going to Basilica I knew nothing about the bible or about God or the gospel. I was literally without any knowledge of spiritual things. But after my conversion the second thing I did was start reading. (the first thing I did was repent) I started reading and I started learning. I wanted to know everything about God and about what I was supposed to do as one of His children, and I still do. There is still within me a deep desire to learn about God and about my responsibility to Him and to the people around me.

So, as I have been thinking about this gift that God has given me, the desire and ability to learn, I have noticed a new desire that I have not been able to quench. That is the desire to teach. God has allowed me to see such wonderful things in His word and in Him and I want others to see all that God has allowed me to see.

So, what I am going to do is take some advice from a fellow blogger. I am going to use this forum to teach. I don’t really know how that will look, but here is what I have come up with so far.

I will have something new every week.
Some topics will be covered in multiple parts.
They will be concerning Christianity and the bible.
It will be something that you can interact with- leave comments, ask questions, whatever.
Most of all I want this to something that helps all of us learn and understand God and ourselves in a fuller sense.

So the first topic that I will be covering is that of Hermeneutics. Due to the importance of the topic I’m sure it will take up more than a week, and will more than likely be recurring. So, hope to see you in a week.
Also let me know what you think and give me any particulars on what you would like to see in a “lesson.”