Christian Doctrine

“FRIENDS” OR “SONS”? IMPLICATIONS FOR PERSEVERANCE

“GOD-BREATHEDNESS” AS THE CHARACTER OF SCRIPTURE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            A series of words has traditionally stated from various angles the character of scripture in positive and negative terms. The list begins with the biblical expression in 2 Timothy 3:16, which translates literally as (1) “God-breathed.” The rather unhappy term in popular vogue for this passage is “inspired”; so “inspiration” becomes the corresponding noun for getting at the concept Paul expressed in the text. “Inspire,” however, does not properly picture the idea because it (a) creates the image of breathing into something the characteristic the word denotes—as when God “breathed into Adam the breath of life” and he became something more than he was. Such imagery limits the meaning of the text to what can add to something already there. The word picture in God-breathedness is that of “exhaling” the thing itself, so the scripture is regarded as issuing directly from God’s mouth. Scripture stands apart from all other writing by being viewed as God’s direct speaking.

“IN THE DAYS OF THOSE KINGS”: DANIEL 2:44

1 TIMOTHY 2:8-15: SITUATIONAL OR GENERAL?

Virgil Warren, PhD

1 TIMOTHY 2:9-15

2 TIMOTHY 3:16

Virgil Warren, PhD

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ ὠφέλιμος

pāsa graphē theopneustos kai ōphelimos

Variables in the English wording of this verse

                  2.   Xenoglossia

                        Glossolalia covers a range of speaking phenomena, including ecstatic utterance and “angelic tongues.” Cases occasionally come up in which someone speaks an actual language—xenoglossia. The following possibilities may be kept in mind when evaluating these cases.

A FORMAT FOR THINKING ABOUT FEET WASHING

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Washing feet comes up in three New Testament texts. (a) Luke 7:44 refers to it in an episode about a sinful woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with ointment, wet them with her tears, and wiped them with her hair (7:36-50). (b) Among characteristics of widows enrolled in the church’s benevolence program, Paul lists “washing the saints’ feet” together with parenting, showing hospitality to strangers, and works of Christian living (1 Timothy 5:10). (c) In the upper room the night of his betrayal, Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (John 13:1-16). The last text has prompted some Christians to consider feet washing an ordinance like communion and baptism—or as a part of the communion observance. The paragraphs below analyze this view, giving special attention to the reasoning that seems natural to the issue.

A LETTER ABOUT SEXUAL IDENTITY DISORDER

xxxxx,

Several days ago your letter came, revealing your struggles with sexual identity disorder and what you have proposed to do about the matter. You will not be surprised, I am sure, to find a concerned ear for you in the situation you are handling, but you will not find a sympathetic ear for what you are contemplating doing with it. There is a distinction between the disorder itself and what a person proposes to do with it. The disorder may be understandable; what people decide to do with it is another matter.

A POSITION STATEMENT

A PREFERRED UNDERSTANDING OF ATONEMENT THEORY:

A RATIONALE FOR THE STRUCTURE OF GENESIS 1:1-2:3

A RATIONALE FOR THE STRUCTURE OF GENESIS 1:1-2:3

A SKETCH ON BAPTISM FROM ACTS 2:38

Virgil Warren, PhD

ABSTRACT OF CONCEPTS RELEVANT TO WOMEN’S STUDIES

Virgil Warren, PhD

Introduction

               Something must explain why equally committed Christians come out on different sides of the same issue from the same Bible. It is either because of (1) unconscious presuppositions, (2) faulty reasoning, (3) misunderstanding of how language works, or (4) inadequate concept inventory.

ABSTRACT OF DISTINCTIONS ABOUT THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM

Virgil Warren, PhD

ADDED NOTATIONS ON APOSTLES TODAY

Virgil Warren, PhD

ADDED NOTATIONS ON SABBATH OBSERVANCE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Discussions with seventh-day Christians include five questions. (1) The first question asks for the scripture basis for “changing” Saturday to Sunday as the day of observance. That question miswords the issue. It “begs the question” by assuming that the issue involves a change from one day to the other. Our approach notes that Sabbath was a memorial of the exodus, a Jewish national holiday; so there is no basis for Sabbath observance outside the context of Jewish national life. There will be no “scripture basis” for “changing” from Sabbath to Sunday, because there was no “change.” The two items are not in series but in parallel. The two days have different meanings relative to different “nations” and different founding events. It is not a matter of one continuing entity changing one of its national holidays from one day to another. Since this matter relates to the change of covenants, consult the essay entitled “Old Testament Covenants and the Messianic Covenant.”

ADDENDUM: “MALE AND FEMALE”

Old Testament Occurrences

Man/               Septuagint Readings: Ralphs’ & Brenton’s Editions Combined                     MT

Animal Gender                        (ἄρσην/θῆλυς)                                                                    נְקֵבָה/זָכָר

ADDITIONAL THOUGHT ON WOMEN’S STUDIES

“Ministry Before Consensus”

            B. Alternatives to be considered

                  1.   Divine

                  2.   Demonic

ANALYSIS OF AUGUSTINE’S DOCTRINE OF EVIL

ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN BIBLICAL APOCALYPTIC

JAMES 5 AND ANOINTING WITH OIL

APPLYING NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING

ON MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND PUBLIC DECORUM

APPROACHING THE MILLENNIAL ISSUE WITH

ARE THERE MODERN-DAY APOSTLES?

Virgil Warren, PhD

Two Word Meanings

ASPECTS OF HUMAN RIGHTEOUSNESS

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Goodness has several aspects. In relation to a standard, goodness is humanly measurable behavior relative to the divine ideal—as to its “letter” and its “spirit.” As to the behavior, goodness is the overt behavior (which tends to correlate with what is humanly measurable) but the motive, attitude, and character—generalized pattern vs. specific act. As to the setting, goodness has a subjective and objective aspect. As to the kind of interpersonal behavior, there is morality, wisdom, and ministry. These dimensions of goodness are detailed under the headings below.

ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

Virgil Warren, PhD

BAPTISM AS IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Seeing baptism as identification with Christ provides a framework for working through several abnormal situations that arise and helps make sense even of normal situations that may be overlooked in the theory and practice of the ordinance.

 DECIDING ON “BAPTISM IN THE HOLY SPIRIT”

Virgil Warren, PhD

BEHAVIORAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRAVITY

BIG LESSONS IN GENESIS 1-3

Virgil Warren, PhD

      I.     The God-universe distinction

BREAKING BREAD

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Since bread was a food staple in ancient near eastern societies, “bread” came to stand for food in general. As a result, in the Bible “eat bread” usually means to eat or to eat a meal. New Testament examples include Matthew 15:2; Mark 3:20; 7:2, 5; Luke 7:33; 14:1, 15; John 6:31; 13:18 (< Psalm 41:9); 2 Thessalonians 3:8, 12. By further extension, in 1 Corinthians 11:26, 27, 28, 29 “eat bread” appears alongside “drink the cup” in Paul’s description of observing the Lord’s Supper.

CANDIDATE FOR COMMUNION

Virgil Warren, PhD

I. Baptized Believers

            There is a natural correlation between observing the Lord’s Supper and being baptized.  Both ordinances imply the same basic meaning; they are both identifications with Jesus Christ and therefore commitment to his values, purposes, and lordship. Baptism involves this meaning in an initial sense while communion involves it in an ongoing sense.  Therefore, if a person is a baptized believer, there is no legitimate basis for refusing to meet with him around the Lord’s table. Note the issue later of disaffected believers as well as the relationship of communion and church discipline.

CAPITAL CRIMES IN MOSAISM

CHAPTER I

NON-DENOMINATIONAL UNITY IN PERSPECTIVE AND PREVIEW

CHAPTER III

CHRISTIANS AND TEMPORAL AUTHORITIES

Virgil Warren, PhD

            In non-Christian societies, people wonder whether they can continue in their jobs if they become Christians. The minister of a new congregation in Moscow asked about that issue. A policeman had asked whether he would have to quit his job if he accepted Christ.

COMMENTS ON CREEDS AND RELATED MATTERS

Virgil Warren, PhD

COMMENTS ON DIVORCE: MATTHEW 5:32

Virgil Warren, PhD

“Everyone that puts away his wife—except for sexual immorality—treats* her like an adulteress, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

COMMENTS ON JOHN CALVIN’S PENAL SUBSTITUTION THEORY OF THE ATONEMENT

COMMENTS ON ORDINATION

COMMON GROUND AND THE DISTINCTIVE ISSUE

IN ATONEMENT THEORY

Virgil Warren, PhD

I. Common Ground

COMMUNION ELEMENTS

Virgil Warren, PhD

     I. Unleavened Elements

            In regard to the nature of the elements of the Lord’s Supper, the basic fact is that Jesus instituted it during a Passover meal. Consequently, he used elements available at that feast.

COMPARING LISTINGS OF APOSTLES

CRITERIA FOR A BIBLICAL VIEW OF HUMAN ABILITY

CRITIQUE OF AUGUSTINE’S VIEW OF EVIL

            D. Applying tests to contemporary claims of speaking in languages (“tongues speaking”)

            C. Difficulties in evaluation

                  1.   Distinguishing divine miracle from other phenomena (epistemology)

DISPENSATIONS

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Human history may be organized according to the ways God has operated with mankind. The accompanying diagram pictures that history in three periods, or “dispensations”: the patriarchal, Mosaic, and Christian. The patriarchal period is so called because during that era God operated through the heads of families, or “patriarchs.”

II. Duration of the Supernatural Charismata

                  B. Acts 8 and the duration of miraculous charismata

EARNEST/PLEDGE OF THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Passages (ἀρραβών: “earnest,” “pledge,” “guarantee,” “deposit”)

ETERNAL OPPORTUNITY FOR SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST?

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. An Unnecessary Concept

            On the assumption, for the moment, that eternal opportunity for salvation through Christ could not be disproved, we should consider several matters.

ETHICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMAGE AS

ETHICS AND THE GOLDEN RULE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Treating other people the way we want to be treated implies the fundamental continuity of humankind. Variations between people do exist, but they do not normally deal with matters that impinge on ethical considerations. Supposing the continuity of human nature as the background for the Golden Rule is preferable to supposing that the Golden Rule describes a non-content procedure, the approach of R. M. McIver, “The Deep Beauty of the Golden Rule” in Philosophy and Contemporary Issues, pp. 233-39.

ETHICS STANDARDS

Virgil Warren, PhD

What is the standard and the basis for it?

EVALUATING CURRENT MANIFESTATION

            D. Application of tests to contemporary claims of tongue speaking

EVANGELICAL PERSPECTIVES ON MEN-WOMEN RELATIONSHIP

Virgil Warren, PhD

Introductory Observations

In general, women’s studies relate to the genetic nature of men and women and cultural expectancy regarding their interaction. Discussing evangelical perspectives on men and women in relationship adds biblical interpretation to the inquiry.

EXEGESIS AND THE GOSPELS

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Change of covenants deals only with what people do. That is why (a) there is no change regarding the nature of things (ontological matters) or matters of history (events, including prophecy). (b) Civil and ceremonial observances fall out because national Israel (Moses) and the Old Testament priesthood (Aaron) have been replaced by the interpersonal church with its ministry and message. (c) There are few new ceremonial matters—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—that have come in with Christ. (d) Some modifications in the moral code come in with progressive revelation. Marriage expectancy shifts from polygamy and divorce-remarriage possibilities to permanent monogamy standard. (See the broad arrow diagram in “Old Testament Backgrounds and the Messianic Covenant.”)

EXTREMELY SINFUL: Psalm 51

Virgil Warren, PhD

FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT: THREE-IN-ONE

Virgil Warren, PhD

The sense in which Father, Son, and Spirit are three

and the senses in which they are one

FEMALE METAPHORS FOR GOD

BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

FIVE MODELS FOR COMPLETELY RELIABLE SCRIPTURE

Virgil Warren, PhD

FOREKNOWLEDGE AND SIN

Virgil Warren, PhD

            God’s reasons for creating us are summarized under divine self-fulfillment (delight), goodness (grace), glory and betterment. Of these four reasons the first and last are personal while the other two are interpersonal. The first two are the reasons for people; the third is the purpose of people beyond themselves. If we speak strictly about the purpose of people, we focus attention on God’s goodness and on what grow out of it, particularly dominion and commission. Self-fulfillment highlights the unnecessitated satisfaction that moves persons to express themselves. Goodness roughly corresponds with God-to-man action; glory corresponds with man-to-God re-action. We say “roughly” because we cannot draw a sharp line between these aspects, which is exactly what we expect in the highly complex, reciprocating, transacting activity that interpersonal process involves.

FREQUENCY OF OBSERVING THE LORD’S SUPPER

Virgil Warren, PhD

GALATIANS 3:28: A TEST CASE FOR SOUND HERMENEUTICS

            B.  Guidance: what to do (in Christian living and ministry)

GIFT(S) OF THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Greek Terminology for Giving

                  A.  δίδωμι:        Acts 2:4, 19; 8:18; 14:3; 15:8; Romans 5:5, etc.

GOD KNOWN AS “HE”

GREEK ELEMENTS IN THE INTERPRETATION

HEALING AND FORGIVENESS: SICKNESS AND SIN

Virgil Warren, PhD

HERMENEUTICS AND NATURAL DEPRAVITY

HUMAN DEPRAVITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

Overview of Natural Depravity

             In the late fourth century Augustine, bishop of Hippo in North Africa, gave classical expression to natural depravity as part of his understanding of the nature of evil. In his thought, evil is a lack (privation) in the form of substance relative to its original form. That relatively deformed condition produces evil action. The nature of evil is lack, the cause of evil is lack in form, and the criterion of evil is lack in form compared to pristine form

HUSBAND OF ONE WIFE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Paul gives “husband of one wife” as a characteristic of elders and deacons in 1 Timothy 3:2, 12 and Titus 1:6. The following diagram traces the pattern of thought for determining what he meant by this phrase.

IMAGE AND LIKENESS

IMPERATIVAL INTENT

 Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Description of Imperatival Intent

THE “INDWELLING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT”:

A NON-LOCATIONAL UNDERSTANDING

Virgil Warren, PhD

INDWELLING SIN: ROMANS 7

Virgil Warren, PhD

            When Paul speaks of sin resident within him (or indwelling sin), perhaps he means it phenomenologically; that is, the experience of sin feels like something inside him. His point is that sin is not just something outside us (environment, influence) trying to tempt us into misaction; it is something inside us as well. There is a subjective as well as objective component in the sin phenomenon. The implication is personal responsibility for subjective response to objective influence and stimulus.

            B.  Interpretation

                  The gift of interpretation corresponds with the gift of language speaking; the understanding of the one corresponds with the understanding of the other, particularly when (δι)ερμηνεύω means “translate” rather than “explain.”

INTERPRETING THE CREATION NARRATIVE

INTRODUCTION

ISRAEL’S CORE COMMANDMENTS

         ISSUES IN WOMEN’S STUDIES

A Guided Study

Virgil Warren, PhD

                 Below are six items for thought and research on women’s studies. Some points may be referred to in Hermeneutics: Getting the Point; check the scripture index for locations. As much as possible, consciously integrate into your write-up the principles studied in the course.

ITEMS AFFECTED BY THE DOCTRINE

James B. Torrance. Worship, Community & the Triune God of Grace. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 1997. 130pp. Reviewed by Virgil Warren, Manhattan, Kansas.

In November 1994, James Torrance, professor emeritus of systematic theology at the University of Aberdeen, presented the Didsbury Lectures in the Nazarene Theological College, Manchester. InterVarsity Press offers these lectures in written form with a preface and appendix added by the author.

“KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”/“KINGDOM OF GOD”/“CHURCH”

               LAYOUT OF THOUGHTS ON DEUTERONOMY 6:4

Virgil Warren, PhD

Man & Woman in Christian Perspective, by Werner Neuer

Reviewed by Virgil Warren, PhD

Werner Neuer. Man & Woman in Christian Perspective. Trans. from the 2nd German edition by Gordon J. Wenham. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1991 [1981]. 224 pp. pr

MAN AND WOMAN IN ADAM AND IN CHRIST

Virgil Warren, PhD

MANAGING THE CREATION

Virgil Warren, PhD

            God maintains contact with his creation and control over it. Especially in contrast to deism, God did not create the universe and leave it to operate entirely according to built-in laws for self-perpetuation. God is actively involved with what he made. There is built-in NATURAL LAW such as gravity that apparently operates “on its own” now that God has set it up to work in a particular way. But in addition, there is SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION, where God enters the natural process and brings about results that would not have occurred had he not intervened.

MANKIND

Virgil Warren, PhD

   I.    The Purpose of Mankind

MATTERS OF FORM IN COMMUNION

Virgil Warren, PhD

            An appropriate principle would apparently be not to change the form of a ritual command. The form of a performative commandment is not subject to cultural alteration.   This is true because the form of the ordinance does not rest in the nature of things but in the authority of the One who establishes it by positive commandment. Maintaining the form of the ritual command is especially sensible if the New Testament makes a point of some aspect of the form that the ordinance has.

MINISTRY BEFORE CONSENSUS ON WOMEN’S ROLES

THE INTERACTION OF FAITH AND MIRACLE

Virgil Warren, PhD

TESTING MIRACLE BY DOCTRINE AND DOCTRINE BY MIRACLE

Virgil Warren, PhD

                        A problem has been suggested in connection with testing miracle by doctrine. On the one hand, we say miracle confirms revelation (Mark 2:1-12; note 3:2; 20:30-31). On the other hand, we apply the doctrinal test to prophets to judge the divine origin of their message (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). In fact, Moses subjected signs to doctrinal evaluation in this statement. Prophets who gave a sign that came to pass (miracle or coincidence) were nevertheless to be executed if they urged the people on that basis to serve other gods (doctrine; Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Miracle proves doctrine and doctrine tests miracle.

MIXED MARRIAGE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Scripture says so much about marriage because it is a universal experience. Besides, it is an intense experience. Married life calls for more skill and understanding than other relationships. It is harder than living alone because it is more complicated, especially when children enter the picture. It is harder than being a good neighbor, getting along with people at work, or even living together in the community of faith. Marriage affects the full range of life rather than just some aspects of it (total). The actions of one partner likely affect the other, and marriage involves a degree of intimacy. We find it possible—and even fulfilling—to relate to many people in varying degrees of “distance” or “closeness,” but in marriage there is no “distance,” and nothing is hidden. Besides, marriage is all the time whereas work is only part of the waking hours and not every day. Marriage is exclusive of all other relationships; its distinctives are not experienced with anyone else. Finally, marriage is permanent while other relationships are not necessarily for life. In a universal, total, permanent, exclusive relationship, it is imperative that the partners share at least the basic values by which marriage operates.

NATURAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE IMAGE

PART II:  THE NATURE OF MAN

Virgil Warren, PhD

PART I: THE NATURE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

 III. A Person in the Divine Trinity

NOTABLE POINTS ABOUT SABBATH

Virgil Warren, PhD

Mosaic Legislation on Sabbath

NOTATIONS ON 1 TIMOTHY 2:11-12

Virgil Warren, PhD

NOTATIONS ON GENERAL REVELATION

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Terminology

            General revelation refers to natural experiences in the natural universe. Special revelation refers to what comes through visible divine intervention into the natural. The former deals with nature, natural processes, natural events, and can include social processes, human history, subjective experience. The latter deals with supernatural intervention that a person can recognize as supernatural because it does not occur naturally. Intervention labels what God causes beyond what natural process produces. It refers to supernatural occurrences and their meaning given through special revelation. For us, special revelation centers on the revelation preserved in scripture. General revelation comes through the aspects of reality that science studies. Special revelation comes through scripture and involves inspiration. General revelation serves as the basis of philosophy, which uses reason to “discover” truth from experience. Special revelation is the basis for theology, which uses reason to “understand” truth in light of experience.

OLD TESTAMENT BACKGROUNDS AND THE

MESSIANIC COVENANT

Virgil Warren, PhD

Introduction

            God is the Great Teacher. Readiness is an educational principle he observed in working to achieve his purpose of a new united mankind (Ephesians 2:15). Over the centuries he has increased people’s readiness for spiritual growth by (1) giving progressive revelation, (2) instituting present forms for later realities, and even (3) adopting human forms to serve as shadows of later substances. Establishing covenants illustrates this third use of readiness.

ORDINATION: WHO AND WHOM

ORIENTATION TO ORDINATION

Virgil Warren, PhD

OVERVIEW OF CREATION AND EVOLUTION

OVERVIEW OF CREATION AND EVOLUTION

PARAMETERS IN WOMEN’S STUDIES

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Biblical Passages Relevant to Women’s Studies

PASSAGES RELEVANT TO INERRANCY*

Virgil Warren, PhD

PAUL AS PRIMARY APOSTLE

Virgil Warren, PhD

PAUL VS. THE LAW OR THE TRADITION OF THE ELDERS?

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Some authors have suggested that Paul in his writings for the Gentile mission was opposing the tradition of the elders rather than the Mosaic Law itself. But the following factors look away from such a reading of Paul’s concern.

            C.  Power: means of doing it 

                  The work of Christ (theory) provides the basis for salvation. The work of the Spirit picks up the process at that point and contributes to the functional aspects: conversion, guidance, and Christian growth (sanctification).

PREDESTINATION IN SHORT

Virgil Warren, PhD

Choice, act, consequence (free vs. fixed)

1.     The choice itself is free, but the act is not necessarily free.

PRESENTING THE GOSPEL TO “THE GOOD MORAL MAN”

PREVENIENT GRACE AND NATURAL DEPRAVITY

PRIMARY EVIDENCE FOR THE IMAGE

PRIMARY FACTORS IN ETHICAL THEORY

PRIME FACTS ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

    PROCEDURES CONSISTENT

PROLEGOMENA FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN CHRIST

Virgil Warren, PhD

Précis   Neglected or misunderstood factors complicate any endeavor, including the interaction between men and women in the home, the church, and society. An unnecessary “edge” gets into discussions on this matter because of unconscious preconceptions about (a) the bases for self-esteem, (b) the nature of leaders and led and their interaction, and (c) the impact that love has on all interpersonal processes formal or natural.

      PROPOSED RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GENESIS 1:1 AND 1:2-2:3

PROVIDENCE

Virgil Warren, PhD

         God controls his universe and directs its functioning by the operations diagramed below. (1) Reality combines freedom and determinism with freedom occurring inside the determinism. 

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPRAVITY

QUESTIONS ABOUT CHRISTIAN BAPTISM

Virgil Warren, PhD

Doctrinal Questions

REASONS FOR THE INCARNATION

REBAPTISM

Virgil Warren, PhD

            The wise policy is to let candidates make their own decision about rebaptism; after all, baptism is their obedience to God, not ours. Nevertheless, people usually take their cue from those they have come to trust on religious matters. For these reasons we will not always be able to leave the issue in the hands of candidates.

ACTS 19 AND RECEIVING THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE TIME OF RECEIVING THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

REGARDING THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN

EVANGELIST AND ELDER IN THE LOCAL CHURCH

Virgil Warren, PhD

RELATING TO GOD THROUGH

PART III: THE PRODUCTIVE RELATIONSHIP

BETWEEN PEOPLE AND THE SPIRIT

Virgil Warren, PhD

RESPONDING TO ETHICAL RELATIVITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Relativity in ethics seems sensible because (a) incompatible moral beliefs and practices exist, and (b) no one seems able to establish a universal basis for ethical theory. 

RESURRECTION

Virgil Warren, PhD

RETHINKING THE DESCRIPTION OF BAPTISM

RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH IN ACTS 2:38

SACRIFICE AND SALVATION: ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN

SHORTENING UP THE STUDY OF SALVATION FROM

What the Bible Says About Salvation

SIX NOTATIONS ON IDENTIFICATION ATONEMENT THEORY

Virgil Warren, PhD

SOME VALUES OF LOVE AS AN ETHICAL PRINCIPLE

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Love gets us past legal minimums of do’s and don’t’s. It provides a basis for going beyond the call of duty, takes into consideration other people’s differing preferences, watches out for negative effects on weaker brothers’ behavior, and concerns itself with good and better, not just with good and bad. Love fosters a concern for enhancing the quality of other people’s lives, not just with the rightness or wrongness of specific behaviors relative to some standard.

STATES OF MAN AND IMPLICATIONS FOR DEPRAVITY

STRAY NOTATIONS ON THE COMPLEXITY

OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOR

Virgil Warren, PhD

STRICTURES ON CALVIN’S PENAL SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT  THEORY:

STRUCTURING THE HERMENEUTICAL TASK IN WOMEN’S STUDIES: WISDOM OR LAW?

Virgil Warren, PhD

Introduction

            We are inclined to think that some reasonable explanation lies behind the variant understandings of gender roles by equally sincere and capable Christian interpreters. Something must be happening in the minds of some that is not happening in others who likewise take a proper view of scripture. We suspect that part of the difficulty lies at (a) the linguistic level. People do not remember that the imperative mood can have more than one quality, hence, our essay elsewhere on “Imperatival Intent,” which assembles the different values that imperatives and their equivalents may have. Another part of the difficulty lies at (b) the corpus level. People make different assumptions about the nature of the New Testament as a body of normative literature, hence, this essay on “wisdom” vs. “law” and the accompanying excerpt on “Confusing Advice and Commandment.” What we have to say here comes in association with the accompanying diagram.

STUDY GUIDE ON DEACONS

STUDY GUIDE ON ELDERSHIP

SUBMITTING TO ONE ANOTHER:

SUMMARY OBSERVATIONS ON BIBLICAL MIRACLES

Virgil Warren, PhD

SUMMARY OF CONVICTIONS

Virgil Warren, PhD

SUMMARY OF OFFICES IN THE CHURCH

Virgil Warren, PhD

                                                  general              supernatural           authoritative

                                                      vs.                            vs.                               vs.

Office                                         local                     natural               non-authoritative

Lord =                                       general               super                       author

     Christ

     Messiah

SUMMARY STATEMENT AGAINST NATURAL DEPRAVITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

            The proposition counter to natural depravity is as follows:

SUMMARY STATEMENT ON NATURAL DEPRAVITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

SUMMARY STATEMENT REGARDING NATURAL DEPRAVITY

SUNDAY WORSHIP

Virgil Warren, PhD

1. Worship on Saturday after sundown

 II. Supernatural Products of the Relationship Between the Spirit and a Person

SURVEY OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE

Virgil Warren, PhD

BIBLE

TESTING CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE

THE “IMAGE OF GOD”

THE BIG PICTURE

Virgil Warren, PhD

                  One of the biggest plagues in Bible study is failing to see the “big picture.” We tend to read a verse and discuss it. As a result, that statement gets lifted from its setting and put in the context of people’s interests or problems even when it may not belong there. Foreign ideas come into the picture because context is not kept in mind. Bible study needs to cover large portions to keep in sight the general flow of thought. In addition, the total purpose and character of Christian understanding must provide the framework for individual doctrines.

THE CHRIST

THE DENIAL OF NATURAL DEPRAVITY:

            THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN COVENANTS AND SOME

THE DIVINE TRINITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

 I. Methodology

            A.  Investigate the activities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (as well as statements about them) in passages where they are mentioned together, thus observing interaction in real circumstances.

THE DOCTRINE OF “SOUL-SLEEPING”

THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE IMAGE AND ETHICS

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE IMAGE AND THE BODY

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE IMAGE OF GOD AS THE INTERPERSONAL CAPACITY

THE IMAGE OF GOD AS THE INTERPERSONAL CAPACITY

THE IMAGO DEI AS THE INTERPERSONAL CAPACITY:

BASES AND INTEGRATIONS

THE MEANING OF “IDENTIFICATION WITH CHRIST”

THE MEANING OF “SUBMISSION”

Virgil Warren, PhD

            As with other controversial matters, the biblical view of marriage and the family gets lost in the throes of pendulum thinking. Truth tends to lie between extremes, but on this issue unnecessary rigidness creates an extreme opposite and equal reaction. After a while,

THE MOSES-TIME VIEWPOINT OF GENESIS-DEUTERONOMY

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE MOSES-TIME VIEWPOINT OF GENESIS-DEUTERONOMY

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE NATURE OF MANKIND

THE NATURE OF SALVATION

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Salvation as reconciliation is the most distinctive feature of Christianity. Herein lies the primary difference between the gospel, on the one hand, and the Law, wisdom literature, and the prophets, on the other. In this respect, Christianity differs from the purposes of previous divine economies and from the goals of other religions and human agendas. In Christ, God is concerned with more than letting people know that he exists, what he is like, what his moral standards are, and what his expectancies are within his purposes. Salvation is not simply from ignorance, as by revelation; it is not deliverance from physical existence as in Gnosticism and Eastern dualism; it is not a deliverance from individuality as in Hinduism. Salvation is reconciliation from alienation and from all the negatives that come from separation from God and other people.

THE NATURE OF THEOLOGY

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE NECESSITY OF “TONGUE SPEAKING”: A CRITIQUE

THE NEW TESTAMENT STRUCTURE

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE NEW TESTAMENT’S WITNESS TO THE

OLD TESTAMENT’S INSPIRATION*

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

THE PURPOSE OF CHRISTIAN BAPTISM: A SYNOPSIS*

Virgil Warren, PhD

                               CHRISTIANITY AS AN INTERPERSONAL “SYSTEM”        

THE PURPOSE OF MANKIND:

THE RATIONALE FOR ATONEMENT THROUGH CHRIST

THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENERAL REVELATION

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

THE SABBATH AS A MEMORIAL OF THE EXODUS

THE SABBATH, THE LORD’S DAY, AND THE CHRISTIAN

Virgil Warren, PhD

THE SEVENTY-WEEK PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9

THE UNEVANGELIZED ELECT?

Virgil Warren, PhD

The Notion in a Nutshell: An Opinion

THEOLOGY AND LIBERAL ARTS

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Theology establishes the context for liberal arts. It is the discipline of the whole, the discipline of the ultimate. It addresses what is original, eternal, central, basic, ultimate, and all-inclusive. As such, theology affirms first that reality is cohesive rather than chaotic—that the parts have a whole to be part of. Theology calls for “centeredness” and centers reality in the Creator rather than the creation and in the Teacher rather than the student. By implication, theology contextualizes all other disciplines as sub-disciplines, integrates them into one whole, relates them to each another, limits their province, and critiques their methods and findings in at least a restrictive sense.

THINKING ABOUT GOD’S WILL

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Asking whether something that happened was God’s will, depends on what the question means. There are two possibilities:

THREE THOUGHTS ON ABORTION

Virgil Warren, PhD

TRADITIONAL REASONS FOR GOD’S CREATING US

TRIMMING BACK THEOLOGY

TRINITY THOUGHTS

Letter to a friend

I took the opportunity presented by your question Sunday to assemble some thoughts that can also be part of the internet ministry effort I am working on. There is probably enough here to founder a good-sized horse, but that is the risk you take when you raise a good question that is at the same time complex and controversial. The first attachment I wrote up new as a second-level treatment of the trinity issue as I have come to see it. The other two attachments are more elaborate because they are lifted from my notes on Christian Doctrine, a course I taught at Manhattan Christian College for many years.

TWO BASIC POINTS ABOUT BAPTISM

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Two points should be highlighted in presentations about baptism. First, baptism should not be too closely identified with outer response. That lends itself to distinguishing inner and outer, identifying faith with inner and baptism with outer, and then affirming that it is the inner dimension that justifies rather than the outer expressive act as well, thus trying to avoid baptism as a work and bringing it into conformity with the Pauline formula “salvation by faith” vs. works. But “faith” in Romans/Galatians does not mean inner action; that is the usage in James. Paul means action in the context of personal relationship (faith) vs. action in the context of legal process (works). We do well to unite inner and outer response in salvation and to consider baptism itself as comprised of both dimensions inseparably. That unity of aspects applies to all acts of obedience.  

TWO RESPONSES TO SIN

Virgil Warren, PhD

            Sin involves two issues that correspond to the two sides of a sin situation. There is the doing of a moral wrong and the reacting to a moral wrong. Because sin takes place between people, there is the person who does evil and the one who suffers evil. In resolving that circumstance, repentance happens on one side and forgiveness happens on the other.

TWO SYSTEMS FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Virgil Warren, PhD

                                    LAW [Moses]                                                 GRACE [Messiah] (IP)

TYPES OF SYSTEMS

Virgil Warren, PhD

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTIAN ORDINANCES

UNITY AND DIVERSITY IN THE UNIVERSAL BODY OF CHRIST

Virgil Warren, PhD

            By creation, all human persons have the image of God, which means they have the interpersonal capacity and equal inherent worth. Since the image exists at the individual level, we must view the created variants as “modes of the image.” Sex, race, size, intelligence, athletic ability, physique, age, and the like do not affect inherent worth and can therefore have no place in our attitude toward ourselves or other people. We do not have to be married to participate in the image, we do not have to become Jews to be a favored people, we do not have to speak English to be part of the kingdom, etc.

VIEWS OF DEITY

Virgil Warren, PhD

WHAT CHRISTIANS IDEALLY BELIEVE AND PRACTICE:

WHAT THE VERY EXISTENCE OF BAPTISM SHOWS

Virgil Warren, PhD

WHAT WE TEACH

Virgil Warren, PhD

WOMEN MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE

WOMEN’S ROLES AND 1 CORINTHIANS 14:34

WOMEN’S STUDIES AND “STANDARD SITUATION”

Virgil Warren, PhD

WOMEN’S STUDIES IN 1 TIMOTHY 2: 

WOMEN’S STUDIES NOTATIONS

Virgil Warren, PhD

Introduction

            In women’s studies, something is causing equally committed, intelligent, educated, hard-working, well-known Christians to come to incompatible conclusions, which leads to disagreement and division. Since this topic has behavioral correlates, we cannot treat it as we do the millennial question and go on about our work; this topic affects how we go on with our work. Since it is a broad-to-narrow issue, people with different persuasions find it hard to be equally tolerant; it is usually easier for a broader view to be accepting of a more restricted one than vice versa.

x x x x,

Your presentation follows the pattern used by Roman Catholic missionaries and many others, where general revelation (through nature) and theistic proofs bring someone to belief in God, his eternality, omnipotence, and other natural attributes. Special revelation adds a saving knowledge of God through Christ as holy, good, and loving (through history regarding God’s moral attributes). The first format has its precursor in Paul’s Areopagus speech; the second step follows Gamaliel’s argument in Acts 5, a resurrectiono-centric format in which the existence of the church and the fact of Jesus’ resurrection stand or fall together: the church exists; therefore, the resurrection occurred, Christ’s claim are true because resurrection is supernatural, and miracle confirms the claims of the miracle worker, etc. In the modern day, that two-step process has been enhanced by increased awareness of the complexity of nature with its accompanying tendency away from the likelihood that gradual change could explain chemistry-to-man by “endogenous complexification,” upward increase in complexity only by factors inside the natural order. Natural evolution replaces the need—not the fact/disproof—of supernatural deity; so it has become the apparent option for replacing the creationist model. A relevant observation, I might add, is that it is not possible to put in sequence the origin of reciprocating parts (especially for the level of observable complexity culminating in human social relationships).

                        2.   Xenoglossia

                              Glossolalia covers a range of speaking phenomena, including ecstatic utterance and “angelic tongues.” Cases occasionally come up in which someone speaks an actual language—xenoglossia. The following possibilities may help evaluate those cases.

XENOGLOSSIA IN CORINTH

ΑΥΘΕΝΤΗΣ  (AUTHENTĒS)

Virgil Warren, PhD

            An important item in 1 Timothy 2 is a case of αὐθεντέω (authenteō) that Al Wolters pointed out at the November meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Lisle, Illinois.  It appears in Origen’s Commentary on 1 Corinthians, which, I believe, is one of Origen’s as-yet untranslated works. The full Greek text of the commentary is in Journal of Theological Studies, X (1909), 29-51. The reference appears in 74:20 of Origen’s Commentary. The text is as follows: