Topics

“He is a friend of God.” That is about the best thing a person can say about someone. In the mouth of God himself, Isaiah says, “Abraham my friend” (Isaiah 41:8; cp. James 2:23; 2 Chronicles 20:7). In scripture, friendship implies several things about relationship to God. Jesus tells us what he is doing: revelation (John 15:15); so friends better describes us than slaves or servants does. Besides, he cares about us—a lot, enough even to die voluntarily an excruciating death for us (John 15:13-15; Romans 5:6-8, etc.). That implies doing for us whatever else we really need and cannot do for ourselves; that is what a friend does (Romans 8:32; 1 John 3:17). Friendship with God separates us from people that are at cross purposes with him: “Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15); so we have the same values and purposes that he does. Experience tells us what ideal friendship is like and how it operates.

“He’s God’s friend.” That is about the nicest thing a person can say about someone. In the mouth of God himself, Isaiah says, “Abraham, my friend” (Isaiah 41:8; cp. James 2:23; 2 Chronicles 20:7). Friendship implies several things about our relationship to God. Jesus tells us what he is doing—revelation (John 15:15); so “friend” better describes us than “slave” or “servant” does. Besides, he cares about us—a lot, enough even to die an excruciating death for us (John 15:13-15; Romans 5:6-8, etc.). That implies doing for us whatever else we need and cannot do for ourselves; that is what a friend does (Romans 8:32; 1 John 3:17). Friendship with God separates us from people that are at cross purposes with him: “Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4); so we have the same values and purposes that he does. Experience shows us a number of points that help us understand what ideal friendship is like.

            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 Daniel 2:44 those kings [מֶלֶךְ] seems to refer to the preceding four kingdoms [מַלְכוּ] of 2:38-43. Daniel uses kingdom and king somewhat interchangeably in that king can by metonymy stand for the realm he rules, even though over a period of time there may be several kings in one kingdom. In 2:39 the writer says, “And after you, Nebuchadnezzar, will arise another kingdom inferior to you.” A similar shift of terms comes in 2:44, “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom . . . it will break all these kingdoms in pieces and consume (them).” Later in 7:17 the four beasts from the sea (7:3; earth, 7:17) are said to represent four kings, whereas 7:23 says that “the fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom that will be different from all the kingdoms.”

In the history of Christian thought, two opposite tendencies have plagued the church with respect to human obedience in salvation. From Jewish circles especially, the early decades of the Christian era saw strong influences to conceive of human action as producing relationship to God after the fashion of obedience under the Mosaic Law. The apostle Paul strenuously opposed that effort, especially in his letters to Rome and Galatia.

Perhaps our prayer life most accurately indicates the level of our spiritual development. It is no surprise, then, to find James including encouragements about prayer in his letter to Christians beset by self-centeredness (1:5-8, 16-18; 4:2-3, 13-15; 5:13-18). They needed to convert their complaining, self-determination, and self-interest into prayer, dependence on God, and concern for one another. In this connection we have selected for special consideration the effectiveness of prayer, the importance of divine guidance, and the prayer ministry of elders.

            Interpreters have proposed several ways for removing from present observance of New Testament directives about male-female role relationship in the church and the home: 1 Timothy 2:8-15; 1 Corinthians 11:2-16; 14:33b-36; Colossians 3:18-19; and 1 Peter 3:1-7.

 I. Paul’s Intended Connection Between Genesis 2-3 and Women’s Roles

I. From the groups of passages given below may be derived a significant process involving love. The first four groups correspond to individual parts of the process, although a certain amount of overlapping cannot be eliminated. The fifth group involves passages that cover varying amounts of the whole process.

πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος καὶ ὠφέλιμος

pāsa graphē theopneustos kai ōphelimos

Variables in the English wording of this verse

                        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.

            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.

            The Map and diagrams below picture the over-all process of Christian living and some patterns involved in that process as it moves along inside the broad arrow of time. The main features of the Map are vertical interaction between an individual and God, horizontal interaction with other persons, and the personal development that takes place at the junction of the two. Everything in a person’s own spiritual processes and in helping to care for the souls of others finds its place in this construct.   

            The Map and diagrams below picture the over-all process of Christian living and some patterns involved in that process as it moves along inside the broad arrow of time. The main features of the Map are vertical interaction between an individual and God, horizontal interaction with other persons, and the personal development that takes place at the junction of the two. Everything in a person’s own spiritual processes and in helping to care for the souls of others finds its place in this construct.   

Salvation is reconciliation,¹ an interpersonal process accomplished by interpersonal means² in the interpersonal realm. God’s response to human sin has been remedial, not just just punitive.

 Ephesians have         Paul responds      Ephesians receive                           God does

faith in the Lord          thanks                 wisdom/knowledge/                         resurrection

       &                                &                      enlightenment                                    &

love toward the           prays                                                                           enthronement

       saints                                                       about                                       

          As part of our standard response to the gospel, God appointed baptism for expressing personal identification with Jesus Christ, which involves commitment to his lordship, values, and purposes. In consequence of our identity with him, God forgives our sin, grants fellowship with his Spirit, and numbers us among his children.

Précis

Repent         be baptized  into    the name of Jesus Messiah     remission of sins

                                                                                                   the Holy Spirit as a gift

INTRODUCTION

                “Apologetics” deals with multiple components that combine in produce faith and growth in it. The conviction is that the structure of apologetics correlates with the process of evangelism and the pattern of personal growth. Evangelism looks at this matter from the standpoint of the communicator and sees it as communication; apologetics looks at it from the viewpoint of the hearer and experiences it as conversion; personal growth looks at it from the perspective of a believer and realizes it more and more as sanctification. What is seen, however, is the same thing. The accompanying diagram depicts the structure of the process.

INTRODUCTION

                “Apologetics” deals with multiple components that combine in produce faith and growth in it. The conviction is that the structure of apologetics correlates with the process of evangelism and the pattern of personal growth. Evangelism looks at this matter from the standpoint of the communicator and sees it as communication; apologetics looks at it from the viewpoint of the hearer and experiences it as conversion; personal growth looks at it from the perspective of a believer and realizes it more and more as sanctification. What is seen, however, is the same thing. The accompanying diagram depicts the structure of the process.

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.

1. A distinction needs to be made between standard situations and special cases. Denying the necessity of baptism applies only to special cases. Special cases include those in which

“And it-came-to-pass in [the] Apollos’ being in Corinth (that) Paul, having-passed-through the upper parts, came-down into Ephesus and found some disciples, and said to them, “[If] did-you-receive (the) Holy Spirit, having-believed?” But they (said) to him, “But we-did┘ not-even └know whether there-is (a) Holy Spirit.” And he-said, “Into what then were-you-baptized?” And they said, “Into the baptism of-John.” And Paul said, “John baptized (a) baptism of-repentance, saying to-the people that they-should-believe on the-one coming after, that is, on [the] Jesus.” And having-heard, they-were-baptized into the name of-the Lord Jesus. And [the] Paul having-laid┘[the] hands └on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they-began-to-speak with-tongues and prophesy. And all the men were about twelve” (Acts 19:1-7).

            We may question whether Judas should be counted among the men called apostles in the primary sense. Although he originally had that role, he left it (cp. Acts 1:15-22).. In addition, he did not see the resurrected Christ receive the commission and enablements distinctive to apostles in the primary sense. With Judas omitted, that leaves thirteen apostles with Matthias replacing Judas and Paul joining the class later.

            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

            Some additional questions arise from previous presentations on women’s studies. For one thing, I have used “ministry” in the title of a paper that centered on leadership in relation to women's roles. “Ministry” is broader than leadership, but leadership is the area in which disagreement about women's roles has arisen. One way to help resolve controversial issues is to appeal to the larger category in which they stand. A title about “ministry” is useful on this subject because women are clearly free to make significant contributions to kingdom work; the question is whether they are free to make contributions in formal leadership ministry over men. Ministry as the larger category sets the context for leadership ministry. Any distinctive elements in the latter must be added in such a way as not to contradict the larger framework. The thesis in “Ministry Before Consensus” has been that we can carry forward the kingdom's work significantly and with minimal negatives even before we resolve the problem. We can do that if we keep the problem clearly defined, if we keep it from spilling over into foreign issues, and if we maintain a proper understanding of Christian leadership. Women's formal and informal Christian leadership ministry needs to conform to Christian leadership ministry generally, Christian leadership ministry needs to take place in a way that harmonizes with Christian ministry, and Christian ministry of every sort must retain the characteristics of interpersonal process. Since it is ministry that we want to get done, ministry is the subject area.

ADJECTIVES

Accent

            recessive

            ultimate  [-ρός (ρέος), -to" (τέος)]

Comparison of Adjectives

ADVERBS

Comparison, systems of

             -ως  -τερον  -τατα

             -#  -(i)wn  -ιστος

            -#   μᾶλλον/μάλα + positive     πάνυ/μάλιστα/σφόδρα/λίαν + positive

            B. Alternatives to be considered

                  1.   Divine

                  2.   Demonic

            The view of mankind common in evangelicalism descends from Augustine of Hippo. His early efforts in philosophy centered on the problem of evil. Although he spent his earliest years under the influence of Catholic Christianity, he left that background to become an Auditor for nine years in a Gnostic-like sect that followed the teachings of Mani. At first, Manichaeism seemed to him to explain the problem by teaching that evil and good are two kinds of substances. They have become intermingled in mankind so that “salvation” consists of separating good from its mixture with evil. Because of internal inconsistencies that Augustine came to see in this dualistic philosophy, he eventually left it and returned to Christianity. The problem of evil stood at the beginning of his development as a philosopher-theologian; its solution stood near the center of the theological system he formulated.

Introduction

            If people get sick, James 5:14-15 urges them to call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with olive oil in the name of the Lord. This text raises two issues: (1) whether the procedure is restrictive or positive (cp. commandment vs. advice), which amounts to precedent vs. example; and (2) whether it is miracle or answered prayer. In the first issue, “restrictive” commandment means that specifying this way eliminates other ways; “positive” commandment means this is a good way to deal with it. If the commandment is non-restrictive, it must be an “example” (one way of approaching God for healing) rather than a “precedent” to be followed always and henceforth. These variables affect the propriety and necessity of using olive oil today for healing, of calling a plurality of church elders, and of accompanying the procedure with prayer.

            Interpersonalism characterizes the defense of the Christian faith in three ways. First is its need-answer-use that persons have for what Christianity offers. Apologetics—the defense of the faith—takes place in a reciprocating pattern around three poles: (1) a person’s present sense of need, (2) the conceptual and past historical basis for answering that need, and (3) the present verification through experience of the behavioral and existential correlates in that answer. The verification by experience can come back around to qualify present perception of need and to assist in the awareness of what scripture means by what it says. The process incorporates a need-answer-use triangular format that can move back and forth as well as begin at any one of the three poles.

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).

CONCEPT 1:  Family is the basic unit of society, more than the individual.

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

                  Regarding end times, we can learn a lesson from Jewish religious leaders of Jesus’ day. They had so exactly worked out their understanding of Messianic prophecy that they did not recognize the Messiah when he came. We will not be that wrong this time. We will recognize him, because his return will not be a local, private entrance into the human sphere (Matthew 24:23-27). Nevertheless, we need to hold tentatively to our expectations about the timing of that event, about its relationship to other future events, and about the very nature of some related events.

Two Word Meanings

            Christians sometimes ask whether there are apostles in the church today. To answer the question, we must clarify what it means because the New Testament uses apostle in more than one way. Its general sense refers to someone who is “sent,” which makes it a synonym for missionary. In its technical usage, apostle refers to a group of men, fourteen in number, who had additional specialized qualifications: they were direct witnesses of the resurrected Christ (except for Judas Iscariot), directly chosen and commissioned by Christ, directly endowed with their message, directly guided in their work, and directly empowered by the Spirit. (See “Paul as Primary Apostle.”). “You tried the ones that call themselves apostles and aren’t” (Revelation 2:2) implies that some apostles were distinguishable from other apostles. If all apostles were simply traveling evangelists or insightful men differing only in degree, they could be called apostles. Denying the claim would be like denying that someone was a missionary. They were in fact traveling, they were in fact insightful if they were, and they were in fact sent from somewhere.

ARTICLES

Article, the standard

Article, variants to the standard [τοί, ταί, etc.]

            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.

            I. BASIS OF ASSURANCE

            The assurance of salvation lies more in God than in us.

            A.  Messiah’s work

            I. BASIS OF ASSURANCE

            The assurance of salvation lies more in God than in us.

            A.  Messiah’s work

The material realm does not stand in opposition to the spiritual realm but in subordination to it. That arrangement can be the case because the material realm derived by creation from the spiritual, or personal, one. Our bodies, then, stand in a subordinate relation to ourselves/spirits/personhood as the creation does to God.

            It is not so much the suffering itself that determines whether we can handle it; it is the attitude we take toward it. Because of the great amount of persecution and suffering endured by God’s people over the centuries, the Bible gives a lot of advice on how to think about pain to deal with it effectively. Major portions of scripture that deal with suffering-pain-calamity-death are Job, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter. Cross references from these books lead to other shorter sections on this difficult subject.

            It is not so much the suffering itself that determines whether we can handle it; it is the attitude we take toward it. Because of the great amount of persecution and suffering endured by God’s people over the centuries, the Bible gives a lot of advice on how to think about pain to deal with it effectively. Major portions of scripture that deal with suffering-pain-calamity-death are Job, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter. Cross references from these books lead to other shorter sections on this difficult subject.

Introduction

      Suggested breakdowns

            1.   Communicable and incommunicable: attributes that can or cannot be

Comments by Virgil Warren on “Disorder and Revolt” in

Authentic Cosmopolitanism

by R. J. Snell & Steven D. Cone

Baptism is for interpersonal identification with Christ. In consequence of identity with him, God gives whatever the situation calls for: forgiveness of sins, gift of the Spirit, membership in the body of Christ.

            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.

             As a matter of standard procedure, baptism is an act of personal identification with Jesus Christ, which means commitment to his lordship, values, and purposes. In consequence of that identity with Christ, God forgives sin, gives his Spirit, and adds us to the body of Christ.

                  Several issues arise with whether baptism in the Spirit occurs today. It is then not a question that can be answered until there is agreement on a New Testament definition of terms and a correct understanding of certain gifts.

            Baptism is for personal identification with Jesus Christ. In consequence of identity with Christ, God forgives sin, gives the Holy Spirit, and make us member in the body of Christ.

 I. What Is Most Original (the [inter]personal character of ultimate reality)

Each of the following pairs of tendencies can be arranged on a continuum with each set of values conceived of as opposite extremes.

Each of the following pairs of tendencies can be arranged on a continuum with each set of values conceived of as opposite extremes.

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

      Many of us have not had to deal much with calamity.

                                                                             health problems.

                                                                            financial difficulties.

                                                                            persecution.

INTRODUCTION

      Many of us have not had to deal much with calamity.

                                                                             health problems.

                                                                            financial difficulties.

                                                                            persecution.

      I.     The God-universe distinction

     II.     The people-animal distinction

    III.     The man-woman distinction

            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.

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.

Adultery/Incest

This presentation proposes a way to help fulfill two responsibilities that we tend to put in tension with one another: our responsibility for representing Christian truth and our responsibility for facilitating Christian unity. The proposal stems from believing that interpersonalism prioritizes what naturally occupies central place in Christianity. We can draw on that observation to help us in the quest for unity in Christ.

CHAPTER I

NON-DENOMINATIONAL UNITY IN PERSPECTIVE AND PREVIEW

CHAPTER II

 CHAPTER IV

“Interpersonalism” refers to interaction between persons, mutual relations, compenetration, mutuality, transaction. Interpersonal unity is the kind of thing John expresses with his a-in-b-in-a formula (e.g., John 10:38; 14:10, 11, 15-16, 20, 23, 38; 15:4-9; 17:21-24; 1 John 2:24-28; see also Colossians 1:27-28). Paul speaks about being “members of one another” (Ephesians 4:25). Interpersonalism contrasts with law, ritual (sacramentalism), nature (materialism), idea (rationalism), and mysticism. The ordinances are performative; they are acts by which we “say something” more than “means of grace’ that we get from them. By them we say something by what we do (cp. Titus 1:16).

This article encourages using interpersonal principles in the quest for Christian unity.¹ We are reflecting on the role of attitude in creating an atmosphere for conflict resolution in the body of Christ today.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  We communicate three main ways: touch

                                                                            movement (kinesics)

                                                                                  facial expressions

                                                                                  gestures

                                                                            talking (words and how you say them)

INTRODUCTION

            A.  We communicate three main ways: touch

                                                                            movement (kinesics)

                                                                                  facial expressions

                                                                                  gestures

                                                                            talking (words and how you say them)

INTRODUCTION

      We are concerned about the way marriage should operate

            so that one spouse is not overburdened and the other not “carrying his own weight,”

            so there can be efficiency and orderliness,

INTRODUCTION

      We are concerned about the way marriage should operate

            so that one spouse is not overburdened and the other not “carrying his own weight,”

            so there can be efficiency and orderliness,

INTRODUCTION                 

Basic Principle: The home is a specialized setting for interpersonal relationship.

            On top of the interpersonal comes the responsibility-authority factor that parenting entails. That understanding establishes the attitude we take toward children and the way we deal with them.

INTRODUCTION                 

Basic Principle: The home is a specialized setting for interpersonal relationship.

            On top of the interpersonal comes the responsibility-authority factor that parenting entails. That understanding establishes the attitude we take toward children and the way we deal with them.

I. The Importance of Christian Unity

  I. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY

  I. THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRISTIAN UNITY

The basic reality in Christianity is interpersonalism. God is personal, and everything else and everyone else derive from him by his creation. Interpersonalism is the most complex reality there is. It stands in contrast to nature, law, and ideas (metaphysics). Interpersonalism operates by love, nature by natural law, law by authority, and metaphysics by form.

                                                                   Prolegomena

Law of Contrast/Law of Opposition. Ideas are clearest in contrast to their parallel alternatives. The principle applies to clear thinking and proper interpretation.

            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.

 I. Introduction

            A. When you studies church leadership, you must adopt the principles of leadership applicable in any field. There are several fields of thought that must be studied.

 I. Introduction

            A. When you studies church leadership, you must adopt the principles of leadership applicable in any field. There are several fields of thought that must be studied.

COLOSSIANS 1

Jump Starters 2

Thanks for the Colossians 1:3, 12

Fruits of the Christian walk  1:10

How we get the fruits.

What’s to be done so we don’t lose it?  1:23

COLOSSIANS 1

Jump-Starters

1:4-5 a familiar triad

1:6  a sign of Christ’s return?

1:9-10 a mechanism for growth

1:15  “firstborn of all creation”

COLOSSIANS 1

Jump-Starters 3

Jesus is the “fullness,” and that makes all the difference  1:19

Jesus is the image of God.  1:15

Jesus is the firstborn of all creation. 1:15

COLOSSIANS 2

Jump Starters 1

Christ is the mystery (2:2)?

Two sets of problems at Colossae

“Shortcuts” for “walking” (2:7)

Relationship of covenants (2:14)

Marriage, parenting, and business are all interpersonal processes.

            These relationships are specialized IP processes that have additional features.

            Additional features must be added in such a way that they do not vitiate their                                 underlying interpersonal character.

Theory of Christian leadership

Companion passages:  Colossians 3:18-4:1; Ephesians 5:22-6:9

What subjects are involved here?

What is headship/submission (correlative terms)?

Theory of Christian leadership

Three primary means of impacting other people’s actions:

            Scripture alone (sola scriptura) means using the Bible as the sole authority for Christian belief and practice. It sets aside other normative sources for the Christian faith: creeds, tradition, apocryphal works, ecclesiastical pronouncements, additional primary literature beyond the sixty-six books of the canon, and persons claiming inner light and special revelation. The fundamental issue is not doctrinal error as much as practical authority. Going beyond the apostolic witness does open up the possibility—even likelihood—of false doctrine; but even if it did not, these other sources are disregarded. Other writings may have devotional value and helpful insight, but they do not determine what Christians are to believe and practice.

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

            For purposes here, we pass over some technicalities associated with the aorist passive infinitive (μοιχευθῆναι, moicheuthēnai, “makes her to be adulterated[?]”) and deal with more straightforward considerations.

            Across Christendom ordination has had a variety of meanings. The most extreme position has been that (1) ordination validates the “administration” of sacraments. Unless a duly qualified clergyman presides, the sacrament is invalid in much the same way that a wedding performed by a person “off the street” would not be recognized by the state. A Justice of the Peace must be duly appointed to perform wedding ceremonies as an agent of the state. In this view, ordination is for theological reasons. The clergy concept is part of the larger idea that grace flows through the church, that is, through those who validly stand as executors of divine administration. It is a legal conceptualization like that of Justice of the Peace, validity being based on “apostolic succession.” Legal administration of grace, however, is a contradiction of terms.

            Since the Reformation, a common understanding of Christ’s atonement work considers his righteousness as a substitute for ours and his death as a substitute for our death as punishment for our sin. The comments below shoulder a negative burden of proof to show that the penal substitution understanding is foreign to atonement theory unless we adopt the rest of Calvin’s legal theological method, where penal substitution would make sense. The thesis here is that substitutionary atonement theory does not belong in non-non-legal theology.

I. Common Ground

We all believe that (1) salvation means being brought back into personal relationship with God (reconciliation). In this respect, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 stands out by using reconciliation repeatedly to describe the nature and purpose of Christian mission: “ . . . in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself . . . having given us the ministry of reconciliation” (5:19).1 

              As with any ritual or formal act, the Lord’s Supper means for us only what we mean into it. The bread and the grape juice are transformed in our minds into the body and the blood of the Lord. The elements represent rather than are. “This is my body” uses “is” in the way a new grandfather does when he pulls a snapshot out of his wallet and says, “This is my grandson.”

     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.

Mt. 10:2-4              Mk. 3:16-19            Lk. 6:14-16             Acts 1:13                John’s Gospel

         Most New Testament directives about giving relate to the offering Paul took up on the third missionary journey for the poor saints in Jerusalem: Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 2:10.

         Most New Testament directives about giving relate to the offering Paul took up on the third missionary journey for the poor saints in Jerusalem: Romans 15:25-28; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians 8-9; Galatians 2:10.

            As with most experiences, worship involves structural/form-al and affective/ emotional elements. It deals with the patterns we use privately and corporately; it involves also the impact these patterns make on us. Definitions of the term worship differ according to one emphasis or the other; hence, they range from I-Thou vertical relationship, on the one hand, to subjective religious effect, on the other. One describes worshiping; the other refers to what is worshipful. What different people mean by worship varies, but the structural components of gathered worship itself are readily identifiable.

            As with most experiences, worship involves structural/form-al and affective/ emotional elements. It deals with the patterns we use privately and corporately; it involves also the impact these patterns make on us. Definitions of the term worship differ according to one emphasis or the other; hence, they range from I-Thou vertical relationship, on the one hand, to subjective religious effect, on the other. One describes worshiping; the other refers to what is worshipful. What different people mean by worship varies, but the structural components of gathered worship itself are readily identifiable.

The church is saved people serving in divine pattern. The body of Christ possesses essential oneness by virtue of individual unity with Christ and collective unity through Christ. This invisible oneness is manifest by a dynamic structure-function called the church. Functional unity in Christ combines with organizational unity under Christ to form this non-denominational entity that has a fivefold oneness of attitude, doctrine, fellowship, name, and organization.

A condition is an action required of one person by another. The other person act does not produce the result; it meets the condition for the first person to give the result. Jesus’ reference to the brazen serpent in the Old Testament illustrates idea (John 3:14-15). The Israelites were to look on the brazen serpent to be cured from snakebite. Looking at the brazen serpent did not cause the cure. God gave the cure if a person did the looking.

            Interpersonalism shows how people can befriend people they disagree with without feeling that they are compromising convictions in doing so. Accepting persons transcends approving of their ideas or even their deeds in some cases. Presence is not approval. So, interpersonal considerations provide a format for conflict resolution. We have to relate to people to have any influence on them, and we can do that on the basis of their potential for change. This approach underlies God’s effort at the reconciliation process (salvation).

CONJUNCTIONS

Compounds

Enclitics

Meaning

            adversative

            appositional indicator  [ὡς]

Scripture makes clear that Jesus the Messiah possessed deity in the distinctive, ontological sense. From the standpoint of theory, it may not contradict the salvation enterprise for us not to understand that fact fully or with complete accuracy. His sinlessness relative to God’s will for him in the flesh appears to be the essential element for salvation purposes. It would be best, then, not to regard as “enemies of Christ” those who misperceive him as the first created being (who created everything else, Colossians 1:15-16) yet affirm his sinlessness and everything scripture says about him.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  One of the first things in the Bible is Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve. The first thing in Christ’s life after his baptism by John was his temptation by Satan as he was entering upon his role as Messiah. Note three parallel biblical segments:

INTRODUCTION

            A.  One of the first things in the Bible is Satan’s temptation of Adam and Eve. The first thing in Christ’s life after his baptism by John was his temptation by Satan as he was entering upon his role as Messiah. Note three parallel biblical segments:

Interpersonalism puts the personal ahead of the impersonal. Person and personal aspects like mind, will, emotion, and conscience do not arise epiphenomenally from the impersonal, but by virtue of mind operating through will, the personal creates the impersonal (Genesis 1:1-5ff) and orders it (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:7-15). The personal is eternal, but the impersonal has beginning and end.

Prevenient grace and natural depravity

            Augustine’s treatment of the problem of evil falls short for two related reasons. (1) He did not properly distinguish natural and moral evil, suffering and sin, pain and guilt. In his thought, they amounted to the same problem. (2) He attempted to examine even moral evil primarily in reference to the category of nature. In so doing, he glossed over the distinction between impersonal and interpersonal reality.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  It is harder to relate to people who differ from us. We cannot do what is natural without offending and may being offended. People who differ from us are the very ones we may be drawn to, because we see in them the traits we wish we had.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  It is harder to relate to people who differ from us. We cannot do what is natural without offending and may being offended. People who differ from us are the very ones we may be drawn to, because we see in them the traits we wish we had.

            C. Difficulties in evaluation

                  1.   Distinguishing divine miracle from other phenomena (epistemology)

            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.”

God’s normal operation with people is through the Word, through other people (the church), and by the sheer relationship itself. 

II. Duration of the Supernatural Charismata

                  B. Acts 8 and the duration of miraculous charismata

INTRODUCTION

                             Guide verse: “I say . . . to every person among you not to think of yourself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3).

INTRODUCTION

                             Guide verse: “I say . . . to every person among you not to think of yourself more highly than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3).

We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith and sight are two ways to know. Sight means knowledge by direct perception; faith is knowledge through the testimony of other people. We know about the past, the future, the distant, and the invisible only by testimony, if at all. In short, most knowledge comes from revelation either by God or some other person. In either case, it is interpersonal—by faith.

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

                  A.  2 Corinthians 1:22: “who [God] also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” (NIV says, “marked with a seal”; NKJV translates ἀρραβών as guarantee and deposit.)

Under the (inter)personal worldview, there is eschatology because the future is going somewhere intentional. Predestination guarantees the meaningfulness of history by providing destiny. The possibility of making all things new contrasts with the myth of eternal returns, the cyclical view of history. A creating God who originates by willing can bring about the truly new. The future is not limited to the possibilities of the past, nor is the future sheer eventuation; the future is foreordained by a Person who chooses destinies. There is more to tomorrow than one experience leading to the next.

 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 Use of Imago dei

            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.

            I. Ethics, morality, and goodness pertain to behavior in personal relationships.

What is the standard and the basis for it?

            In That Hideous Strength (p. 285) C. S. Lewis has Dr. Cecil Dimble telling his wife that polygamy was not wrong for Abraham. That comment seems misleading, but it does raise the question about standards. There seems to be more than one way of speaking of an “ethical standard.” There is (a) the ideal standard, the one that God has always had in mind for everyone everywhere. The ideal standard is based on the originating purpose of God before creation. PURPOSE

Introduction: reasons for testing manifestations of the Spirit (1 John 4:1-4)

            D. Application of tests to contemporary claims of tongue speaking

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.

I.   Objects of Evangelism (See also comments on the scope of salvation under interpersonalism essay “Salvation.”)

The Priority of Interpersonal over Formal Matters

1. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27; cp. Exodus 23:12d; Deuteronomy 5:14c)

The Book of Jonah is anything but “everyday.” It features extraordinary events we would seldom, if ever, see. God talks to Jonah like a next-door neighbor. He tells the prophet to travel to the capital of the Assyrian empire that controls the prophet’s nation. His mission is to warn those enemies that God is going to destroy them in forty days.

You can’t put in sequence the origin of reciprocating parts that are necessary for the viability of the whole organism and of the parts themselves. Additionally, the biosphere involves two sexes that both must be present from the beginning in a combinable fashion because entropy means the organisms will die; so they have to be replaced by reproduction. Living organisms involve systems of systems that must all be present from the beginning or the organism is not viable, so there cannot be step-by-step change from one set of systems to another set of systems, all the while with ongoing viability.

            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.”)

INTRODUCTION

      Faith is an important word in Christianity.

      Faith has meaning for ongoing Christian experience.

                  Nature of faith     - what it is

INTRODUCTION

      Faith is an important word in Christianity.

      Faith has meaning for ongoing Christian experience.

                  Nature of faith     - what it is

INTRODUCTION

            A.  A study on exercising leadership applies to everybody.

                  1.   We all shed influence on people in our family, circle of friends, our neighborhood, at work. We do not have to be high up the ladder of leadership to be leading.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  A study on exercising leadership applies to everybody.

                  1.   We all shed influence on people in our family, circle of friends, our neighborhood, at work. We do not have to be high up the ladder of leadership to be leading.

INTRODUCTION

      The mark of a Christian is love.

      “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love.”

I. EXPRESSING LOVE

            A.  Doing what love produces.

INTRODUCTION

      The mark of a Christian is love.

      “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love.”

I. EXPRESSING LOVE

            A.  Doing what love produces.

Psalm 51 records David’s response to his sin with Bathsheba:  heading of the Psalm, “When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone into Bathsheba” (2 Samuel 11-12).

Faith belongs to the interpersonal circumstance because it is something one person puts in another person. Faith trusts in another. Scripture applies the faith principle to two areas: salvation (consequences) and knowledge (information). In both applications a second person stands in the gap (a) between the doer and the result and (b) between the learner and what’s learned. Habakkuk 2:4 serves as the gateway into the whole Christian system: “The just will live by faith/trust.”

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

and the senses in which they are one

at the same time to the exclusion of all optons

Distinctness within the One Deity

Genesis 1:27 Women and Men created in God’s image

 I. Greek Terminology for Being Filled with the Holy Spirit

                  A.  Several pertinent words not used of being filled with the Holy Spirit are γεμίζω (gemízō), ἐμπιπλάω (empipláō), ἐμπίμπλημι (empímplēmi), κεράννυμι (keránnymi, κεπάω, kepáō], μεστόω (mestóó), πλήρωμα (plērōma), συμπληρόω (symplēróō), ἀναπληρόω (anaplēróō), χορτάζω (chortázō, be filled with food), ἀνταναπληρόω (antanaplēróō), τελέω (teléō, fill by finishing).

              We do not need to decide between the “theories of inspiration” to understand how scripture came to have the character of “God-breathedness” (2 Timothy 3:16). As we can judge from scripture itself, God operated in more than one way in producing scripture. The models of origin may be organized according to what God specially gave to his human spokesmen. 

INTRODUCTION

      If relationship to God is interpersonal, then it is not all us (he would be a zero factor) or all him (we would be a thing used). Choice and thinking and other personal acts are occurring on both sides of the relationship.

INTRODUCTION

      If relationship to God is interpersonal, then it is not all us (he would be a zero factor) or all him (we would be a thing used). Choice and thinking and other personal acts are occurring on both sides of the relationship.

Abaddon (Ἀβαδδών): “Destroyer” (Revelation 9:11**)

Abba (Αββα): “father” (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6**)

            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.

The situation is like a broad arrow. Neither freedom nor determinism is absolute. Freedom is within a framework determined by several factors. Nature is the outermost limit, revelation is inside of that, and then there are other factors like circumstance and providence. Our individual freedom will never allow us to move outside the limit that nature imposes, but to a certain extent we may move outside the margin that revelation or circumstance presents.

Freedom means moving in accordance with reality. Freedom is not detachment from everything; that would be lostness. It means moving in conformity with what is there. The interpersonal connection lies in acknowledging the presence of God and other persons and in living with them instead of striving after an unreal individualism. Fulfillment comes from association; people must live in conformity with the fact that they are persons designed for relationship with persons. A certain amount of individual limitation is necessary to be free because other reality exists. Proper relationship to God sets the stage for proper relationship to everything else. Divine fellowship sets the stage for objective freedom.

            Since communion is primarily an interpersonal act, there is no inherent necessity in regard to frequency. Therefore, it is a matter of positive commandment or apostolic precedent rather than necessary inference.

Introduction

Introduction

                        Brackets [] indicate examples or explanatory information that is useful or necessary for categorizing the subheadings.  Parenthesis () and/or entries after colons indicate subsets within the heading.

 I. Greek Terminology for Giving

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

                  B.  μεταδίδωμι:  Romans 1:11; 12:8

Interpersonalism applies to the ultimate frame of reference in that deity forms a three-person unity. In philosophy, “God” refers to ultimate reality. In scripture, this reality is personal because he is counselor who has no counselor (Psalm 11:3-4), his pleasure is what measures all doing, and his glory is the effect of everything that happens (Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 19:1). Interpersonalism represents the most complex form of existence. It stands to reason that if it exists in the created realm, it should be present in what originated everything in the created realm. The stream, we say, cannot rise above its source. The most inclusive understanding of God is at the “corporate,” or triune, level. The traditional doctrine of trinity combines into one concept unity, diversity, equality, and order and puts it before all other reality. Note the title The Eternal We, by Harold J. Green (Chicago, Ill.: Loyola University Press, 1987). Trinity is not just any kind of threeness-in-oneness; it is an interpersonal threeness-in-oneness.

            Scripture consistently characterizes God in masculine terms. At the grammatical level, that pattern expresses itself in Hebrew masculine pronouns, adjectives, and verbs. “She” never designates the God Yahveh in any book of either testament.

        1. Biblical evidence for the Holy Spirit’s guidance

               a. examples of divine calling and direction of his servants

        1. Biblical evidence for the Holy Spirit’s guidance

               a. examples of divine calling and direction of his servants

editorial question                                                                Ephesians 5:21

* = words of Hebrew origin (names and expressions)

SUFFIXES

morpheme                   part of speech         meaning               formed from                example

-ανω                            verb

                                    (-ινω, -αινω are variants of the same form)

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Description of the general Basic Christianity material

1.     As a whole, Basic Christianity is Christianity in its in-life operation. 

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Description of the general Basic Christianity material

1.     As a whole, Basic Christianity is Christianity in its in-life operation. 

Divine guidance takes place with people; hence, it includes choices, thinking, feelings, and other personal factors with both God and people. God does not make all our choices for us; he treats us like friends more than like slaves. Pushing the idea that God has a special plan for each person may be nothing more than (1) the old self-centeredness in religious garb; self-centeredness is not interpersonal. (2) It may be a kind of laziness, because people do not want to put out significant effort in deciding or taking responsibility for their decisions. Submitting to God does not mean being submissive. “Super-spirituality” is not interpersonal spirituality.

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

                        Four religious attitudes have been taken toward sickness. Most extreme, (1) sickness is an illusion, an idea associated with quasi-Christian groups and some Eastern thought. (2) Sickness indicates sinfulness. Passages like the following help avoid this mistake: the whole Book of Job; John 9:1-3ff.; Acts 28:1-6. There is not a correlation between a sin and a suffering (the “moralizing view of history”), nor is there a correlation between the degree of sinfulness and the degree of suffering (Psalm 73; Jeremiah 12:1-2; Malachi 3:15; Luke 13:1-5; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9). (3) Sickness is a feature of Satan’s rule that is overcome in Christ; consequently, Christians are freed from what characterizes the devil’s dominion. (4) Sickness is a continuing part of human life, potentially rather always overcome by prayer or miracle; its complete removal comes at the eschaton.

=  - 0  9   8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1  ;

Exegetical Impasse

Interpersonalism establishes a theological method. Interpersonalism impacts hermeneutics by establishing a programmatic for interpreting the Bible. What does not deduce from interpersonalism must be firmly established by primary proof. Primary proof is the kind of proof that requires one conclusion, while secondary evidence confirms what comes from primary. Primary proof that does not arise from the nature of the case (interpersonalism ultimately) must rest on positive commandment rather than moral law, because moral law refers to what comes from the nature of the case. Interpersonalism establishes what is to be regarded a priori as central. It becomes a way of shouldering appropriately the positive burden of proof on many issues. Interpersonalism calls for doing theology in the interpersonal mode because it goes on in an interpersonal context.

  I. The gift of the Spirit is first of all an interpersonal relationship.

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

            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.

               article-noun . . . noun in same case [Sharp’s rule]  Do not specify same gender and number because we want to see also whether there is any case where the parallel nouns are not the same gender and number.

We have not made a distinction between “image” and “likeness,” even though Genesis 1:26 uses two words to compare mankind and God. (a) Nothing in the context distinguishes them. Furthermore, (b) in most other passages only one term occurs, image in Genesis 9:6-7; 1 Corinthians 11:7; James 3:9 and likeness in Genesis 5:2 in an otherwise word-for-word parallel to 1:26. Like in Genesis 3:5, 22 translates a different item than in 1:26.1          

 I. Description of Imperatival Intent

            Imperative forms can convey a range of meanings; they have (1) varied quality. In language, authorial intent does not bear a one-to-one relationship with linguistic forms. In assessing a writer’s use of the imperative mood, we look beyond the form itself and infer its force from the near and distant literary context, the historical context, and the nature of the case.

            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.

The inerrancy of scripture has to do with the intended content of scripture as such.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Deliberate choice of term: influencing

                                         1.   Avoids professionalizing the ministry as something done by specialists: it is

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Deliberate choice of term: influencing

                                         1.   Avoids professionalizing the ministry as something done by specialists: it is

INTERJECTIONS

ἄγε, James 4:13

ἴδε, John 1:29

δεῦρο, Mark 10:21

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are performative acts, acts by which the performer “says something.” Their meaning comes from what we mean into them; otherwise, they have no meaning. That indicates that they are not rituals done to us by which grace comes to us automatically by virtue of the ritual itself somehow or by virtue of the legitimized authority of the administrator. There is value that comes on us, but it comes on us from God on the prior condition of our commitment to him as communicated by the performative act.

Interpersonalism integrates with the “mystery of God” because (a) the mystery factor is highest in the interpersonal categories. That is so because the other categories—nature, law, and logic—are deterministic; but persons, especially persons in relationship, are not fully predictable since they have rationality, creativity, and free will on both sides of the relationship.

Interpersonalism serves as a general criterion for deciding what is part of the faith. It is the touchstone for distinguishing “gospel from culture” and truth from preference.

Interpersonalism serves as a criterion for arranging things from central to less central within what is actually true about the Christian faith. The value of this observation lies in helping us decide what to emphasize in introducing someone to Christ (evangelism) and in arranging the sequence of virtues and duties in the process of sanctification.

            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.”

An Interpretative Approach

The List of Commandments

                 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.

            Since the nature of mankind is a central consideration in Christian theology, the doctrine of natural depravity in mankind affects a variety of issues and impacts them in significant ways. The following enumeration of consequences may not be necessary in every case, but historically this concept has triggered them.

  IV.  Verbs

         A.  Tenses

Religion is not good for some people; it just makes them worse by putting God on their side. Because they know the truth, they look down on other people’s ignorance with greater boldness. The tendency to consider themselves better than their neighbors is reinforced by the status they have as one of God’s people. That phenomenon is curious since sin is always some kind of self-centeredness. If “getting religion” only reinforces such attitudes, what good is it?

Not only is God someone we don’t see; he is someone we can’t see (1 Timothy 3:16). We may wonder, though, why he doesn’t show himself someway at least once in a while. He could speak to us audibly or give us a vision of himself from time to time. The short answer to the question is, “We don’t know.”

         Matthew                      Mark                           Luke                            John

1. Peace that passes understanding: Philippians 4:7

2. I am the way, the truth, and the life [truth is personal]

Language often develops its vocabulary relative to the personal-impersonal distinction. We see that in English, although it may be difficult to get a feel for how widespread or universal it is in languages generally. One example is “educate,” a word that would not likely be used for training an animal to do tricks; “train” would be the more likely word..

In 2 Corinthians 3:6 Paul declares that the “letter” kills, but the spirit gives life. His point appears to be that the absoluteness and inflexibility of law stifles and destroys persons in operation, especially in relation with each other. It drives people away even as the Israelites turned away from the glow on Moses’ face. The “spirit,” or purpose, of the Law corresponds with the Person who gave it. “Cutting someone a little slack” is a liberating experience. On this usage of “spirit,” compare John 1:17; 4:23; Romans 7:6; Galatians 3-4. Spirit appears to mean personal and interpersonal in contrast to letter.

Law and personal relationship do not have a (1) part-to-whole relationship. Legal process does not represent a secondary operation inside of interpersonal operation. Grace-faith does not function inside of law, and law does not provide mechanisms inside of interpersonalism. In Pauline terms, works are not part of the grace-faith-promise-spirit system. Likewise, legality and interpersonalism are not (2) parts of a common larger operation.1 Legal works do not supplement or combine with interpersonal actions in bringing about the interpersonal consequences needed by estranged persons. Legal operations are foreign to interpersonal process. The two systems are parallel, alternative, and mutually exclusive.2 If something is of law, it is no longer of faith (Galatians 2:12); if it is legal, it is not interpersonal. If it is of grace, it is no more of works (Romans 11:6). If inheritance is of law, faith is void and promise is of no effect (Romans 4:14). Grace, faith, and promise are aspects of interpersonal operation in contrast to works and debt, which belong to legal process (Romans 4:13-16; cp. Galatians 3:18). God has not established procedures for persons to go through to get salvation; he has given them a Person to identify with and commit to in order to receive it.

יהוה אלהינו יהוה אהד

“Yahveh our God is one Yahveh.”

            Leading takes place in the interpersonal circumstance and has the purpose of helping people grow in their social skills necessary for getting the job done. Leadership is gained and exercised by interpersonal means. In the church, leadership does not come by heredity, force, being “pushy,” or by shortcutting, “riding in on another person’s shirt tail,” or bypassing lesser roles through formal education. People do not become leaders because they refuse to be involved otherwise—the “won’t-work-so-let-lead” syndrome.

SONG LEADERS AND INSTRUMENTALISTS

INTRODUCTION 

      Freedom men prize as a natural desire of their spirit

      Freedom in regard to God’s will

      Freedom in regard to sin

I. FREEDOM FROM LAW

INTRODUCTION 

      Freedom men prize as a natural desire of their spirit

      Freedom in regard to God’s will

      Freedom in regard to sin

I. FREEDOM FROM LAW

INTRODUCTION

            A.  We feel held down by inhibitions.

                               driven by compulsions.

                               locked in by frustrations.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  We feel held down by inhibitions.

                               driven by compulsions.

                               locked in by frustrations.

Love is self-giving for the joy of others. It’s an outward-directed pattern of behavior with other people’s welfare in mind.

Both vertical and horizontal relationships have the same interpersonal character. Experiencing the horizontal helps us understand the vertical; understanding the vertical motivates us to do the horizontal. In both directions, love is the characterizing feature. It includes most aspects of interpersonal associations and originates so many of the virtues involved in them.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Dimensions of personal life

                  2.   Horizontal: social relations, weaker brother relationships, church, home

                  3.   Personal

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Dimensions of personal life

                  2.   Horizontal: social relations, weaker brother relationships, church, home

                  3.   Personal

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

               One major argument for egalitarianism in marriage and the church pictures female deference as a fallen condition that has been reversed in Christ. “Your husband will rule over you” (Genesis 3:16) has changed to “In Christ there is no male and female” (Galatians 3:28). New Testament comments about male headship merely temporalize the Christian ideal in the interests of Christian mission. The following comments attempt to show that this scenario artificially combines unrelated ideas and overextends the cultural variable. Genesis 3:16 does not indicate a result of the curse, Galatians 3:28 is not an absolute principle, and statements elsewhere about headship are not necessarily pragmatic concessions to cultural norms that no longer apply.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Examples of emotions by groups

                  pressure     hate              joy             burn out          jealousy            discouragement

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Examples of emotions by groups

                  pressure     hate              joy             burn out          jealousy            discouragement

  I. Among the several things we can do to manage our emotions, we can tap into vertical interpersonal resources through prayer and Bible reading.

            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.

   I.    The Purpose of Mankind

  II.    The Image of God in Mankind

III.    The Effects of Sin on Mankind (See What the Bible Says About Salvation, pp. 38-45.)

 I. Interpersonalism applies first to mankind as an explanation of God’s purpose.

            Marriage is a specialized interpersonal relationship. Whatever we know about personal associations in general applies most crucially to matrimony. The products of love and the ways of expressing and developing it apply to marriage more than anywhere else because of the intensity and all-inclusiveness of that relationship. Marriage is primarily interpersonal with added distinctives.

            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.

Meaning addresses the connection between things. The meaning of a word refers to its connection with its referent—what it refers to. The meaning of a part in a system refers to the purpose it fulfills in connection with the rest of the parts that form the whole. Connectivity is the essence of the theory of meaning. Now to apply it to persons in relationship.

INTRODUCTION

            Can we give any reason for considering ourselves significant?

            Do we feel significant?

            How much of our time, energy, and resources is spent on the quest for meaning?

INTRODUCTION

            Can we give any reason for considering ourselves significant?

            Do we feel significant?

            How much of our time, energy, and resources is spent on the quest for meaning?

Introduction

                        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.

            If interpersonalism characterizes the Christian worldview, it follows that any deviation in its formulation is likely some departure from personal relationship as its most basic, central, decisive feature. It is instructive to survey the history of the church to see how it has departed. The departures have been into one of the other major categories or some combination of them, a prioritizing of something else over interpersonalism, or a reduction from the full set of factors in interpersonalism.

            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.

Good and bad are figured relative to purpose.

Out of the nature of God comes the purpose of God.  Out of the purpose of God comes the creation by God, of which we are a part, including people in relationship. There is a fairly close fit between our nature and human morality, but the decisive issue is God’s originating purpose.

There is no clear biblical evidence that Adam’s ability in spiritual matters was any different after the fall than it was before the fall in a biologically inheritable sense.

Introduction

The canonical books of the New Testament consist of those that were written by close acquaintances of Christ who witnessed his resurrection (apostolicity), those that were accepted across the whole church (catholicity), and those that represent a consistent viewpoint on teaching and practice (doctrinal harmony). They contrast with books written later, books of unknown origin, books accepted in small areas of the Roman empire, and those with doctrines of faith and practice that diverge widely from the canonical books.

Mosaic Legislation on Sabbath

            Exodus 16:4-5 (manna gathering), 22-30 (manna use); 20:8-11 + Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (The Ten Commandments); Exodus 31:12-17; 35:1-3; Leviticus 19:3, 30; 23:3, 38; 26:2; Numbers 15:32-36 (death penalty)

Does αὐθεντεῖν mean “exercise authority” or “domineer”?

            (a) The law of contrast implies that αὐθεντεῖν does not mean “dominate” since it is a correlative term with ὑποταγή in the previous verse. Ἐν πάσῃ ὑποταγῇ and αὐθεντεῖν seem to be correlative expressions like learn and teach, with which they appear. Correlative terms stand in a common larger category as natural contrasts: lost-saved, father-son, prophecy-fulfillment, faith-works, and the like. Within the same context the sense in which one is meant is the sense in which the other is used. If father means physical father, then son means physical son, not spiritual son. If prophesy means to state a significant principle, then fulfill means to be an example of that principle, not the occurrence of a prediction. Correlative terms obey the law of contrast/opposition/negation inside the law of harmony.

 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.

INTRODUCTION

               The Lord’s Supper is among the acts of worship (1 Corinthians 11: 23-29;

                        cp. Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 10:16-21).

               Representation (emblems): in the mind, so to speak, bread and grape juice are

INTRODUCTION

               The Lord’s Supper is among the acts of worship (1 Corinthians 11: 23-29;

                        cp. Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 10:16-21).

               Representation (emblems): in the mind, so to speak, bread and grape juice are

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Leadership is not obtained by

                  1.   Heredity          (contrast kingship and priesthood in Judaism)

                  2.   Force               (note Peter in Gethsemane)

                  3.   Purchase          (note the Medieval practice of simony; cp. Acts 8:14-24)

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Leadership is not obtained by

                  1.   Heredity          (contrast kingship and priesthood in Judaism)

                  2.   Force               (note Peter in Gethsemane)

                  3.   Purchase          (note the Medieval practice of simony; cp. Acts 8:14-24)

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 to the ministry involves three issues: (1) the understanding of New Testament offices and ministry, (2) the New Testament meaning of ordination, and (3) the meaning attached to ordination by the state.

I. Ordination is for the one ordained.

         Ordination is for impressing on the person ordained the importance of his calling. People set aside time for things that are important. By setting aside time to concentrate on what it means to enter ministry, the body of believers shows the person their regard for that calling. Ordination provides a time to be impressed with the significance of the “ministry of reconciliation,” as Paul called it (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

    I. Preliminary Definitions and Concepts

I.  Luke 22:35-38

 I. Biblical Passages Relevant to Women’s Studies

            Exodus 15:20-21: Miriam and the women of Israel

            Judges 4:4-5:31: judgeship of Deborah

            Parenting takes place first by interpersonal means. It is on top of interpersonal process that any authority comes, and that authority is bounded in its application by the distinctive purposes at work in this special setting for interpersonal process. The interpersonal circumstance sets the attitude parents take toward their children. Children are smaller but not less. If love is the medium of interpersonal relationships, love becomes the medium for parenting. The means and manner of parenting are primarily interpersonal influence instead of physical force, intimidation, authoritative control, manipulation, and the like. One of the main means of interpersonal influence is modeling what we want to teach, commend, command, and so on.

("Particles" is a loose category that is not uniformly defined among Greek scholars.  Some include in particles everything but nouns, pronouns, and verbs (A. T. Robertson); other include only the intensifying short words; many include prepositions, conjunctions, negatives, and modal adverbs.)

Psalm    19:7         “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”

            119:42       “Your Law is truth.”

Some have questioned whether Paul belonged to the primary group of Jesus’ followers called “apostles.” During the early years of the Christian era, the Judaizing element in the church attempted (1) on doctrinal grounds to put him in secondary position. They tried to create the impression that he stood at odds with the primary apostles, those centering around Peter in Jerusalem. Judaizers believed that Gentile converts should become Jews in the process of becoming Christians. Paul opposed their call for circumcising Gentiles and thereby identifying them with national Israel and obligating them to keep the Mosaic Law. He understood in the first case, relative to the church, that Christianity does not have a political component. He observed in the second case, relative to salvation, that putting Gentiles under Jewish Law would in theory bring them under a perfection requirement for continued relationship to God—initial salvation by grace and continued salvation by works.

            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.

            Christian growth (sanctification) relates to perseverance in Christ because continued growth safeguards against apostasy. The writer of Hebrews suggests interpersonal activity as a way to persevere. He speaks of fellowship with the faithful, imitation of the faithful, and service to all mankind (chs. 10-13).

INTRODUCTION

            The body is what we notice first about people.

            It is with the body that we act and relate to them: shake hands, smile, talk, hear.

INTRODUCTION

            The body is what we notice first about people.

            It is with the body that we act and relate to them: shake hands, smile, talk, hear.

            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).

 I. Prayer as interpersonal activity establishes the elements of prayer.

            Much of what applies to evangelism applies to preaching. Evangelism addresses the gospel to non-believers. Preaching addresses the gospel to believers by and large since most often the term describes teaching and exhortation in the gathered community of Christians. Evangelism tends to think of itself as cross-cultural; preaching usually addresses people in the same culture. Interpersonalism calls us to remember that preaching is communication to people; so it is not oratory, which emphasizes the form of delivery. It is also not recitation, which highlights the verbalizing of information and gives the impression that it does not come from the heart, that a person is saying words into the air rather than speaking into the listeners. It is not “heart to heart” talk. Reciters are performers; they are “saying their piece.” 

Choice, act, consequence (free vs. fixed)

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

2.     The act may be free, but the consequences are fixed.

PREPOSITIONS

Appositional indicator  [ὡς]

Case Governance

            governing 1 case

                    G

            What do you do with a man like “Bob”? He really is a “good guy.” A happy, outgoing person that is glad to see you and always willing to stop and talk. Several years ago he quit a good-paying job so he could spend more time working with his only son, who became a successful race-car driver in our part of the country. One day he told me, “When I was a kid, my dad never had any time to do things with me. I’m not going to be that way with ‘Earl.’” I don’t know that I ever heard him use a “cuss” word. He gets along well with his wife . . . As far as Christ is concerned, what do you do with a man like “Bob”?

            We have set aside the doctrine of natural depravity because (a) natural depravity lacks adequate primary biblical evidence for it. (b) Natural depravity creates contradictions. One set of propositions summarizes an argument against natural depravity. Since God is self-consistent, the variable that explains the Great Dilemma must lie outside God. Since only God and we figure in salvation, that variable must lie in us. We must be capable of responding to God; otherwise, God would be choosing who is saved by choosing whom he enables to respond to him unto salvation while saying that he does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). As natural depravity in effect means divine self-contradiction, natural ability maintains divine self-consistency.

Introduction

Preliminary Factors

1.  The Spirit is a person, not a force, idea, emotional surge.

            On the one hand, a totally reliable text in principle represents the guiding characteristic of “scripture.” On the other hand, a certain amount of variability may happen in the manner by which biblical writings originated and passed down. Two assumptions underlie the suggestions below. (a) We need not invoke the supernatural as long as natural means can accomplish the purposes. God does not generally do for people what they can do for themselves. (b) The concern is reliability of the information, not prescription of forms (words).

INTRODUCTION

      Bible Study Method: ask a question and read scripture with an eye for answers.

      Application of this method to 1 Corinthians 13: “What does love produce?”

INTRODUCTION

      Bible Study Method: ask a question and read scripture with an eye for answers.

      Application of this method to 1 Corinthians 13: “What does love produce?”

INTRODUCTION

Scripture directs itself to the reader in three dimensions that correspond to the three tenses of our existence. For each time dimension there is a type of biblical literary material:

INTRODUCTION

Scripture directs itself to the reader in three dimensions that correspond to the three tenses of our existence. For each time dimension there is a type of biblical literary material:

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.

PRONOUNS

Compounds, types of (not inclusive of morpheme-root combinations)

    I.  Genesis 1:1, Caption for the Creation Account (Hebrew construct form)

         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. 

Explaining Non-Determinism

            The proposition counter to natural depravity is as follows: there is no (1) clear (2) biblical basis for saying that Adam’s ability in regard to (3) spiritual things after the fall was any different from what it was (4) before the fall in a (5) biologically inheritable sense.

INTRODUCTION

                  We adopt the principle that the gospel has applications for most every aspect of us and our associations.

                  Psychological has to do with the way things seem; it deals with the subjective dimension. We are not dealing directly with mental health even though we are dealing with matters that affect it.

INTRODUCTION

                  We adopt the principle that the gospel has applications for most every aspect of us and our associations.

                  Psychological has to do with the way things seem; it deals with the subjective dimension. We are not dealing directly with mental health even though we are dealing with matters that affect it.

            Psychological strength comes from friendship. We often reference psychological strength to inner factors because it contrasts with outer flux; we can experience “inner peace” even during unstable circumstances. But psychological strength is not so much inner peace amidst outer chaos as it is “inter” strength from other persons. Our inner stability came from someone else. Furthermore, psychological strength ties to personhood in our commitment to an ever-present, immutable God and to others in relationship with us through him--fellowship. Strength persists in the face of destruction because of one person’s concern to help others by doing what may relieve them, save them, and give them peace, power, and joy.

Below is a list of forty-one more noticeable places in the New Testament where the text is uncertain. About 80% of the variants occur in historical segments, which is a little less than 60% of the New Testament. Brackets mark the questioned portions. Double parentheses mark the more important and more doubtful of these readings. Quotations are from The Conversational Version.

Doctrinal Questions

 1. What is baptism for (meaning)?

                  First, in Christian baptism we identify with Jesus Christ. The New Testament means identification when it speaks of (a) being baptized “into Christ,” “into the name of Christ,” and similar expressions (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5; Galatians 3:27). We identify with the Messiah instead of with Moses (1 Corinthians 10:1-2) or John the Baptist (Acts l9:1-7) or the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 1:13-15). As a result, we belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 3:22-23; 1:12). Paul means identification when he says that by baptism we are (b) “united with Christ” (1 Corinthians 6:5). Baptism is a pledge of allegiance to him in which we commit ourselves to his purposes, values, and motivations. We make that commitment to the extent of the death that baptism pictures.

INTRODUCTION

            Prayer Is talking to God.

            Prayer is like talking to other people; we just have a special word for talking to

INTRODUCTION

            Prayer Is talking to God.

            Prayer is like talking to other people; we just have a special word for talking to

“Be angry,

“Be angry,

   Introduction

            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.

            In theory, two positions operating in relationship may differ from one another in authority in at least six ways:

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Relating to other believers in Christ would be easier if we were all at the same stage of growth in understanding and virtue, and if we all understood things the same way. But, we are not equally strong and do not see things alike. We must make allowance for differences to “keep the unity of the faith in the bonds of peace” and to avoid stumbling and discouragement.

INTRODUCTION

Relating to other believers in Christ would be easier if we were all at the same stage of growth in understanding and virtue, and if we all understood things the same way. But, we are not equally strong and do not see things alike. We must make allowance for differences to “keep the unity of the faith in the bonds of peace” and to avoid stumbling and discouragement.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  The author’s experience with divided churches

                  Success at resolving church conflict has not been the most consistent experience. What often happens is a resolution through a power struggle in which the congregation loses those with the minority opinion. There is an erosion of membership on one or both sides of the discussion. People are hard to change once they have made up their minds and have committed themselves openly to a viewpoint.

INTRODUCTION

            A.  The author’s experience with divided churches

                  Success at resolving church conflict has not been the most consistent experience. What often happens is a resolution through a power struggle in which the congregation loses those with the minority opinion. There is an erosion of membership on one or both sides of the discussion. People are hard to change once they have made up their minds and have committed themselves openly to a viewpoint.

            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. 

 I.   Biblical References to Resurrection

            A. Old Testament

Introduction

  I. Revelation is interpersonal in that it is from one Person to another.

Good triumphs over evil.

            Good and evil are not equal opposites in power or legitimacy.

            Good and evil are not equally eternal. Evil has a beginning and an end.

Christian baptism is a self-expression of personal identification with Jesus Christ, and God gives consequences on the basis of that identity more than on the basis of the act itself: forgiveness of sin, gift of the Spirit, and fellowship in the body of Christ.

Introduction

The Problem

         The possibility of spiritual growth (sanctification) comes from the nature of interpersonal process. Under the perfection demand of law, becoming perfect cannot occur after perfection is broken. But salvation before God deals with restoring a personal relationship, which means that development toward maturity can substitute for having already achieved it and always having to keep it. We can deal with each other directionally (growth) rather than positionally (perfection) because repentance-forgiveness can make up the difference between performance and perfection. That fact is part of Paul’s contrast between faith vs. works.

Science deals with recurrent natural processes in the present.  Consequently, science (hard science) does not, strictly speaking, deal with history, the supernatural, or the metaphysical.

            Christians sometimes object to good self-image and feeling good about ourselves as somehow bad. The problem comes from an overreaction. To get people to see their need for salvation, Christians sometimes overdo how evil unsaved people are. Furthermore, they seem to think that feeling good about themselves makes God’s salvation unnecessary or it makes them feel them can save themselves. Interpersonalism keeps the balance between responsibility and dependence. We are responsible for responding on our side of the relationship, but our responses on our side of the relationship do not establish the relationship. We depend on the other Person to establish it from the other side—to accept us—because he is the offended party.

            Since What the Bible Says About Salvation is rather long, using it in a church setting requires reducing it somewhat. There are two ways to reduce the amount of material and get at it more efficiently. First, use only the positive presentations (instead of looking at the alternative beliefs together with the reasons for and against them). Second, use the booklet Questions and Answers on “What the Bible Says About Salvation” on just the chapters (or parts of chapters chosen from the text itself).

I. Identification as the Whole Basis

            In identification atonement theory, “identification” means more than identifying with Christ from our own side so God will count Christ’s atoning death as a substitute for our own death. That leaves substitution—or whatever—as the operative mechanism. Identification likewise is not just God’s viewing us from his side as connected with Christ. Identification in these senses fits with any theory of the atonement. Identification would merely connect the sinner with Christ—in the sinner’s mind and God’s mind—in anticipation of whatever mechanism then removed the penalty: ransom, substitute, or conquest. Identification would not replace or obviate some additional operation after the subjective and objective connection.

Efforts at Christian unity have variously stressed one or more bases: organizational union, common experience, or essential doctrine. Roman Catholicism exemplifies the concern for unity through the church as an institution, which is particularly fitting because Catholic theology conceives of grace as flowing through the church by way of duly ordained clergy: “where the bishop is, there is the church.” Because of the emphasis on tongue speaking, pentecostalism can illustrate the common-experience approach. Erasmus among others advocated a minimum set of essential doctrines as foundational for Christian unity.

            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.

We do not know fully what aspects of earthly humanity carry forward into the intermediate and eternal states, so we are left to speculate about what nature we will have then and what punitive experiences we can experience there. The following inferences combine what revelation does say about permanent features of human nature and about being “lost” after death—about what hell could be like.

Introduction

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

      General principle: “We reap what we sow.”

      Growth processes + spiritual exercises = spiritual fruit

INTRODUCTION

      General principle: “We reap what we sow.”

      Growth processes + spiritual exercises = spiritual fruit

            In scripture, “spirit” vs. “flesh” stands for the interpersonal center of life in distinction to an egocentric or ethnocentric one. It is the transcendent vs. the imminent. The terminology evidently came about because flesh takes something into itself to find fulfillment. Persons, however, must give of themselves to find fulfillment. “Flesh” stands for an individualism that fosters a competitive mentality. “Spirit” stands for an interpersonalism that fosters unifying love.

            Romans 7:5-8:15 is one of several sections in Romans that have raised considerable controversy. In this study we attempt to work out Paul’s meaning in terms of legal imperfection in contrast to interpreting it in terms of humasn nature. Philosophically, the function and relationship categories replace the nature category. Theologically, ethics and salvation replace anthropology as the central concerns. We propose to show that natural depravity is a concept irrelevant to this text, if not false in itself.

Christian stewardship belongs to the interpersonal system. In relationships, people do not live to themselves or die by themselves even as in marriage the right over one’s body does not lie in the one alone but in the other also (1 Corinthians 7:4). In social relationships, each gives of self for the joy of the others. In that same fashion, God has given of himself in creating, sustaining, and redeeming us. We are not our own; we have been bought for a price, so to speak, so life itself is ours as a stewardship to glorify God with. We give ourselves to the Lord, who first gave himself for us (2 Corinthians 8:5).

INTRODUCTION

The stewardship of life sees the whole of life as having a primarily vertical direction. It envisions, not a consumer mentality, but a producer mentality. A person must start at the right place in order to think, feel, and act properly in this stewardship.

INTRODUCTION

The stewardship of life sees the whole of life as having a primarily vertical direction. It envisions, not a consumer mentality, but a producer mentality. A person must start at the right place in order to think, feel, and act properly in this stewardship.

            Ethics and morality relate to the interpersonal realm, with humankind. Since persons in relationship constitutes the most complex reality there is, ethics is a complex discipline.

INTRODUCTION

                           A.  Terminology: will, choice, motivation, volition, willingness, self-discipline,

                                 “wanting to”

            B.  Freedom of the will does not mean   (a)  it is as easy to do one thing as another;

INTRODUCTION

                           A.  Terminology: will, choice, motivation, volition, willingness, self-discipline,

                                 “wanting to”

            B.  Freedom of the will does not mean   (a)  it is as easy to do one thing as another;

                  Will is an aspect of people that links mind, emotion, and action to create what we call “person.” In addition to other factors, personal relationships impact the will, the mind, and the emotions to produce action. Will contrasts from stimulus-response; so we are more than a set of complicated electro-chemical processes. We can decide; we do not have to respond to the strongest environmental stimulus. Since we can decide, we find ourselves living by values more than by drives and stimuli. We are not the determined creatures depicted by Skinnerian behaviorism, but persons created in the image of God.

Introduction

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.

               Passages on divine calling and direction that are helpful in understanding the manner of God’s specially leading people are (1) Genesis 6:13ff.; (2) Genesis 12:1ff.; 13:14ff.; (3) Exodus 3; (4) Judges 6:11-25ff.; (5) Judges 13:2ff.; (6) 1 Samuel 3;           (7)  Amos 7:14ff.; (8) Jonah 1:1-2; 3:1-2; (9) Isaiah 6; (10) Jeremiah 1:1-2:1; (11) Ezekiel 2:1-7; 3:16ff., 22ff.; 6:1ff.; etc.; (12) Haggai 2:10ff.; 20; (13) Zechariah 1:1-3ff.; (14) Luke 1:5-25, 39-80; 3:1-20 (Matthew 3; Mark 1:11); John 1:6-36; (15) Matthew 10:1-4ff.; (Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:12-16); Acts 1:1-11; (16) Acts 8:26-40; (17) Acts 9:10-19; (18) Acts 9:1-18; 22:3-21; 26:2-23; Galatians 1:11-2:10; Acts 16:9-10; 22:17-21 (cp. 9:26-30).

I. A study of assurance requires an understanding of the relationship between four sets of variables:

        (1)   Objective-subjective evidence. Objective refers to the real basis upon which our assurance rests; subjective refers to whether we feel assured of salvation.

        Elements essential to an understanding of Christian freedom are diagrammed here in three sets of logical relationships: (1) subjective refers to our feelings about the matter; objective refers to what is there regardless of our feelings about it. (2) Plus (+) and minus (-) mean the presence or absence of the category at the left for those who are in Christ. (3) Jurisdiction of law is divine regulation of human behavior. Penalty of broken law is the guilt consequence we have for breaking God’s law. Reality means the barriers, boundaries, limitations—personal and external—in the reality where we live and what we are a part of.

“to serve”:  διακονέω (diakoneō)

Passage                Term                #         Reference                                                  Scope

               Prayer raises three issues. Think about them; study the surrounding verses and other scripture portions by cross reference or a concordance.  Write down answers to the accompanying questions, giving scriptural support wherever possible.

        Christianity is not a philosophy we believe, but a religion we live. It should have something to say, then, to the whole person and be able to help us psychologically cope with life. The following clusters of texts contain implications for psychological strength. Decide what the implication is and why it is true.

        Major portions of scripture deal with suffering-pain-calamity-death: the Book of Job, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Peter. From these books cross references identify other shorter sections on this difficult subject.

            The following analysis of a Christian’s growth process produces a schematic based on the inner-outer differential. By inner we mean the understanding, emotions, and motives we have; outer means the actions we do. Each group of scriptures given below affirms something about the inner, the outer, or their relationship. Determine what that fact is and why it is important. Then synthesize all the parts into a working model of the growth process with observations on its implications for witnessing and applications to Christian education and defense of the faith.

        Relating to our brothers and sisters in Christ would be easier if we were all at the same stage of growth in understanding and virtue and if we all viewed things the same way. As a matter of fact, we are not all equally strong and do not see things alike. We must learn to make allowance for differences i to keep the unity of the faith in the bond of peace and to avoid stumbling and discouragement.

         This portion of Ephesians deals with “household teaching” on the relationship of husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves. Other comparable texts are Colossians 3:18-4:1 and 1 Peter 2:(13-)18-3:7.

            Scripture treats the problem of pain like being disciplined by a parent (Hebrews 12:5-11 < Proverbs 3:5). Since a personal, all-powerful, all-knowing God controls the universe, everything that happens here he either initiates or allows. Everything that occurs passes through his omniscience, his will, and his power. We can be confident that the experience will not be more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).

     I.  Types of Occurrences: divine miracle, demonic miracle, answered prayer, psychological,

            The Christian worldview is interpersonal. The interpersonal “category” is the ultimate frame of reference that qualifies and limits the impersonal realities that are also part of full picture. Some major aspects of Christianity are summarized below in ways that correlate with this understanding.

                                                  general              supernatural           authoritative

                                                      vs.                            vs.                               vs.

Office                                         local                     natural               non-authoritative

Lord =                                       general               super                       author

     Christ

     Messiah

apostle1                                    general               super                       author

     "the disciples"

     "the twelve"

            The proposition counter to natural depravity is as follows:

there is no (1) clear (2) biblical basis for saying that Adam’s ability in (3) spiritual matters after the Fall was different from what it was (4) before the Fall in a (5) biologically inheritable sense.

            The proposition counter to natural depravity is as follows: there is no (1) clear (2) biblical basis for saying that Adam’s ability regarding (3) spiritual things after the fall was different from what it was (4) before the fall in a (5) biologically inheritable sense.

The proposition counter to natural depravity is as follows:

1. Worship on Saturday after sundown

            In the New Testament we encounter the Jewish custom of reckoning days from sundown to sundown as distinguished from the Roman reckoning from midnight to midnight. The question sometimes comes up whether Christians today could have church on Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning and/or Sunday evening.

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

Ministry personnel are not paid for their work; they are supported so they can do the work.

BIBLE

            Scripture is the complete word of God written and sufficiently accurate in origin and preservation to accomplish what God sent it to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). He sent it through chosen representatives endowed with the messages he revealed to them and with the ability to correctly express it to the ones he wanted to hear it. Consequently, non-canonical writings have the status, at best, of devotional writings (Apocrypha and tradition).

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Interpersonal relationship vs. mystical flight of the soul to God

INTRODUCTION

            A.  Interpersonal relationship vs. mystical flight of the soul to God

            Temptation tries to get us to exchange the welfare of everyone for the welfare of self. In so doing, it attempts to call us from an interpersonal to an individualistic frame of reference. Temptation tries to get us to exchange the intangible (personal) for the tangible (material) framework. It tries to get us to exchange the eternal for the temporary and the immediate for the delayed.

I. Pattern for Testing Christian Experience

Much of my creative energies lately have been directed toward tracing through the implications of interpersonal relationship as the organizing reality for Christian truth. Nowhere has this observation appeared more relevant than in the study of the nature of mankind.

Introduction

Introduction

            1.   The Father is said to be “in” us: 1 John 4:12, 15 (John 14:23).

                  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.

I. Pre-Existence

INTRODUCTION

Our mind affects our relationship to God: Psalm 139:1-2. We cannot exempt our thoughts from what righteousness measures.

INTRODUCTION

Our mind affects our relationship to God: Psalm 139:1-2. We cannot exempt our thoughts from what righteousness measures.

I. Theologically the church is an interpersonal system.

            One distinctive of the Churches of Christ/Christian Churches has been their relatively high view of human nature. They have stood virtually alone in denying the traditional doctrine of natural depravity.

I.      Central thesis

 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.

            Views of the human condition during the intermediate state differ as to whether it is a conscious existence. Conscious existence means that between death and the general resurrection, we experience the rewards and punishments later to be publicly declared at the great white throne judgment. Unconsciousness during that time has two possibilities: “soul sleeping” or non-existence. The second option means that when we die, we cease to exist objectively until God “recreates” us out of his memory, an event simultaneous with, or the same as, resurrection. For all practical purposes, soul sleeping amounts to the same thing though, strictly speaking, we do objectively exist. The following considerations go into evaluating the concept of “soul sleeping.”

          The doctrine of creation is unique to the Judaeo-Christian and Islamic heritages.

            Christianity is a religion to be lived, not a philosophy to be believed. Christianity addresses the practical situation with relational living as the ultimate concern: behavior in relationship to God and other people. To put it more basically, the central issue in Christianity is interpersonalism together with its sub-units (rationality), those secondary non-essential factors (physical nature), and those matters that can be added to interpersonalism for practical purposes (legal authority and natural force).

            Christianity is a religion to be lived, not a philosophy to be believed. Christianity addresses the practical situation with relational living as the ultimate concern: behavior in relationship to God and other people. To put it more basically, the central issue in Christianity is interpersonalism together with its sub-units (rationality), those secondary non-essential factors (physical nature), and those matters that can be added to interpersonalism for practical purposes (legal authority and natural force).

Introduction

The theory of meaning, the basis for self-image, and the theory of ethics all three reference the same factors: being, action, and relationship. The previous chapter discussed meaning and self-image as the objective and subjective sides of the same thing. This chapter notes that ethics belongs to action in the interpersonal sphere. Since we have identified the image of God with the interpersonal capacity, it remains for us to explicate the principles for ethical theory that grow out of the construct established by God’s creating us in his (a) interpersonal image for (b) fellowship and (c) purpose. Action connects the first item with each of the last two. Image defines human nature/being, which behavior ties to relationship and purpose. Relationship and purpose are relational since action relates persons to others in fellowship and relates them to the results of their deeds. Action connects being to relations (ethics) even as action connected objective and subjective in the previous chapter (meaning).

Including the Body in the Image

In this chapter we address more deliberately the issue noted before. A long-standing debate about the image concerns whether to include the body in it. There are three ways to relate the image and the body. The body might be (a) part of the image, (b) involved with the image, or (c) analogous to the image. Several considerations go into deciding whether the body is in, with, or like the image.

Introduction

            This study proposes that the image of God in us is the interpersonal capacity. It does not necessarily say something new, but endeavors to assemble relevant factors, to clarify a viewpoint that best incorporates them, and to show its consonance with the Christian worldview. In method, the approach sets aside a reductionism that strives after identifying our “essence” and “risks” reification, faculty psychology, depersonalization, and individualism, which are tendencies that derive from non-revelatory origins. It opts instead for a combinationalism that accounts for all the features of nature, function, and relationship that’s special revelation pictures us as having and called to have.

            The distinctive purpose of New Testament miracles was to enhance faith. That contrasts with doing miracles to entertain, to satisfy curiosity (cp. Herod in Luke 23:8-9), to escape limitations in the natural order, to make money, to get attention, or even to heal everyone. Jesus cursed the fig tree (Matthew 21:18-22 = Mark 11:12-14, 20-26) to teach his disciples a valuable lesson. Miracles were not sheer displays of supernatural power, but manifestations that verified Jesus’ proclamation and claims.

INTRODUCTION

      Purpose of the three-part series: the in-life operation of Christianity: (1) vertical relationship to God, (2) horizontal relationship to other people, and (3) personal development in the context of those other two dimensions

INTRODUCTION

      Purpose of the three-part series: the in-life operation of Christianity: (1) vertical relationship to God, (2) horizontal relationship to other people, and (3) personal development in the context of those other two dimensions

I. Characteristics of Persons

      A.  Reason

I. Characteristics of Persons

      A.  Reason

Observing the Lord’s Supper is an act of worship that means identifying with Jesus Christ crucified and committing ourselves to his values and purposes. 

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

            “Identification with Christ” refers to a complex of factors within the reality of personal relationship, which we are calling interpersonalism. Interpersonalism is a worldview that considers persons in relationship as the highest frame of reference. That reality includes aspects like the following.

            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 presentation in Genesis is from Moses’ viewpoint in time and place.

    I. Three Propositions

            A.  God’s desire to save everyone

Preface

            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.

Introduction

            Holy Spirit studies pick up where Christ’s work ended: preparing the individual for conversion in response to the message about Christ, the sanctification process for the individual in Christ (growth), and evangelism of other people to bring them to Christ (outreach).

 III. A Person in the Divine Trinity

 I. The Nature of Theology vs. Exegesis

                        Christian groups have different expectancies about “tongue speaking.” Some think the gift is as available now as in the apostolic age. Others take the more extreme position that it is a sign with all genuine conversions. The following remarks address that latter position. These notes also adopt the New Testament phraseology “speaking in languages” instead of “tongue speaking” because the latter is an undefined expression that allows people to invest it with a special meaning.

The church is saved people serving in divine pattern. The body of Christ possesses essential oneness by virtue of individual unity with Christ and collective unity through Christ. This invisible oneness is manifest by a dynamic structure-function called the church. Functional unity in Christ combines with organizational unity under Christ to form this non-denominational entity that has a fivefold oneness of attitude, doctrine, fellowship, name, and organization.

Basic Structure

         This chapter sketches the original organization of the church in the New Testament. It determines what positions exercised authority and which were functions, all being places of service. The procedure works because it addresses an either-or matter and because authority includes function. We cannot suppose that a function seemed to be such only because the records happen to be insufficient to show that it was really an office. That would argue from silence and shift the burden of proof onto the negative. The negative burden would be impossible since the only available evidence would pertain to function, which is part of the larger concept: office.

     I.     Direct Assertion

            A.  Specific scriptures attributing the Old Testament to the Holy Spirit

                  1.   Passages mentioning the human author

            Two related questions may be asked regarding Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse. (1) Who or what is the “abomination of desolation” in 24:14? (2) If some events are still future, where is the dividing line between the ones now fulfilled and the ones still to come? All three synoptists record this sermon: Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; and Luke 21.

Introduction

 ANTILOGISM

Whatever the explanation for the existence of evil, especially innocent suffering, it must be important enough that God himself in the person of the Son was willing to endure it in the extreme.

            What makes things the way they ought to be and what helps things improve to even better levels is also what corrects what is not the way it should be. The characteristics of interpersonalism give it a problem-solving power for personal problems. Inasmuch as interpersonalism has the full range of characteristics existent in persons and associations between persons, it has the potential for solving all the problems that persons in relationship can have.

                               CHRISTIANITY AS AN INTERPERSONAL “SYSTEM”        

Section I: God’s Delight

Introduction

            How God works in us through his Spirit should have (1) a positive basis rather than one we cannot disprove. We should look for (2) what the prediction of the model is in which Christian operations take place. Interpersonal reality implies what is natural to interpersonal process. Feelings, urges, spontaneous ideas, and the like we should understood in an interpersonal sense rather than assigned to the Spirit in a special sense if we have no way of recognizing that the Spirit is their source to the exclusion of other possibilities. Finally, we should try to determine (3) what is left when control tests are applied. If the same experiences occur in other religions or with non-religious circumstances, we should not assign those experiences to the Spirit as directly or specially caused. If we cannot tell the difference, we should not understand them as supernatural, much less claim that they are supernatural.

Introduction

Sets the character of doctrines

            Interpersonalism refers to the fundamental character of reality. As such, it is a claim about worldview. Interpersonal refers to the presence of the interpersonal element, but the addition of ism describes the pervasive nature of things. The same goes for legal vs. legalism, for determined vs. determinism, for scientism, and so on. In the latter instance, the word no longer describes an aspect, but characterizes the whole. It becomes that by which a person integrates as much as possible of what belongs to the whole. Only after that exercise does he bring in secondary matters to account for exceptional or practical matters.

            When the Christian gospel came on the scene of redemptive history, the status and nature of the Mosaic Law came under question. Not only was that question relevant to the Jews, but the Gentiles also had to cope with it because Christianity came out of a heritage different from their own. Christendom has demonstrated five ways of dealing with the issue.

  I. Sabbath observance was not a memorial of the creation. If it were, it would have been observed as long as this creation stands: from the beginning, by all nations, till the end of time.

Introduction

            Sabbath observance corresponds with national Israel. God instituted the Sabbath as a memorial of the exodus because Israel became a nation at the exodus. Sabbath observance does not apply to those outside of Israel, before Israel, or after Israel, hence, not to Christians.

 I. The beginning time for the seventy “weeks/hebdomads” is best placed at the first year

            The time of receiving the Spirit naturally belongs with discussing commitment to Christ. The gift of the Spirit as an “indwelling presence” occurs at the time of personal identification with Christ, commitment to him and his values and purposes That understanding is natural if receiving the Spirit means entering a personal relationship with him. Reconciliation follows forgiveness, which removes the guilt of sin that caused the separation. If we identify with Christ (formally in baptism) and God forgives sin on the basis of that identity, then receiving the Spirit correlates with that commitment. Salvation means salvation from alienation; so in regard to the Spirit it means “receiving the gift of the Spirit,” as we say. Not only does that make sense in the nature of things, but Acts 2:38-41 presents baptism as identification with Christ, and therefore with forgiveness of sins, receiving the Spirit, and entering the body of Christ. By the nature of those items, they belong together rather than strung out over time. They are all aspects of one up-front event. We can say they have a logical sequence, but we have no reason to say they have a chronological seqence.

The resurrection of Christ and the existence of the church stand or fall together. If he did not resurrect, the church would never have come into existence, because “Messiah abides forever.” The church exists, so Christ must have arisen. Something so obviously supernatural as his resurrection verifies the claims of Christ. The church is a person-centered system, centered on the person of Christ. If he is taken out of the way, the system collapses.

            The unevangelized have a frame of reference by which they can approximate God’s intentions for human behavior. They experience relationships with other persons (ethics) and can read from that how broken friendship is overcome (salvation). The “noble pagan” can practice the Golden Rule (The Second Great Commandment) and “grope” after God to find him (Acts 17:27) since deity must be superior and personal (The First Great Commandment). So the unevangelized can be accountable and judged in relation to their limited perspective.

The Notion in a Nutshell: An Opinion

I. The Relationship of the Spirit’s Natural and Supernatural Operations

      The diagram above pictures at least three truths about the Spirit’s work.

The ordinary work of the Spirit has three aspects: guidance, empowerment, and intercession. He operates indirectly through the message,  circumstance and other Christians, and by his sheer interpersonal presence with us. That leaves special and supernatural operations as potential but not uniform with all Christians.

            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.

            Isaiah declares that a wayfaring fool need not err in the way of the Lord (35:8). We, being evil, know how to give good gifts to our children (Matthew 7:11 = Luke 11:13). Jesus’ comment is a cue and clue that the way of the Lord is not that hard. At least the basics of revelation we ought to catch onto from personal experience as we “feel after God to find him” because “he is not far from every one of us” (Acts 17:27).

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

(a)   what God causes/what he makes happen (prescriptive will) and

            The originating idea behind fasting may have come from the observation that when we are consumed with something important we may forget to eat (hunger). A similar thing can happen when we are working on some project and forget how late at night it has gotten (sleep). We tend to push ourselves beyond usual stamina when we are caught up in something important or interesting (energy use). Paul observes a similar thing about marital relations in 1 Corinthians 1. 

            The originating idea behind fasting may have come from the observation that when we are consumed with something important we may forget to eat (hunger). A similar thing can happen when we are working on some project and forget how late at night it has gotten (sleep). We tend to push ourselves beyond usual stamina when we are caught up in something important or interesting (energy use). Paul observes a similar thing about marital relations in 1 Corinthians 1. 

 I.  Not My Body, Not My Choice

            It is the other within the mother. It has its own DNA, its own blood type, its own sex, its own body type, skin tone, eye color, and eventually all the features that make it a distinct individual. Choice does come into the picture; it comes in the mother’s behaviors prior to the pregnancy. We have no right to take out on the baby our own sexual irresponsibility.

                  The terms in this list are capable of functioning in terms of genitive of time within which, dative of time when, and/or accusative of extent of time.

            Issues can be relatively simple in themselves; and so the question seems about God’s reason for creating us. Issues get complicated when we try to distinguish our own understanding from other ones and when we have to give reasons against such alternatives, especially if they overlap our own.1 As in our positive presentation so also in evaluating other positions, interpersonalism serves as the criterion for what is foreign and contradictory to what scripture says about the nature and purpose of God and man.

A Contribution of “Restorationism”

The threeness in oneness of God is comparable to the twoness in oneness of ideal marriage—minus the physical distinctives. The Father, Son, and Spirit are sufficiently distinct that the Son can pray to the Father and the Father can send another comforter (John 14:16).

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.

Truth is reality in contrast to perception of reality, conception about reality, words about reality, and the interpretation of words about reality. It is the objective (the way it is) in contrast to the subjective (the way it seems to a beholder).

            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.  

            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.

                                    LAW [Moses]                                                 GRACE [Messiah] (IP)

Purpose of both: human righteousness (Gal. 3:21)

            Not all systems are alike. They often operate in respect to different kinds of matters, but the main contrast lies in the kinds of connectors in them that bind actions to results. Below are three types of systems that illustrate this diversity. We outline them here in order to clarify what causes people to differ so intensely about the role of Christian baptism in the salvation process. Basically what happens is that at various points in their total understanding of baptism they are shifting baptism back and forth between different systems without realizing it.

Introduction

            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.

      V.       Verbs

               A.  Tenses

                     μέλλω + infinitive

VERBS

Compounds, types of (not including morpheme-root combinations)

            non-prepositional compounds

                    root + ______

 VI.  Adverbs

VII.  Prepositions

            God/god refers to ultimate reality. Christianity views God as eternal, ethical interpersonality with certain other knowable attributes. In contrast, the ancient nations around Israel as well as peoples living in modern times have concepts of deity that are incompatible with the biblical understanding.

Weaker brother situations come up with people who differ from us. Weaker brother matters deal with issues not wrong in themselves: eating shamble meat (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8), practicing vegetarianism, observing holidays (Romans 14:5), drinking wine (Romans 14:21). They are wrong depending on how we look at them and how we do them.

            Christian churches began as an effort to foster Christian unity by returning to scripture alone for the operation of the body of Christ and by setting aside items that have crept into Christendom from outside the New Testament. The conviction has been that division arose in part from such extras. But creating unity requires more than getting rid of what causes division; it also requires what Christ’s people must stand for. Below are characteristic beliefs and practices associated with these churches generally, though certainly not with them only.

            The very fact that baptism exists shows that salvation is not by works of law, works in a legal sense, works in a legal context, acts that have some legal value. Furthermore, the very existence of baptism shows that salvation is not by human effort relative even to an interpersonal standard of behavior, which, as in law, is also a perfection standard. To make this claim convincing, we must show that baptism is not primarily for bringing about entrance into the institutional church or for communicating to other people that we have decided to follow Jesus. For present purposes, that point is sufficiently shown by the biblical expression “baptism into Christ,” not “baptism into the church” or some wording that indicates testimony to other people.

            We teach that the Bible is God’s revelation to us and that it is the sufficient guide for what we believe and practice (1 Corinthians 2:7-14; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Dear ____,

Several days ago you asked why there are so many denominations, sects, and cults in “Christendom.” Since then, I have had the issue on my mind a lot; here are some points that describe the situation as I see it.

People sin because of evil influence that appeals to pervertible drives (all of which can be appropriately fulfilled) and each person’s viewpoint of consciousness (pervertible into self-centeredness).

To maintain a balanced approach in the current women’s studies debate, we should keep in mind what women did with divine approval in both Testaments. The following is a suggestive list.

            Relevant contrasts. The statements in 1 Corinthians 14:34 appear in a context that contrasts “not speaking” with insubordination and causing confusion. Earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul talks about women praying and prophesying (11:2-16). Evidently Paul’s meaning in the expression “be silent” is in contrast to speaking in such a way that creates disorder and implies a rebellious spirit. The English word “quiet” may be a closer synonym to the term in the original language, because “quiet” does not necessarily mean absolutely silent so much as verbally and behaviorally restrained.

            One point in 1 Timothy 2 has to do with husband-wife vs. man-woman as Paul’s intended reference. Connecting the statements of 1 Timothy with (a) a husband-wife contrast rather than (b) a man-woman contrast represents a crucial variable between instruction on marriage roles vs. gender roles. A third approach to the text has something of the same effect but seems to be more straightforward and therefore less cumbersome: (c) Paul is addressing “standard situation,” that is, married with children.

1.     The nature of the New Testament: body of law or book of wisdom (See essays on “Imperatival Intent” and “Law and Wisdom.”)?

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.

      Worship is a conscious, spontaneous self-expression by a person to God as a present, superior, second person. It is first an interpersonal activity toward God, then a deliberate affirmation of allegiance to him, acknowledging not only his existence and nature (goodness and greatness), but his superiority and supremacy over us in life’s purpose.

      Worship is a conscious, spontaneous self-expression by a person to God as a present, superior, second person. It is first an interpersonal activity toward God, then a deliberate affirmation of allegiance to him, acknowledging not only his existence and nature (goodness and greatness), but his superiority and supremacy over us in life’s purpose.

            Worship is an interpersonal act toward God as Thou. It is a conscious, spontaneous self-expression by a person to God as a present, superior, second person. The three most important points about it are that worship is interpersonal, that it recognizes God as superior, and that it is relationship to him as second person. That understanding of worship takes its cue from the word picture in προσκυνέω, “to bow low, kneel to, or kiss the feet of another.”

            Worship is an interpersonal act toward God as Thou. It is a conscious, spontaneous self-expression by a person to God as a present, superior, second person. The three most important points about it are that worship is interpersonal, that it recognizes God as superior, and that it is relationship to him as second person. That understanding of worship takes its cue from the word picture in προσκυνέω, “to bow low, kneel to, or kiss the feet of another.”

Worship is an interpersonal act in the vertical direction. It requires awareness, imagination, and concentration in contrast to habit or a stimulus-response elicited by form, place, or atmosphere. There is no required posture of the body, just a posture of the heart and mind. There is no necessary location such as one mountain or city (John 4:21). Instead, God wants people to worship him in spirit and truth because he is spirit and truth. Spirit lies inside interpersonalism. It does not require a temple, church building, or prayer room. It does not call for quietness or loudness, stillness or movement.

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.

                        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.

I. METHOD OF RESEARCH

            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: