Just wondering...

Posted on Sunday, August 9, 2015 by Todd Pruitt on 1517

...about cultural engagement

Does engaging the culture mean speaking out about the over 55 million abortions committed in the United States since 1972? Is it about calling the civil authorities to act against an organization that aborts babies and harvests their organs for profit? Or is cultural engagement more about fighting for more public art, drinking craft beer, and listening to Wilco? 

 

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Antinomianism

Submitted by awestrate on Fri, 08/07/2015 - 10:38am

Antinomianism is a complex theological term that can either be understood according to its etymology, "against the law," or it can be understood according to its historical context in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

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The Ultimate

by Joe Holland • August 07, 2015

There is so much that doesn’t rise to the level of any adjective (much less any superlatives). I’ve never met someone who said, “Brushing my teeth this morning was fantastic!” But everyday life is always punctuated by declarations of the ultimate. Brushing our teeth may be boring but a candle lit date with a spouse is amazing. The sunset is stunning. And sometimes, a new frisbee game can be considered “ultimate.” Humans can’t help placing great and ultimate value on people, objects, and events that pass through their lives.

I love playing ultimate frisbee. I’m pretty sure my GPA in college would have been a few points higher had I not spent so much time tossing a plastic disc around with friends. When people ask me why I love ultimate frisbee so much my recurring response is, “Come on! How many other sports do you know that are named by a superlative adjective?” At some point in time, people decided to make up a sport involving a frisbee and to give it a name. The result? They called it, “ultimate!”

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Biblical and Systematic Theology Friends

by Jonathan Master • August 07, 2015
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Biblical and Systematic Theology: Friends
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Christianity has always been a doctrinal religion.  Theology – that which is taught about God, man, and salvation – has always been central to the Christian church.  This is not to discount the place of experience.  Certainly the Holy Spirit works in bringing men and women to new life and causing them to grow in their faith.  But nonetheless, what we believe matters.  Theology matters.  And how we do theology matters as well.

Christianity has always been a doctrinal religion.  Theology – that which is taught about God, man, and salvation – has always been central to the Christian church.  This is not to discount the place of experience.  Certainly the Holy Spirit works in bringing men and women to new life and causing them to grow in their faith.  But nonetheless, what we believe matters.  Theology matters.  And how we do theology matters as well.

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Following Jesus 96

What is compromise? 
 
To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demands. You give up something, and I’ll give up something I order to reach a common goal. We both might not get all that we want or requested, but we both achieved and reached a common goal that will benefit both parties involved. 
What is compromise? 
 
To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demands. You give up something, and I’ll give up something I order to reach a common goal.

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The Commander's Commander - Part Five

By James Boice
Theme: A Larger View of God
This week’s lessons describe the mysterious encounter Joshua has with a man who identifies himself as the commander of the Lord’s army. 
 
SCRIPTURE
Joshua 5:13-15
 
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.
I don't mean to suggest by this quote that doctrine and forms are unimportant. But what I mean to say is that when Phillips titles his book, he is really making a point that speaks to us all, and comes from this response of the heavenly commander to Joshua. Even when we are trying to be most biblical, we are nevertheless in our thoughts limiting God in some way because our minds are finite; and we cannot comprehend the infinite. So, we have to hear that challenge and response personally. We say to God, “Are you for us or for our enemies?" What we mean is that God better be for us because we count ourselves as the faithful ones. And when we say this, we need to hear the kind of response that God gave to Joshua: "Neither—not if you approach it that way. But I’m your commander. And what I have come to do is command you and enlist you in my cause.” 
 

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When Tradition becomes an ism

by Mark Johnston • August 06, 2015
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When Tradition becomes an ‘ism’
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Too often ‘tradition’ has become a red flag word to the ears of evangelical Protestants. Especially when it is used in relation to ‘Scripture’ in the same sentence. The reason for this, of course, is the way in which the Roman Catholic Church throughout its history has subordinated the authority of the latter to the former, thus making the Sacred Magisterium of the church the supreme rule of faith and practice for professing Christians.

Too often ‘tradition’ has become a red flag word to the ears of evangelical Protestants. Especially when it is used in relation to ‘Scripture’ in the same sentence. The reason for this, of course, is the way in which the Roman Catholic Church throughout its history has subordinated the authority of the latter to the former, thus making the Sacred Magisterium of the church the supreme rule of faith and practice for professing Christians.

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Place for Truth is a voice of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Place for Truth and the mission of the Alliance.

Following Jesus 95

What is compromise? 
 
To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demands. You give up something, and I’ll give up something I order to reach a common goal. We both might not get all that we want or requested, but we both achieved and reached a common goal that will benefit both parties involved. 
 
What is compromise? 
 
To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demands. You give up something, and I’ll give up something I order to reach a common goal.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Reformation Societies is a fraternal of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Reformation Societies and the mission of the Alliance.

The Commander's Commander - Part Four

By James Boice
Theme: Who is the Commander Fighting for?
This week’s lessons describe the mysterious encounter Joshua has with a man who identifies himself as the commander of the Lord’s army. 
 
SCRIPTURE 
Joshua 5:13-15
 
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.
But now we need to say something else. All of that in a certain sense is preliminary, at least in my thinking, because the part of the story that really interests me is not so much the identity of this heavenly commander or the identity of the heavenly commander’s troops. What really interests me is what the commander said when Joshua issued his challenge. Joshua asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" That's like saying, if you’re thinking of the history of England in the Middle Ages, are you for Lancaster or York? Or if you’re in Northern Ireland today, are you Protestant or Catholic? Joshua’s question was a challenging, provocative, and necessary one in times of war. 
 

Think and Act Biblically from James Boice is a devotional of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Think and Act Biblically and the mission of the Alliance.

Biblical and Systematic Theology Foundations

by David Smith • August 05, 2015
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Biblical and Systematic Theology: Foundations
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All philosophical and theological or doctrinal work revolves around definitions of terms and the concepts expressed by the use of those terms. Everyone, Christian or not, engages in theology, and has doctrine. This is because all humans are created in God’s image, make knowledge claims and live them out in God’s creation. If we can distinguish between theology and doctrine, that distinction is, to say the least, thin. Theology can be briefly defined in a Christian way as the study of the Triune God and the beliefs and actions that feed and result from this study.

All philosophical and theological or doctrinal work revolves around definitions of terms and the concepts expressed by the use of those terms. Everyone, Christian or not, engages in theology, and has doctrine. This is because all humans are created in God’s image, make knowledge claims and live them out in God’s creation. If we can distinguish between theology and doctrine, that distinction is, to say the least, thin. Theology can be briefly defined in a Christian way as the study of the Triune God and the beliefs and actions that feed and result from this study.

The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals is member supported and operates only by your faithful support. Thank you.

Place for Truth is a voice of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. It is supported only by its readers and gracious Christians like you. Please prayerfully consider supporting Place for Truth and the mission of the Alliance.

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