We only had one question this week, Here it is:
"My husband is wondering why we don't discuss what is going on in the rest of the world in our discussions?"
Good question! Our discussions really don't have many boundaries. The only thing I would like to see as the teacher and facilitator is that the conversation stay on topic. The theme of this class, "A Scarlet Thread" is designed to demonstrate for us where we see the story of Jesus in the Old Testament. I know there will be times when we are discussing a certain portion of scripture or topic and it will remind us of something we see in modern times. When that happens I invite anyone to chime in. In this particular course we are talking about prophetic events or utterances in the Old Testament pointing to the coming Messiah in Jesus. Sometimes they may have dual meanings. For instance when Israel is talked about in the Old Testament we can sometimes see the similarities between their actions and the actions of the modern church. It is very appropriate to bring that up in class.
My main goal is to teach the things in the Old Testament that point to Jesus. I do this not only that you might learn, or gain an excitement for scripture. I want to see us all become "Missional Theologians". If we never take what we learn out into the world than we are like that lamp Jesus talks about that is under a bushel, it has no real use!
Because the Holy Spirit is our true guide as we study together at the School of Theology, we can expect that the Spirit might speak to any one of us during the class. Don't hesitate to speak up and ask the question or share what you think is relevant! We will all benefit from the shared conversation.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Answert o Questions from QST (9/16/11)
Hello everyone,
We got two questions this week. Here they are:
Do you think that the idea that Adam blames God more so that Eve in his statement "it was the woman YOU gave me (my emphasis), is why we blame God for "wrong" answers to our prayers? Is it just in our nature?
This is a good question. Of course it is one we cannot really know, but I think it has a lot of truth in it. Blaming God is something that I see from believers and non-believers alike. I think all too often, we see the answers to our prayers as being wrong or right, based mostly on what we want. Last week John mentioned that we sometimes see Jesus in our life like a genie. We ask him for another wish each time we thing we need something. Like any young child that doesn't really know what is best for her or him, we want things from God that aren't in our best interest, and it is easy for us to blame Him. Great question!
Next Question:
Why is it that God performs such obvious miracles in the Old Testament, but not today?
Another great question. I think that God still does perform great miracles. I think that our generation, sees so many fabricated "miracles" in media, movies, TV, etc, that we are not easily amazed. I also believe that any miracle, or any response from God takes faith to see. I wonder if our faith has been hurt because of the instant gratification that the world seems to provide. I believe that where there is grief, poverty, places where great faith is a part of every day life, the miracles that God performs are more easily seen. Also, remember this course is about how God reveals to us in the Old Testament that Jesus is coming. Jesus is God's greatest miracle, and look how we have trivialized that! The miracles in the Old Testament point to the coming Messiah. Jesus' miracles point us to the fact He is the Messiah. Miracles he said we will experience and even perform (mountain moving, etc) are provided by God to demonstrate to an unbelieving world that Jesus is the Messiah and will come again. What do you all think?
We got two questions this week. Here they are:
Do you think that the idea that Adam blames God more so that Eve in his statement "it was the woman YOU gave me (my emphasis), is why we blame God for "wrong" answers to our prayers? Is it just in our nature?
This is a good question. Of course it is one we cannot really know, but I think it has a lot of truth in it. Blaming God is something that I see from believers and non-believers alike. I think all too often, we see the answers to our prayers as being wrong or right, based mostly on what we want. Last week John mentioned that we sometimes see Jesus in our life like a genie. We ask him for another wish each time we thing we need something. Like any young child that doesn't really know what is best for her or him, we want things from God that aren't in our best interest, and it is easy for us to blame Him. Great question!
Next Question:
Why is it that God performs such obvious miracles in the Old Testament, but not today?
Another great question. I think that God still does perform great miracles. I think that our generation, sees so many fabricated "miracles" in media, movies, TV, etc, that we are not easily amazed. I also believe that any miracle, or any response from God takes faith to see. I wonder if our faith has been hurt because of the instant gratification that the world seems to provide. I believe that where there is grief, poverty, places where great faith is a part of every day life, the miracles that God performs are more easily seen. Also, remember this course is about how God reveals to us in the Old Testament that Jesus is coming. Jesus is God's greatest miracle, and look how we have trivialized that! The miracles in the Old Testament point to the coming Messiah. Jesus' miracles point us to the fact He is the Messiah. Miracles he said we will experience and even perform (mountain moving, etc) are provided by God to demonstrate to an unbelieving world that Jesus is the Messiah and will come again. What do you all think?
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Questions from School of Theology This week
First of all, let me thank everyone who attended and especially those who helped set up and tear down, it is wonderful to have so many eager theologians in our community. Thanks also to John for coming out to kick off our first class of the first course.
I said I would Blog the answers to the questions that were texted in to me during the class. So, here they are.
First some administrative comments: Someone asked that we ask you to turn off your phones in the class. Since we have offered texting as a way to ask questions we really can't ask that you turn them off. One thing we can do is to remind everyone to put the phones on silent, that way they are not a distraction.
Someone also asked that when we introduce new theological terms or the Hebrew/Greek words we put them on the screen. I intend to use the screens in all the upcoming classes. We need to get some software issues managed, and I will get that done this week.
Now some of the non-admin questions.
"Is it possible that Noah's nakedness being covered, resulting in Ham's being cursed, was somehow related to Adam and Eve being ashamed of theirs?" That is a great question, and one I had not thought of. First of all I know there was a physical nakedness of Adam and Eve in the garden, and they were ashamed when they knew their nakedness after the sin. I also think there is a spiritual nakedness present here. I think when they sinned they lost the glory covering of God. You will notice in the story that they tried to cover up their nakedness, but they weren't physically clothed until God provided animal skins for them, thus creating the first sacrifice for sin. It is very important to note that God provided the sacrifice. This points us to Jesus, who was the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin, and again was provided to us by God. Noah and his family, at the time of the arks landing were God's chosen, and at least symbolically they were righteous. Sin crept into the scene very quickly and again, there is a feeble attempt to cover up nakedness. I like how the member in the community who asked this question made the connection to Adam and Eve, because it also demonstrates for us that something more had to happen in order to remove the stain of sin, more than a flood. We were waiting for God to cover us again, and this time with the clothing of Christ.(Romans 13:14)
"The Old Testament seems very symbolic, (the ark, Moses, the garden). Have we manipulated these stories, or are they undeniable evidence of Christ?"
Again, another fantastic question. I believe them to be the undeniable evidence of Christ. As I said in the class, there are textual criticisms in the bible. These are places where the bible doesn't seem to square up. A good book to understand these better is F.F. Bruce's, The Canon of Scripture. The criticisms are minor and do not detract from the meta-story being told in the Bible. A good example is the discovery of the book of Isaiah and other scriptures in the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. This is the oldest known manuscript of biblical books and passages. There are no original writings of any scriptures to date, that would be called an autograph. A manuscript is a copy of the original texts. The fascinating thing about the discovery is the incredible accuracy when this 2000 year old manuscript is held up to the modern day versions of scripture. Every time a person puts pen to paper there is the danger of missing a word of scripture, and yet the story is told over and over in so many ways that, for me it is impossible to miss the message of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Thanks again to everyone who was there at the school. I am looking forward to more conversation. Feel free to leave comments here, we can continue the conversation throughout the week.
I said I would Blog the answers to the questions that were texted in to me during the class. So, here they are.
First some administrative comments: Someone asked that we ask you to turn off your phones in the class. Since we have offered texting as a way to ask questions we really can't ask that you turn them off. One thing we can do is to remind everyone to put the phones on silent, that way they are not a distraction.
Someone also asked that when we introduce new theological terms or the Hebrew/Greek words we put them on the screen. I intend to use the screens in all the upcoming classes. We need to get some software issues managed, and I will get that done this week.
Now some of the non-admin questions.
"Is it possible that Noah's nakedness being covered, resulting in Ham's being cursed, was somehow related to Adam and Eve being ashamed of theirs?" That is a great question, and one I had not thought of. First of all I know there was a physical nakedness of Adam and Eve in the garden, and they were ashamed when they knew their nakedness after the sin. I also think there is a spiritual nakedness present here. I think when they sinned they lost the glory covering of God. You will notice in the story that they tried to cover up their nakedness, but they weren't physically clothed until God provided animal skins for them, thus creating the first sacrifice for sin. It is very important to note that God provided the sacrifice. This points us to Jesus, who was the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin, and again was provided to us by God. Noah and his family, at the time of the arks landing were God's chosen, and at least symbolically they were righteous. Sin crept into the scene very quickly and again, there is a feeble attempt to cover up nakedness. I like how the member in the community who asked this question made the connection to Adam and Eve, because it also demonstrates for us that something more had to happen in order to remove the stain of sin, more than a flood. We were waiting for God to cover us again, and this time with the clothing of Christ.(Romans 13:14)
"The Old Testament seems very symbolic, (the ark, Moses, the garden). Have we manipulated these stories, or are they undeniable evidence of Christ?"
Again, another fantastic question. I believe them to be the undeniable evidence of Christ. As I said in the class, there are textual criticisms in the bible. These are places where the bible doesn't seem to square up. A good book to understand these better is F.F. Bruce's, The Canon of Scripture. The criticisms are minor and do not detract from the meta-story being told in the Bible. A good example is the discovery of the book of Isaiah and other scriptures in the famous Dead Sea Scrolls. This is the oldest known manuscript of biblical books and passages. There are no original writings of any scriptures to date, that would be called an autograph. A manuscript is a copy of the original texts. The fascinating thing about the discovery is the incredible accuracy when this 2000 year old manuscript is held up to the modern day versions of scripture. Every time a person puts pen to paper there is the danger of missing a word of scripture, and yet the story is told over and over in so many ways that, for me it is impossible to miss the message of Jesus in the Old Testament.
Thanks again to everyone who was there at the school. I am looking forward to more conversation. Feel free to leave comments here, we can continue the conversation throughout the week.
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