I picture a throne on a large mountain. And sometimes we all feel like climbing up, and sitting on it. We feel better than everyone, while we are there - we tend to gossip - just speak unpleasant things about people even though they are true, we would not be ready to face the actual person with such statements, and another thing we do (or I do) is we are just very condemning - we make people feel like their sin, is beyond anything that we would do. We make them feel shame... and they are in a position where they just cannot relate to you - this just cause distance between people.

I feel distant from people when they make me feel my sin does not fit in their categories of brokenness. and I did something that they could never possibly do.

I think the magical thing is to be able to say stuff like: "if your right eye causes you to sin tear it out and throw it away" or "whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven" (holding a super high view of sin) and yet when you are asked to condemn people you can say 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice'... (no matter what someone does - it can fit in your view of brokenness). And sure as Christians we love it when Jesus says that, we are proud to have that line in our Holy Book. We love it when people remind us of that when we feel shame... But my struggle right now, is being able to say that and mean it for real things like... Would we feel they apply to say those Islamists who beheaded the Egyptian Christians for the world to see? Would we extend mercy towards them? What about if someone raped one of your friends? What about the people in Tanzania who mutilated the albino toddler? Or just pimps? People involved in the sex trade? What about the British guys, who come to Amsterdam on holiday just to have "fun" in the Red Light District, Women who have abortions?"

"if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners to the same... Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you"

When it comes to brokenness and thinking of sin... we find it so hard to forgive someone for such little things...and when we do we feel all Holy, because we've extended God's grace to them... BUT how do we deal with the real stuff!? Does rape fit in our view of our own brokenness?

I think about it this way... I acknowledge that we are like all evil from Birth (- Ps 51:5, Job 14,15 and Genesis 8:21) but why do some become Priests? and some Rapists? Some are more evil than others?! I really tend to say NO... are we accountable for every word, and every action - Absolutely. But do I find explanations legitimate (they do not justify but explain) for someone becoming a rapist - Yes I do... So what I'm going to say might be outrageous... but I believe it very strongly... With a different upbringing, different life situations - I think I could be a rapist... Do I think it is an outrageous thing to do? Absolutely! Has the thought to rape someone ever crossed my mind? Never ever ever! Do I feel initial hatred for people who rape... right now... YES I do... But if I stop to think about it a bit, I wish someone could confess to rape... and while talking to them I would just be hating the sin in them, everything that led up to that moment... but being able to fulfill the words of Jesus - "I desire mercy not sacrifice" and one reason is that because I wouldn't put it passed myself...

Studying Theology?!

What I am seeking to do here, is to answer some questions such as why would one want to go study theology? What classes should theological training be made up of? I will develop a little bit about how though none of these things are essential for salvation, anyone who desires to worship God in Spirit and in Truth might want to consider studying topics across all of the following fields.

I. God intends for us to study theology

“Man will not live on bread alone, but every word that comes out of the mouth of God”

First I want to defend that God intends all of us to study theology! I do not mean that we need to go to a particular school, or follow a specific program, read specific books, but rather: if ‘theology’ means the study of God, as evangelical Christians who stress the importance of a personal relationship with God, the way to begin, is getting to know him better, and thus Study Him!

This is not a salvation issue! It is all about the cross! All we need to know about God to be saved is the cross!^{^[1]} But the same as any parent desires their children to grow up, and grow in maturity, so does God (Eph. 3:17-19, 1 Pet 2:2; Col 3:16, 1 Tim 4:15, etc.)

This probably brings up a few questions already – (1) Isn’t it more important to be a good neighbour than have all of our theology intact? (2) Is it even possible to have good theology, how can we know what is true, when no one ever seems to agree? Some quick answers – (1) we will not be judged for what we know, but for what we do, so I would just quote John 13 - 17If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. rYou must know what is good, before you can do it. But absolutely, theology cannot be an end to itself to glorify God.” For the (2), yes there are different opinions but why should that ever stop us from studying more, if you love someone, you will want to get to know them, even if different people have different opinions about them… Right!?

II. So what is studying theology

Theology is the study of God. This study shapes our understanding of God, leading to change our desires, what we are passionate about, and eventually lead us to action, which will eventually affect our surroundings, the place where we live (Head to Heart to Hands to Habitat).

So what is it that we should study to have a complete theological understanding?

1. Hermeneutics

God has revealed himself in time to different people in time, and led them to write the scriptures, that we have to know Him (Deut 29:29, 2 Pet 1:20-21). Because we have the Bible as a means to know God, we must be able to interpret it. There are more ways to know God than just the Bible (General Revelation + Special Revelation), but it is the only final and ultimate authority for the Church.

The Bible is made up of different genres which need to be interpreted differently, we must learn to interpret a text for what it is, treated it according to its genre whether apocalyptic, narrative, poetry,…

a)                  Epistles
b)                  Old Testament Narratives
c)                  Book of Acts
d)                  The Gospels
e)                  Parables
f)                   The Law
g)                  The Prophets
h)                  Psalms
i)                    Wisdom
j)                    Revelation[2]

Hermeneutics help you to understand how to interpret the meaning of texts as they are intended by the authors.

2. Biblical Studies

Biblical Studies leans on hermeneutics. Studying the Bible in its original languages. This includes the study of grammar and syntax, the study of words all for the point of doing exegesis. All this language acquisition allows for a more careful interpretation of the Bible.

a)                  Greek
b)                  Hebrew
c)                  Aramaic
d)                  Learn how to do word studies

3. Biblical Theology

Biblical theology is the first level of a synthetic understanding of biblical teaching. It analyzes texts, so that you read passages, and exegete passages, working through trying to follow the flow of passages. You analyze the meaning of texts in their contexts.

a) Genre

You take a particular genre, for example, the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and ask, “What are the main theological themes and how are they developed in the wisdom literature? So you look at Job, you look at Psalms, you look at Proverbs, you look at these wisdom books and ask, “What are the main themes that you find there? I notice that this concept of the fear of the Lord keeps coming up. What might that mean in the wisdom literature? So then, you look at all the places where fear of the Lord is used, you analyze how they are used in their context, and then you synthesize. You make generalized statements about what the fear of the Lord means in the wisdom literature. It could be apocalyptic literature, or it could be narrative literature. Biblical theology can be focused on different genres.

b) Authorship

Other than genre, one of the other main ways biblical theology is done is by authorship.

A Pauline theology, seeks to answer the question, “What are the main theological themes emphasized by Paul in his letters?” The emphasis on the themes of an author focuses on how a particular biblical author makes his point. Why is it that you find such emphasis on the Holy Spirit in Paul’s writings in Galatians and Corinthians, and there is there little of it in Peter by comparison? It is not that Peter doesn’t believe in the Holy Spirit; he has other things he emphasizes.

c)                  Old Testament Theology
(1)               Historical Critical Approach
(2)               Canonical Approach
d)                  New Testament Theology

4. Systematic Theology

Systematic theology builds on Biblical theology. Now the endeavor is to take all of the Bible and ask the question, “What does the Bible teach about God, Christ and the Holy Spirit?” It attempts to bring everything together relying on the work of Biblical studies, and Biblical theology.

a)                  Studying and Knowing God
b)                  Doctrine of the Word of God - Bibliology
c)                  Doctrine of God - Theology Proper
d)                  Doctrine of Man – Anthropology
e)                  Doctrine of Sin
f)                   Doctrine of Christ - Christology
g)                  Doctrine of the Holy Spirit - Pneumatology
h)                  Doctrine of Salvation - Soteriology
i)                    Doctrine of Church - Ecclesiology
j)                    Doctrine of the Future - echatology

5. Church History/Historical Theology

Church history is history about the church. It is dates, places, times, institutions, and events. Historical theology is theology as it was developed historically.

6. Apologetics

Systematic theology answers the question, “What do we believe?” Apologetics seeks to answer the question, “Why do we believe what we believe?” You go into the world and confront people, and you believe Christ is the only way; why would you believe that? You believe that the Bible is the Word of God; why would you believe that? You believe that there is one God, Creator of heaven and earth; why would you believe that? In light of evolution, why do you believe in creation? When theology goes public, it faces questions.

7. Missions/Evangelism

Another thing that happens when theology goes public is that it shares its understanding of the gospel of Christ with people who don’t know what that is and need desperately to hear it. So missions and evangelism is the result.

8. Ethics

Additionally, when theology goes public it encounters issues that have to be faced and answered. What about sexual behavior? Is there actually a norm by which people’s behavior is judged to be right or wrong? What about bioethics? What about reproductive technology? All of these questions are raised by the culture and have to be answered by theology. We can bring theological insight and understanding to these questions of the day.

a)                  Christian Ethics – Moral Decision Making
b)                  Abortion
c)                  Euthanasia
d)                  Capital Punishment
e)                  Sexual Morality
f)                   Birth Control
g)                  Homosexuality
h)                  Genetic Engineering – Reproductive Technologies
i)                    Divorce and Remarriage
j)                    War and Peace
k)                  Christian Faith in a Nuclear Age^{^[3]}

9. Practice of Ministry

It is, the result of all biblical studies. It is the capstone of the theological studies disciplines, and it is the platform for ministry in the world.

Spiritual Formation, Pastoral ministry,

a)                  Marriage and Family
b)                  Counselling
c)                  Pastoral Ministry
d)                  Preaching
e)                  Leadership

10. Spiritual Formation

a)                  Meditation
b)                  Prayer
c)                  Fasting
d)                  Study
e)                  Simplicity
f)                   Solitude
g)                  Submission
h)                  Service
i)                    Confession
j)                    Worship[4]

III. Conclusion

So here we have it, a list of things that I understand that I knew nothing about. Slowly but surely, I am working on working through each one of these fields, it will be a never ending process. But I feel based on Eph 4:11-12 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ

Why I am a seminary right now, is so that I can help equip fellow believers to do ministry!

^{^[1]}Sinclair B. Ferguson and J.I. Packer, New Dictionary of Theology, electronic ed. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000, c1988), 181.

^{^[3]}John S. Feinberg, Paul D. Feinberg and Aldous Huxley, Ethics for a Brave New World (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1996, c1993), 13.

[4] Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (San Francisco: PerfectBound, 2003), Table of Content.

Baconerez Studying Life

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Broken but all together - Matthew 9:13

Right Now!

Monday, February 2, 2015