Marginal Christianity

Bruce Longenecker, The Triumph of Abraham’s God. So well put: [T]he driving force behind Paul’s theological presentations is the invasion of God into the world in order to subjugate forces that run contrary to God’s will and to set relationships aright. Behind any concerns for ethics, ecclesiology, pneumatology, Christology, and the like, lies a theology that focuses on God as the cosmic overlord of creation. Theology of this sort is fundamentally ‘theodicy’—that is, a defence of God’s reputation as the one in control of this world, despite any appearances to the contrary. Pauline theodicy describes how God’s sovereignty remains intact despite threats from opposing forces. It focuses on the divine reclamation and rectification of the cosmos, something inaugurated in Christ, driven on by the Spirit and completed eventually when God becomes ‘all in all’ (1 Cor. 15.28). At heart, then, Paul’s gospel is not simply about soul-saving, involving ethical or doctrinal teaching. Such fe...

July 20, 2012 By scotmcknight http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2012/07/20/hugging-the-rock/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatheosJesusCreed+%28Blog+-+Jesus+Creed%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher From Mimi Hadad, President of Christians for Biblical Equality: Analogies can be powerful tools that bring clarity to complex issues. Educators suggest that metaphors and analogies enable individuals to grasp quickly the essential elements of logic in what are otherwise complicated discussions. Perhaps this is one reason Jesus used metaphors and analogies when explaining spiritual realities. Because the biblical interpretation is often complex, it can be helpful to use analogies to grasp the meaning of passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-15. Consider the following example. When climbing a steep rock, or when reading a confusing passage in Scripture, the temptation is to hug the rock too closely—to rely upon the “clearest reading” of the English...