Marginal Christianity

Typology Just to remind us again we are reading Matthew typologically. We explored a bit about what that way of reading the Bible looks like in the last post. Here I want to call attention to a refinement offered by Patrick Schreiner in his recent book Matthew: Disciple and Scribe. [1]   He invites us to reflect on three questions as we consider what Matthew tells us: -How does this echo Israel’s story? -How does Jesus fulfill Israel’s story? -How does it move the story of Israel forward? We’ll follow his advice, then, as best we as we move ahead. Matthew 1:18-25: Joseph in Jesus’ Birth Story [2] Most Bible readers know that Matthew’s birth story is Joseph’s experience of Jesus’ birth. Luke gives Mary’s experience in his gospel. Hers gets more attention because it is a bit more dramatic and she is, after all, Jesus’ birth mother. Joseph, meanwhile is but his step-father. The high-point in Mary’s story is her stirring declaration in response to Gabriel’s a...

“Virginal Conception” not “Virgin Birth” is the proper term. Jesus’ birth was a normal human birth. It was his conception by the Spirit that is unique. “We affirm that Jesus was born of woman as is every child, yet born of God's power as was no other child.” ( A Declaration of Faith , ch,4, par.1) “Luke does not stress Mary’s virginity to exalt her as one who is a pure and holy vessel and worthy to give birth to such a child. Her virginity is presented as an obstacle to conception that can only be overcome by the miraculous, creative power of God” (Garland, Luke : 2112-2114) . Karl Barth on the “Virgin Birth” In the creeds the assertion of the Virgin Birth is plainly enough characterized as a first statement about the One who was and is and will be the Son of God. It is not a statement about how He became this, a statement concerning the basis and condition of His Sonship. It is a description of the way in which the Son of God became man. The Holy Spirit ...

It has become traditional this time of year for some clergyperson or theologian to confidently declare that “modern” people can no longer believe in such a thing as the virginal conception (virgin birth) of Jesus. It goes against the way we know things work. The virginal conception does seem preposterous. But, it always has . It’s not like people in the past had no idea how babies get made. I expect Joaquim and Anne found it preposterous when their daughter first tried to explain her pregnancy. I don't believe virginal conception glibly. I've had and will have my reservations, questions, and doubts about this and other aspects of the Christian Creed. But, I figure once you believe in something as preposterous as resurrection or that God loves you and desires communion with you; you're in for a pound, you might as well toss in the penny. But, preposterous as the virginal conception sounds, I find other Christian teachings more preposterous and harder to accep...

10.     The virginal conception of Jesus has been and continues to be in many circles an essential truth to affirm to counted among those faithful to the biblical story. Of course, I mean here the virginal conception of Jesus as a literal physical-historical event. Two matters deserve consideration. a.     First, is this teaching essential to the gospel. That is, can the story of Jesus be told be faithfully told without it. The answer has to be no, the story can and is told without this teaching in most of the New Testament! Two of the four gospels don’t have it, nor do Paul or any other New Testament writers. This is not to say they don’t believe in Jesus’ virginal conception. They might not have known about it. We don’t know. But at any rate they can preach the gospel of Jesus without it. So it seems hard to call it essential. b.     But it is essential to Matthew’s and John’s story of Jesus. That means we cannot ignore it or t...

Matt Gunter says Christianity also requires us to believe and live as though: "Jesus is the measure of all things? The turn-the-other-cheek guy from Nazereth who got himself crucified? "I must love my enemies and pray for them, repaying evil with good? "We are expected to live nonviolently in such a world as ours? Peace is always better than violence? "Forgiveness is always better than revenge or resentment? "Money is "unrighteous" and dangerous to my soul? That my best investment is to give it all away? "All people are created equal? Is there any other "truth" that is less self-evident or more easily contradicted by reason and scientific evidence? The closest I can get to that is we are all of us equally created in the image of God, equally loved by God, and equally the objects of Christ’s redeeming. It’s still pretty hard to believe from a purely empirical perspective. Humility is a virtue?" Read more at http://int...

A young man came in to see me and said that he thought he was losing his faith. I asked him about his major. "Philosophy," he said. "That explains it," I said. You've been running around with the wrong crowd. But what is this 'faith' that you are losing?" "I no longer believe in the virgin birth of Jesus," he said. Well, what is it? Tuesday? I seem to believe in the virgin birth today, but who knows where I'll be on Wednesday? The point is not what you or I happen to believe, it's what the church believes, the Bible asserts. Relax, maybe it will come to you when you are older." "But how can I be a Christian when I can't believe this doctrine?" he persisted. "Look, I hate to tell you, but the virgin birth is not the strangest thing we are going to ask you to believe." "Really?" "Really. No, next we're going to ask you to turn the other cheek rather than turn violent, to look ac...