Steered into error by those closest to you
‘There are different reasons why people turn from truth to error. One such reason is found in Deuteronomy 13. In the context of that chapter, Moses is warning the Israelites about the kinds of people who will seek to steer them away from true worship and into error and idolatry.’
Is there a preferred bible translation Christians should use?
On Bible translations, I am sure this one is right. On the languages, whilst I am sympathetic, I am slightly less convinced this is definitely right. But it is a helpful rundown of Bible translations and some of the issues involved in choosing one.
Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be: why a new housing estate won’t bring back community
‘You can’t sell to us what we already own. That’s not how this works. You can only sell us something we desire. Advertising knows this. And – funny enough – it knows we long for this sort of community, even while the whole creative industry world has spent the last thirty years strip-mining anything of worth from our communal life, in order to sell us our individualistic dreams.’
Why only pastors can baptize
I disagree with this one. I believe it is right in seeing the church as the proper forum for baptisms, but I disagree with the view that only the officers ought to do it. You will have to wait for my upcoming book on eldership to fully understand why. Nevertheless, if you want to see a helpful overview of an alternative view to mine, this one does a good job of explaining its position.
Can we forgive when the offender doesn’t repent?
Here is a third way on the discussions concerning whether it is possible to forgive unrepentant sinners. I am not convinced by the argument, but it is a thoughtful contribution to the ongoing discussion. You can read my position here and here.
Was the woman at the well married to any of the five men?
This is an interesting look at the text of Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. As those who know Greek will know, the word for man and husband is the same just as the Greek for woman and wife are also governed by one word. This leaves us asking, was the woman at the well married to any of the men mentioned or not? I would have appreciated a bit more about how the translation in question affects our understanding of the passage one way or another, but it offers a helpful view concerning the word aner and how to understand it in context.
From the archive: Why is so much Christian writing bland?
‘Nobody really wants to say it, but it’s true isn’t it? So much Christian writing is ultimately quite bland. The big question is why? It’s not like we’ve got anything worthwhile to say, is it! Here are some reasons I think we tend toward the boring in our Christian writing.’
The error in the article on why only pastors can baptise can be found in one sentence: “Therefore, just as the ceremonial activities under the old covenant were stewarded by the priests, so the sacraments of the new covenant are administered by pastors.”
The equivalent to the Old Covenant priests in the New Covenant are not pastors but the community of all believers – the priesthood of all believers under the High Priesthood of Jesus. So the argument of the article fails at this point; all believers can baptise.
This is backed up by undertanding the command in Matt.28:18-20 as self-referential, setting up a self-replicating authority structure in which all disciples make more disciples, baptising and teaching them.
Yes, this is my understanding. It was, interestingly (despite what the article says) Luther’s understanding too. He reckoned because of the priesthood of all believers anyone could baptise on behalf of the community of saints.