This week College is holding the Annual Moore College Lectures. Rev Chris Green from the UK is speaking.
One really fabulous thing which struck me in Tuesday's talk was his encouragement to hold our Doctrine of Scripture together with our Doctrine of God.
Sceptics will readily say that the Bible is an ancient book. Evangelicals will also affirm the ancientness of the text. In particular, Evangelicals will seek to look at the original cultural and historical setting in which the writer was writing.
However, an unfortunate by-product of these ways of thinking is that it distances the Bible and God. The Bible is no longer relevant because it was written so long ago. And God only spoke to people back then, not now.
I have heard it said that 'we don't need to make the Bible relevant, because it is relevant'. I think this is true. However, I don't this statement is always presented with solid evidence to back it up.
But Chris helpfully showed theological evidence for why this is true. It starts from what we know about God. God knows everything. He knows everything for all time. Therefore when He caused the Bible to be written, He wrote exactly what he wanted to say to people in every age. He did not just constrain His words to people in the 1st century, but He wrote those words for us too. So although the Bible doesn't mention things like computers and other technological advances, God has still given us all that we need for life and godliness through those ancient words, because He knew that these days would come.
Thanks all-knowing heavenly Dad for giving us a true and relevant word for today and every day!
One really fabulous thing which struck me in Tuesday's talk was his encouragement to hold our Doctrine of Scripture together with our Doctrine of God.
Sceptics will readily say that the Bible is an ancient book. Evangelicals will also affirm the ancientness of the text. In particular, Evangelicals will seek to look at the original cultural and historical setting in which the writer was writing.
However, an unfortunate by-product of these ways of thinking is that it distances the Bible and God. The Bible is no longer relevant because it was written so long ago. And God only spoke to people back then, not now.
I have heard it said that 'we don't need to make the Bible relevant, because it is relevant'. I think this is true. However, I don't this statement is always presented with solid evidence to back it up.
But Chris helpfully showed theological evidence for why this is true. It starts from what we know about God. God knows everything. He knows everything for all time. Therefore when He caused the Bible to be written, He wrote exactly what he wanted to say to people in every age. He did not just constrain His words to people in the 1st century, but He wrote those words for us too. So although the Bible doesn't mention things like computers and other technological advances, God has still given us all that we need for life and godliness through those ancient words, because He knew that these days would come.
Thanks all-knowing heavenly Dad for giving us a true and relevant word for today and every day!
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