DOCSLIB.ORG

Midwestern Journal of Theology

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Midwestern Journal of Theology MIDWESTERN JOURNAL OF THEOLOGY Vol 9 Fall 2010 No 2 CONTENTS Editorial v Articles: Are the Resurrection Accounts Historically Reliable? Craig A. Evan vs. Bart D. Ehrman (1 April 2010) 1 Ehrman’s Alleged Discrepancies: Confirmations or Contradictions? L. L. (Don) Veinot, Jr 37 Bart Ehrman and the Resurrection Ronald V. Huggins 46 Theme Classic: The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Fact (1884) Benjamin B. Warfield 84 Can You Worship Anyplace? Reflections on How the New Testament Answers the Question William W. Klein 96 Freed Slaves and Enslaved Sons: Sacral Manumission Formulae and Servile Metaphors in Galatians 5 Daniel J. Bradley 122 Grant Palmer’s Mormon Piece: Why We Printed It Jerry A. Johnson 136 The Role of “Prophet, Seer, and Revelator” in Mormonism Sandra Tanner 145 Reflections on Joseph Haydn’s Creation Oratorio Radu Georghita 173 The Ox & the Donkey Ronald V. Huggins 179 Book Reviews: The Power of Images in Paul by Raymond F. Collins (Brett R. Akright) 194 Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study by James Leo Garrett (Matthew Barrett) 196 A Theology for Christian Education by James R. Estep Jr, Michael J. Anthony, and Gregg R. Allison (Yummy Pandolfi) 200 A Case for Mixed Audience with Reference to the Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews by C. Adrian Thomas (Todd R. Chipman) 202 Christ and Caesar: The Gospel and the Roman Empire in the Writings of Paul and Luke by Seyoon Kim (Daniel J. Bradley) 205 Crazy Good Sex: Putting to Bed the Myths Men Have About Sex by Les Parrott. (Alan Branch) 207 Amos: A Handbook on the Hebrew Text by Duane A. Garrett (R. Michael Fox) 210 Brill’s New Pauly: Chronologies of the Ancient World: Names, Dates and Dynasties. (Steven M. Ortiz) 212 Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament by Philip S. Johnston (Steven M. Ortiz) 213 Salvation and Sovereignty: A Molinist Approach by Kenneth Keathley (Max L. E. Andrews) 215 Books Received 218 Albrecht Dürer, Resurrection (no. 15) 1512 New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art EDITORIAL v Readers of this issue of the Midwestern Journal of Theology will be interested to read the transcript of a debate on the historical reliability of the New Testament accounts of the resurrection that took place between Professors Craig A. Evans and Bart D. Ehrman on 1 April 2010 in the Midwestern chapel.1 The debate served as a kickoff event for the second annual Hastings Institute of the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Christianity Conference. During the course of the debate, Professor Ehrman likened the transmission of the early Christian tradition to a child’s game of telephone. Here is what Ehrman said: What happens when stories circulate by word of mouth, not for just a day of two, but for years? Well, your kids probably played the telephone game when they were little at a birthday party. One child tells a story to the next child, who tells it to the next child, who tells it to the next child and you go around the circle, and by the time it comes back to the first child it is a different story. If it weren’t a different story it would be a very dumb game to play on your birthday. Stories change when they circulate. What happens if you don’t simply tell the story in the same living room with all kids in the socioeconomic group, who speak the same language, who are telling the story within three minutes of each other? What happens if you tell the story across the Roman Empire and you translate it into different languages and people tell the story for purposes of their own? What happens to the stories? The stories change. Since a number of other prominent New Testament scholars were also present at the conference, I thought it might be of interest to readers to hear how they responded to his analogy. So I invited all of them to respond if they would to the following question: 1 Photos of Craig A. Evans and Bart Ehrman (R. Huggins), those of Hurtado, Porter, Wallace, Wegner (Charis Buckland). vi EDITORIAL Ehrman’s analogy of the telephone game: Is it a historically credible way of talking about oral transmission in the ancient world and Early Christianity in particular? Here is how they responded:2 Craig A. Evans (Acadia Divinity College) “The analogy of the ‘telephone’ game is not helpful because it does not take into account realistically the pedagogy in- volved—that of Jesus teaching his disciples and that of the disciples teaching others. This teaching involves repetition, saying things over and over again, applying them in a variety of ways, and soliciting feedback from those being taught. In ‘telephone’ one hears something once and then tries to pass it on to someone who did not hear the original form. The didache, or teaching, of Jesus was not handed down this way.” Larry W. Hurtado (University of Edinburgh) “Ehrman’s ‘telephone game’ is not a good analogy for oral transmission of sacred lore in a religious body of believers. There are concerns to preserve sayings of “the master” not found in a parlour game. But also there are needs to make the tradition meaningful in new situations, so there are adaptations too, but they 2 Listed alphabetically by author’s lastlast namname.e. Answers by emailemail fromfrom Evans (Sept 12, 2010), Hurtado (Sept 5, 2010), Porter (Sept 3, 2010), Wallace (Sept 11, 2010), Wegner (Sept 9, 2010). EDITORIALEDITOR vii aren’t the haphazard kind in the parlour games.” Stanley E. Porter (McMaster Divinity College) “Ehrman trivializes the process of transmission of the fundamental stories of Christianity by equating it with a contemporary children’s party game. Transmitting the message of Christianity was not part of some clever diversionary entertainment, but it involved the faithful conveyance of a life- changing message. Those who were responsible to tell and retell the story of early Christianity had been transformed by the story of Jesus, and the evidence clearly shows that they took every effort to tell this story faithfully.” Daniel B. Wallace (Dallas Theological Seminary) The major problem with Ehrman’s analogy is that it is a case of reductio ad absurdum. The tele- phone game is one line, with a not- so-coherent story in the first place, intended to create confusion and result in a garbled message. The oral tradition behind the gospels is multiple lines, as Ehrman himself admits, has a remarkably coherent message, and would be disastrous for early believers if the message became garbled. Their lives were on the line. Would they really be willing to die for a Jesus who became deity through a garbled transmission of the gospel? Further, there was shared memory in community, something alien to the telephone game. And the message would be repeated hundreds of times by eyewitnesses before it was written down. Just taking one feature that is different and we can see how absurd the comparison is: suspend telephone game participants over a pit of crocodiles and tell them that if they get the story wrong, they’ll be viii EDITORIAL eaten alive. My guess is that their memory would be better by several magnitudes. Paul Wegner (Phoenix Seminary) “I believe a more reasonable analogy is a child’s beloved bedtime story which the child has heard so often and loved so dearly that even the slightest variation will be noted. The Gospel stories about Jesus are not some meaningless words, but were the very events of their beloved savior and certainly they would have treated them with honor and respect. The New Testament world was an oral society and thus memorizing wording was a way of life. Our society has largely lost the importance of spoken words, but the New Testament believers would have cherished Christ’s words and constant repetition would have kept them accurate and fresh in the minds of the disciples.” AND THERE IS MORE Following the Ehrman/Evans debate we continue our issue theme of the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection with three additional pieces, one by Don Veinot, President of EMNR, on Ehrman’s list of alleged discrepancies, a second by our Managing Editor on Ehrman’s flawed methodology, and a third, by Old Princeton Theologian Benjamin B. Warfield, on the resurrection as historical fact. In addition to its theme articles this issue also includes a number of other interesting contributions on a range of relevant topics. I would like to thank my Assistant Editor, Josh Mann, for helping me at every step along the way, and Catherine Renfro, for transcribing the debate and valiantly undertaling the tedious task of proofreading the entire issue. Good Reading! Ronald V. Huggins Managing Editor 1 Midwestern Journal of Theology 9.2 (Fall 2010): 1-36 Are the Resurrection Accounts Historically Reliable? Craig A. Evan vs. Bart D. Ehrman 1 April 2010 Left to Right: Prof. Bart D. Ehrman, MBTS Pres. R. Phil Roberts, Prof. Craig A. Evans1 INTRODUCTION On April 1, 2010, the second annual Hastings Institute of the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Early Christianity Conference at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary commenced with a debate between two well known New Testament scholars: Bart D. Ehrman (James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina) and Craig A. Evans (Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College in Nova Scotia, Canada). 1 Unless otherwise noted, photos in this article by R. Huggins. EHRMAN / EVANS : Resurrection Debate 2 OPENING STATEMENTS Prof. Ehrman: I would like to thank Dr. Roberts and the organizers of this debate for inviting me.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Craig Blomberg, "Eschatology and the Church: Some New Testament
    Craig Blomberg, “Eschatology and the Church’: Some New Testament Perspectives,” Themelios 23.3 (June 1998): 3-26. Eschatology and the Church1: Some New Testament Perspectives Craig Blomberg Professor of New Testament at Denver Seminary in Colorado and North American Review Editor for Themelios. [p.3] For many in the church today, eschatology seems to be one of the least relevant of the historic Christian doctrines. On the one hand, those who question the possibility of the supernatural in a scientific age find the cataclysmic irruption of God’s power into human history at the end of the ages unpalatable. On the other hand, notable fundamentalists have repeatedly put forward clear-cut apocalyptic scenarios correlating current events with the signs of the end in ways which have been repeatedly disproved by subsequent history and which have tarnished all conservative Christian expectation in the process as misguided.2 At the same time, a substantial amount of significant scholarship, particularly in evangelical circles, goes largely unnoticed by the church of Jesus Christ at large. This scholarship not only addresses key theological and exegetical cruxes but has direct relevance for Christian living on the threshold of the twenty-first century. The topic is immense, so before I proceed I need to make several disclaimers and mark out the parameters of this brief study: 1. I am neither a systematic theologian nor an OT specialist, so, as my title indicates, my comments will be primarily limited to those who have grappled with key themes and texts in the NT. In this connection I have sometimes ventured an opinion on a range of questions which I know require more careful and sustained consideration.
    [Show full text]
  • Resurrection: Faith Or Fact? Miracle Not Required?
    209 Resurrection: Faith or Fact? Miracle Not Required? Peter S. Williams Assistant Professor in Communication and Worldviews NLA University College, Norway [email protected] I was privileged to have the opportunity material, he cannot justify his assertion to contribute two chapters to Resur rec tion: that the Gospels contain both types of Faith or Fact? (Pitchstone, 2019). One of material (for example, Carl holds that the these chapters reviewed the written resur- crucifixion is historical but the empty rection debate therein between atheist tomb isn’t). Contra Carl, I maintain that Carl Stecher (Professor Emeritus of Eng - the historical ‘criteria of authenticity’3 lish at Salem State University) and Chris- provide us with principled ways of ‘deter- tian Craig L. Blomberg (Distinguished mining what [in the resurrection narrati- Professor of the New Testament at Den- ves] is actually historical.’4 ver Seminary in Colorado).1 While I had In ‘Miracle Not Required’, Carl makes a couple of critical comments relating to an apparent mea culpa that quickly turns Professor Blomberg’s chapters, I focused into a red herring: my attention on Professor Stecher’s con- Peter’s challenge is justified; at the tribution to the debate, grouping my very least my point needs clarifica- observations under the headings listed in tion. My statement reflects a posi- the title of my review chapter: ‘Evidence, tion of skepticism and the rejection Explanation and Expectation’ (‘EEE’). In of Christian biblical literalism and infallibility . This is, after all, a his closing essay, ‘Miracle Not Required’, pivotal issue in any consideration Carl responded to ‘EEE’.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Was Jesus of Nazareth?
    WHO WAS JESUS OF NAZARETH? Craig L. Blomberg1 Jesus of Nazareth has been the most influential person to walk this earth in human history. To this day, more than two billion people worldwide claim to be his followers, more than the number of adherents to any other religion or worldview. Christianity is responsible for a disproportionately large number of the humanitarian advances in the history of civilization—in education, medicine, law, the fine arts, working for human rights, and even in the natural sciences (based on the belief that God designed the universe in an orderly fashion and left clues for people to learn about it).2 But just who was this individual and how can we glean reliable information about him? A recent work on popular images of Jesus in America alone identifies eight quite different portraits: “enlightened sage,” “sweet savior,” “manly redeemer,” “superstar,” “Mormon elder brother,” “black Moses,” “rabbi,” and “Oriental Christ.”3 Because these depictions contradict each other at various points, they cannot all be equally accurate. Historians must return to the ancient evidence for Jesus and assess its merits. This evidence falls into three main categories: non-Christian, historic Christian, and syncretistic (a hybrid of Christian and non-Christian perspectives). Non-Christian Evidence for Jesus An inordinate number of websites and blogs make the wholly unjustified claim that Jesus never existed. Biblical scholars and historians who have investigated this issue in detail are virtually unanimous today in rejecting this view, regardless of their theological or ideological perspectives. A dozen or more references to Jesus appear in non-Christian Jewish, Greek, and Roman sources in the earliest centuries of the Common Era (i.e., approximately from the birth of Jesus onward, as Christianity and Judaism began to overlap chronologically).
    [Show full text]
  • The Gospel of John in Modern Interpretation Is a Wonderful Intro- Duction to the Fascinating World That Is the New Testament Study of John’S Gospel
    “The Gospel of John in Modern Interpretation is a wonderful intro- duction to the fascinating world that is the New Testament study of John’s gospel. Tracing the general history of the gospel’s treatment, and focusing on the contribution of several key scholars, this book also traces the discussions that drive the gospel’s study and how best to read it. The gospel of John has been an outlier in Jesus studies. This work explains why that should not be so, and what one must pay attention to in reading this crucial gospel. It is well worth a careful read.” —Darrell L. Bock, Senior Research Professor of New Testament Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary “This is a very worthwhile volume, because instead of viewing ‘modern interpretation’ as an abstraction, it looks at eight, carefully chosen modern interpreters, with their whole careers and scholarly contribu- tions in view—not merely their work on John’s gospel. Three of them (Rudolf Bultmann, C. H. Dodd, and Raymond E. Brown) are obvious choices. Five others have been either half-forgotten (B. F. Westcott), unfairly neglected or underappreciated (Adolf Schlatter and Leon Morris), dismissed as idiosyncratic (John A. T. Robinson), or pigeon- holed as a ‘mere’ literary critic (R. Alan Culpepper). They all deserve better, and this collection calls attention, once again, to their substan- tial contributions. A much needed and promising correction. Thank you, Stan Porter and Ron Fay, and your authors!” —J. Ramsey Michaels, Professor of Religious Studies Emeritus, Missouri State University, Springfield “Here is an extremely well-chosen collection of vignettes of major Johannine scholars from the late 1800s to the present.
    [Show full text]
  • Historical Criticism and the Evangelical Grant R
    11-Osborne_JETS 42.2 Page 193 Friday, May 21, 1999 12:58 PM JETS 42/2 (June 1999) 193–210 HISTORICAL CRITICISM AND THE EVANGELICAL GRANT R. OSBORNE* Since the inception of historical criticism (hereafter HC) in the post- Enlightenment period of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, con- servatives and evangelicals have wrestled with their relationship to this discipline. Due to its origins in rationalism and anti-supernaturalism, it has been a stormy relationship. In the nineteenth century, the Cambridge trio Lightfoot, Westcott and Hort opposed the liberal movements of rationalism and tendency criticism (F. C. Baur) with a level of scholarship more than equal to their opponents, and in Germany Theodor Zahn and Adolf Schlatter opposed the incursion of HC. In America scholars like Charles Hodge and Benjamin War˜eld in theology and J. Gresham Machen and O. T. Allis in biblical studies fought valiantly for a high view of Scripture along with a critical awareness of issues. However, in none of these conservative scholars do we ˜nd a wholesale rejection of critical tools. From the 1920s to the 1940s little interaction occurred as fundamental- ism turned its back on dialogue with higher critics, believing that to interact was to be tainted by contact with the methods. It was then that wholesale rejection of critical methodology became standard in fundamentalist schol- arship. However, in the late 1940s the rise of evangelicalism (including the birth of ETS!) renewed that debate, and scholars like George Ladd and Leon Morris once more began to champion a high view of Scripture within the halls of academia.
    [Show full text]
  • Biblical-Theological Resources for AGTS D.Min
    Biblical-Theological Resources for AGTS D.Min. Participants [1] AGTS Biblical-Theological Research Resources for AGTS D.Min. Participants Prepared by AGTS Biblical Studies Faculty and Colleagues Special thanks to Dr. Roger Cotton, Dr. Edgar Lee, Dr. Doug Oss, Dr. Jim Hernando, Dr. James Railey, Dr. Ben Aker, Dr. Debbie Gill, and Dr. Dale Brueggemann for their contributions to this resource. “Theology Hall,” in a twelfth-century Strahov Monastery in Prague Compiled by Dr. Lois Olena, D. Min. Project Coordinator Revised June 2017 G:\AGTS_Dmin\Projects_Writing\PROJECT DESIGN_Writing Clinic\TEACHING MATERIALS\Research Resources\Bib- Theo\AGTS_Bib_Theo_Resources_rev_June_2017_LO.docx Biblical-Theological Resources for AGTS D.Min. Participants [2] CONTENTS Your D.Min. Project Chapter 2: Where to Begin? ....................................... 4 Step 1: Determine the theological or topical themes and key biblical texts that inform the topic of your D.Min. project ........................................... 5 Instructional Documents for Step 1 .................................................................................................... 5 Studying a Theme of Old Testament Theology (Cotton) ..................................................... 6 Guidelines for Biblical-Theological Papers (Oss) ................................................................... 7 Redemptive-Historical Unfolding (Oss) ..................................................................................... 12 Bibliographic Sources for Step 1 .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • THE PARABOLIC NARRATIVE of FREE WILL in PARADISE LOST By
    "Sufficient to Have Stood, Though Free to Fall": The Parabolic Narrative of Free Will in Paradise Lost Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Bizik, Amy Stewart Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 08:41:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194760 “SUFFICIENT TO HAVE STOOD, THOUGH FREE TO FALL”: THE PARABOLIC NARRATIVE OF FREE WILL IN PARADISE LOST by Amy Stewart Bizik _____________________ Copyright © Amy Stewart Bizik 2008 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 8 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Amy Stewart Bizik entitled “‘Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall’: The Parabolic Narrative of Free Will in Paradise Lost ” and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: November 3, 2008 Dr. John C. Ulreich _______________________________________________________________________ Date: November 3, 2008 Dr. Meg Lota Brown _______________________________________________________________________ Date: November 3, 2008 Dr. Kari Boyd McBride Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College.
    [Show full text]
  • Between Breaths: the Dialogic Shape of Christian Authority Meghan Larissa Good [email protected]
    Digital Commons @ George Fox University Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations 1-1-2018 Between Breaths: the Dialogic Shape of Christian Authority Meghan Larissa Good [email protected] This research is a product of the Doctor of Ministry (DMin) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Good, Meghan Larissa, "Between Breaths: the Dialogic Shape of Christian Authority" (2018). Doctor of Ministry. 272. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/dmin/272 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctor of Ministry by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY BETWEEN BREATHS: THE DIALOGIC SHAPE OF CHRISTIAN AUTHORITY A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF PORTLAND SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF MINISTRY BY MEGHAN LARISSA GOOD PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2018 Portland Seminary George Fox University Portland, Oregon CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL ________________________________ DMin Dissertation ________________________________ This is to certify that the DMin Dissertation of Meghan L. Good has been approved by the Dissertation Committee on February 13, 2018 for the degree of Doctor of Ministry in Preaching as Story. Dissertation Committee: Primary Advisor: Dottie Escobedo-Frank, DMin Secondary Advisor: Jamie Noling-Auth, DMin Lead Mentor: Leonard I. Sweet, PhD Expert Advisor: Nijay Gupta, PhD Copyright © 2018 by Meghan Larissa Good All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A project of this scope would not be conceivable without the years spent studying under many fine scholars and teachers of the Bible.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 NTEN5300 Exploring the New Testament New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Disclaimer: This Syllabus Is Intended to Give Th
    NTEN5300 Exploring the New Testament New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Disclaimer: This syllabus is intended to give the student a general idea of the content, format, and textbooks used for this class. The professor will submit a full syllabus at the beginning of the class which will contain a course schedule and the instructor’s information. Semester: Instructor: The mission of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary is to equip leaders to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandments through the local church and its ministries. Purpose of Course The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to the literature of the New Testament by means of studying both the Biblical text and the historical and cultural factors that shaped it. The historical background, certain aspects of contemporary scholarship, and especially the themes and general teachings of the New Testament books will be discussed. Our Core Values The seminary has five core values. The focal core value for 2016-2017 is Mission Focus. This course supports the five core values of the seminary. Doctrinal Integrity: Knowing that the Bible is the Word of God, we believe it, teach it, proclaim it, and submit to it. Our confessional commitments are outlined in the “Articles of Religious Belief” and the “Baptist Faith and Message 2000." Spiritual Vitality: We are a worshiping community emphasizing both personal spirituality and gathering together as a Seminary family for the praise and adoration of God and instruction in His Word. Mission Focus: We are not here merely to get an education or to give one.
    [Show full text]
  • Evangelical Interfaith
    EVANGELICAL INTERFAITH Fuller Theological Seminary FALL MORMONS AND EVANGELICALS: New Paths from a Troubled Past 2012 At a Glance In this issue of the Evangelical Interfaith Dialogue, we depart from our regular format in Looking Forward in Light of the Past order to best capture the nature of a unique form of interfaith dialogue between a group of Latter-day Saint and Evangelical scholars and pastors that has been going on for 04 more than a decade. Instead of featuring one lead article with responses from several Robert L. Millet other authors, in this issue we have paired an Evangelical with a Latter-day Saint and The Mormon-Evangelical Dialogue: Reflections after 12 Years asked them to respond to a specific aspect of this dialogue. In the first set of essays, Robert Millet reflects on key aspects in the development of the LDS-Evangelical dialogue and expresses his hopes for what is to come. Similarly, Craig Blomberg reflects on what he hopes will come in the future of this dialogue 08 group and for the LDS community twenty years from now. Craig L. Blomberg In second set of essays, Spencer Fluhman and Dennis Okholm write about what drew The Years Ahead: My Dreams for Mormon-Evangelical Dialogue them into this dialogue group and what has sustained their involvement of the last few years. Camille Fronk Olson and James Bradley each offer their reflections on these two sets The Appeal of this Form of Dialogue of essays in light of their own participation in this dialogue group. 12 In a helpful historical piece, Derek Bowen paints a picture of some of the theological, social, and cultural factors that led to this particular gathering of Latter-day Saints and J.
    [Show full text]
  • “The Centrality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and Its Implications For
    “The Centrality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and its Implications for Missions in a Multicultural Society” INTRODUCTION: Christianity stands or falls with the bodily resurrection of Jesus. The apostle Paul certainly understood this to be the case. In that great resurrection chapter, 1 Cor. 15, Paul says, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is without foundation, and so is your faith. In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ – whom He did not raise up… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins” (vs. 14-15, 17). Henry Thiessen agrees with the apostle when he writes: It [the resurrection] is the fundamental doctrine of Christianity. Many admit the necessity of the death of Christ who deny the importance of the bodily resurrection of Christ. But that Christ’s physical resurrection is vitally important is evident from the fundamental connection of this doctrine with Christianity. In 1 Cor. 15:12-19 Paul shows that everything stands or falls with Christ’s bodily resurrection: apostolic preaching is vain (v. 14), the apostles are false witnesses (v. 15), the Corinthians are yet in their sins (v.17), those fallen asleep in Christ have perished (v. 18), and Christians are of all men most miserable (v. 19), if Christ has not risen.1 It is difficult, if not impossible, to explain the birth of the church and its gospel message apart from the resurrection of Jesus. The whole of New Testament faith and teaching orbits about the confession and conviction that the crucified Jesus is the Son of God established and vindicated as such “by the resurrection from the dead according to the Spirit of holiness” (Rom.
    [Show full text]
  • A Response to G R Beasley-Murray on the Kingdom
    JETS 35/1 (March 1992) 31-36 A RESPONSE TO G. R. BEASLEY-MURRAY ON THE KINGDOM CRAIG L. BLOMBERG* Contemporary evangelicals on both sides of the Atlantic owe a pro- found debt of gratitude to George Beasley-Murray. Many have benefited immensely from sitting under his teaching and learning from his books.11 recommend to my students his voluminous compendium of material in Jesus and the Kingdom of God as the best detailed work on the topic cur- rently in existence.2 Our most recent generation of evangelical scholarship would be noticeably impoverished without his contributions. It is in this spirit of gratefulness to God for Beasley-Murray's scholarship and minis- try that I offer this response to his paper. After reading his book on the kingdom, one finds no surprises in his es- say. Here is a concise presentation of key tenets about Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God that reflect a growing consensus among evangelicals, that are endorsed by not a few outside our circles, and that should be widely accepted and promoted, particularly in light of so much misinforma- tion at the level of popular preaching, especially over radio and television. I am particularly grateful for no less than nine of the foci of this paper. First, and perhaps foremost, Beasley-Murray rightly defines the king- dom more as a reign than a realm, more as a power than a place. David Mains, in a recent "Chapel of the Air" series, nicely popularized this con- cept with his talks entitled "Thy Kingship Come." I.
    [Show full text]