 |
| Facebook: 2017 |
I am presenting a lecture/sermon at a local church tomorrow morning, as Regional Director, British Columbia and Yukon, for the Canadian Bible Society.
The following are lecture/sermon rough notes. I will add more content within the actual talk.
Should we let God speak? Letting God speak.
Introductory remarks
When I was emailed and asked to speak, I explained that I am new to the Canadian Bible Society; I began in March as the Regional Director for BC and Yukon. I am also not a trained Reverend, a trained pastor or preacher. My academic expertise from my PhD is philosophical theology, which is reasoning out theology from the bible and as well, philosophy of religion, which is reasoning out religious philosophy, from outside of the bible. These definitions are certainly non-exhaustive and are my take on them. But, I do have lecturing experience, offline and online. Besides, the National Director and CEO has stated I need to speak at churches. So here I am!
One of the main reasons the Society hired me back in March is because the volunteer British Columbia board and the National Office from Toronto both understood my absolute commitment to the bible, in context, as the word of God. This whether interpreting scripture and most of it as plain literal, or in some cases as figurative literal, symbolic or poetry. In my reasoning none of the biblical scripture is myth. None of the biblical scripture is fictional.
I actually grew up in the denomination of this church. But, I also had Reformed leanings at a very young age. My Mother has told me previously that when I was younger I blamed God for everything. I suppose, I still do in a sense, but I now have a much better understanding of God's sovereignty and human sinful nature and resulting sinful choices.
But, even at four years old taking Sunday school within this denomination, in a very limited way, I realized I needed to let God speak. God was all-powerful and infinite and human beings including myself and my parents, definitely were not. God was the source of life and humanity needed God.
By twelve years old, even without living in a distinctly Christian home, I publicly confessed Jesus Christ, as a biblical Christian. I studied apologetics books on the Mormons (Latter-Day Saints) and Jehovah’s Witnesses and learned much of the Scripture that way. I actually in my naivety started debating with some of the Jehovah’s Witnesses that would come to the door. If I would have been asked at the time…Should we let God speak? I would have thought yes.
So, when I talked to Jehovah’s Witnesses, I attempted to review the bible, God’s word, in context, and I found I could do well in the debates, and far more importantly grow in the truth of the gospel, by letting God speak through his word. Some groups, such as the Jehovah's Witnesses claimed to let God speak, but actually twisted God’s word, I found.
As a young adult, I went to bible school in Abbotsford and seminary and Christian University in Langley and I found that by letting God reveal self through Scripture that I did well, and grew in knowledge and faith. I gained peace in my worldview by letting God speak.
However, as I moved onto Manchester, England to work on a PhD, as the tutor that has accepted me was away for one year, I was left with two of his senior colleagues that clearly wanted me out of the academy.
The most senior tutor, a well-known philosopher of religion informed me that if I was going to earn a PhD in their academy, I could not believe and write that the biblical God existed in light of the problem of evil that also existed. If I kept presenting such views, I would not pass. In other words, I could not pass with a Reformed theodicy.
The academy did not allow me to let God speak. Thankfully, without receiving any kind of grade, from Manchester, by God’s grace I moved onto Wales and earned MPhil and PhD thesis only, degrees. Yes, I had to follow secular University standards to pass, but I was allowed to stay true to my attempt at following the Scripture in context and to let God speak. I embedded my own solution to the problem of evil within my PhD thesis at Wales.
Working at the Canadian Bible Society allows me to dwell on what God actually states in Scripture through his inspired, prophets, apostles and scribes.
Main point 1
There is manuscript support for biblical religious history
2 Timothy 3:16-17
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 All Scripture is [a]inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for [b]training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
I reason that even as the Church and scholarship does not have in existence the original biblical manuscripts, that there are still over 5, 000 New Testament Greek manuscripts in whole or in part. We have reasonable, valid copies of biblical, religious history. We have a reasonably described Hebrew Bible, story of creation, fall and the Old Testament covenant and law. In the New Testament we have the Trinity of God revealed and the atoning and resurrection work applied to those in Christ through his death and resurrection.
Therefore, we have a consistent theology, connected historically to the Hebrew Bible and New Testament and then the Church Fathers, the disciples of the disciples so to speak. Overall, even without having original manuscripts, the copies and the additional writings of the Church Fathers, mean that as religious history, God has indeed spoken through humanity.
Should we let God speak? Yes, because we have manuscript evidence.
The Society has a Bible Intro pamphlet which explains biblical religious well in a short form.
This unlike my own online academic work which is unfortunately not always short, but I have to do what I have to do.
The Old Testament/The Hebrew Bible
This little book explains that the Bible is actually many books placed together to form a bible, From my research a canon, a rule, a standard and text. It starts with the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament.
The first biblical text, Genesis, provides, an understanding that before the material world existed, God existed. This is in basic agreement with modern science that reasons there was a 'big bang' that created energy and matter. And as well space and time.
Via, Genesis, whether or not all of Genesis 1-3 is plain literal, and I rather presume some of it is figurative literal, but not myth, it can be reasoned that a non-material being, a first-cause, God existed before our finite, material universe and world.
If we allow God to speak through his Scripture, we are spiritually enlightened. We are not given a science lesson, but the science does make sense, does it not? Allowing for science to evolve over time with further evidence.
The Bible Intro pamphlet then introduces the idea that within the Old Testament, there is biblical poetry. Poetry exists to show that even though in Genesis it describes a human fall from God into sin, God is still worthy of being praised. Not only is God, based on Genesis the infinite, eternal cause of all things, but he is also a personal entity that has care for his creation, especially those that have been made in his image and likeness (Genesis 1: 26-27). Psalms along with Proverbs and Ecclesiastes teaches divine wisdom for humanity and demonstrates God’s love. God speaks and provides human wisdom.
The Bible Intro text then explains the fall from Genesis 3. The original human beings were given freedom of choice, and there nature, although perfect was inexperienced and naive (this view an add on from PhD). Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation and the fall occurred. But God did not give up on his created humanity. In actuality, God the Son (slain from the foundation of the world: Revelation 13: 8, Ephesians 1: 4) and the triune God had planned and known that the fall would occur. God had known and planned for humanity as is, and yet did not force or coerce the fall of humanity. Noah, Abraham, Moses, the law and the other prophets were all connected to the future atoning and resurrection work of God the Son, that had been slain from the foundation of the world. But, we can only know about a fall, we can only know about God’s redemptive plans by letting the Scripture speak. Letting God speak…
Main point 3
Most importantly, God speaks through this New Testament which presents God the Son as a fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies and the law. Jesus demonstrated divine power through miracles and a supernatural connection to God the Father but most importantly his resurrection and the empty tomb demonstrates that his claim to atonement for sin (Mark 10) and the teaching of his apostles and scribes (Hebrews, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, I John as examples) demonstrates that atonement was just as true and just as divinely inspired as was the resurrection.
Conclusion
Should we let God speak?
There is significant manuscript evidence which lets God speak.
The Hebrew Bible has God speaking through prophets and scribes. It presents creation, the fall and an initial, progressive plan for human salvation.
Through, scribes, apostles and associates that are disciples, God speaks through the atoning and resurrection work of Jesus Christ and plans for restored creation in Revelation 21-22.
Invitation to support our ministry:
God indeed loves humanity but insists that those that are under sin be covered by the atonement and changed to perfection in resurrection. We as a Christian Church need to be sensitive to social causes, human rights, but a reasonable, biblical approach, where God is allowed to speak allows for both God’s divine love and justice to be expressed in our theology, teaching and actions.
Bible Intro (2018), Canadian Bible Society, Toronto.
