What is man? Throughout history great minds have tried to define us as a species, but the essence of humanity has proved hard to pin down. “Man is a featherless biped”, Plato concluded, although he was somewhat dissatisfied with this as a definition. “Man is a reasoning animal”, wrote Seneca, echoing Aristotle. “Man is a tool using animal”, said Carlyle, anticipating modern anthropology. Man is “a poor, bare, forked animal”, wrote Shakespeare in his habitual pessimism about humanity.
Archives: thought
The very practical doctrine of the Trinity
Thought
Do you believe in hell?
Thought
Time for reformation?
Thought, Sola Panel
The worldwide edifice of Anglicanism is on the verge of collapse. Should we move out, renovate or demolish and start again? In this article we look at recent extraordinary events.
On the trail of the Spirits in prison
Thought, Sola Panel
No part of the New Testament is more puzzling to modern readers than Peter’s enigmatic reference to the ‘spirits in prison’. Tony Payne is the latest in a long line of interpreters claiming to have the answer. Read on and see if you agree …
Unmasking greed
Thought
With many Western economies showing strong and continued signs of growth, the outlook has never been better for our standard of living. Christmas retail sales are at record highs, the property market is strong, Wall Street marches on in triumph. What do we have to worry about? Plenty, says Brian Rosner.
The Spirit’s illumination
Thought
The view from here: How the resurrection changes your life
Thought
Raising the stakes: Why the resurrection matters
Thought
Dancing with wolves: When false teaching is too close for comfort
Thought
The novelty of words … becomes especially useful when the truth is to be asserted against false accusers, who evade it by their shifts. Of this today we have abundant experience in our great efforts to rout the enemies of pure and wholesome doctrine. With such crooked and sinuous twisting these slippery snakes glide away unless they are boldly pursued, caught, and crushed. (John Calvin, Institutes I.xiii.4)
Doing what works (part 2): The Bible’s marching orders
Thought, Sola Panel
In the first part of this article (in our last Briefing), we looked at the pluses and minuses of pragmatism. We saw that ‘doing what works’ is a quite legitimate path to follow in one sense, because God has created an orderly world. Yet pragmatism has its limitations, as a result of the complex and flawed nature both of the world and of ourselves. We ultimately need a revelation, a word from outside, to guide us.
But how does the Word guide us? In our last article, we looked at one approach, the so-called ‘Hooker Principle’. Let us begin Part II, by looking at a related but much more recent way of using the Bible.
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Being biblical or doing what works (part 1): Do we have to choose?
Thought, Sola Panel
In this first part of a two part article, we ask how you can know whether your life and ministry are genuinely biblical. Is it method? Is it results? Is it some kind of warm feeling of assurance? Do we in fact need to look to the Bible to work out how to conduct ministry, or is it an area where pragmatic thinking is our best tool?
The One True Worshipper
Thought
Worship is sometimes described as the missing jewel in the evangelical crown. It has become perhaps the major focus of a majority of Christian churches in the second half of this century. But once again, our focus reveals our sinfulness. By placing our own activities in church under special focus, we have grabbed the wrong end of the worship stick. In our concern for relevant ‘worship’ we have reversed the Bible’s concerns. For in the New Testament, worship is not so much something we do, but it is first of all and mainly something Jesus Christ does for us!
The New Perspective in action
Thought
All Christian teaching has implications for Christian living. Likewise all doctrine works itself out, one way or another, into a pattern of Christian practice. Having examined the ‘New Perspective’ on justification in the two previous Briefings (#228, #229),1 in this article, we want to explore the ‘cash value’ of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification—that is, its impact on Christian experience and ministry. Once again, we will focus our attention on the teaching of Tom Wright— partly because of the significance of the challenge he poses and partly because he (more than others) has taken the time to articulate what he sees as the practical outworkings of the ‘New Perspective’ on justification.
Wright up close
Thought
In our last issue, we looked at the way in which the rise of ‘the New Perspective on Paul’ has led to a radical rethinking of the doctrine of justification; one that is at odds with the traditional evangelical understanding inherited from the Reformation. Perhaps the most vocal and best known proponent of this ‘New Perspective’ is Tom Wright, who has already been introduced. This article seeks to show that the ‘New Perspective’ (generally) and Tom Wright’s position (particularly) are far less Scriptural than the traditional evangelical understanding of justification.