Doug’s Theological Thoughts

It may be too early to say for sure but it seems quite possible to me that N. T. Wright may be the next Martin Luther. Luther shot across the bow of the church with his understanding of justification found in his reading of Romans. Wright is reading Romans with fresh eyes in our day.…

Test cases are almost the reverse of proof texts. A test case is a passage that is run through a paradigm to see if the paradigm can work with the test cases. A set of proof tests is used to construct a paradigm. Theological systems are paradigms. My last BLOG entry consisted of one such…

I have been a Christian for a over 25 years and have struggled in one way or another with one question above all other questions during my years. The question centers around the relationship of the Christian and the Law. Where the problem comes in is with the seemingly irreconcilable passages where Christ and Paul…

Romans 10:5-15 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness, which is based on law, shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’…

The Old Testament quotations in Romans 10:6-8 are much tougher to make sense of. The text is: Rom 10:6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),Rom 10:7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is,…

Rom 10:5-15 has a number of interesting quotes of the Old Testament. I am struggling to figure out exactly what Paul intends with these quotes. The first quote is an indirect quote Moses from Levitcus. Paul wrote: Rom 10:5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall…

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness.But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to…

Few topics have caused as much controversy in the Evangelical churches as that of the relationship of the church and Israel. Much of this controversy comes from the popularity of End Times books by Tim LaHaye. Having failed to have a lasting effect in the scholarly community, modern Dispensationalists, like LaHaye, have taken up the…

The Lectionary is a weekly selection of Biblical texts. Two of the texts are taken from the Old Testament and two come out of the New Testament. One of the Old Testament texts is from the Psalms. One of the New Testament texts is taken from the Gospels and the other text is taken from…

Lectionary Text – Rom 8:1-11 Series: Help for the helpless Message: No Condemnation Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not…

Series: Help for the Helpless Message: Hope for the future Romans 8:12-25 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the…

Series: Help for the Helpless Message: Love Holds On Rom 8:26-39 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind…

The first and last temptation of Christ have always made sense to me. In the first temptation, Jesus was hungry. The temptation was to fulfill an immediate need, His hunger. In the last temptation, Jesus would get what was His by right, but get it immediately. He would not have to go to the cross…

I’ve been asked often, “Why should I bother with church?” With dozens of religious TV stations, many feel that they can get their Bible teaching without attending church. This is a great question that deserves an answer. I’ll start with an admission. Church is a bother. You don’t get many days of the week when…

As a father of six young children, I can remember with each one of them how my wife and I waited for their first step. It was an exciting time that also opened the doors for dangerous times. No longer would the baby be safely confined to a crib, but the baby would soon be…

Psalm 2:4 is an interesting passage. In the passage it says that God laughs. Exactly what is God laughing at? The previous verse says that he laughs at the efforts of men to kill the Messiah. They think that by binding the Messiah to the cross with fetters and bands they can be free from…

I do think that there is a knock down falsification argument against the most common young earth argument. Let me give it a shot on you and see what you think. Young earthers often say that Adam was created to look a particular age, say 21 for the sake of argument. This makes sense. Further,…

There are a couple of good sources of free Bible software for Windows. The price really is right. One of these is On Line Bible. It has some pretty good reviews. I haven’t tried it in a long time so I can’t comment on how good it might be (comments appreciated). The other program is…

Who is my Christian Brother? There are two criteria for what makes a person a Christian. One is belief that Jesus is the Messiah. The other is belief that Jesus is the Son of God. What this all means is where the rub comes in.

It can be problematic going from a specific Bible passage to a generality. One obvious example is: Exo 4:20 And Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand. Taking this passage as…

I am thinking today a bit more about Acts 2:42 and the order of the passage. In the passage, Luke lists the four basic things that the early church was doing. This is an important passage since it is the first glance of what the earliest church was doing. These four things were devoting themselves…

Ever wonder if we are doing the right things as a church? Acts 2:42 gives us a snapshot of the first moments of the new church. It is shortly after the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came on the disciples. Three thousand people were saved that day. Acts 2:42 tells us that “they…

Great article about how one Covenant Church pastor is using cyberspace to get the Good New out.

Resurrection:(1) Current Questions and the Contemporary Setting Resurrection:(2) The Evidence of the Early Church Resurrection:(3) Paul and the Gospels

While I’m on the subject of great Christian authors, let me include another favorite of mine, Dr. William Lane Craig. Dr. Craig is currently Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California. Dr. Craig is also well published and has an impressive academic background. Dr. Craig is an excellent debater…