Never Gonna be as Big as Jesus

I love my daily Bible reading. It's hard for me to blog about anything else... if your not in a habit of reading to communicate with God you should start.

Not because I said so or out of guilt. But because once you get going I promise you will tell me it's worth it.

Now we are in Hebrews Chapter 3...

"So, my dear Christian friends, companions in following this call to the heights, take a good hard look at Jesus. He's the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do. Moses was also faithful, but Jesus gets far more honor. A builder is more valuable than a building any day. Every house has a builder, but the Builder behind them all is God. Moses did a good job in God's house, but it was all servant work, getting things ready for what was to come. Christ as Son is in charge of the house." (Hebrews 3:1-6, The Message, Emphasis Mine)

I have been rethinking my theology in the last few years. This blog is a channel for my thinking in that way.

Most protestant theology and practice is Pauline in nature.

The Bible is intended, by the Holy Spirit, to be taken as a whole. So when I think of this passage, which is not written to be a commentary on Bible study, I do see that Jesus is the center of our faith.

This makes me rethink how I form doctrine. My core foundation should be: What did Jesus teach about that, and then how does Pauline theology support that.

I have the feeling that the end result of that would be on the side of love and grace for the non-believer and more repent or perish for the "religious".

We will explore this more as time goes on. Peace!

An Introduction.

Theology - The Study of God.

I have a LOT of theology books on my shelf here at my office. What is more interesting than that is that some are Airen's (My finance) and some are mine (from three different Bible colleges) so they all have different things to say. Sure the core values of the Christian Faith are the same... but on the detail's there is a... umm... difference of opinion.

To summarize this difference of opinion and how it is stated in these books:

"My point of view is right. And anyone who has is a different opinion is stupid."

The problem is... they are discussing a point that has been debated even before Jesus came.

For Example:
Predestination vs. Free will long predates Calvinist and Armenian Theology... You can find sects of Judaism that confronted this issue a thousand years before Jesus came.

Does anyone find it odd that Jesus then proceeded to say nothing about it? Must not be important then...

This is just an example. This blog will be more than just DOCTRINE. Theology is the study of God and is not limited to doctrine. But let me be clear on how I view doctrine.

Absolutes:
Essentials of our faith. More than one passage in context discusses these. The existence of God, the integrity of scripture, the death and Resurrection of Jesus, heaven, hell, and the virgin birth are all absolutes. The Bible is clear in detail on these subjects.

Interpretations:
Debatable items. One passage of scripture to conclude a meaning (However in context the verse can be on a different subject). Even if you think you are right... you might not be. The Bible touches on these subjects but nowhere does it SAY an answer. People piece it together from passages. These concepts include creation science (old or new earth), predestination, free will, and how exactly the Holy Spirit does things after salvation. (I will probably talk about Interpretations often)

Deductions:
VERY debatable items. A deduction is taking one verse from one place in the Bible, connecting it with a verse from another place (which removes context) then coming to a conclusion that would not be evident from either verse on its own. Or it's when we take one aspect of culture, combine it with something else from either culture or the Scriptures and come to a firm conclusion. It's A+B=C. These are more distant subjects from the scripture like homeschooling, how to run a church service, and if a Christian has to be a Republican or a Democrat.

Personal/Cultural Preference:
Even more debated. It sounds dumb but its true. More people would leave a church because their personal preference has been violated than any other. I've met them... I know. These are things like worship and prayer styles, music, clothes, the paint on the walls, Bible version, and how much the preacher spits when he talks.

A few other quick buzz words I will use a lot and my definition of them:

Context: What the passage meant from the original writer to the original readers.
Passage: A selection of scripture that contains one complete thought from the original writer.
Verse: A section of a passage as divided by the Bible publisher. These are not found in the original manuscripts.

Looking forward to discussing these and other ideas with you! Much Love!