Jun

18

“I am both Muslim and Christian.”

Filed Under Apologetics, Culture, Islam | Leave a Comment

These are the words of the Rev. Ann Holmes, ordained as an Episcopal priest more than 20 years ago and, until recently, director for faith formation at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle. According to a recent article in the Seattle Times,

…for the last 15 months, she’s also been a Muslim — drawn to the faith after an introduction to Islamic prayers left her profoundly moved…Redding doesn’t feel she has to resolve all the contradictions. People within one religion can’t even agree on all the details, she said. “So why would I spend time to try to reconcile all of Christian belief with all of Islam? At the most basic level, I understand the two religions to be compatible. That’s all I need.”

She says she felt an inexplicable call to become Muslim, and to surrender to God — the meaning of the word “Islam.” “It wasn’t about intellect,” she said. “All I know is the calling of my heart to Islam was very much something about my identity and who I am supposed to be. I could not not be a Muslim…I look through Jesus and see Allah.”

Let me suggest that the Rev. Holmes, who has just been hired by Seattle University as a visiting lecturer in New Testament (!?!?!), might find the welcome and acceptance she experiences in western Washington a bit less friendly should she do any traveling in the Middle East.

Signature Phillip

May

30

Near enough to heal, strong enough to save

Filed Under Apologetics, Christmas, Evangelism, Islam | Leave a Comment

What question could a kind, gentle American seminary professor ask to get himself run dome.jpg out of the famous Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem? Let me suggest you to take few minutes to read a short piece by Dr. Reggie Kidd, Professor of New Testament at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, entitled ‘The Deity of Jesus–So What?’ , and you will find more than an interesting encounter with Islam, but a rich discussion of the beauty, sweetness and necessity of eternal God taking on human flesh. Dr. Kidd (he would prefer you call him Reggie–with a hard ‘g’) reflects on the question, ‘What difference does it make that Jesus is not just man (though certainly that), but also God?’ Or to personalize the question a bit: ‘What has Jesus done for us that no human could do?’

May

25

Conflict and Apologetics

Filed Under Apologetics, Books, Christian History | Leave a Comment

I’ve been following with some interest Carl Trueman’s recent push to get more people reading and appreciating the early church fathers.  You can find his Ref21 posts on patristics here, here, and here.  You can also read an  interview with Trueman in three parts (part 1, part 2, part 3).  These posts resonated with something I had heard Dr. Peter Jones talk about at the Twin Lakes Fellowship.  He was advocating the view that our current culture is very much like the culture that surrounded the birth of the church in the New Testament.  With Trueman and Jones carrying on a convesation in my head, I decided to relieve some cognitive dissonance and pick up volume one of the Ante-Nicene Fathers set.

I read the first two letters in the book.  The first was The First Letter of Clement and the second was The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus.  What did I discover?  Well, of course, that Trueman and Jones were both very correct.  The letters were incredibly encouraging and helpful for modern ministry.

The Fist Letter of Clement was a letter from Clement to the church at Corinth.  Clement probably knew Paul.  He rose to leadership in the church before the first century.  As a part of his shepherding of the churches he wrote a letter to the church at Corinth.  What was this letter about?  It was an encouragement to handle disagreement in the church.  He confronts conflict within the body of Christ with a sweeping discussion of basic theology ranging from creation to redemption.  Listen to Clement speaking about the redemption we have in Christ:

Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.  Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto Him.

What wisdom is here!  What does a church in conflict need to hear?  They need to hear about the blood of Jesus calling all to repentance.

The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus was written by an early disciple to a man named Diognetus.  It serves as a proto-apologetic for the Christian faith.  The author compares the emptiness of Paganism and Judaism to the fullness found in Jesus Christ.  Much like Clement, the author of this letter grounds his apologetic in the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal.  For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness?  By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God?  O sweet exchange!  O unsearchable operation!  O benefits surpassing all expectation!  That the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors!

I don’t plan to end my reading of the early church fathers here.  But what I have sound far has been encouraging and surprising.  Our problems are the same.  How do we handle conflict within the church?  How do we preach Jesus to the lost world?  And so our solution is the same as well.  Proclaim a crucified, risen Savior who alone is able to purge from sin, bring about repentance, and build his church.

Signature Joe

May

3

The Qur’an’s challenge to the Bible

Filed Under Apologetics, Bible, Evangelism, Islam, Missions | Leave a Comment

My most recent conversation with a Muslim took place a couple of months ago in Trujillo, Peru. My companions and I were in a cab at the Plaza de Armas on a Saturday afternoon and noticed two bearded Middle Eastern men in turbans rolling out their prayer rugs amidst the crowds. This stood out in Trujillo like it would in Kosciusko. After getting something to eat, we walked over to where the men were sitting after they had finished their prayers. We engaged in some discussion in English with these men, who said they were from Pakistan. They were soft-spoken, charitable and most eager to talk about their faith. They emphasized Islam’s regard for Jesus as a prophet, implying that Muhammed reformed and revived and reoriented the path of true religion that Abraham, Moses and Jesus had advocated. By then a small crowd was gathering, along with a few nervous-looking police officers. As I was about to ask them if the Qur’an teaches that Jesus was crucified and resurrected (it denies this, by the way), a young Peruvian man asked them in English why Muslims crashed the planes into the World Trade Center–and you can guess that the conversation steered way off course from that point, and we decided to leave the crowd to their wrangling and the police to break it up.

Adam S. Francisco, assistant professor of history at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York, has written a short introduction to some of the striking differences between Christianity and Islam that may help you learn the lay of the land a bit. The piece originally appeared in the March/April 2007 issue of Modern Reformation.

Signature Phillip

Mar

8

The sharp edges of truth

Filed Under Apologetics, The Church | 1 Comment

LIFE ISN’T A BUMPER STICKER. That would make a good bumper sticker, wouldn’t it? Whenever I see the one that reads, QUESTION AUTHORITY! I want to respond, “Who are you to tell me what to do?” Another one reads, IF YOU LABEL ME, YOU NEGATE ME. I wonder, “Are you labelling me a ‘labeller’ or a ‘negator’?” Truth rarely fits on an area the size of a bumper sticker. Is it mean and nasty of me to notice?

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Christian Church today. John MacArthur has observed: “In the world of modern evangelicalism it is allowable to advocate the most unconventional, unbiblical doctrine–as long as you afford everyone else the same privilege. About the only thing that is taboo nowadays is the intolerance of those who dare to point out others’ error. Anyone who is bold enough to suggest that someone else’s ideas or doctrines are unsound or unbiblical is dismissed as contentious, divisive, unloving, or unchristian” (Reckless Faith: When the Church Loses Its Will to Discern, Wheaton: Crossway, 1994, p.22).

It’s good to get along with others. No one has a right to be contentious or unloving, even if the truth is at stake. We are commanded to be “peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). Such is the nature of heavenly wisdom. But then was the Apostle Paul sinning when he condemned his opponents in the Galatian churches, by declaring, “…if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:10)? Certainly not!

We all have knives in our homes. In order to keep people from being cut, we don’t throw out the knives or blunt the edges until they are no longer sharp. Rather, we make certain that we use knives for the purposes for which knives were intended to be used. A sharp knife is an essential tool, whether you are a cook or a surgeon. Likewise, the truth has sharp edges. The trouble with sharp edges is that people can get cut. What is most difficult is making sure that we understand where the Word of God has made the edges sharp. Just because a knife is a useful tool doesn’t mean that I sharpen every counter edge or butter knife or spoon to razor sharpness. If we arbitrarily sharpen the edges of faith and practice according to our own whims or experiences or traditions, we are in danger of “teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:9), something our Lord Jesus denounced in the practice of scribes and Pharisees. However, the danger of exalting human tradition above the teaching of Scripture does not mean that we should not have creeds and clear confessions of faith. To say otherwise implies that God was not wise enough to make himself clear. God’s Word does not have dull edges; on the contrary, it is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12).

God forbid that we should stand around arguing about the recipe for bread while men starve outside our door, but if someone mixes cement and offers it as bread, is it mean and intolerant to call attention to the mistake? Is there really a difference between truth and error? If you believe me to be in error, I pray that you would love the truth and love me enough to bring it to my attention. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6). Ouch! That’s sharp!

Feb

28

Does Christianity Have Skeletons in Its Closet?

Filed Under Apologetics, The Resurrection | 1 Comment

I’m sure many of you have been following the claims of moviemaker James Cameron, of Titanic fame, that he will make a movie on the supposed archaelogic find of the bones of Jesus.  I’m sure by know you’ve noticed that even the most liberal and atheistic of media outlet are admitting that the archaelogical find in question is spurious at best.  If you’re interest in reading up more on this topic you will find the following links helpful.

Luke 24:1-12 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.  And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.  And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”  And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.  Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

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