Incarnatio

Review: A Week in the Life of Corinth

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:50:00 +0000

Students of the New Testament know that knowledge of first century Mediterranean culture is of great help in understanding much of what is said in the New Testament documents. This poses something of a problem for many who may desire to read the bible in deeper ways yet have neither the training nor resources to do it. Fortunately, we live in a day when resources intended for the non-specialist are becoming increasingly common. One of those resources is A Week in the Life of Corinth (IVP Academic, 2012), a new book by my one of my teachers, Ben Witherington. The book is a novel set in Corinth in the middle of the first century. It is the story of Nicanor, a freed slave become entrepreneur who finds himself in...

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Imagining Resurrection

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:29:00 +0000

"I believe in the resurrection of the body," with these words countless faithful Christians regularly affirm their hope in the general resurrection of all believers at the return of Christ. But for many the notion of resurrection is fuzzy and foreign. What does it mean to be resurrected? What does a resurrected body look like? Will I have my 60 year old body or my 25 year old body? Will I have to deal with bodily matters that I deal with now? Do I really want a resurrected body? Where will all these new bodies live? These questions and more have abounded for centuries; indeed, such questions are anticipated by the scriptures. In 1 Corinthians 15:35, Paul addresses those who ask, "How are the dead raised? With what kind of...

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Eternal Incarnation

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Our thoughts on the Incarnation often focus exclusively on the birth of Jesus at Christmas time, but in Jesus Ascended: The Meaning of Christ's Continuing Incarnation, Gerrit Scott Dawson points out why the oft neglected doctrine of the Ascension addresses our crucial need for an ongoing incarnation. "Moreover, our salvation depends on his (Christ's) continuing union with us. If the Son of God came to us where we are, but then left us, if he went away and did not take us with him, we would still be lost...For any view of the ascension as Jesus slipping off his humanity is a sentence of condemnation. We cannot be united to him in the Holy Spirit if he is no longer flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone. If the one who...

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Catching a Fresh Vision of Faith

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Mon, 14 May 2012 14:43:00 +0000

You no longer have to go to church to hear about faith. We are constantly surrounded with talk of faith and belief. From Hollywood to popular music; professional sports to political campaigns; the language of faith is everywhere. And in each context, it seems to take on a new meaning. The problem, though, is that a word that can mean anything usually ends up meaning nothing. More importantly, when that happens to a word that comes to us from the heart of the gospel, it is of the greatest importance for the church to reclaim her language by recapturing and defining her words. So, in light of the cultural watering-down of the language of faith, I'd like to offer four reflections on the nature of faith: what it is and what it isn't. Read...

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Panel Review: Saying it Well by Charles Swindoll

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:12:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to take part in a book review panel at Preaching.com. The volume under consideration is Charles Swindoll's new book on preaching, Saying it Well: Touching Others with Your Words (FaithWords, 2012). Swindoll has been preaching for almost 50 years, and anyone who has heard him knows that he is a master of the homiletic art. Saying it Well gives the reader a glimpse at how Swindoll understands and approaches preaching. It's full of practical material; and, unlike many books on homiletics, this one contains a great deal of autobiography: Swindoll teaches about preaching while telling his own story. The book is specifically geared toward preachers but would benefit any public speaker. Be sure to take a...

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Why I Love the United Methodist Church

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:44:00 +0000

General Conference starts today. The weeks leading up to this meeting of the legislative body that speaks for our United Methodist Church, have brought extensive focus on those aspects of our communion that need to be rethought and reformed. This is as it should be, for we are a denomination in crisis. But as General Conference convenes today, I hope we will remember our strengths as we seek to address our weaknesses. There are many reasons to commend and love the United Methodist Church. Here are but a few. Grace that transforms I recall reading John Wesley's A Plain Account of Christian Perfection for the first time. I remember that I was blown away by Wesley's vision of magnanimity...

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Methodism and Politics in the 20th Century

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:47:00 +0000

I'm grateful to the folks at The Institute on Religion and Democracy for sending me a review copy of Mark Tooley's new book Methodism and Politics in the Twentieth Century (Bristol House, 2011). As the title indicates, this volume is about the socio-political witness and activity of the people called Methodists over the course of the last 100 years. The book has a journalistic feel, and (contrary to my expectations) offers a limited amount of commentary. The detailed discussion reflects thorough and well-informed research. Anyone interested in the role of religion in American political history will find this study informative and illuminating. The major theme of the story of Methodism in the 20th century,...

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UMC Must Align Resources with Mission

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 19:09:00 +0000

The 2012 General Conference (GC 2012) of The United Methodist Church (UMC) is only days away, and this quadrennial meeting is not lacking in importance as many issues relating to the future of our denomination will be decided by the delegates in attendance. Among those issues is to what extent the UMC will align its resources with its mission with regard to its official schools of theology. More specifically, GC 2012 will have to decide whether the UMC will maintain its current relationship with Claremont School of Theology, one of our official United Methodist schools of theology. An interfaith seminary? The mission of the United Methodist Church is "to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the...

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Substitution not Abandonment: A Response to Dan Wallace

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:46:00 +0000

Having recently written on Jesus' cry of forsakenness from the cross, I was pleased to see this piece by Al Hsu at Christianity Today that likewise argued against the view that God the Father actually turned his back on Jesus the Son as he hung on the cross. With Hsu, I take the whole of Psalm 22 to be the determinative factor in interpreting Jesus' quote from the first verse of that very Psalm: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Even with this agreement, I want to be clear that I think Hsu is unhelpfully accommodating to those who charge that the crucifixion of Jesus is divine child abuse. Dan Wallace thinks so as well, if not more so, and recently wrote a response to Hsu criticizing him for going soft on a penal...

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Easter Hymn

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:41:00 +0000

Ye choirs of new Jerusalem Your sweetest notes employ The Paschal victory to hymn In strains of holy joy. How Judah's Lion burst his chains, And crushed the serpent's head; And brought with him, from death's domains, The long-imprisoned dead. From hell's devouring jaws the prey Alone our Leader bore; His ransomed hosts pursue their way Where he hath gone before. Triumphant in his glory now His sceptre ruleth all, Earth, heaven, and hell before him bow, And at his footstool fall. While joyful thus his praise we sing, His mercy we implore, Into his palace bright to bring And keep us evermore. All glory to the Father be, All glory to the Son, All glory, Holy Ghost, to thee, While endless ages run. Alleluia!...

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The Day after Jesus Died

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:49:00 +0000

I heard the question raised this morning as to what Jesus' followers were thinking the day after he was crucified. And the question got me to thinking about the biblical evidence that might give us insight as to how Jesus' closest followers perceived his death at the hands of the Romans. None of the canonical gospels provide extensive information about the activity of the disciples the day between the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The gospels basically move from the burial of Jesus on Friday to the events surrounding his resurrection on Sunday. Luke indicates that after Jesus was buried, his friends rested on the Sabbath in accord with the commandment (26:56). Not much to go on there. After the initial...

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Culture and Communication

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:26:00 +0000

"...the clearest way to see through a culture is to attend to its tools for conversation. I might add that my interest in this point of view was first stirred by a prophet far more formidable than McLuhan, more ancient than Plato. In studying the Bible as a young man, I found intimations of the idea that forms of media favor particular kinds of content and therefore are capable of taking command of a culture. I refer specifically to the Decalogue, the Second Commandment of which prohibits the Israelites from making concrete images of anything. "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth." I wondered then, as so...

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Incarnation and Incorruption

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 18:30:00 +0000

As this Holy Week progresses toward Good Friday and then next week to Easter morning, I'm inclined to share this excerpt from Athansius' On the Incarnation, a book that continually nourishes my soul and refreshes me. Athansius writes: "Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death in place of all and offered it to the Father. This he did out of sheer love for us, so that in His death all might die, and the law of death thereby be abolished because, when He had fulfilled in His body that for which it was appointed, it was thereafter voided of its power for men. This He did that He might turn again to incorruption men who had turned back to corruption,...

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Did the Father Really Turn His Back on Jesus?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:49:00 +0000

For many of us the season of Lent provides an opportunity to reflect more intentionally and more carefully on the meaning and significance of Jesus' death and resurrection. Our thoughts often turn to the passion narratives and particularly to the words that Jesus uttered as he suffered. In Matthew's gospel, the final words of Jesus before his death are the loud cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Commonly referred to as "the cry of dereliction", these words remind us that Jesus suffered more greatly than we can imagine. It is a bittersweet reminder of the depth of his passionate love for us. One common interpretation of this saying suggests that, at this very moment, God the Father abandoned God the Son. Unable to look...

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Judas: Friend of Jesus?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:35:00 +0000

Jesus is never short on surprising things to say. One such thing comes at the moment he is betrayed by Judas. Matthew 26:50 reads, "Jesus said to him, "Friend, do what you came to do." Friend? Does Jesus really address the one responsible for betraying him to those plotting his cruel destruction as "friend"? What do we do with that? Well-known preacher and teacher Thomas G. Long suggests that Jesus is speaking ironically and argues that "friend", in the Gospel of Matthew, "means something like 'Buster' and is itself no term of endearment" (Matthew, WJK, 305). He references Matthew 20:13 and 22:12 as other examples in the Gospel where "friend" is used ironically to mean something other than the way it is normally used....

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Phoebe's Role in Rome: Further thoughts on "Masculine" Christianity

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:49:00 +0000

Continuing to reflect on the debate surrounding the alleged "masculine feel" of Christianity, my thoughts have several times turned to the role played by Phoebe in the delivery of Paul's letter to the Romans and, perhaps, in instructing the Romans with regard to the apostle's most famous epistle. I've put off writing on the matter, but this recent post from Mike Bird motivated me to jot down a few thoughts. Bird points to a letter of Cicero, in which the great Roman orator said: "In these letters, indeed, I am urgently pressed by you to send answers, but what renders me rather dilatory in this respect the difficulty of finding a trustworthy carrier. How few of these gentry are able to convey a letter rather weightier than usual...

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Reclaiming Revelation

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:59:00 +0000

Having written recently on the importance of Revelation for recapturing an eschatology of hope, I was excited to see this post from friend, pastor, and eschatologian Chad Brooks on "Reclaiming Revelation in the Year the World Will End." Chad writes: Unless you have been under a rock for the last month, one of the revolving themes in culture this year are predictions regarding 2012 being end of life as we know it. Various television channels, movies, blog posts, and even respectable news outlets are giving attention to the phenomenon. As pastors, those who teach the word of God and lead faith communities, we need to be engaged in conversation within the wider arena. If the end truly belongs to anyone, it belongs to the...

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Infanticide & Idolatry

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:14:00 +0000

The shocking news this week is that two (so-called) ethicists have published a paper in which they argue that the killing of newborn babies is morally acceptable because infants are not "actual persons" and "do not have a 'moral right to life.'" The article, titled "After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?" and published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Medical Ethics, has recieved enthusiastic and extensive criticism. I thought about joining the voices of critique to argue for the notorious wickedness of this outlandish proposal, but such critiques abound. So instead I offer this reflection from the scriptures. The kings of Judah are categorized in scripture in terms of whether "they did what was...

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Schweitzer's Significance

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:11:00 +0000

It is impossible to study the history of New Testament scholarship for long without encountering the work of Albert Schweitzer and being confronted with his importance for the discipline, especially with regard to Pauline studies. And sometimes you come across such remarkable praise of a person's work that it is striking and makes the point more clearly than you've heard it made before. Reading Robert Jewett's Paul's Anthropological Terms last night, I came across just such praise and thought I would share it here. Jewett says, Schweitzer's extraordinary thesis throws light on almost every aspect of Paul's theology. It accepts and makes sense out of the Pauline understanding of the body in a way which no earlier...

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Wrap-up from the Wesleyan Theological Society

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 13:43:00 +0000

I've been a member of the Wesleyan Theological Society (WTS) for several years but only attended the annual meeting of the Society for the first time over the weekend. We met in Nashville on Friday and Saturday. I had a great time renewing old friendships and making new ones. I was also glad to meet in person several people with whom I've only had electronic or social media communication. It was a fun and memorable weekend. Here are a few reasons why: 1. Noble quotes - One person who made it a memorable meeting is Dr. Thomas Noble, who presented a very interesting paper in one of the Systematic Theology sessions. At the conclusion of the session, after a discussion on, among other things, whether God can truly...

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Grace is not a substance

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:31:00 +0000

New Testament scholar Craig Blomberg recently wrote on the different understandings of grace as irresistible as opposed to prevenient. After describing the difficulty that many have with "limited atonement," namely that it means "Christ’s death went for naught for those who do not repent," he goes on to suggest that prevenient grace may have a similar problem: "What if the problem with prevenient grace is parallel? Would God extend sufficient (but resistible) grace to those he knew would forever resist and reject it? Wouldn’t that just be a waste?" Blomberg is a fine scholar and has contributed in a variety of ways to sound biblical scholarship. Here I would raise a question, though. He seems to be speaking of grace as if it were a...

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Is Christianity Masculine? A Biblical Perspective

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:15:00 +0000

The web has been buzzing in recent weeks over the controversial issue as to whether Christianity is a "masculine" religion. Mark Driscoll jump-started the current round in an old debate during a podcast interview with Justin Brierley in which Driscoll illegitimately criticized British Christianity as being characterized by a feminine ministry. Driscoll added insult to injury by criticizing Brierley's wife, who is a pastor. Summaries of Driscoll's comments are available elsewhere; so I'll not describe them in detail here. Suffice it to say that Driscoll carelessly suggested that the sort of thinking that leads to women holding positions of ministry leadership is related to a variety of deficient views on atonement, hell, and, not least,...

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John Wesley on Self-Denial: A Reflection for Ash Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day in Lent. To mark the beginning of this season in the Church year, here is a quote from John Wesley from his sermon on "Self-Denial," "The denying ourselves and the taking up our cross, in the full extent of the expression, is not a thing of small concern: It is not expedient only, as are some of the circumstantials of religion; but it is absolutely, indispensably necessary, either to our becoming or continuing his disciples. It is absolutely necessary, in the very nature of the thing, to our coming after Him and following Him; insomuch that, as far as we do not practise it, we are not his disciples. If we do not continually deny ourselves, we do not learn of Him, but of other masters. If we do not...

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A Narrative Theology of Penal Substitution

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:57:00 +0000

One common objection to the penal substitutionary understanding of the atonement is that it cannot be found articulated in the gospels. I find this claim to be unpersuasive, not least because of Jesus' declaration that he came to offer himself a ransom in place of the many (Mark 10:45). Further, the account of Jesus taking the place of Barabbas strikes me as a rather straightforward narrative describing how the innocent Jesus took the penalty of the guilty criminal, who walked away with his life a free man. Do not the gospel writers intend their readers to understand that what is true of Barabbas is also true of all, that the Son of God has taken our penalty in our place? This is precisely what is argued by Adam Hamilton in his...

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Do You Believe in an Historical Adam?

noreply@blogger.com (Matt O'Reilly) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:50:00 +0000

That's the question floating around the internet as of late. The issue has been brought to our attention once again with the publication of Peter Enns' new book, The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn't Say about Human Origins, in which Enns argues that an evolutionary worldview doesn't allow for an historical Adam. As an interesting aside, I recall one of my seminary profs suggesting alternatively that theistic evolution was entirely compatible with an historical view of Adam, because there had to have been a first human being. The discussion of the book and the debate over the historical Adam have, not surprisingly, begun to float around the blogosphere. Peter Leithart has questioned Enns' reading of Genesis on...

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