Reflections

The Power Of the Resurrection

2018-04-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Philippians 3:

10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

The phrase "that by any means possible" in verse 11 captures the committed desperation of the apostle Paul to attain resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15 provides the basis and support for Paul's view that the resurrection is true and essential to the Christian hope of eternal life. He views the resurrection as not only an event and as verifiable history (1 Corinthians 15:5-7) but also as a source of power (Philippians 3:10); a power that is available to us and that can be absorbed by us.

The presence of the Sun is a verifiable fact but some people have come to realise that it also has power; power that is available to us and that can be absorbed by us using machinery that includes solar panels. Even though the power of the Sun is available to everyone under the Sun, not everyone absorbs the power of Sun through solar power machinery. Analogously, the power of the resurrection is available to everyone but it takes the presence of faith to access, absorb and process the power. The apostle Paul is keen to do just that.

What is the power of the resurrection?

The power of the resurrection is certainly multi-faceted and varied but it at least means a couple of things:

It is the power to give life after death:

Matthew 28 is one those passages that detail the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. But before Matthew 28 is chapter 27 that talks about the death of the Lord Jesus. The power of the resurrection is that death is not the last chapter. The sway of sin does not extend beyond the grave for a follower of the Lord Jesus. The power of the resurrection reaches to the depths of the grave, destroys it and bring life form death- both physically and spiritually. The Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:24-25 and the apostle Paul in Galatians 5:24 describe the duty of a follower of the Lord Jesus to die to sinful self daily so that the power of the resurrection can bring life in Christ (Galatians 2:20). It might be in this backdrop that Paul says "and may share (κοινωνίαν: share, participate, fellowship) his sufferings, becoming like him in his death".

It is the power to achieve the impossible:

The herodians, pharisees and sadducees held the Lord Jesus on false charges and insisted on crucifying Him. The romans flogged him, paraded Him though the city and then nailed Him on a cross to bleed and die. The lifeless body of the Messiah lodged in a guarded tomb seemed like a completed work for everyone who killed Christ. It would have seemed impossible to them that the Lord Jesus would ever show up in flesh and breath. But indeed the power of the resurrection made it possible to achieve the impossible. It gives us power to defy limitations, elevate above constraints and reach for the incredible.

A Basic Introduction to the Book of Haggai

2016-08-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

For a basic introduction to the Biblical history of Israel click here.

Main Theme: Build the house of God so He would be glorified (1:8)

Background:

- In 586 B.C, the Babylonians destroyed the temple in Jerusalem (built by Solomon)
- Around 540 B.C, the Persians conquered Babylon and Judah (who were under Babylon)
- Around 538 B.C, a group of Judahites under the leadership of Zerubbabel return from exile into Jerusalem to (re)build a temple for God.
- Around 520 B.C, after temple construction work was stagnant for years, Haggai encourages God's people to build the house of God.

Outline:

Haggai's first message:

People lack blessing when God's house of neglected (1:3-6)
Build the house of God so He would be glorified (1:7-11)
People obey the word of God (1:12-15)

Haggai's second message:

God will bless this second temple (2:1-9)

Haggai's third message:

Blessing on the Lord even on unrighteous (unclean) people (2:10-19)

Haggai's fourth message:

God's judgement on the nations (2:20-22)
God chooses Zerubbabel (2:23)

A Basic Introduction to the Biblical History of Israel

2016-07-31T10:40:00.000-07:00

Every book in the Old Testament of the Bible can be placed within this broad outline of the Biblical history of Israel.

Around 1700 B.C, God chose Abraham and then one of his sons Issac and then one of Issac's sons Jacob to be the covenant people of God; they were to bring blessing to the world.
Jacob's twelve children (Israel) became great in number (lakhs) in Egypt.
Around 1446 B.C, Israel left Egypt to settle in Canaan; they were governed by twelve judges in Canaan
Around 1050 B.C, Israel had their first king Saul, followed by king David and then king Solomon who built a temple for God in Jerusalem.
During the reign of Solomon's son Rehoboam, the nation of Israel was split into the Northern kingdom (Israel, ten of the twelve Israelite tribes) and the Southern kingdom (Judah, two tribes)
In 727 B.C, Assyria, invaded and brutally destroyed Israel (Northern kingdom).
In 587 B.C, Babylon invaded and destroyed Judah (Southern kingdom); they also destroyed the temple in Jerusalem.
Around 540 B.C, Persia captured Babylon and by extension Judah.
During Babylonian and Persian rule of Judah (the Judahite exile), four groups of Israelites return to Judah to rebuild Jerusalem:

The first group, under the leadership of Sheshbazzar, who bring back temple utensils to Jerusalem.
The second group, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, build a temple in Jerusalem (the second temple, present during the time of the Lord Jesus)
The third group, under the leadership of Ezra, revive the people and re-ignite covenant love to God.
The fourth group, under the leadership of Nehemiah, rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Note: There's some discussion that Sheshbazzar and Zerubbabel could be the same person

Pointers toward additional study:

1) What is the relationship between historical Israel and the present Church (Romans 11)

A Basic Introduction to the Book of Nahum

2016-07-24T08:50:00.002-07:00

Author: Nahum, from Elkosh (difficult place to track down)

Date: Between 663 B.C and 612 B.C

Background:

During Rehoboam's (Solomon's son) reign the nation of Israel is divided into the northern kingdom (Israel, 10 tribes) and the southern kingdom (Judah, 2 tribes). (~975 B.C)
Jonah preached in Nineveh, the capital of Assyria (north of Israel), and the people of Nineveh repented. (~ between 780 B.C and 740 B.C)
In 727 B.C Assyria brutally invaded and destroyed Israel.
About 150 years after Jonah's time and in the face of Assyrian torment of Judah, Nahum prophecies the destruction of Nineveh and comfort for Judah.

Main Themes:

The nature of God:

God is jealous and avenging (1:1)
God is slow to anger, powerful and just (1:2),
God's wrath is unbearable (1:6)

The pride and destruction of Nineveh (Chapter 2 & 3)

Pointers toward deeper study:

The juxtaposition of God's mercy in Jonah and judgement in Nahum on the same place (Nineveh)

Understanding the Trinity using Object Oriented Design-2

2016-05-30T03:59:00.000-07:00

Modeling Immutability using Object Oriented Design:

The Bible teaches that God does not change. Malachi 3:6 says:

"For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed."

This means that God is immutable- his attributes do not change. In Object oriented design, immutability is modeled using the final keyword. An attribute that is qualified as being final cannot be changed by objects or other attributes in the class. Previously, we modeled the Trinity as being three objects of one class. The attributes would, naturally, be defined in the class as:

Class God {

final <attrubute>;

}

There seem to be four import attributes of God that are described, in the Bible, as being unchanging. They are:

1) Love: "...I have loved you with an everlasting love..." Jeremiah 31:3

God loves His people with a love that does not change. It remains forever and precedes (and causes)
love towards God in His people (I John 4:19).

2) Faithfulness: "if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself." II Timothy 2:13

God is eternally faithful to His being and His covenants- His faithfulness does not change. God's faithfulness is connected to His being (personality/identity) and also His love (Deuteronomy 7:9)

3) Mercy: "For the LORD is good; his steadfast love[translated mercy in other translations and other places in the OT] endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." Psalm 100:5

God's mercy remains forever and His children who are dependent on it are eternally secure (John 10:28)

4) Word: "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever." (Isaiah 40:8 and I Peter 1:25)

God's word does not change. It will prevail over time, over people and circumstances. (It is an interesting to study the immutability of God's Word within frameworks of Textual Criticism)

Conclusions:

The immutability of God is frightening for the rebel cannot win over it (Acts 26:14) and assuring for the humble who depend on His mercy (John 10:28).

Other Interesting passage(s) regarding God's immutability:
1) Hebrews 6:17 "...the unchangeable character of His purpose..."

Understanding the Trinity using Object Oriented Design

2016-04-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

God is an existential reality who is to be understood, savored and worshiped. The Bible makes it clear that the supreme revelation of God is in the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3). People have sought to understand and express realities about God through timeless mediums of prose, poetry, music, paintings, sculptures, signs..etc. These expression mediums, though limited, can help express insights into aspects about God. One of the most interesting yet complex realities about God is His self-identification as being triune. The orthodox understanding of the Trinity is:

One God as three distinct co-substantial, co-eternal persons.

While the definition is fairly straight-forward, it is an immensely difficult thing to comprehend because our mind searches for analogies, examples and illustrations that are hard to find. Some illustrations are unhelpful and most spill over into the modalist heresy.

Object oriented design is a conceptual means of modeling abstracts, realisms and expressing programmatic constructs. It is widely used in designing and implementing software systems. Could object oriented concepts offer insights into understanding the doctrine of Trinity?

Here's an attempt:

public Class God { /* attributes described in the Bible */ }

/* The three statements below are triggered by self- realization, outside of time and executed concurrently */

TheFather = new God();
TheSon = new God();
TheHolySpirit = new God();

Note: It is not too difficult to model self-realization, time-independency and concurrency

The pseudo-code captures:

(1) The distinctness of the three persons in the Trinity. When one processes the pseudo-code above, it is impossible to mis-speak one person being the same as the other.
(2) The attributes and substance of all three persons is the same.
(3) The possibility for three persons to perform different (Son praying to the Father) and same (Creation: Genesis 1, John 1:1-3) acts.
(4) The feasibility of an open system where the doctrine of the Trinity is not implausible.

Other consideration(s):

1) Is John 3:16 a reason to consider TheSon as a subclass of TheFather (still triggered by self-realization, outside of time)?
2) Representing Hypostatic Union within this illustration matrix would be an interesting study.

Sojourners and Exiles in a Kingdom Perspective

2015-12-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

There has been a continued stream of Christian theology that views Christ's work on the cross as being kingdom oriented towards cosmic reconciliation and societal renewal through Christian life and work. It is based heavily on the following verses:

(i) "Your kingdom come..." Matt 6:10
(ii) "...behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you..." Luke 17:21
(iii) "that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." Roman 8:21
(iv) "and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" Colossians 1:21

The perspective that these verses could create is that God's kingdom is brought to this world through individual regeneration and Christian community affecting creation, creative work and all aspects of human enterprise. As Peter writes to the Church in I Peter 2:11, he uses language that might seem contradicting to this kingdom perspective.

I Petr 2:11 "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul."

Peter uses the adjectives sojourners (παροίκους) and exiles (παρεπιδήμους) in relation to the Church. This is a recurring theme in I Peter (1:1 παρεπιδήμοις, 1:17 παροικίας) and has a clear correlation to Hebrews 11. In a kingdom oriented perspective where Christian life and work affects all aspects of human enterprise, it is possible to look at I Peter 2:11 as being in tension with such a perspective. But is it?

Other scriptural references to being aliens: Early Christian sermons in the Acts of the Apostles have clear reference to being sojourners and so do the words of the Lord Jesus and Paul's writings. A couple of examples are:

(i) In the words of the Lord Jesus: "...the world has hated them because they are not of the world" John 17:14
(ii) In the words of Paul: "But our citizenship is in heaven..." Philippians 3:20

Being an exile and a sojourner in a world being redeemed: How is it possible that the Bible talks about Christian life and work permeating society and yet calls Christians sojourners and exiles. The key and model seems to be in a word spoken by God through the prophet Jeremiah.

"But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." Jeremiah 29:7

It seems like God calls His people to seek for the welfare of the world through personal regeneration and community outreach while considering themselves travelers and exiles from their real kingdom where Christ is the King and people are full of joy.

The Apostles' creed in Telugu

2015-09-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

A slightly modified version of the apostles' creed in Telugu:

అపొస్తలుల విశ్వాస ప్రమాణము

ఆకాశమును భూమిని సృష్టించిన, సర్వశక్తిగల తండ్రిఆయిన దేవునిలో

మరియు తన అద్వితీయ కుమారుడు, మన ప్రభువైన, యేసు క్రీస్తులో

నేను విశ్వసించుచున్నాను

ఆయన (యేసు క్రీస్తు) పరిశుద్దాత్మ ద్వారా జన్మించి, కన్య మరియకు పుట్టెను,

పొ౦తి పిలాతు కింద శ్రమపడేను; సిలువ వేయబడి, మరణించి, సమాధి చేయబడెను. మూడవ రోజు మృతులలోనుండి లేచెను

పరలోకానికి ఆరోహణుడై, దేవుని కుడిపార్శ్వమున కూర్చుండెను

అక్కడనుండి సజీవులకును, మృతులకును తీర్పుతీర్చుటకు ఆయన వచ్చును

పరిశుద్దాత్మలో నేను విశ్వసించుచుచున్నాను

పరిశుద్ధుల సమాజమైన, పరిశుద్ధమైన సార్వత్రిక సంఘములో నేను విశ్వసించుచున్నాను

పాపక్షమాపణలో, శరీరం యొక్క పునరుత్థానంలో, నిత్యజీవితంలో నేను విశ్వసించుచున్నాను.

ఆమెన్.

A broad categorization of Indian Christian theologians (1850-1950)

2015-08-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

India has a rich heritage in many fields including Christian theology. It precedes in time the Reformation, the Great Schism and the Enlightenment. There was Christian presence and theology as early as the first few centuries A.D, if not the first century itself. Understandably, the last century and a half (particularly 1850-1950) have had the most impact on the current state of Christian thought, practice and theology. A survey of Indian Christian theologians of this time can be aided by a categorization that explains their broad affiliation and emphases. Obviously, using a broad brush like this only helps towards making initial impressions and cannot be used to pigeonhole.

(For this categorization, the word Christian is used for all theologians who identified themselves as Christians and whose pursuit was to know the Lord Jesus through the Bible. This does not mean that their theologies conform to Orthodoxy and as such are open to critical analysis)

I) The contextualizing group: These were theologians who emphasized the need for the Indian Church to be distinctly Indian in practice but Biblical in faith and doctrine. They contributed a significant amount of scholarship during the late 1800s and early 1900s. They are characterized by a devoted study of texts regarded as traditional Indian scriptures and had varying degrees of interposing those texts to Biblical revelation.

Emphases:

There is a noticeable streak of thought in their writings that world views and traditions other than those contained in the Bible can contribute towards the search for (Biblical) Truth. There is also an emphasis on nationalism and God's kingdom building through cultural and social engagement.

Theologians:

Prominent names in this group include M.M. Thomas, Raimon Pannikar, Kaj Baago, J. N. Farquhar, V.Chakkarai, P. Chenchiah, A.J Appasamy, K.C. Banerjea and P.D. Devanandan. Some of these theologians were trained and had advanced degrees in theology; others had very little formal theological training but their theological curiosity, study and grasp coupled with their social engagement and influence made an impact on Indian Christian thought.

II) The ecumenical/Institutional Church group: Theologians in this category have written within the context of their institutional organization. The Christian history in India until this day has three branches of Institutional Church organization (that have had engagement with Protestant/Evangelical theology). The first branch is the Mar Thoma Church, the second branch is the ecumenical Church of South&North India (CSI & CNI). The third are Churches that don't have strong organizational super structures but have close affiliation (mostly in doctrine and practice) to mainline protestant denominations (Baptist, Methodist, and few indigenous movements)

Emphases:

Prominent themes in their writings are Church life, Theological distinctives, Mission of the Church.

Theologians:

Prominent names in this group include Lesslie Newbigin, Victor Premasagar.

III) The Dalit/Subaltern theology group: This has gained prominence in the late 1900s when it was recognized that a vast majority of Christians are Dalits (conservative estimates at 60%, generous estimates at 80%). Theologians in this category have written in a context that serves and supports Dalit themes and ideology within the Church.

Emphases:
Identity in Christ, Liberation theology, Empowerment.

Theologians:

Prominent names in this group include A.P Nirmal, V.Devashayam, George Oommen, M. Azariah, James Massey.

Concluding remarks:

The trajectory of predominance in Indian Christian theology has more or less followed the numbered categorization above. It started out to be predominantly contextualizing and rethinking. The yeoman ecumenical effort (CNI and CSI) in the early-mid 1900s saw a rise of Institutional theology and the most recent past has made Subaltern theology the most relevant. Almost all areas of Indian Christian life and work today, when seen through the lens of subaltern liberation, seem to be permeated with empowerment themes. It would be interesting to see how a theological work that is driven by the glory of God, contextually-based, empowerment-themed, Gospel-oriented and Kingdom-directed would impact the Indian Church today.

Acts 17:22 "So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said..."

References:

[1] James Massey (1 January 2013). Rethinking Theology in India for the 21st Century. Manohar Publications. ISBN 978-81-7304-976-7.

[2] The Gospel in a Pluralist Society. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. 1989. ISBN 978-2-8254-0971-8.

[3] V. Devasahayam (1997). Doing Dalit Theology in Biblical Key. Department of Research and Publications, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute.

[4] Revd Dr Peniel Rajkumar (28 June 2013). Dalit Theology and Dalit Liberation: Problems, Paradigms and Possibilities. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 8–. ISBN 978-1-4094-8064-8.

[5] James Massey (1994). Indigenous People: Dalits : Dalit Issues in Today's Theological Debate. Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. ISBN 978-81-7214-154-7.
[6] Sunand Sumithra (1990). Christian Theology from an Indian Perspective. Theological Book Trust.

(References) Tracing the history of the translation of the Bible into the Telugu language-5

2015-08-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Please see Part 1 here (please note the disclaimer at the top).
Please see Part 2 here
Please see Part 3 here
Please see Part 4 here

These notes and references are provided for deeper study/cross-verification on this phase of studying the translation history of the Telugu Bible.

General notes:

In early documents, Telugu is referred to as Telinga or Warugu.
MS stands for manuscript and MSS stands for manuscripts.

Pointers to navigate through references:

Initial translation work:

Telugu was thought to be a secondary language and that Telugu speaking people knew Tamil [1]
In 1732/34 the first translation into Telugu was completed by Benjamin Schultze [1]. He compiled the first book on Telugu Grammar. A picture of the grammar book can be found at [4]and the manuscript at [5] Texts used by Schultze [2] [6]. His translation was never printed and might be somewhere in Halle [8].
Schultze was succeded by John Philip Fabricus. His life is described in a little detail in [3].

Cran and Des Granges

Cran and Des Granges early life:[11]. They had access to a grammar but could not afford to buy the dictionary.[10]
DesGranges translation of Matthew Mark and Luke is available at [14] and his translation of Mark is available at [15]. He died on 12^th July 1810 at the age of 30 [13].
Ananda Rayer was working ahead of the revision process and came up to I Corinthians by 1810 [13]
The Serampore society translated into Telugu the four Gospels by 1807 before Ananda Rayer came to Serampore in 1808 [28]
By 1809, a Telugu (Telinga) version of the NT was prepared in Serampore, lost in the fire of 1812 and prepared anew and printed in 1817-18. After printing the Pentatuch in 1821, the work of translating into Telugu was handed over to the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society. [29]. The 1818 version: [31]

Pritchett, Gordon and Serampore

John Gordon reached Vishakhapatnam in March 1810. He Continued the work of translating the NT with the help of Ananda Rayer and was helped by Edward Pritchett [21]. In 1818 the NT was printed in its entirely for the first time. Pritchett was instrumental in the revision process. Pritchett reached Visakhapatnam in 1812.
Edward Pritchett translated the entire NT by 1818/1819 [17]
John Gordon translated the entire NT by 1822 [18]
In 1835 J.W Gordon, son of John Gordon came to Vizag. [22]
Online version of 1882 version of the Telugu Bible: [20]
Gordon and Pritchett appear to have used the English Authorized version [23] but [26], [27] have citations that Pritchett used the original Greek.
Formation of Madras Bible Society [40]
The Madras Bible Society printed the NT, Genesis, 20 chapters of Exodus and Psalms. The rest were available by not printed for 12-14 years [25]
Madras Bible Society found the Serampore version inferior and unusable [41]
After Pritchett and Gordon, Hay becomes crucial to translation [32]
In 1844 a committee is formed with Wardlaw as the Secretary. IN 1856 the first edition is published, in 1859 the send edition is published [33].
New Revision committee formed under Dr. Jacob Chamberlin in 1893. Committee members as of 1879: Jewett, Chamberlin, Ratnam, Arden, Schmidt…etc. [35]
John Hay revised the Pritchett translation because of criticism from A.V Timpany [24]
Madras Society was instructed to use the TR [43], Hay and Wardlaw resisted it [44].
Chamberlain had a full preaching schedule in addition to helping in translation [42].
Jewett used the Sanskrit version and a German version [29]
At some point Hay and Wardlaw’s translation was accorded to the Textus Receptus [12]
Books translated by Gordon: [36]

References:

[1] Herbert Marsh (1812). An Inquiry Into the Consequences of Neglecting to Give the Prayer Book with the Bible: Interspersed with Remarks on Some Late Speeches at Cambridge and Other Important Matter Relative to the British and Foreign Bible Society. Deighton, Nicholson, and Barrett. pp. 37–.

[2] British and Foreign Bible Society (1828). A Protest against the judgment pronounced by a writer in the Quarterly Review upon the character and conduct of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By another Reviewer. pp. 14–.

[3] Various (1878). The Church Missionary Intelligencer, A Monthly Journal of Missionary Information. Vol. IX. pp. 114–.

[4] https://twitter.com/coffeedonatus/status/586868526964723712 (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[5] http://www.abaa.org/book/649673444?aid=avialibri (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[6] British and Foreign Bible Society (1828). A Protest against the judgment pronounced by a writer in the Quarterly Review upon the character and conduct of the British and Foreign Bible Society. By another Reviewer. pp. 14–.

[7] John McClintock; James Strong (1889). Cyclopædia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper & Brothers. pp. 241–.

[8] Herbert Marsh (1812). An Inquiry Into the Consequences of Neglecting to Give the Prayer Book with the Bible: Interspersed with Remarks on Some Late Speeches at Cambridge and Other Important Matter Relative to the British and Foreign Bible Society. Deighton, Nicholson, and Barrett. pp. 2–.

[9] Martin Tamcke; Gladson Jathanna (2012). Construction of the Other, Identification of the Self: German Mission in India. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 38–. ISBN 978-3-643-90260-3.

[10] London Missionary Society (1804). Transactions of the Missionary Society. T. Williams. pp. 378–.

[11] South India missionary conference (1880). The Missionary conference: south India and Ceylon, 1879. pp. 285–.

[12] John McClintock; James Strong (1881). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper. pp. 241–.

[13] The Missionary Herald at Home and Abroad. 1919. pp. 1–.

[14] BLL01000333906 ; British National Library

[15] Augustus Desgranges (1812). Gospel of St. Mark in the Telinga.

[16] George Drach; Calvin F. Kuder (1914). The Telugu Mission of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America: Containing a Biography of the Rev. Christian Frederick Heyer, M. D. General council publication house. pp. 191–.

[17] W. H. Carey (1850). Oriental Christian Biography, Containing Biographical Sketches of Distinguished Christians who Have Lived and Died in the East. J. Thomas. Baptist Mission Press. pp. 329–.

[18] William Brown (1823). The History of the Propagation of Christianity Among the Heathen Since the Reformation: In Two Volumes. Fullarton. pp. 679–.

[19] http://gochristianhelps.com/iccm/telugu/teluhist.htm (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[20] http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.31175002385659;view=1up;seq=9 (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[21] Richard Lovett (1899). The history of the London Missionary Society, 1795-1895. H. Frowde. pp. 38–.

[22] South India missionary conference (1880). The Missionary conference: south India and Ceylon, 1879. pp. 288–.

[23] South India missionary conference (1880). The Missionary conference: south India and Ceylon, 1879. pp. 349–.

[24] https://ia700604.us.archive.org/5/items/cihm_49088/cihm_49088.pdf

[25] The Baptist Missionary Magazine. Board of Managers, Baptist General Convention. 1841. pp. 301–.

[26] British Museum. Department of Printed Books (1899). Catalogue of Printed Books: New Testament. W. Clowes. pp. 1–

[27] The London Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Lettres, Arts, Sciences, Etc. H. Colburn. 1820. pp. 14–.

[28] The Anti-Jacobin Review and Magazine Or Monthly Political and Literary Censor. pp. 266–.

[29] The Baptist Missionary Magazine. Board of Managers, Baptist General Convention. 1836. pp. 150–.

[30] John McClintock; James Strong (1894). Cyclopaedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Harper. pp. 241–.

[31] http://www.worldcat.org/title/holy-bible-containing-the-old-and-new-testaments/oclc/61597631 (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[32] Various (1882). The Seventy-eighth Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society: M.DCCC.LXXXII. with an Appendix and A List of Subscribers and Benefactors. pp. 375–.

[33] The Scottish Congregational Magazine. 1873. pp. 117–.

[34] American Bible Society (1894). Annual Report of the American Bible Society. American Bible Society. pp. 36–.

[35] South India missionary conference (1880). The Missionary conference: south India and Ceylon, 1879. pp. 349–.

[36] Missionary Register. Seeley, Jackson, & Halliday. 1828. pp. 423–.

[37] The Missionary Herald. Board. 1825. pp. 393–.

[38] THE FORTY-SIXTH REPORT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 1850. pp. 2–.

[39] http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b246893;view=1up;seq=7 (Last accessed: August 14 2015)

[40] South India missionary conference (1880). The Missionary conference: south India and Ceylon, 1879. pp. 344–.

[41] George Drach; Calvin F. Kuder (1914). The Telugu Mission of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America: Containing a Biography of the Rev. Christian Frederick Heyer, M. D. General council publication house. pp. 191–.

[42] Gerald H. Anderson (1999). Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 718–. ISBN 978-0-8028-4680-8.

[43] M. DCCC. LXVI. (1866). the sixty-second report. pp. 166–.

[44] THE FORTY-SIXTH REPORT OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. 1850. pp. 2–.

Tracing the history of the translation of the Bible into the Telugu language-4

2015-08-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

Please see Part 1 here (please note the disclaimer at the top).
Please see Part 2 here
Please see Part 3 here

Consolidation of translation groups:

The Madras (Auxiliary) Bible Society was formed on 5th May 1820. There seems to be general agreement among the translation groups to yield to the direction of the Madras Bible Society regarding the future of Telugu Bible translation. The immediate concern for the society was to study and determine how the three groups of translation effort (Gordon, Pritchett and Serampore) could be reconciled and merged. The society concluded that the Serampore version was inferior to the other two and unusable. Based on this, and the introduction in today's Telugu Bible, people that ascribe their Telugu Bible to the work of William Carey are misguided. The next task of merging the work of Gordon and Pritchett took many decades and multiple committees.

Major contributors in the Society:

John Hay led much of the effort as the chief translator. Records indicate his strenuous (regularly working on the translation from 3 AM to 3 PM), detailed, sustained work over many decades. Hay was assisted by John Smith Wardlaw. Jacob Chamberlain, an American Reformed believer in the Lord Jesus, led the translation effort in the late 1800s in addition to a full evangelistic schedule (preaching 739 times in 1871). Lyman Jewett, an American Baptist believer in the Lord Jesus, also contributed using a Sanskrit version and a German translation. Other contributors include M.Ratnam, A.H Arden, H.C Schmidt, J. Clay, P. Jagganadam, A.V Timpany, F.N Alexander and E. Lewis (from "The missionary conference: South India and Ceylon, 1879 v2").

Issues faced by the committees:

The two predominant issues were:

Identifying appropriate manuscripts: There were instructions to the society to adhere to the Textus Receptus but Hay and Wardlaw particularly resisted it. Merely thirty five years after the discovery of the Codex sinaiticus, Hay was using the Greek versions of Tischendorf and Lachmann.
Translating terms pertaining to Baptism: There was lively discussion around which telugu terms accurately capture Baptism. A.V Timpany detailed many of the problems (which incidentally still are relevant) here.

This captures translation effort until about 1905. For developments since 1905, access to recent journals are required, which is being pursued. If (or when) access is obtained, the next phase of this search will continue, Lord willing.

Concluding remarks for this phase of the study:

The 1905 publication of the Telugu Bible by the Madras Society is based on the Received Text (for the NT). Today's published versions is not- it would be interesting to find out details on this shift.
Bible translation has always been about making the Bible readable for the common man- this was true for the King James Version, the English Standard Version and for the Telugu Bible. Unfortunately, this is may no longer be true for the Telugu Bible. Today's Telugu Bible requires not only the teacher explaining terms but also restructuring sentences to make them understandable. There is a noticeable disparity between spoken language (regular conversations, News, public addresses) and today's Telugu Bible language structure and some terminology. It might be time to revise the language taking into account the complex current Telugu dialects network- a Christian Telugu linguist would have better insights into this.

Tracing the history of the translation of the Bible into the Telugu language-3

2015-07-26T20:43:00.001-07:00

Please see Part 1 here (please note the disclaimer at the top).
Please see Part 2 here

After the death of Des Granges, three branches of Telugu translation work emerged: (i) Pritchett 's translation (ii) Gordon's translation and (iii) Serampore translation.

Augustus Des Granges, regarded as a Biblical scholar, translated three books(that were reviewed and ready to be printed) of the Bible before he moved to the presence of Christ in 1810. In March 1810, John Gordon reached Visakhapatnam after a three year voyage starting in England and through New York. In November 1811, Gordon was joined by Edward Pritchett who was trained and proficient in Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Gordon and Pritchett chose to work separately (for unclear reasons) on translating the New Testament. Pritchett completed his translation of the New Testament; it was verified by Telugu language scholars of the time and printed at Madras in 1819. In 1823, Gordon submitted his version of the Bible (which included a few Old Testament books apart from the New Testament). Initially Gordon's version was preferred over Pritchett's but eventually Pritchett's translation prevailed over Gordon's. Despite some clarity on preference, the Madras Bible Society spent the next couple of decades unable to authorize any single translation.

The third branch of translation work was under the supervision of William Carey. There is little information publicly (on the internet) available about individuals attached to this translation effort but it seems most likely to be the Serampore trio (Carey, Marshman, Ward). They prepared a translation in 1809 which was, unfortunately, lost in the fire of 1812. A new version was published in 1818; few copies of this publication are available in libraries in the USA and the UK.

Texts used:

Pritchett's translation: The title for Pritchett's published New Testament indicates that he used the Greek texts as his basis. One record speculates that he might have used the English Authorized Version- which, if he did, seems to be at best a companion basis and not the only underlying text. His translation included books of the Old Testament
Gordon's translation: Because of the lack of any contradiction, Gordon's underlying texts appear to be the same as Pritchett's. He also translated the New Testament and much of the Old Testament.
Serampore translation: At least until 1825, Carey was committed to the Received Text. This should place the Textus Receptus as the basis for the New Testament translation of the Serampore version.

The next chapter of this translation history involves how, and if, these three translation streams merged. The burden of this consolidation fell on a committee, whose origins are unclear, at Madras Bible Society. In the long, arduous times of the committee, the exclusive use of the Textus Receptus is contested and there are some very lively discussions on translating terms pertaining to baptism.

(to be continued, Lord Willing...)

Tracing the history of the translation of the Bible into the Telugu language-2

2015-07-07T13:26:00.000-07:00

Please see Part 1 here (please note the disclaimer at the top).

The first ever recorded translation of the Bible into Telugu was the work of Benjamin Schultze. He started work on the translation around 1728 and finished the translation of the entire Bible by 1732.

Texts used in translation: Records indicate that Schultze had access to Luther's German Bible along with Greek and Hebrew texts. This makes his translation to be based on the Textus Receptus (Received Text).

Eventualities of the translation: He returned to Halle (in Germany) with his manuscripts in a few languages. The Telugu translation of the Bible never seemed to have been printed. One speculative reason could be that Constanzo Beschi's (a Jesuit priest with Tamil language expertise) criticism of Schultze's Tamil translation could have blunted Schultz's confidence in the accuracy of the translation. Another more likely reason could be that the (documented) difficulties with special characters in the Telugu script proved tragically impeding to the printing process. Its possible the manuscript is still somewhere hidden/stored in a university in Germany (or in a museum in London, as one record speculates). Interestingly, what was been found is the manuscript for Schultze's Telugu grammar book (first ever printed Telugu grammar) - this is available for purchase online for 25,000 USD. Although it is tragic that the first ever Telugu translation of the Bible did not see the daylight of printing and distribution, the Lord was merciful in providing through separate means.

The beginning of a new chapter: On 6th March 1805 George Cran and Augustus Des Granges from the London Missionary Society landed in India and spent a few months in Tranquebar. On 18th July 1805, burdened by a desire to reach Telugu speaking people, they made Visakhapatnam their home in India. It has been reported that they purchased a Telugu grammar for study- some have attributed it as the work of Catholic translators but it seems more likely to be Schultze's Telugu grammar. Apart from (possibly) using Schultze's work on Telugu grammar, the work of Cran and Des Granges seems independent and disconnected from Schultze's telugu translation of the Bible. Whether it was intentional or on account of an ignorance of this previous work is open to speculation. On 6th January 1809, George Cran was called away from the earth into the presence of the Lord Jesus. God provided for assistance in the form of Ananda Rayar (sometimes referred to as Rayer)- a well educated, pious Indian man born in Maratha land but of Telugu lineage. He became a follower of the Lord Jesus and contributed to the Telugu translation of the Bible.

Translation work and texts used by Des Granges and Rayar: Des Granges and Rayar completed the translation of Matthew, Mark and Luke by 1810. There is a printed edition of this manuscript at the British Library and the translation of Mark can be found at the University of Cambridge. There is mention of Des Granges working from the original Greek text and Rayar working from the Tamil text (presumably the revision of Schultze's text by Fabricus). Because this was before the first ever breaking away from the Textus Receptus, it can be assumed that their work of the New Testament was based on the Textus Receptus.

On 12th July 1810, at the age of 30, Augustus Des Granges died a painful death because of an illness. But the work of the translation was to continue and thrive.

(to be continued, Lord willing...)

The grace of God in the enterprise of Man

2015-07-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Ezekiel 31:

8 The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it,

nor the fir trees equal its boughs;

neither were the plane trees

like its branches;

no tree in the garden of God

was its equal in beauty.

9 I made it beautiful

in the mass of its branches,

and all the trees of Eden envied it,

that were in the garden of God.

Ezekiel 31 has as its context the fall of Assyria a few years ago and the prophetic pronouncement of impending doom on the land of Egypt- a nation that Judah was trying to depend on to slip from under Babylonian rule (II Kings 24). More than a hundred years ago, the Northern Kingdom (ten tribes of Israel) had already been captured and destroyed by Assyria( II Kings 17 and Isaiah 37).

Beyond the narratives of historical significance and divine judgement, this passage contains some of the most astounding insight into God's grace on the enterprise of man. Many people read creative and redemptive history as being regressive i.e God's original creation was perfect and subsequent to the first sin and its curse, everything has been less than the original creation. While this is certainly true with respect to the lost relationship with God at Eden, Ezekiel 31 points us to the fact that even within this under-curse world, God has been incredibly gracious to bless the work of man- sometimes even making it better than what it was in Eden!

Ezekiel 31:3-9 is an allegorical description of the beauty, growth and majesty of the kingdom of Assyria. Not only does God say that the allegorical tree of Assyria was wonderful, but that no tree in the garden of God (v8) could match its beauty! This means that there were aspects within the kingdom of Assyria that were better than the original creation. In the context (v11 and 15), it appears that the tree is symbolic to the nation as a whole- the land, the people, the work of the people. God blessed this place and the work of man to an extent that it has aspects comparable (enviable v9) to the original creation. This bears itself on two important implications in the world now apart from boundless implications for heaven:

1) God's grace on the fallen world: God is incredibly gracious even in this desperate, evil, fallen world. While the painting of the world contains broad strokes of evil, injustice, pain and so much more, there are bright strokes of God's blessing, grace and growth.

2) Hope for the enterprise of man: Our work in this world has the potential of being blessed by God almighty to be comparable to the original creation. From tilling the ground to research on particle physics, there is hope and purpose for the work and enterprise of man. If God could bless Assyria, how much more the work of God's children in the Kingdom of God and how more the work of the Church!

Genesis 11:6"...And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them."

Tracing the history of the translation of the Bible into the Telugu language-1

2015-06-27T22:44:00.002-07:00

Disclaimer: This is meant to be a description of the lineage of the Telugu Bible translation. Any commentary on or allusions to historical, social and non-theological themes are descriptive and not prescriptive. The theological and social impressions and perspectives of the translators is a matter of separate study.

People may be familiar with ascribing the Telugu Bible translation to William Carey or his mission (missions group). It turns out that the translation history and lineage not only precedes Carey but is also rich in story and effort. It starts off in September 1719 when Benjamin Schultze arrived in Tranquebar (present day Tharangambadi). He took over the mission and ministry of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg, one of the two first protestant missionaries to India.

World at this point in history: Britain was the super power of the World and King George I was the monarch. Pilgrims had landed in America but America as a nation was yet to be born. The age of enlightenment was starting, if not flourishing, in Europe. The French Revolution was to start seventy years later. Pope Clement XI was the reigning Pope. The printing press was in use.

India and the Telugu Speaking region at this point in history: Farrukhsiyar was the Mughal emperor. The East India Company was setting up establishments in India. Denmark had settlements in Tranquebar. Although there was considerable telugu literature, the demarkation of Telugu speaking land of the 18th century might be difficult (the Vijayanagara empire comes close but not quite). Hyderabad existed and was ruled by a Nizam viceroy of the Mughal emperor.

Christians at this point in history: The protestant reformation had taken place and the doctrines defended by the reformation altered the course of history. The Gospel and reformation doctrine flourished particularly in Germany (Luther), France (Calvin) and Switzerland (Zwingli). The message of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone by Grace alone known through the final authority of the Bible alone for the glory of God alone (popularly known as the five solas) was being spread to the East and to the West. The passion for this Gospel was accompanied by a commitment to provide the Bible for the peoples of the world in their own language.

Against this backdrop, Benjamin Schultze arrived in India. Ziegenbalg had translated the entire New Testament and the Old Testament, until the book of Ruth, into Tamil when he died in 1719 at the age of thirty-six. Schultze continued the work of Ziegenbalg and finished the translation and revision of the Tamil translation of the Bible by 1727 (1728, if you count the Apocrypha). Immediately, he started work on parsing the Telugu language and authored the first printed book on Telugu grammar in 1728. He then started working on translating the Bible into Telugu.

(to be continued, Lord willing...)

Why did John Baptize?

2015-05-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

Why did John baptize? The question could be perceived to be rather mundane because most Christians assume baptism as a given rite of passage. But when the New Testament is viewed as a continuation of the Old Testament, it becomes vital to track ordinances either in continuing Old Testament traditions or New Testament commandments. Interestingly, the Old Testament is absolutely silent on baptism. To be sure, there are pictures of baptism (the deliverance of Noah from/through the flood, the cleansing of Naaman) and anachronistic allusions to cleansing of God's people with water (Ezekiel 16:9), but no references to an establishment of covenantal rite through baptism. How then was it possible for John the baptist to employ a new ordinance and for the Lord Jesus to use it in commandment? Where can be find the origins of this new action?

(It would be an interesting study to explore inter-testamental traditions involving water but would have little bearing on the Church's use and understanding of baptism unless its seen in scripture.)

The answer seems be hidden in plain sight in the first chapter of John. John here is engaging the messengers of the pharisees The pharisees here are intrigued by John's understanding of his own identity (1:19, 21, 22). In particular they are interested to know if John thinks of himself as the Messiah, Elijah or the (interestingly not 'a') prophet. John responds that he is nether of them. Their attention immediately drifts not to his unique lifestyle or to his preaching but to his use of baptism. They seem to be demonstrating a general awareness of baptism because their question is pointed to his authority in doing it and not what he is doing.

In the ensuing verses, lies insight into the origins of baptism.

v31: I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.

John is clear that the reason he baptizes is so that the messiah could be revealed to Israel. He qualifies the statement by saying that the identity of the messiah was not revealed to him (before he started baptizing). He reiterates this in verse 33 both to create a logical connection to verse 31 and for greater emphasis.

v33: I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’

This verse sheds significant light on the origins of baptism. For one, its clear that there was someone who sent him to baptize with water. In other words, this was not his invention. It was a commandment, a charge. The anonymity of the sender coupled with the lack of the objection from the hearer points to the sender being sourced in God. Secondly, John expounds verse 31 in verse 33 by saying that the means of the Messiah's revelation was the Spirit descending on Him (evidently at the time of baptism). And the glorious Lord Jesus was revealed to be the messiah by this very means!

These words make it clear that the origins of baptism, according to the Bible, are in God's charge to John. Its quite possible that John may not have understood the covenantal signs in and through baptism and its imagery to the death, burial and resurrection of the Messiah but God used John's precursory baptismal tradition to prepare the path for the commandment of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 28:19) and the use of baptism in the Church.

The justice of God and the purpose of man

2015-04-03T08:58:00.001-07:00

One of the deepest, if not the deepest, yearnings of the the human heart is for purpose. Our happiness, satisfaction, desires, motives are in one way or the other tethered to our understanding of individual purpose. Research and contemplation on existential questions are not insignificant in number and force both in philosophical and theological studies. In a non-theistic worldview, despite there not being a need for a purpose framework, questions on individual purpose are usually answered based on the individual's understanding of ultimate good. Two of the most popular responses in a non-theistic worldview are:

- The purpose of an individual is to maximize good for others (This is usually the answer of people conditioned in an altruistic, collectivistic environment)

- The purpose of an individual is to maximize individual happiness (This is usually the answer of people conditioned in a hedonistic, individualistic environment)

Within a Biblical worldview, the westminster catechism captures Biblical teaching on the purpose of man as to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Is it possible, though, to test if one really believes in it? It's a difficult question to answer until you see a profound (yet often overlooked) commentary on the purpose of man in Luke chapter 7:

Luke 7:

29 When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just,having been baptized with the baptism of John,

30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

These parenthetical statements profoundly shine a light on Gospel truth and its impact on our understanding of individual purpose. There are two categories of people in these verses. They are delineated and differentiated based on the last phrases in both verses. The words "having" and "not having" prescribe that the actions ("they declared" and "rejected") of the two categories of people are predicated on what they "had" and "had not". The first group of people had been baptized by the baptism of John. The second group of people had not been baptized by the baptism of John. The first group of people declared that God is just because they were baptized with the baptism of John and the second group of people rejected the purpose of God for themselves because they had not been baptized by John.

Its clear in the Bible that the act baptism does not inherently produce inward change but rather is a deliberate action to confess an inward change. In referring people to the baptism of John, the Lord Jesus is pointing them to their response to believing the Gospel message of John. The first group had believed and received the Gospel message of John and got baptized in obedience to it, while the second group had rejected the Gospel message of John and did not get baptized in disobedience to it. So far, this is no different from any proclamation of the Gospel- some believe and some reject. What is remarkable is what the Lord Jesus attributes as the fruit of believing and the fruit of rejection.

The fruit of believing is an acknowledgement that God is just. The fruit of disbelief is a rejection of the purpose of God for an individual. This is remarkable for two reasons:

1) For disbelievers: The rejection of the Gospel message is not merely and entirely an intellectual denial of facts and propositions that have no effect on everyday life. They make an impact on an individual's perception of God's purpose for them. It is impossible for someone to reject the Gospel message and yet have accurate idea of their purpose from God. When we reject the Gospel message, we're rejecting the Creator's message and so lose all hope for real meaning, joy and satisfaction.

2) For believers: The sentence structure makes "an acknowledgment that God is just" at worst(logically) antithetical and at best mutually exclusive to "the purpose of God" for an individual. This means that a great sign of our understanding of purpose is our understanding of the acts of God in the Bible. Our belief in God's purpose is intricately tied (proportional, perhaps) to our acceptance of all God's actions as being just. When we read through wars in the old testament, the commandments of God in the wilderness, the book of Judges, the doctrine of election, the reality of Hell, our resonance of acknowledging that God was just in all that He did, is the force with which we really believe in God's purpose for our life.

Someone who asserts accepting the Biblical description of individual purpose and yet does not believe that God is just in all His actions is dishonest, or at-least misguided. The strength with which one believes that the Biblical God is just is the strength with which one believes the Biblical description of individual purpose.

Word over Wonders

2015-02-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

By the year 2000, statistically, India ranked 5th in the number of Pentecostals by country. Experientially, the last five years has seen an exponential growth in Charismatic visibility in South India and particularly the Telugu speaking states. The peculiar mark of most visible Charismatism in these Geographical areas has been an enthusiastic glorification of miracles especially healing. From extensive Christian television programming, to "healing festivals", miracles and healing have become an indispensable fixture of both promotion and presentation of Christian work.

At rare occasions when confronted with the need for a theological defense, the events in the early Church are presented as proof for the legitimacy of, and sometimes the need for, miraculous ministry. Interestingly, the most extravagant of miracles in the early Church paints a very clear picture on the gradient between Biblical teaching and wondrous miracles. Acts 20:9-12 contains one of only two recorded instances of people resurrecting from the dead in apostolic times.

The man's name is Eutychus and whether it is out of fatigue or boredom, we are not told, but he is asleep on a window in the third floor as Paul is preaching at midnight. His fall must have been troubling, shocking and disturbing. But Paul, demonstrates faith-"for his life is in him", when there was clearly no hope-"and was taken up dead". As remarkable as the resurrection record, perhaps more startling is what happens after the event. The Bible goes on to say that Paul "had gone up, "broken bread and eaten", and "conversed with them a long while". Its startling because instead of creating a hype around his miraculous feat, Paul was more focussed on talking. Given Paul's incredible, incessant speaking of God's word, and the textual reference to "breaking bread" in association with "conversed with them", it is not unreasonable to suggest that the conversation was mostly around the Word of God.

What a great presentation of the Apostle Paul's heart to place Word over wonders. He was clearly more interested to lead people towards God's word than towards miracles. He was clearly uninterested in making himself a miracle man. What a rebuke for "ministers" today who sell a "gospel" for the price of cheap "healing". There is no wrong in exercising a miraculous gift(Paul certainly did) but its a shame to make it an attraction and elevate wonders over the Word.

I Corinthians 2:2 "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

Psalm 138:2 "...for you have exalted above all things your name and your word."

The Christmas message

2014-12-23T23:00:00.000-08:00

The world has known and seen great messages- messages of valor, of resilience, of change, of freedom and victory, but none so great as the message that God brought to us at the first Christmas. The message is great because of its:

1) Simplicity: The understandability of this message is remarkable because of its simplicity despite its theological intricacies and cosmic implications. That God was born in human flesh to be the messiah and the ransom for many was understood by simple people on that day and ever since.

Galatians 4:

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

2) Universality: In one stroke of masterful display of love, grace and judgement, God sent His only Son for the redemption of people in every tribe and every tongue. It applies across the spectrums of time and space. Everyone who will ever be saved and taste of the goodness of God in eternity will only be saved because of the Lord Jesus.

John 3:

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Galatians 3:

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

3) Immutability: The message of Christmas is timeless in that it stretches to the extremes of eternity. It needs no addition, no re-invention. There was never a "Plan-B".

Hebrews 10:

10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Revelation 13:

8 and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

4) "Impactability" (Impact-ability): The message has power to change individuals, nations, cultures, times and values. The fact that recorded history is divided by the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ is an expression of the impact of Christmas.

II Corinthians 5:

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The weight of prophetic accountability

2014-11-03T06:30:00.000-08:00

One of the most strange (with regards to its flow of events and imperative lesson) occurrences in the Old Testament is found in I Kings chapter 13. Set right after the division of the Kingdom of Israel, in the context of rampant immorality (I Kings 12-28-33 and I Kings 14-22-24), we find lodged in the pages of historical scripture the weight of God's expectation from His prophets.

The story is told of the nameless prophet of God who comes from Judah to the northern kingdom of Israel to prophecy of the coming king who would bring reform to Israel. Once he intercedes and prays for the restoration of Jeroboam's withered, proud hand the story takes, what at first appears to be a distracting, detour. Instead of focusing on the reign of Jeroboam and Rehoboam and the ruin they bring on chosen Israel, biblical narrative follows the journey of the nameless prophet from Judah and his disastrous trip back home.

We are told in his encounter with Jeroboam that the man of God had a clear directive from God regarding his travel back home. He believes it strongly enough to decline a royal invite to dine and receive reward. (I Kings 13:8). On his journey back home he is intercepted by an older prophet (I Kings 11-14) who lives in Bethel. At this point, we are left to the mercy of conjecture to understand why God did not chose this local, older prophet in the first place to speak to Jeroboam. As we understand his ways in this passage, its possible he was rejected because of his sly speech and twisted pragmatism. It is also possible that his age might have caused him to limit his prophetic endeavors- although evidently not his efforts in hospitality. He deceives the younger prophet by claiming an overriding, personal revelation from God and the prophet from Judah ignores the contradiction, submits to unverified claims and obliges. What follows is essentially quick, grave judgement on the younger prophet for disobeying the Word of God and trusting in lies.

Its possible to read the narrative and come away with questions such as:

- Why does the conviction of the man of God from Judah dwindle under the words of the older prophet?

- Why does the older prophet vigorously pursue hospitality through lies and deception?

But, the one thing that is clear in the Biblical passage is God's strong commitment to His word and

His expectation from His prophets. The prophet of God meets a gruesome death in the face of a lion.

What, presumably, might add insult to injury is God choses to let him know of his judgment through the voice of the deceiver (I Kings 13:20-21).

God exalts His word (Psalm 138:2), He views it as being unbreakable (John 10:35) and He pronounces judgment on people who break, mend, add or remove from His word (Revelation 22:19). There is a weight associated with God's expectation of prophets handling His Word. And this passage, perhaps more graphically than any other, illustrates this reality. It should be a cold, sustained, grave reminder that those who proclaim the Word of the living God stand under the terrifying weight of prophetic accountability.

God's glory for our joy in this world and forevermore

2014-10-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

He who dwells in unapproachable light and whose name Angels shudder to take became dust so that in Him I might become the righteousness of God.