How to check your hermeneutics

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We all have a hermeneutic.  You see hermeneutics is all about interpretation.  It’s the lens through which we view texts, culture, arguments including and most importantly, Scripture.  I mentioned in my last article that ideologies are not just about the specific philosophical or religious beliefs they promote about offering a world view, a means by… Continue reading How to check your hermeneutics

White victims, multiculturalism and Christian Nationalism

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Aaron Edwards has written about the Henry Nowak case and compared it with the George Floyd case and resulting Black Lives Matter movement.  Edwards has openly aligned himself with Christian Nationalism.  It’s worth observing that Christian Nationalism is increasingly offering not just an ideology but as is the case with philosophies and ideologies, a hermeneutic… Continue reading White victims, multiculturalism and Christian Nationalism

Biblical Critical Theory

Every so often, a book comes along that is greatly lauded and heavily promoted.  Biblical Critical Theory is one such book.  With a forward by the late Timothy Keller and four pages of endorsements from the great and good of evangelical apologetics such as Kevin Vanhoozer, Daniel Strange and Glen Scrivener, Christopher Watkin’s book was… Continue reading Biblical Critical Theory

Just because the mob is after you doesn’t mean there isn’t a real problem

The saga about the bloke who wrote an article about sex and salvation, had it withdrawn and then had to resign continues.  Now, some more prominent evangelicals are beginning to find their voice on the matter.  Now, for what its worth, I’m not too worried if people were quiet in the early stages, we can… Continue reading Just because the mob is after you doesn’t mean there isn’t a real problem

When Scripture asks the questions

Steve Kneale has written helpfully here about what to do when a Bible passage doesn’t seem to be answering your questions.  As Steve observes, it can often be the case that the passage simply isn’t intended to answer the question that you and me are asking. Indeed, it may well also be the case that… Continue reading When Scripture asks the questions

Is expository preaching “all that”?

I saw this little twitter thread this morning.  It’s worth a read, just to pick up on how some people perceive what is considered the gold standard approach to preaching among conservative evangelicals It’s important because I suspect that a lot of us will consider expository preaching as the norm and will be surprised that… Continue reading Is expository preaching “all that”?

How not to apply Song of Songs (or any part of the Bible) to Jesus

Last week, I shared some blog articles on the Song of Songs talking about whether and how we could/should apply it to Christ and the church.  You’ll notice that whilst I’ve been writing that the Song is meant to be about Christ, that I’ve been careful to distinguish things like prophecy, metaphor and typology from… Continue reading How not to apply Song of Songs (or any part of the Bible) to Jesus

Which came first – Scripture or culture?

Yesterday I wrote about God, gender, pronouns and the church.  Now, the classic response of liberal theology is to argue that the language we use about God and the church with Christ as groom and church as bride is somewhat arbitrary so that we could reverse it.  Then, it is further suggested that the reason… Continue reading Which came first – Scripture or culture?

Return of the King -download

I love the book of Revelation. The imagery in the book is vivid, the plotline exciting and this book keeps pointing to our certain hope in Christ and the wonders of future new creation. However, it’s an often misunderstood and misused book. Revelation has become the scene of many unseemly scraps between Christians becoming dogmatic… Continue reading Return of the King -download

The hermeneutical spiral

One of the things we’ve been exploring is the challenge that comes when reading Scripture. The problem is that although God’s Word is objectively true, infallible, inerrant and clearly revealed, we are finite, affected by The Fall, conditioned by our own culture and experience. The result is that we bring all of those things into… Continue reading The hermeneutical spiral