Biblical Reflections

I  was meeting with the member of a church in conflict. As we talked about how to restore unity and reconcile relationships in the church we read Matthew 5:9 together: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” What a wonderful statement! When God sees one of his children striving to […]

In Chapter 5 of the Lotus Sutra Shakyamuni has just used the Parable of the Clay Pots to teach that there is ultimately only one vessel (common clay), but different clay pots made out of that same clay, some with a predisposition to seek nirvana via the attainment of Arhatship, others disposed to seek it […]

These are some reflections on a particular aspect of the early part of 1 Corinthians 10, namely the need to resist temptation.
1 Corinthians 10:1ff: Resisting Temptation
Posted August 2, 2010
www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on June .
The next relevant passage is from Surah 30:14-16 (Yusuf Ali):
14: On the Day that the Hour will be established,- that Day shall (all men) be sorted […]

These are some reflections on 1 Corinthians 8.
1 Corinthians 8
Posted July 13, 2010
www.facetofaceintercultural.com.au

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on June .
The next relevant passage is from Surah 26:82-85, 90 (Yusuf Ali):
82: “And who, I hope, will forgive me my faults on the day of Judgment.
83: “O my […]

In the fourth chapter (”Disposition”) of the Lotus Sutra four aged monks address Shakyamuni and, in describing their lives, tell a parable that approximates in some respects to the biblical Parable of the Prodigal Son. They describe a man who deserts his father, living in a foreign land for 50 years. Meanwhile his father becomes […]

 
During his 27 years of captivity on Robben Island, Nelson Mandela was inspired by a poem of defiance written by the English poet William Ernest Henley, a poem he used to strengthen the spirits of other prisoners. Indeed, the name of this poem became the name of a 2009 film that stars Morgan Freeman and Matt […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on June 21.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 25:10-16, 24 (Yusuf Ali):
10: Blessed is He who, if that were His will, could give thee better (things) than those,- […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on June 2.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 22:55-57 (Yusuf Ali):
55: Those who reject Faith will not cease to be in doubt concerning (Revelation) until the Hour […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on March 27.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 22:23-24 (Yusuf Ali):
23: Allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds, to Gardens beneath which rivers flow: […]

The offensiveness of the cross is illustrated the way in the first century Christians were often referred to as asses, with graffiti in Rome often depicting Christians in this way. One of the buildings occupied by the emperor’s Praetorian guard bears a picture of a man with an ass’s head worshiping a cross. The caption […]

In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 Paul explains:
When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Bruce Winter explains the force of what Paul is saying. […]

In John Newton’s Memoirs we read how Dr. Taylor of Norwich one told Newton that he had failed to find the doctrine of atonement preached by him, something he deemed very strange, given that he had contended he had collated every word in the Hebrew Scriptures 17 times. Newton replied, “I am not surprised at […]

In an article from the Daily Telegraph (May 26, 2008) the following positive portrayal of halal food was presented:
EVERY kid knows how to get what they want - and in Sydney’s west it was only persistent badgering that brought halal food to the school tuckshop.
The technique worked at Lurnea Public School, which has become the […]

The book of Exodus, at least much of it, is taken up with historical narrative involving such things as a plot and characters. This book is not an isolated working but is very much woven into the fabric of especially the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch. There is a sense of incompleteness […]

In order to grasp the thrust of this book it is important to compare the way the book begins and ends. It starts:
The words of the Preacher (Koheleth), the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
What does man gain by all the toil at which […]

One of the most supreme ironies of atheistic philosophy is represented by Sartre. Having swept God aside as at best an irrelevancy, Sartre makes a fundamental distinction between unconscious being and conscious being. Unconscious being he dubs “being-in-itself” and conscious being “being-for-itself.” With respect to human beings Sartre insists that a person has no predetermined […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on March 16.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 22:14-15 (Yusuf Ali):
14: Verily Allah will admit those who believe and work righteous deeds, to Gardens, beneath which rivers […]

There are some strong affinities between the thought of the fourth century BC Greek philosopher Epicurus and Buddhist philosophy, insofar as Epicurus also identified suffering as the fundamental problem and sought to overcome it, attaining a state of perfect mental calmness and peace that he called ataraxeia. Projecting such wish thinking into the future, Epicurus argued that […]

Simon Critchley makes much of the death of David Hume. Being an atheist the question concerned whether he would want to convert to Christianity on his death-bed. Boswell visited him twice and asked him, “Don’t you at least accept the possibility of an after-life.” Hume refused to believe it, making the rejoinder, “It’s possible if […]

In his book Sent by Jesus D.B. Knox points out that the most explicit passage in the New Testament describing the mission of the church is in Ephesians:
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on February 28.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 20:116-123 (Yusuf Ali):
116: When We said to the angels, “Prostrate yourselves to Adam”, they prostrated themselves, but not Iblis: […]

“Put on the whole armour of God” we are exhorted in Ephesians 6:11. “…take up the whole armour of God” is urged yet again in verse 13.
One way of thinking about armour is that it a way of thickening our skin. Exegetically, of course, putting on this armour involves clothing and protecting ourselves with truth, righteousness, the gospel […]

I was reading from D.B. Knox’s book, Sent By Jesus and came across these comments:
A lot of Christians these days speak as though all gifts for ministry in the body of Christ are of equal importance. But this is not so. Some are crucial, some more peripheral. Paul recognised a hierarchy in gifts and urged his […]

Yesterday, I had lunch with a Cook Islands friend I am mentoring. We discussed together Chapter 12 of the Westminster Confession; “Of Adoption”:
All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy […]

In Chapter 2 (Skilfulness) of the Lotus Sutra, it is made plain that those who think they do not need the teaching of the Lotus Sutra (as communicated by Shakyamuni) are considered to be proud, to be chaff or trash. They have no appreciation as to how subtle and inscrutable is the knowledge that leads […]

The Lotus Sutra is one of the most venerated of Mahayana Buddhist texts. Here is a segment from Chapter 2, “Skilfulness”:  
The Lord then rose with recollection and consciousness from his meditation, and forthwith addressed the venerable Sariputra:

“The Buddha knowledge, Sariputra, is profound, difficult to understand, difficult to comprehend. It is difficult for all disciples […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on February 21.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 20, namely 74-76 (Yusuf Ali):
74: Verily he who comes to his Lord as a sinner (at Judgment),- for him […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on February 5.
The next relevant passage is from Surah 19, namely 58-63 (Yusuf Ali):
58: Those were some of the prophets on whom Allah did bestow His Grace,- of […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on December 22. The next relevant passages are from Surah 18, namely 29-31, 105-108 (Yusuf Ali):
29-31:
Say, “The truth is from your Lord”: Let him who will believe, and […]

There are those who think evangelism is a task to be carried out by those who have been specially gifted for this purpose. To their minds most Christians are simply called upon to live the life and only to be ready to share their faith when called upon to do so (1 Peter 3:15). However, […]

Here we are looking at evangelism which is not exercised directly by the apostles themselves. Before we do so we need to add a word of caution concerning the way we use this term “evangelism.” If we were being technically pedantic then we might restrict the use of this term to the oral proclamation of […]

In Acts 1:8 we read:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
It is the power of the Holy Spirit that explains how it is that the apostolic witness to Jesus […]

The promise of Acts 1:8 is addressed to the apostles (see verse 2). When Jesus assures his disciples that they will be his witnesses he means that they will be witnessing to him as the risen Lord. This is made plain at the close of the chapter when Peter leads the process to find a […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on December 1.
The next relevant passage is 16:30-32 (Yusuf Ali):
To the righteous (when) it is said, “What is it that your Lord has revealed?” they say, “All that […]

In Part One we saw that by applying the language of Isaiah in identifying his apostles as his witnesses, Jesus is indicating that the witness of the apostles themselves is integral to the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. It is highly significant that while Acts begins with the restoration of the kingdom to Israel […]

In Acts 1:8 Jesus promises the following:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
Here Jesus is responding to a question asked by his apostles:
“Lord, are you at this time going […]

The latest example of blatant cheating in sport is by French captain Thierry Henry, in which he clearly handled the ball, thus enabling a goal to be scored which meant that in this year’s World Cup playoffs Ireland was eliminated and France went through. Ireland’s pleas to FIFA for the game to be replayed have fallen […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on November 22.
The next relevant passage is 15:45-49 (Yusuf Ali):
45: The righteous (will be) amid gardens and fountains (of clear-flowing water).
46: (Their greeting will be): “Enter ye here […]

A friend’s church is seeking to develop a vision statement and, as many churches have done, they are considering framing this in a way that will involve setting a numerical target. My friend asked me whether it was right for churches to do this, given that in 2 Samuel 24 David was punished for conducting a […]

This morning’s sermon in church was based on Luke 14:25-35. Kevin Murray began by noting that many have trouble with the way Jesus expresses himself in verse 26:
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters - yes, even his own life - […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was on November 17.
The next relevant passages is 15:28-35 (Yusuf Ali’s translation):
28: Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: “I am about to create man, from sounding clay from […]

In verse 10 there is a contrast between “her son”/“that slave woman’s son” and “my son Isaac.” The literary mastery of the passage is seen in the very next verse that follows: “The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.” Sarah rejects Ishmael because he is not her son, but Abraham is greatly […]

One of the key words used in Genesis 21:1-21 is the word “see.” This was made a big thing of in Genesis 16. Notice verse 4, which literally reads: “When Hagar saw she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress.” Hagar expressed her contempt through words and actions that caused Sarah to remonstrate with […]

The German philosopher Nietzsche said, “Perhaps I know best why it is man alone who laughs; he alone suffers so deeply that he had to invent laughter.” Lord Byron said, “And if I laugh at any mortal thing, ‘Tis that I may not weep.” While these statements betray a deep-seated pessimism, they reflect a key […]

This blog continues the series of studies looking at references to the Garden(s) of Paradise, as depicted in the Qur’an. Our last blog on this matter was back on October 17.
The next relevant passages is 14:23, :
But those who believe and work righteousness will be admitted to gardens beneath which rivers flow,- to dwell therein […]

Many great artists have painted the scene of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael away and have tried to capture their plight as they faced death by dehydration in the desert. These paintings and, indeed, most sermons I’ve come across on the passage, typically elicit sympathy for Hagar and seem to assume she is the victim […]

In a recent interview Dr. Krish Kandiah (Executive Director of Churches in Mission for the Evangelical Alliance, UK) explained what’s called The Square Mile project. MILE stands for Mercy, Influence, Life-Discipleship and Evangelism. The aim is to help churches and Christians connect their everyday lives with God’s work in the world. 
At one point the interviewer, […]

There is a part of the Antarctic coastline which is universally recognised as belonging to France. Why? Because on 20 January 1840 claim to this particular area was made in the name of France by a French ship commanded by Jules Dumont d’Urville.
The French sailors who made landfall plainly viewed themselves as conquering this land. After […]