In this post I am thinking about the Old Testament. In particular, how do I know it is true? This will not be an answer more in note-ish form . What does it teach? That God created the world. He had some sort of early encounter with a man, or group which was unsuccessful and…
Category: Christian Spirituality
The New Perspective on Paul
So I haven’t posted for a while. I am half way through my Introduction to the New Testament module, and now on Romans. The New Perspective on Paul – basically this means that recent protestant Theologians have recognised that first century Jews did not believe that salvation was attainable by works only. They also knew…
A light for the Gentiles
In the gospel of Luke, as well as being presented as the hope of Israel, Jesus is clearly shown to be “a light for the gentiles”. This is portrayed in several ways: 1] Ancestry to Adam (3:23-38) Jesus’ descent is traced back to Adam, symbolically the father of mankind rather than just to Abraham, the…
Deity of Jesus in Matthew
What would a Jew in the first century of thought of the Gospel of Matthew on first reading, given no prior knowledge of Christianity? What would they thought of Jesus? Would they have considered that he was portrayed as divine?Movie A Dog’s Purpose (2017) Consider the following events: He acted like he had authority to…
The Holiness of God in Christ
I have recently been thinking about every aspect of God by looking at Christ. This is nothing bizarre but simply a logical response to verses such as Hebrews 1:3: “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” I had spent many…
Personal Evaluation
This essay looks at one way in which this module has challenged my thinking, two new spiritual disciplines I have found beneficial and three ways in which my inner life has been edified. I also make a small comment about possible changes to the module. This module challenged my view that certain denominations have little…
Epic of Gilgamesh
In a recent post we looked at the similarities between the creation account found in Genesis 1 and the Akkadian legend of Enuma Elish. We saw that there were similarities in the way physical things are described but great differences in the way that God or gods are described. Here we look at similarities and…
Review of The Return of The Prodigal Son
Review of “The Return of The Prodigal Son” by Henri J.M. Nouwen Caleb O’Loan 1. Summary The book centers on the painting ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’ by Rembrandt and a time of transition in the life of the author Henri Nouwen. The book starts with a viewing of a copy of the painting…
The Quakers and Lack of Structure
Is it a good idea to start a movement that has very little structure or written conventions? This is fine if the leaders are good, chosen wisely and hand over to other good leaders. However these leaders often have more depth and complexity to their devotional lives than they admit. When people come along who…
Denominations
My thoughts on current English denominations and their key aspects of Spirituality. Pentecostal – like to feel God, hear from God (prophecy), speak in tongues (want to see stuff)! Prophecy and the hope of revival very important. Looking for perfection. Faith based. Often anti-intellectual. Church of England – Middle class. Not too serious, but not…
Luther
Luther had some positive and negative influences on Christian Spirituality. His positive influences included his promotion of meditation on God’s word. For example his work A Simple Way to Pray, 1535. This was popular and gave a four fold framework to meditation. This included Instruction, Thanksgiving, Confession and Prayer. In instruction the seeker looks to God for instruction and all his needs. In thanksgiving the…
Silence
The Desert Fathers went to great lengths to find silence. How can modern Christians incorporate more silence into their lives? First I would like to say that often when people talk about practices that are acknowledged to be very good, yet poorly practised it is common to think that bigger is better, or more is…
The Desert Fathers
Of great importance to the idea of The Desert is the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness. Here we get the two images of “journey” and “desert” together. The Desert Fathers sought solitude so that they may experience a fuller vision of God undistracted from business and temptations. Often people who were not ready for…
Christian Poverty
I don’t think modern Christians are particularly against poverty, but I think that the idea is strange to many of them. Jesus did say, “if you want to be perfect…” sell all your possessions. For many in the middle ages, poverty was thought of as being a necessary step on the journey to Christian perfection.…