The Christian Faith as Public Truth

LESSLIE NEWBIGIN
The Gospel in a Pluralist Society

The faith is held with universal intent. It is held not as "my personal opinion," but as the truth which is true for all. It must therefore be publicly affirmed, and opened to public interrogation and debate. Specifically, as the command of Jesus tells us, it is to be made known to all the nations, to all human communities of whatever race or creed or culture. It is public truth. We commend it to all people in the hope that, by the witness of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of others, it will come to be seen by them for themselves as the truth.

Our Corrupt Minds

Genesis 6:5

The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. (NIV)

John N. Oswalt

What the Hebrew says is that the very way we go about forming images in our minds is wholly corrupt... We do not automatically focus upon what is noble, good and true, as Paul urged us to do (Phil. 4:8). Rather our imaginations drift to the pornographic, the horrible, the perverse, and the corrupt.

~ Called to Be Holy

pages 40-41

Cory's Broken Promise

"Cory and I met at the house of my son, David in our Mandaluyong compound. She announced that she had changed her mind. She was now willing to run under UNIDO! She reiterated her previous offer that I would be her Prime Minister, that she would step down in two years, that I would name 30 percent of the Cabinet, that she would appoint the remaining 70 percent after close consultations with me. I said I would have to think it over and decide before the deadline that night."

from the diary of former Vice President Salvador "Doy" Laurel

December 11, 1985

Should a Woman Marry a Man Who Has a Problem with Pornography? (by Heath Lambert)

This is what Proverbs 6:32–33 says:

He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself.
He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away.

This passage in Proverbs 6 does not mention the word pornography. Neither does any other verse in the Bible. When you let Jesus explain, however, that adultery is about desiring a woman to whom you are not married (Matt 5:27–28) then you see that modern men who ogle air-brushed women are serial adulterers. When you grasp that fact you understand that this passage in Proverbs is an incredible condemnation of the man you want to marry who has a problem with porn. He is a man who lacks sense. He destroys himself. He will get wounds and dishonor. His disgrace will not be wiped away. How could you consider marrying into a situation like this?

I have talked with many women who try to make an argument for pursuing marriage with their boyfriend who has an ongoing porn struggle. They often point out that there are tons of good things about him, and that his porn problem is only one slice of his life. I have no doubt that is true. Very few of us are defined entirely by our vices and exclusively devoid of virtue. Beyond this fact, many of these women express great confidence in the power of Christ to change men and set them free from this problem. That is certainly true, as well. As true as those realities are, you will say “I do” to the man who shows up on your wedding day, not the man you hope he will become afterwards. I’m sure your boyfriend has many wonderful things about him! I know Jesus can change him! The greater part of wisdom, however, is to wait and allow Jesus to do some of that work before you marry.
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page 16, Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Fall 2013 – Volume XVIII, Issue 2)
Read the whole article HERE

When There is a Conflict Between Our Interpretation of Scripture and Natural Theology (Gordon Lewis)

Gordon R. Lewis

"Given the best efforts at adhering faithfully to sound scientific, historical, epistemological, and hermeneutical principles, we may nevertheless be confronted with contradictory assertions from nature and Scripture. When this happens, the view that is drawn from sound exegesis of Scripture and confirmed by people of varied cultural perspectives throughout the creedal history of the church is the least likely to be the one in error. Even apart from the supernatural inspiration of Scripture, linguistic statements permit greater precision in communication than nonverbal types of communication. We are less likely to misinterpret language on a subject than mere objects or events."

Integrative Theology (Volume 1, p.81)

Anti-Intellectualism is Inconsistent with Evangelicalism (J. I. Packer)

"The Evangelical is not afraid of facts, for he knows that all facts are God's facts; nor is he afraid of thinking, for he knows that all truth is God's truth, and right reason cannot endanger sound faith. He is called to love God with all his mind; and part of what this means is that, when confronted by those who, on professedly rational grounds, take exception to historic Christianity, he must set himself not merely to deplore or denounce them, but to out-think them. It is not his business to argue men into faith, for that cannot be done; but it is his business to demonstrate the intellectual adequacy of the biblical faith and the comparative inadequacy of its rivals, and to show the invalidity of the criticisms that are brought against it. This he seeks to do, not from any motive of intellectual self-justification, but for the glory of God and of His gospel. A confident intellectualism expressive of robust faith in God, whose Word is truth, is part of the historic evangelical tradition. If present-day Evangelicals fall short of this, they are false to their own principles and heritage."

~J.I. Packer
  Fundamentalism and the Word of God

The "Free Will" of Israel's Neighbors and the Sovereignty of God

 " ... no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God." (Exo. 34:24 NIV)

 "All the men of Israel were to go up to appear before the Lord. But how could this be, when Israel was surrounded by enemies? If the pagan neighbors across the river saw the men leaving, would they not swoop down and take advantage of the situation? God promised that if Israel would be faithful in keeping His law, no one would even covet their land while they were gone. Surely this means that God has the power to stop even the internal sinful desire of covetousness. So why does God not stop all coveting, since it is obviously in His power to do so? The only answer is that He has a purpose in what He allows. And surely one must immediately ask the obvious question: What about the "free will" of the pagans that had been coveting the land, but stopped coveting it when the faithful Israelites left to go appear before the Lord? Was this not a "violation" of their "free will"? Such passages force us to recognize the difference between the biblical concept of man's creaturely will and the philosophical concept of autonomy that is held in the majority of man's religions, in Roman Catholicism, and in most non-Reformed Protestant theologies."

~ James R. White