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“People of One Book” the Bible in the Wesleyan Tradition.

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“‘Oh, Give Me that Book’: The Bible and its Wesleyan–Arminian Readers”

I’m delighted to have the opportunity of participating this week in the conference noted above. My lecture, “ ‘Oh, Give Me That Book’: The Bible and its Wesleyan–Arminian Readers,” argues that the best biblical interpretation incorporates both the Reformation heritage of thorough engagement with the biblical text and Wesley’s concern for salvation, for the impact of Scripture in life. I outline a method of studying Scripture that prioritizes context. It encourages the interpreter to strive for a grasp of the Bible’s unity. Then it begins by moving from a passage’s place in the book where it occurs, to the plan or structure of the passage, and then to the meaning of the words and phrases of the passage. It concludes with a summary of the passages interpretation. 

“After Inerrancy: the Wesleyan Theological Journal, 1978-2005“

In the above lecture I refer to a paper I gave in the Wesleyan Study Group of the Evangelical Theological Society in 2008, entitled “After Inerrancy: the Wesleyan Theological Journal, 1978-2005.” I’ve wanted to make this unpublished paper available, so I’ve uploaded it here. 

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Preparing for Easter by Following the Path to the Cross. Part 4: “He Saved Others, but He Cannot Save Himself.” Mark 15:1-47

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Preparing for Easter Part 4

Here is Part 4, the concluding section of “Preparing for Easter by following the Path to the Cross.” Part 4 is entitle “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself” and covers Mark 15:1-47. This part is in two eight-minute videos (Part A and Part B). Please click here for Part A and here for Part B. God bless.

Washington, D(eist) C(ity)

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I grew up in the shadow of Washington, D.C. As long as I can remember, I have loved our nation’s capitol. They tell me that when I was a baby I would point to the U. S. Capitol and say, “Total.” My high-school graduation was in Constitution Hall. My wife Rosa and I went to a concert on the Capitol steps and walked up the Washington Monument on our first date. I love the city’s open green space, its classic buildings, its skyline free of skyscrapers, its dignified memorials, and its excellent museums. So, it was only natural that I took my grandson Patrick to Washington, D.C. for the spring break of his senior year. Before we went, I got several books on the history of D.C. so we would be prepared.

Gradually, as we read those books and as I once again saw the sights, a new perspective began to grow in my mind. The very structure and design of D.C. represented the Deistic beliefs of many of our forefathers. First of all, unlike Western European capitals, there was no national church in the heart of the city. The National Cathedral sits on a hill over five and a half miles northwest of the national Mall, like the Deist God who doesn’t interfere with the world. Pierre L’Enfant, the city’s original designer, certainly would be proud today of the way the Mall at the heart of the city has fulfilled his intention of becoming a center of science and the arts. With the Capitol at one end, the Washington Monument at the other, and the grand Smithsonian in-between, it is an impressive sight. I intentionally took the metro to the Smithsonian exit so that this would be my grandson’s first view of the city.

Thus, God benignly overlooks this secular heart of the city from a hill far away. But then events began to show that his place had been taken by several human “gods.” As we were standing in the crypt of the Capitol, the guide told us that George Washington was to have been buried there, but the Capitol was not ready in time. She told us, however, to look up into the Capitol’s dome, where we would see a painting of the “apotheosis” of George Washington. “Apotheosis” is the process of becoming a god! Look across the mall at the huge obelisk that dominates D.C., the Washington Monument. Eventually we went to the Lincoln Memorial. I don’t know how many times I had been there before, but this time the words across the top struck me—they began with “In this Temple” (italics added, of course!). And indeed, the Memorial looks like an ancient Temple with a huge statue of its god. God is banished to a hill far from the secular heart of this Deist City, but we have three human god’s who are at home here—first and foremost, George Washington, then Abraham Lincoln, and, finally, Thomas Jefferson. I have no intention of demeaning these men or diminishing their accomplishments, but of describing at least one aspect of the ethos of our capitol city.

Then I began to think, perhaps, just perhaps, America became much more of a Christian nation than our Deist forefathers intended. Perhaps it was the First and Second Great Awakenings that made the difference. Perhaps it was the Methodist circuit riders, Baptist preachers, and other evangelists who reached the masses for Christ. Several years ago, the Old Capitol Museum here in Jackson, Mississippi, featured a display entitled “Mississippi in 1811.” You could read a diary from that time. The diary’s author said that he had come to Mississippi from South Carolina. In South Carolina the circuit riders had gotten his wife and daughters interested in religion. When he got to Mississippi, the first person on his doorstep was a circuit rider! On the intellectual front one wouldn’t want to overlook the influence of the Presbyterians at Princeton or, a bit later, that of the Dutch Reformed at Calvin College. Perhaps God worked in ways that our Deist forefathers never anticipated to spread the God’s truth throughout America and to make U.S. a center for the spread of the Gospel in the world.

In Bondage to the Profit Motive

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Several weeks ago a friend who works as a nurse in one of our large hospitals said to me: “We don’t have health care in this country any more, we have a health industry.” Here is how she began to explain what she meant—patients who have no means of payment are often sent home early; patients who have good insurance are kept longer than they need to be. Health care has become all about profit. My wife received excellent care during a recent minor surgery—but I couldn’t help noticing how lavish the facilities were. The frills push the price up—but help to compete for paying customers (note the term “customer,” not “patient”).

Education appears to be following the same course. Colleges and Universities dump down their curriculum and develop majors that attract students whether those majors are either academically or professionally profitable. They, too, are in the business of adding frills that increase the price in order to attract “customers”—cable TV in the dorm, cafeterias replete with variety, etc. We have even had the appearance of for-profit colleges. A recent prospective student repeatedly referred to our institution’s “customer service” and described the education we offer as a “commodity.”

We in the church have not escaped this tendency. We are called to be the people of God who live in covenant relationship with one another centered on the worship of God through word and sacrament. Instead we have often become purveyors of programs that provide various services in an attempt to attract people. The commitment of those attracted by these “ministries” often goes no further than the service they receive. Some years ago a local funeral home bought a church near by. I say “funeral home,” but it became an “event” center. The establishment would provide service for any life event you wanted to hold there. This arrangement may be fine for an “event” center, but it is not good for the church. We are not there simply to get numbers or “make a profit” by giving you whatever you want.

God was not moved by the “profit motive” when he sent His Only Begotten Son—“For God so loved the world, that he gave . . .” Perhaps his people should be more concerned about following his example.  

Praying to “the Father of Mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:11)

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My wife Rosa had a dangerous, life-threatening delivery with our oldest daughter. We were in Sierra Leone. Although I was in the operating room, the attending lady physician, a colleague and close friend, would not look me in the face—her face was pale and her lips were tightly pursed. God told a godly African woman, known as a prayer warrior, to go and pray when she heard Mrs. Cockerill was in labor. God answered that prayer, and we have been thankful ever since. Some mission boards require missionaries to have several hundred prayer partners before they can go to their place of service. God invites us in Scripture to pray for our needs, for the needs of others, and especially for those engaged in his service. We know that God is not limited by our prayers, and yet sometimes we pray and ask others to pray because we feel that the more people who join us in prayer the more likely God is to answer.

When we turn to the eleventh verse of this passage (2 Corinthians 1:3-11), we are astounded: “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many” (2 Corinthians 1:11 ESV). Paul urges the Corinthian believers to pray for his deliverance and the furtherance of the Gospel, not so that God will answer, but so that they will increase the number of those who give thanks when God does answer! Paul is so confident of God’s answer that he is sure it will lead to thanksgiving! God chooses to act through our prayers—and sometimes not to act if we do not pray—because he wants us to know that He is answering! He wants to draw us close to himself through his gracious action and our grateful thanksgiving. What a privilege to pray aright (praying aright may be a topic for another day), to witness God’s answers, and to give thanks.