First Aid Theology

The Conquest of Canaan

2011-01-08T17:09:00Z

One of the frustrating things about Scripture is that it isn't written to gratify our curiosity.

There are many things passed over in silence that we would very much like to hear about, and so many things that seem different between the two Testaments. There is a deep unity in the character of God as revealed by the whole Bible, Old Testament and New Testament,which we can perhaps demonstrate best by looking at the hardest question of all: the morality of the conquest of Canaan. Here's what the Scripture says:

Then the LORD said to Abram, ”Know ...

Why Care About Doctrine?

2008-01-11T16:58:00Z

The West is going through a period of religious conflict. Not the one you might be thinking of--this one has nothing to do with Islam. A thousand years ago, Franks and Saracens were fighting over a smaller issue, namely whose book was really the self-revelation of God.[1] Today's struggle is among people who identify themselves as Christians. They are fighting for the soul of the Church and the existence of historic Christianity in the West. In the balance hangs the salvation of millions of God's people. This fight is about whether God has revealed Himself at all.

If Nature Has Laws, How Can God Do Anything?

2007-12-23T06:12:00Z

Life is uncertain. We try very hard to control what happens to us, and try even harder to ignore our total failure to do so. We're not in control of our destiny. So who or what is in control? Whenever that question has been asked, from the very earliest times of which we have records, two sorts of answers have been given. The majority view is that there is some sort of god in charge, which is called theism, and the minority view is that everything is ruled by chance or fate, which is called atheism. [1] The choice between them appears often to be driven by emotion. Modern theists...

What Has First Aid Got to Do With Theology?

2007-11-24T18:15:00Z

People are vulnerable. When we're cut, we bleed. When we're discouraged, we doubt. When we're tempted, we rationalize. At times like that, a good home group or an experienced Christian friend can often provide just the sort of counsel or encouragement we need. But what if we need something to defend against an attack on the Faith, or to help an unbelieving friend understand what Christians actually think? That's where this blog comes in useful, I hope. First Aid Theology is a collection of short pieces (about 2000 words) intended to clear up common sources of confusion about Christianity.

They're written for people who don't necessarily have ...

How Could God Allow Suffering?

2007-11-23T20:00:00Z

Do you ever wish that God would smarten up?

So many bad things happen to good people. Innocent babies get cancer. Young people get killed by drunk drivers. Wars and earthquakes and floods destroy people's homes and communities. How can we believe in a good and powerful God when all this bad stuff is going on all around us? Sin explains a lot of suffering, but knowing that doesn't blunt our sense of the injustice of it all. What is all that suffering about? Scripture provides an oblique but very profound answer: The Book of Job.

Does Science Disprove Religion?

2007-11-22T02:06:00Z

Epimenides was an ancient Greek philosopher and poet from the island of Crete. Nowadays, he has three claims to fame: being quoted by St Luke; being quoted by St. Paul; and being quoted by Aristotle. His philosophy is remembered for exactly one sentence. What he said was, 'Cretans are always liars'. Since he himself was a Cretan, with a bit of imagination one can crispen this up to read, 'This statement is false.'

"This statement is false" : a very odd sort of sentence. If we assume it's true, it proclaims itself false, whereas if we assume it's false, we find that it agrees with us, which makes it look as though it's true....

Dogma

2007-11-21T19:49:00Z

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

--Richard P. Feynman[1]

Words change their meanings over time. Often it's just the general decay of language, but sometimes deeper things are afoot. For instance, until the early 20th century, propaganda was a merely neutral term that meant `information to be disseminated'. Similarly, dogma used to mean `things the Church has established as truths about God and man'. Since then, the words have acquired less savory connotations. Propaganda we can do without, but dogma is of the greatest practical value, and needs to be recovered.

Canon

2007-11-21T19:49:00Z

Some words are like neighbourhood children--they're vaguely familiar, but most of us couldn't really say where they belong. "Canon" is a word like that--we recognize that it's probably something important, but saying just what that is may be a bit harder. Canon comes from a Greek word for a measuring stick--in its most precise meaning, calling something canonical says that it is an established standard of comparison. In English, the other meanings of canon are slippery. It's a poetical word, whose overlapping meanings involve things like symmetry, beauty, and great value. Something canonical has been refined, polished, purged of unnecessary elements until it is a thing of rare beauty. A musical canon is a piece in which interlocking themes form a complex and pleasing pattern, where tensions are built up and triumphantly resolved at the ending. A lot like the Bible, actually. The Old and New Testaments are known as the canon, in all these senses: it's a harmony and also a yardstick;....

Hell

2007-11-20T20:24:00Z

Like most eschatological things, the fate of the lost is just vague enough that it's great place to raise dust without settling anything. There are two main problems: first, the Scriptures don't have a lot of details, and the ones they have don't fit together in a simple way; and second, the whole subject is so horrendous that it's hard to stay calm long enough to think it through.

To get the doctrine out in the open: the predominant view throughout Church history has been that by our sin we have all rebelled against God, so that we ...