Better Bible Reading Podcast

Welcome to Teaching Thursdays! Today is episode 83 of the Better Bible Reading Podcast entitled "A Greater Priest". The Old Testament teaches us that the gospel is the good news of a once for all sacrifice. The sacrifices of the priests in the Old Testament communicate that we need of a greater priest. Jesus stands as a unique high priest who offers Himself as a final sacrifice. Our everlasting salvation is based on His everlasting sacrifice!

Support the Show.

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, consider becoming a Patron!

On Episode 2 of the Better Bible Reading Podcast, Kevin welcomes J. Harrison Pickett to the show, pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church in Hilliard Florida. In the interview, Kevin discusses with Jesse the concept of studying the Bible as a discipline and how that differs from reading the Bible. Some people may not be familiar with the distinction between Bible reading and Bible study. This episode helps listeners learn how they can do both of these well! For more content, as well as show notes for today's episode, head on over to betterbiblereading.com

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, consider becoming a Patron!

Naturalism denies the supernatural and elevates the autonomy of humanity. The problem with this is that it takes away all possibility of personal responsibility in laws and ethics. Today on culturology we see how the 'natural' progression from the false freedom of naturalism ultimately leads to a reinvention of the wheel in postmodernism, or the despair of nihilism.

MANUSCRIPT:

----------------

Man Is A Responsible Being. When a person is tried in court for murder, the guilt or innocence of that person is described in terms of their responsibility. As a negative example, when the body of the murdered individual is found, the person who discovered the body thinks to themselves, “who is responsible for this death?” But in a more positive example, decreasing death rates in a crime-saturated town leads to the question, “who is responsible for this change?” Societies are preoccupied with addressing questions of responsibility, as they are the questions which must be answered if any society is to last. As such, different worldview adaptations have been proposed over the centuries as a way to view the world through the proper lense to foster the type of society to be desired.

One such worldview which rises to the occasion is that of naturalism. Naturalism, according to Carl Sagan is the view that “the cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be” (Sire 68). That is to say, there is no other reality which can or should be considered besides that of the natural realm. Life in naturalism is as Sires puts it “the silence of finite space”. There is no voice from beyond to which man can look to for meaning.

The naturalistic worldview is very popular in academic circles. Naturalism is the lense by which the popularization of evolution took place, especially thanks to Charles Darwin. Because of the deep-rooted influence of this worldview in academia and the secular world, the question must be asked, on what basis does a naturalist believe man is a responsible being? To answer this question, a brief survey of naturalism and the logical conclusions as such will be analyzed briefly.

Naturalism teaches the eternality of the universe. While the mantra “nothing comes from nothing. Something is” seems to indicate that the eternality of the universe as expressed in naturalism speaks to time, it is better to understand this tenant of naturalism as speaking to authority. If the universe is eternal, then there is no authority or power that lies beyond or above the universe with the ability to speak into life objectively. Further, life cannot be considered ultimately as creation. Instead only matter exists, evolving and surviving in different expressions over time, forever and ever.

What then is the initial impact of this tenant when considering human responsibility? If the myth of objective authority found in other worldviews is finally put to rest, then all that remains in a purely materialistic world is that which exists as the supreme authority by means of evolution. In this case, that supreme authority is humanity. Yet at the same time, human beings are “simply a part of the cosmos”. This recognition indicates that the concept of responsibility is a moot point in naturalism, at least in the final analysis. Instead, naturalists are “a law to themselves” (Romans 2:14). For this reason, Sire asserts that the difference between naturalism and theism is this: “For a theist, God is the foundation of values. For a naturalist, values are constructed by human beings”.

What impact does this consideration have on society? Further, what impact does this consideration have on the responsibility of man? In one sense, natura

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, consider becoming a Patron!

Today on Giving an Answer: What does it mean to be all things to all people?

The apostle Paul speaks of what it means to become “all things to all people” in this passage. This is a well-known mantra within Christianity, but a brief survey of the text is in order. The context of this passage comes in the preceding chapter of 1st Corinthians in which Paul establishes what it means to live within the ebb and flow of Christian freedom and Christian responsibility. Paul sets up his rationale of verses 19-23 of chapter 9 in the twelfth verse: “Nevertheless we have not made is of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of Christ” (English Standard Version, 1 Cor. 9:12b). This verse parallels that of verse 19 where the apostle says, “I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some”.

The historical context of writing such a rationale of ministry comes in the wake of the Corinthian's struggle with partiality. This is evidenced throughout the epistle, where Paul repeatedly touches on aspects of the Corinthian’s problem with partiality, related to leadership (1:10-12), wisdom (3:1-4), and celibacy (7:1-2) to name a few. This resurfaces in our text in chapter 9 specifically in readdressing their partiality of leadership. Paul provides to the Corinthian’s his own ministry model, unimpressive as it may have been to them, in order to demonstrate that all freedoms taken as entitlements become obstacles in the way of the Gospel of Christ.

From a contemporary standpoint, this sets Christianity as an antithesis to the secular structure, where the highest positions experience the highest privileges. There are no white collars in Christianity, but only servant’s bonds, and Paul means to stress to our culture that Christians must never be willing to compromise the glory of Christ for comforts. Being “a servant to all” (i.e. enduring whatever trials necessary cf. 9:12) is not found in the contemporary prosperity gospel, where the message is to follow Jesus- so that the health wealth and prosperous privilege becomes the goal of the hearers and the model of the heralds. This is out of touch with the Paul who became all things to all people- even the weak, the Jew, and the Greek. Rather, authentic servanthood is the authentic standard of Christian leadership, with the end goal of winning all peoples and all varieties of persons to Christ.

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, consider becoming a Patron!

It's February, the time of year when Bible reading plans tend to go out the window, stress amplifies, and our weeks start to get very busy. Worst of all, our guilt or our shortcomings so far this year make the prospect of Bible reading seem altogether overwhelming. It shouldn't be this way, but ignoring the problem or downplaying it won't help us get anywhere. Instead, we need to face these problems head-on. But first, we have to identify where the overwhelm is coming from. Here are four sources, and how to deal with them in constructive ways!

Support the show

If you enjoyed this episode and want to support the show, consider becoming a Patron!