Friday, September 28, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Demon to Demon
While I
have been a fan of C.S. Lewis and his books for a sometime, believe it or not I
have never read “The Screwtape Letters” until now. I have to admit that it took
a little bit for me to get into the book but once I was about a quarter of the
way through the book it defiantly kept my attention. Each letter is about three
pages long which makes it easy to grab and read a letter if you only have a few
minutes.
There
were many insights I found and some things that made me pause and think long
and hard about, things that hit a little too close to home.
The
book is not too hard to read but remember it was written by Lewis and he was
not an American living in 2012 so some of the words and sayings might not
connect but the overall flavor of the book should have its impact on you.
Well
worth reading.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Some Helpful Resources
This is some information that will be helpful when I post my next video in the series on “Bible Software and Me”.
In Part four of how I use Bible software to study and prepare sermons I will be moving into background research and commentary research. Below is a list of resources that I use and have found helpful. You may have some of your own favorites.
The first step is to look at background material and only after you have read through that material should you move on to commentary work.
I will be explaining exactly how I proceed in the next video.
Background Resources
Background Commentaries
IVP Background Commentary on the New Testament
IVP Background Commentary on the Old Testament
New Manners and Customs of the Bible
New Testament Background Commentary: A New Dictionary of words, phrases, and situations in Bible order
Background Dictionaries
Dictionary of the Latter New Testament
Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
Dictionary of New Testament Background
Dictionary of Paul and his Letters
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Zondervan Pictorial Bible Encyclopedia
I separate my commentaries into three (3) types.
The first types are those that are, what I call language commentaries. The second types are what I call Expository Commentaries and the third types I call application / devotional commentaries.
Commentaries
Language Commentaries
The United Bible Societies' New Testament Handbook Series
The United Bible Societies' Old Testament Handbook Series
Word Biblical Commentary
Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament
Word Pictures in the New Testament
Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament
A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament
A Textual Guide to the Greek New Testament
Expository Commentaries
The Expositor's Bible Commentary
The Expositor’s Bible
The College Press NIV
The College Press NIV
MacArthur’s NT Commentaries Collection
The New American Commentary Series
Lenski's Commentary on the New Testament
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament
The Pulpit Commentary
Baker’s New Testament Commentary
Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture
Application / Devotional Commentaries
The Preacher's Commentary
Holman New Testament Commentary
The Bible Speaks Today: New Testament
Tyndale Commentaries
N.T. Wright’s “For Everyone” series
I don’t usually read every commentary in every type. I usually will read three from each type for a total of 9.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Bible Software and Me (Part 3)
Here are the next few steps in how I use bible software to study the bible and prepare sermons. I had a problem with the video so it's in three parts.
The audio was horrible for the first video so I added some text boxes to help understand what I was doing. The other two videos work find. I hope these are helpful. If I get a chance I will redo the first video.
The audio was horrible for the first video so I added some text boxes to help understand what I was doing. The other two videos work find. I hope these are helpful. If I get a chance I will redo the first video.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The Trinity Doctrine
Crucial Questions # 10 “What is the Trinity?” By Dr. R.C. Sproul
This is now the second “Crucial Questions” booklet I have had the pleasure of reviewing. The first one I reviewed was on the subject of “Baptism” and can find my review of that one HERE.
I found this booklet on the “Trinity” really quite enjoyable to read. For the most part the booklet is easy to understand although there were a few sections that dealt with philosophy that were a bit difficult to follow and some may find these sections hard to understand but I think over all anyone reading the booklet will be helped.
I found that this booklet was unlike other books I’ve read on the subject. Most of the books I’ve read deal mainly with the text of scripture but this one while having a section on the biblical text dealt mostly with Church history (councils) as well as philosophy and word studies (understanding the meaning of different words used to describe Christ’s nature or the Trinity).
In chapter one the author discusses some objections to the Trinity which he revisits in the last chapter. I found Dr. Sproul’s response to the objection that Christianity is based on a contradiction because we believe in the Trinity to be excellent. He says on page 2:
Apparently this professor of philosophy was not familiar with the law of non-contradiction. That law states, “A cannot be A and non-A at the same time and in the same relationship.” When we confess our faith in the Trinity, we affirm that God is one in essence and three in person. Thus, God is one in A and three in B. If we said that He is one in essence and three in essence, that would be a contradiction. If we said He is one in person and three in person, that also would be a contradiction. But as mysterious as the Trinity is, perhaps even above and beyond our capacity to understand it in its fullness, the historic formula is not a contradiction.
An excellent response in my opinion.
There is also an overview of what some people see as an evolution of religion and how monotheism is just one step in that evolution. Christians deny this evolutionary thought and Dr. Sproul brings that out.
There was one statement in the booklet that did puzzle me a bit but because it really wasn’t related to the Trinity It didn’t bother me. He says on page 59:
… much of the New Testament was written in the Greek language.
I wasn’t sure if he meant that the New Testament writers sometimes use transliterated Aramaic words (Transliterated into Greek) or something else but as I said it doesn’t have much at all to do with the subject.
So in the end I found this booklet by Dr. R.C. Sproul on the Trinity to be enjoyable to read and very informative. I think anyone looking for a brief overview of the doctrine of the Trinity would do well to pick this up.
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