The Testimony Of Ancient Christianity To The Spiritual Sense Of God S Word

God has provided a way for all people, not just scholars, to know that the Bible is the Word of God. John Piper has devoted his life to showing us that the glory of God is object of the soul’s happiness. Now, his burden in this book is to demonstrate that this same glory is the ground of the mind’s certainty. God’s peculiar glory shines through his Word. The Spirit of God enlightens the eyes of our hearts. And in one self-authenticating sight, our minds are sure and our hearts are satisfied. Justified certainty and solid joy meet in the peculiar glory of God.

The challenge of a seemingly genocidal God who commands ruthless warfare has bewildered Bible readers for generations. The theme of divine war is not limited to the Old Testament historical books, however. It is also prevalent in the prophets and wisdom literature as well. Still it doesn t stop. The New Testament book of Revelation, too, is full of such imagery. Our questions multiply. Why does God apparently tell Joshua to wipe out whole cities, tribes or nations? Is this yet another example of dogmatic religious conviction breeding violence? Did these texts help inspire or justify the Crusades? What impact do they have on Christian morality and just war theories today? How does divine warfare fit with Christ s call to "turn the other cheek"? Why does Paul employ warfare imagery in his letters? Do these texts warrant questioning the overall trustworthiness of the Bible? These controversial yet theologically vital issues call for thorough interpretation, especially given a long history of misinterpretation and misappropriaton of these texts. This book does more, however. A range of expert contributors engage in a multidisciplinary approach that considers the issue from a variety of perspectives: biblical, ethical, philosophical and theological. While the writers recognize that such a difficult and delicate topic cannot be resolved in a simplistic manner, the different threads of this book weave together a satisfying tapestry. Ultimately we find in the overarching biblical narrative a picture of divine redemption that shows the place of divine war in the salvific movement of God.

The Miraculous Story of a Hugely Successful New Age Teacher’s Conversion to Christianity In this brilliant, utterly captivating memoir, Doreen Virtue chronicles her journey in discovering everything she believed in was a lie. She poignantly shares the price she’s paid for following Jesus. New Age teachings are based on concepts that sound almost irresistible. But as Doreen discovered, they come with a hidden price: your eternal destiny. Here is a riveting, personal confessional of how a former false prophet learned to trust God after nearly wasting a lifetime being independent and willful—trying to predict and control the future—and how Jesus saved her soul from deception and opened her eyes to His truth. Deceived No More can help you learn how to discern dangerous teachings so you can detect and avoid deception. Topics include: How to spot New Age teachings, and why they’re dangerous Biblical ways to deal with persecution, spiritual warfare, and other post-conversion issues How to witness to a New Ager

William Kelly (1821-1906) was an outstanding classical scholar in his generation, preacher, teacher, editor of several influential religious magazines and of John Nelson Darby's "Collected Writings," and a prolific author in his own right. He was a major figure in the late nineteenth century return to basic biblical teaching usually known as the Brethren movement, often seen as the cradle of dispensationalism. A Canadian contemporary described him as "second only to Mr Darby in knowledge of the Truth, and first in ability to state the Truth clearly." A frequent lecturer, he subsequently revised and published many of his lectures in book form. His familiarity with the original languages of the Bible led to well-researched expositions of both Old and New Testament books, which were widely read and highly regarded by Christians in his own time, and still today. With a genius for exposition, he combines scholarship and spirituality so that his readers gain a real sense of his unrestrained love for the Lord of whom the inspired pages of scripture speak. This book exhibits with unanswerable faith and proof the perfection of Divine revelation. It considers the great subject of the Inspiration of the Bible under the main headings of Divine Authority, Apostolic Doctrine, Its Uniformity, The Human Element and Divine Design. The latter topic, which occupies the major part of the book, consists of an introduction to each book of the Bible in turn, demonstrating the evidence of its inspiration, and relating it to the inspired themes of the whole. The author's purpose in writing the book was to present "the positive proofs that God speaks in it (the Bible) to every conscience and heart, more particularly of Israel in the Old Testament, and of the Christian in the New." He shows us that "one directing Author presides over each several part, imparting a special character to it, and at the same time causing all to contribute to the common purpose of revealing His counsels of glory and His ways of grace, while fully making known the weakness or the wickedness of the creature in resisting His will and doing its own." William Kelly's desire was that this work should be of help to "the spiritual understanding of all who value the Bible from beginning to end."

Is it possible to see, hear, touch, smell and taste God? How do we understand the biblical promise that the 'pure in heart' will 'see God'? Christian thinkers as diverse as Origen of Alexandria, Bonaventure, Jonathan Edwards and Hans Urs von Balthasar have all approached these questions in distinctive ways by appealing to the concept of the 'spiritual senses'. In focusing on the Christian tradition of the 'spiritual senses', this book discusses how these senses relate to the physical senses and the body, and analyzes their relationship to mind, heart, emotions, will, desire and judgement. The contributors illuminate the different ways in which classic Christian authors have treated this topic, and indicate the epistemological and spiritual import of these understandings. The concept of the 'spiritual senses' is thereby importantly recovered for contemporary theological anthropology and philosophy of religion.

The focus of this analysis centers on the work of early Christians, prominent theologians, and church historians who have developed and established orthodoxy in Christian theology. Apologetic approaches are analyzed and problems are shown to emerge when there is a lack of distinction made between historical and theological methods. Apologists who approach the study of history the same way they approach theology do both disciplines a disservice. The second part of the narrative argues that Christ is the essence of faith, i.e., this entity is a deity that exists only through faith. Christ's miracles, his resurrection, and atonement are not consistent with expected realities in history. Moreover, these elements of the deity were never intended to be proofs in a historical sense. Reason, therefore, in this context is not humanity's salvation. Nothing can be learned about Christ from history, he is a paradox, as Kierkegaard argued--Christ cannot be known (from a historical perspective). Spiritual truths, however, have been developed by theologians and can be learned through the Christian faith. This book will be especially alluring for those interested in understanding some of the most influential developments of early Christianity that morphed into components of the Christian doctrine. It covers textual analysis of ancient writings, historical approaches to studying theology, and methods used for historical inquiry. Emphasis is placed on historical methods and why it's important to distinguish theology from history.