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Truth, Experience, and the Authority of Scripture
It is very common in today’s culture to argue that experience is the ultimate authority. However, as I have written before, not only is it foolish, but it is dangerous to elevate experience as the determiner of truth. Additionally, Christians need to be adamant that lack of experience does not prohibit one from having an opinion or even speaking authoritatively on an issue. The ultimate authority can (and should be) the authority that is Scripture. Experience as the Preferred Pathway to Knowledge Experience tends to be elevated to a supreme status in our culture. It is common to hear arguments like, “You don’t know what it is like,” “You have not been there,” or, “You are not like me, so you don’t know.” Whether it is a culturally sensitive issue (like the racial minority decrying whites for not understanding their oppression), or an individual issue (like someone describing his or…
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Collection of Articles on the Law
Christians regularly have questions on the Law and how Christians should think about it. Because I have written quite a few articles on the subject of the Old Testament Law, and more specifically the Ten Commandments, this post will serve as a summary of these posts. Anyone who is interested in the Law or the Ten Commandments specifically may find the following articles interesting. The OT Law in Its Narrative Context This post was an analysis of the Law as it appears in the Pentateuch. Oftentimes we miss some of the significant applications of the Law because we neglect the context in which it occurs. Unsurprisingly, the narrative context of the Law becomes very important to interpretation and understanding. The Purpose of the Old Testament Law In this post we discuss the overall purpose of the Law. We discuss how some people have wrongly attributed other purposes to the Law.…
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Why is Incest Wrong According to the Bible?
Although incest is specifically prohibited by Leviticus 18, we often (unfortunately) isolate this text from its foundation. In biblical law it is important to understand the relationship between Law and creation to aid the process of application. In the case of incest, we need to understand that incest is prohibited because of its connection to Genesis 2:24. Tracing the Language of Incest to Genesis 2:24 Leviticus 18:6–18 begins with the introductory phrase, “None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness” (אִישׁ אִישׁ אֶל־כָּל־שְׁאֵר בְּשָׂרֹו לֹא תִקְרְבוּ לְגַלּוֹת עֶרְוָה). This verse functions as an introductory phrase which relates to the entire section on incest. The pertinent phrase we need to consider is “blood relative,” which can be literally translated, “flesh of his flesh” (שְׁאֵר בְּשָׂרֹו). This phrase invokes repetition of a concept which is first mentioned in Genesis 2:24 in the description of the “one flesh”…
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No Idol or Likeness—The Uncommon God (Exod 20:4-6)
The first commandment stated that God is supreme above all things. The second commandment is, like the first commandment, also an application of the supremacy of the Creator. The first commandment applied the supremacy of God through mandating that nothing is to be treated as God. The theological reality which undergirds the second commandment is that God must never be brought down to creation status. So, together the first two commandments teach that nothing must ever be elevated to God’s rightful status as supreme object of our affection and worship; second, God must never be treated as common or as a part of creation. The second commandment, like the first, is rooted in Genesis 1. We see this clearly by the repetition of Genesis 1 language, “heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” This commandment focuses specifically upon making any representation of God…
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The Supremacy of God in the Commandments
The Ten Commandments are one of the most beloved sections of Scripture. Even nonbelievers usually know at least a few of the Ten Commandments. However, often the commandments are misunderstood or misapplied. Thus, we will take this opportunity to go through the Ten Commandments and make some important observations. Of great importance is understanding that the first commandment is foundational for the rest of the Ten Commandments. When God says, “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exod 20:3), He is demanding exclusive worship. This exclusive worship is unsurprising, because the theological foundation of the Ten Commandments assumes the uniqueness of God and His divine role as Creator. Notice that the word, “LORD,” is not present in this command. The Lord is mentioned by name (“LORD”, יהוה) throughout Exodus 20 (vv. 5, 7, 10, 11, 12), yet here the focus is on God in relation to His status as…
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The Law as a Reflection of Creation Principles
In a previous post I discussed the purpose of the Law. One of the purposes of the Law was to reflect God’s creation to a watching world. In other words, Israel was given laws that, when obeyed, showed the world what the creation ideal looked like. The connection of creation to the Law is worth examining in greater detail. The easiest way to see this connection is to examine some of the Ten Commandments (the heart of Israel’s Law code) and note their connections to creation principles. First Commandment: No Other Gods (Exod 20:3; cf. Deut 5:7) Although some of the following commandments have explicit ties to the creation narrative, the link between the first commandment and creation is implicit in its theology. The demand for exclusive worship is inherently tied to the belief that God is the Creator. Since God is the only Creator, He demands exclusive and unrivaled…
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The Connection between Evolution and Transgenderism
If one were to turn back the clock 15 or 20 years, the words transgender or transgenderism would not have much (if any) meaning to most people. The push for the cultural acceptance of transgenderism is a relatively recent phenomenon. However, if we think through the secular worldview, which is based in evolution, transgenderism is a consistent outworking of that worldview. The Bible teaches the that the Creator created the entire universe and everything in it in 6 days (Genesis 1). The Bible also teaches that the Creator has ultimate authority over the universe and governs it as He sees fit. Every creature within creation must ultimately submit to the Creator’s law governing that creation. In contrast, the worldview of evolution emphasizes the absence of any design or Creator who gives law and direction. In this worldview, life originated through random chance, and continues to evolve through the principle of…
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Creation and the Distant Starlight Problem
A common objection to the young earth creation position is the distant starlight problem. This starlight problem is usually framed with the following information. First, starlight travels approximately 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, the distance starlight can travel in a year is approximately 6 trillion miles, and is referred to in astronomical measurements as a light year. Thanks to the Hubble Telescope, we are able to see many stars which are invisible to the naked eye. One such star, named Icarus, is 9 billion light years from earth. In simple terms, the above information means the light from Icarus took 9 billion years (traveling at 186k miles per second) to reach earth. That is a long distance and a long time! However, at the same time, this seems to be incongruent with a young earth creation position, which posits a young age for the earth (usually defined as 6-10k years…
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Does the Bible Affirm 24-hr Days in Genesis 1?
Justin Taylor has stirred the pot recently with a post on Creation in Genesis 1-2 and whether or not the days referred to in Genesis 1-2 are actual 24-hr days, or just indefinite periods of time. Justin’s post reminded me of an article that I had read a few months ago by Robert McCabe that I think is worth summarizing his main points with my own comments. The context of Genesis 1 indicates a 24-hr day. Its true that day (yom) can refer to periods of time, like in the phrase “Day of the Lord.” But in Genesis 1, day is modified by “evening and morning” and also used in opposition to night. These are clear signals from the context of Genesis 1 that these are normal days with a normal sequence of day and night rotations. When yom is modified by a number, it always refers to a literal…