Why do Christians read the New Testament?

Most of what Christians believe can be found in the Bible. Christians see the Bible as the Word of God. That is a reason why Christians read the Bible- to contemplate on the Word of God. But why should we read the New Testament? Is it necessary to read the New Testament?

The New Testament consists of 27 books which contains the four gospels. The Greek word for “gospel” is “euangelion”. The “eu” means “Good” and the “angelion” means “News”. So the Greek word is “euangelion”, meaning “Good news”. In English we use the word “Gospel” for exactly the same purpose.

The four Gospels or sometimes called Good News is Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. These bring the good news of Christ. Christ is portrayed as the savior of mankind. This includes the birth of Christ, the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ.

The four gospels thus bring the good news of the life of Jesus the Christ on Earth.

Till next time!

Is the Old Testament relevant to Christians?

In a post a few weeks ago I discussed the different sources of theology. There I said that Scripture is a source of theology. But what is scripture for Christians? Is Scripture the entire Bible or is it just the passages that talk about Jesus? What should Christians do with the Old Testament? Is the Old Testament still relevant to Christians?

The Old Testament starts with God creating the heavens and the earth and it ends about 400 years before Christ. It contains the stories and teachings of God before Christ. These stories are mostly about Gods people- they are the Israelites.

The Israelites spoke Hebrew and they can also be called the Hebrew people. Since the Old Testament is about them the Old Testament also took the name: “Hebrew Bible”. The actual Hebrew word is: “Tanakh”.

For Christians the Old Testament gives an introduction to the story of Jesus. The main reason for this is because the Old Testament contains prophecies that a Messiah is coming. The word “Messiah” is a Hebrew word which, when translated in Greek is “Christos” or Christ. Christians believe that Jesus is the Christ- That’s why we call Him Jesus Christ; the Messiah!

Thus the Old Testament paves the road for Jesus (John 1:23). Jesus also successfully fulfills the prophecies and the law in the Old Testament (Romans 8:1-4)

Till next time!

Is God a watchmaker? (Part 2)

In the previous post we discussed the “Deism” controversy, which compared God to a wristwatch. Now we are going to develop this controversy to the next level. If God created the world as a wristwatch, would the world be able to function on its own without intervensionis from God?

The “Deism” theory says: God started the world at creation, just like a watchmaker starts a watch. After creation a watch would work on its own until service is required. The watch is a mechanical instrument. If God created the world as a mechanical instrument, adhering to the laws and forces of nature, what interventions would God have to do? In other words if God created the word as a mechanical instrument where would God be? I mean, wouldn’t the mechanical system work on its own?

Most faiths recognize an above-natural power! Is the “Deism” theory flawed because it doesn’t make room for that above-natural power in its world view?

Is God a watchmaker? (Part 1)

Consider the example of a simple wrist watch. A watchmaker made the watch and as he inserts the battery of a modern watch it starts to tick. Many people in the past said that God is like that. This is part of the “Deism” controversy.  I will attempt to explain it in more detail:

1.       God created the world with the laws of nature.

2.       God created humans in this world.

3.       The humans can explore the world to discover how God created the world.

I would like you to consider two scenarios:

·         If God created the world about 600 years ago, were would the remains of the dinosaurs come from? There wouldn’t have been enough time for them to become fossilized. Did God create them as scientists found them? In other words did God bury them there 600 years ago for clever scientists to find? What were Gods plan in this scenario?

·         Or did God really create the world six billion years ago which lead, through the process of evolution, to the development of the dinosaurs. The dinosaurs then died and in the long run became fossilized. In other words God created a period in history that had nothing to do with the human being! What were Gods plan in this scenario?

Please join the discussion!

Till next time!

Where can we find the will of God?

In my church I hear people saying: “God wants to do this or God wants to do that”. How do they know? 

How do they know it was God that spoke to them? How do they know that what they heard was in line with Gods will? Oh and where does the Bible come into all of this?

These are all very Good questions! We can talk all day about each of these questions. In this post I want to discuss the sources that God uses to communicate with people and the church.

Perhaps the word “Theology” can help us in this quest. The word Theology is a combination of two words. The first is “Theos”, meaning “God” and the second is “logos”, meaning “word”. So Theology can be translated with the “Word of God”. What are the sources of Theology? In other words, what sources can we use to hear the Word of God? In short I can name four:

1.       THE SCRIPTURE. Most Christians and almost all the churches use the Bible as the infallible (never-failing) Word of God. In short the Bible is Spirit breathed. It is not uncommon to say that the Bible is the “Word of God”.

2.       TRADITIONS. For most Christians it is standard to go to church every Sunday. This has been the way of Christianity for centuries and therefore a tradition. People go to church to hear the Word of God and to learn more about Him.

3.       REASON! Sometimes the Bible or traditions cannot help us because some problems did not exist in Biblical times. I mean the Bible is not going to help you with some sort of computer problem; electronics did not exist in Biblical times! Sometimes we must think about something and make the correct decisions. In this case it means we have to think!

4.       PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. Most Christians believe that God speaks to them directly. Maybe you just know what’s right or maybe you just feel it in your spirit. Perhaps a series of events can show you the correct way to follow.

God is good with communication. Share your thoughts on the way that God speaks to you!

How can we understand the Trinity; God, Son and Holy Spirit?

The Trinity consists of God the Father, Jesus his only Son and the Holy Spirit (sometimes Holy Ghost by name). The Trinity is sometimes called the Godhead. How can we understand the Godhead? Most churches say the following in a creed: “We believe in God the Father the creator of the heavens and the earth and in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord” sounds familiar?

The Christian faith believes in one God. The Trinity is an unit, as in “one”. But yet we can pray to each one separately. For example: “Jesus please forgive me my sins” or “We know that God the father created the heavens and the earth”. Yet we describe God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “one God”.

Clearly this requires two viewpoints to understand. An individualistic viewpoint which is separate AND a collective viewpoint in which all is One. I can explain the viewpoints as follows:

• 1.       The first viewpoint is of God. This viewpoint is static: “One God”. Much the same as we find Him in the Old Testament.
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• 2.       The second viewpoint requires a bit more re-positioning  It can be viewed from three different perspectives: God, Son and Holy Spirit. Three different viewpoints that cannot be one. For example if you pray for the forgiveness of sins, you talk to Jesus- if you say thanks for the creation you say thanks to God (As found in the book of Genesis).

In essence there is a lot of re-positioning to do in your mind when you think about the Christian God. Is this difficult? No, it’s EASY. Consider a triangle. We can use a triangle as a metaphor. The triangle is ONE shape with THREE different corners. Link the triangle as one shape to God AND the three corners to God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. (This can be in any order).

Concerning the three corners you can have only one viewpoint, either with God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit. But the corners are one, as in one triangle. I mean, if you tell something to Jesus, God is going to know about it right?

If you want to be with Jesus you can re-position yourself in His corner (by means of speaking) or if you want to be with the Holy Spirit you can re-position yourself to His corner. But you will always be with God, because He is One, the One called the Trinity!

Till next time!