A Dead Duck
A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon’s office. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet shook his head and sadly said, “I’m sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away.”
The distressed woman wailed, “Are you sure?” Continue reading
I am sure at some point you have seen crash dummies in a car as it hits a wall, cameras record the event to note precisely how the collision impacted both the vehicle and the dummies inside. The videos are slowed down dramatically and observations are made which reveal a great deal. As any new car is introduced into the car market, car companies (as well as outside agency safety inspectors) conduct these kind of tests as standard procedure to ascertain the level of safety for passengers.
With this idea in view, I want us to take a fresh look at salvation from several angles. We will note that although many of the things happen in an instant, if we could slow the camera down (so to speak) we will see that one thing occurred before the other, just as the car had to hit the wall before the dent in the car could be observed. In referring to a sequence with regards to time we also speak of logical and causal order, for the simple reason that although (in time) two things seemed to occur instantly, logically speaking, one thing had to happen before the other – one thing was the cause of the other thing.
Someone might ask what is the point of such a study. I would reply that the conclusions we come to on these issues have a profound impact on how one views God, the gospel, and the Bible as a whole. Continue reading
“The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.” (Prov 18:17 NIV)
Some Resources:
A recent graphic produced by “Fast Company” seeks to chart what it sees as contradictions in the Bible. Matt Perman provides a good short response but the critics are not. All their allegations of error in the Bible are based on some error of their own. Their mistakes fall into the following main categories.
* Assuming that the unexplained is not explainable
* Presuming the Bible guilty until proven innocent
* Confusing our fallible interpretations with God’s infallible revelation
* Failing to understand the context of the passage
* Neglecting to interpret difficult passages in the light of clear ones
* Basing a teaching on an obscure passage
* Forgetting that the Bible is a human book with human characteristics
* Assuming that a partial report is a false report
* Demanding that NT citations of the OT always be exact quotations
* Assuming that divergent accounts are false ones
* Presuming that the Bible approves of all its records
* Forgetting that the Bible uses non-technical, everyday language
* Assuming that round numbers are false
* Neglecting to note that the bible uses different literary devices
* Forgetting that only the original text, not every copy of scripture, is without error
* Confusing general statements with universal ones
* Forgetting that latter revelation supersedes previous revelation Continue reading