Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

In this episode John and Gregg go further on the topic of “rigor,” which they initially discussed in episode # 64.  In that episode they discussed rigor specifically in the context of reading and interpreting the Bible. In this episode they expand that discussion as Gregg suggests that rigor applies broadly to our entire lives.

Gregg explains that, in his view, human beings are not just cognitive machines or solely intellectually focused.  Further, while a Christian perspective focuses on character, God is concerned with more that our character.  Such other concerns would be improvement, diversity, and enjoyment.  So Gregg notes that C. S. Lewis starts his Narnia series with Aslan proclaiming to all of the talking creatures, “I give you yourselves!”  Yet the tendency with Christians is either to overlook this or overemphasize it.
Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

In this episode John and Gregg consider a comment by listener Melinda to episode #35, Love is more than grace.  Melinda makes three points/questions:

1. That internalizing God’s love seems crucial, but sermons and the Bible often don’t seem to support this
2. Gregg expressed that “grace is that mode of expression by which God most truly expresses Godself: grace shows God’s love in its truest and best light.”  Is grace given too much weight over love?
3. Can you offer more discussion on “self-love”?  A Bible teacher recently said that self-love is not biblical because none of the ten commandments relate to loving oneself.   This teacher thinks that the ‘as yourself’ (i.e., love you neighbor as yourself) is just a reference point, such as, don’t harm others because you wouldn’t want to harm yourself.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Donald Miller’s Sept 25 blog post.  While John usually appreciates Donald’s posts, John is critical of Donald’s view that Jesus valued people who blindly trusted him: that we should trust without reasons to do so (or even against having other reasons not to). Gregg had similar thoughts and left a comment where he suggested two problems that he saw in Miller’s approach.

First, Gregg expressed concern with Donald’s view of the biblical passage he references (John 6), because it seems that for Donald the Bible’s meaning amounts to “how it strikes me” on a given day.  Instead, Gregg argued that Christians should rely on biblical scholarship to help us understand the Bible better.  For Gregg this does not imply that we seek to eliminate faith (because we need faith!) but underscores that there are better and worse ways to express faith / engage faithfully.
Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Email | RSS | More

In this episode John and Gregg discuss Gregg’s recent lecture at Swiss L’Abri, where Gregg began lecturing on his graduate thesis.  Gregg explains that his thesis concerns a problem within recent, biblical hermeneutics, on the part of several evangelical scholars, and that this problem is twofold.

First, some Christian scholars have preferenced the positive effect of the Holy Spirit over the negative effect of sin and finiteness, such that they then view Christians as being naturally better readers of the Bible than non-Christians.  Second, some Christian scholars have also preferenced the importance of biblical truth over the need (and indeed, command) to love our fellows as ourselves.

Gregg argues in his thesis that there are natural tensions in life and that the preceding represent real tensions for Christians, yet that Christians also should not seek to collapse these tensions into hierarchies (i.e.,  Spirit over sin, truth over love), but should rather seek how the conflict inherent within these tensions can be made productive.
Continue reading →