F. A . Talbot | Western Seminary (original) (raw)

Papers by F. A . Talbot

Intersectionality has received enormous headlines and academic interest in recent years. Just ent... more Intersectionality has received enormous headlines and academic interest in recent years. Just enter the term in a Google search, and over 32 million results appear. Hardly one demographic, ethnicity, educational level, or economic class author sympathetic to or antithetical to it remains silent on the subject either pro or con. Intersectionality reflects on subjects apart from its standard topics of binaries such as environmentalism, therapy, feminism, the Internet, futurity, violence, combat, digital gaming, and Marxist dialectics. Intersectionality, deconstructionism, and Gnosticism possess close kinships with Gnosticism as its base. These connections will be explored more in Part 2 of this two part series of articles.

The new birth arises as one of the major doctrines of Christian faith. In fact, it acts as a foun... more The new birth arises as one of the major doctrines of Christian faith. In fact, it acts as a foundational doctrine that marks the difference between grace and merit, which this article will explore. These two differences act as stark contrasts relative to salvation from its beginning to the conclusion of one's life. That is, the new birth raises the issue of human initiative versus God's initiative or the combination of both at the inception of spiritual life. It influences the nature of salvation itself and related biblical doctrines. This new birth produces a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and pronounces the old gone. While sin remains and never becomes eradicated in this life, the new life increasingly expresses itself, as overcoming, through the grace of God.

Valentine’s Day launches a shopping spree for flowers, chocolates, hearts covered cards, champagn... more Valentine’s Day launches a shopping spree for flowers, chocolates, hearts covered cards, champagne, and candlelight dinners at crowded restaurants with their clanging dishes and low level chatter. It’s a once a year occasion that occurs just after the Super Bowl, another event that rings up the tab for beer, pizza, burgers or brisket on the grill, fries, wings, tailgate parties, jam-packed bars with several 60 inch TV screens, and an overflowing stadium.

Does romance take a back seat in our day and time to sports or many other extracurricular activities? Have love songs lost their luster? Does Cupid still have a good aim? Has the warranty expired on a passionate adventure and candy hearts?

That couple in the biblical poetic book of the Song of Songs had a very different take on the modern version of romance on a day set aside for it. It informs the reader of a very different type of romance and love. This article explores this love and romance.

How do we apply a biblically sound view of the prophet and prophecy? Through the Holy Spirit, Go... more How do we apply a biblically sound view of the prophet and prophecy? Through the Holy Spirit, God gave gracious blessings to enable effective gospel proclamation and equipping believers to build up its members to “stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7-13). We must remind ourselves that God and God alone sends the messengers and the message of the gospel (Romans 10:15).

Not until the mid to latter first century did the church have more than the Old Testament as inspired text from God. When the Apostle Paul wrote his letters, especially the letter to the Ephesians, he wrote from the perspective of what these new Gentile members had to guide them apart the preaching they received. When he mentioned apostles, the twelve would come to mind. When he spoke of prophets, they focused on those before Christ’s coming. They knew the prophets who preceded Christ. This article expands on what Jesus and Apostle Paul’s audience understood about the proclamation gifts, specifically prophets.
We possess in the Bible the testimony of numerous gifted people God called to reveal and proclaim Him for redemption. Among those gifted and the gifts includes that of prophecy. This article seeks briefly to identify the biblical meaning and intent of prophecy within the contexts of the Old and New Testament.

A new Babel is arising. The first Babel stood for confusion in languages, epistemology, and rogu... more A new Babel is arising. The first Babel stood for confusion in languages, epistemology, and rogue justice from one known as Nimrod. The new Babel arises with its collection of epistemologies and political languages, foundations for social justice. Social justice has a nice ring, especially when it includes the word “justice.” Everyone wants justice, that is, when it aligns with certain ideologies. Few impugn it unless they call for defunding it. It belongs in our world and divides rights from wrong. Notice how the preceding sentence modified right and wrong by presenting false opposites? It did not juxtapose right from wrong but rights from wrong. It made rights a core ideology in creating a binary for new “truth.” Right becomes rights and relegates anything dealing with what may be called “right” to the garbage heap.

Deconstruction and privilege are no laughing matters for academics. In our postmodern society, th... more Deconstruction and privilege are no laughing matters for academics. In our postmodern society, they appear to stand out like a blistered thumb after a pounding with a hammer. Deconstructionism attempted to expose privilege in text while those who followed in its wake turned to society to discover its dispensation scattered across the cultural landscape. What do we make of such an obvious and onerous malady? This article explores the constructs lending to privilege and turns to an inconspicuous source for its origins, one not so evident to postmodern philosophers and academics alike. This article explores the time-honored societies of intellectuals to locate privilege in authoritative bibliographies and abstracts. It reveals how privilege served its purpose in ancient philosophies and raised tall shoulders on which contemporary scholastics stand. No one escapes its lure. Valentinus, Heracleon, and Ptolemy would be proud that their shoulders still support privilege even among those who find it to be like garlic to a vampire.

This article provides a broad summary for the Letter to the Hebrews. With any communication, the ... more This article provides a broad summary for the Letter to the Hebrews. With any communication, the author's message is the most important element. All the content lends to this message. Therefore, the approach of this overview has the message primarily in view and is a guideline with a focus on the message. The intent of this overview is for the reader to be able to derive the author's message given the discussed elements that contribute to it. It reviews the following elements that contribute to the message:

Bible study takes careful reading, observation, ability to follow an author's thinking in a given... more Bible study takes careful reading, observation, ability to follow an author's thinking in a given text. Our purpose with the biblical text before us is to discover not only the author's message and intent but also God's message. God speaks through His inspired human agency. This article provides an approach to any book of the Bible for delineating the author's message, intent, and application. Our purpose is to discover all of these. While this article focuses on the Letter to the Hebrews, its approach can apply to any one of the 66 books of the Bible or any literary work. This article highlights a general approach, thereby not delving into detailed hermeneutical principles.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Everyone has fallen so far from God that we lost sight of the nature of sin and redefined it out ... more Everyone has fallen so far from God that we lost sight of the nature of sin and redefined it out of existence through euphemistic terms. Such redefinition attempts to reframe the gospel so that people bring about their own redemption through humanistic power politics and social science ideologies. Material ideology (the external) displaces the spiritual (the internal), thereby making human philosophy the reigning paradigm for redemption. Sin must then be redefined to fit the observable problems that result in insurmountable suffering for certain groups of people – those identified as the oppressed and down-trodden in society through an intersectional archetype. Postmodern philosophy renders sin as indifferent error, mistake, a slip, glitch, passive omission, or uninvolved oversight. It makes sin external rather than that which dwells internally. Postmodern philosophies also move from individual to social sins and from personal to impersonal. The redefinition of sin in these ways has led to a cancel culture. First, cancelling sin then cancelling people or persona non grata. This article argues that we must return to the biblical definition of sin for coming to terms with the gospel and one’s accountability before God and eternal destiny.

When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers sharing their ignorance over various worldvi... more When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers sharing their ignorance over various worldviews (Acts 17:22-30). He brought them back around to the source of true knowledge – God Himself. Through His self-disclosure, God made known His will and provided the basis for it and the way of salvation in Christ alone. Paul also pointed out to these Greek philosophers that God is not far from each person (17:27), for He created all humanity in His image (17:29). Consequently, speculation about the things of God is not the means of seeking after God, because it tends toward idolatry (17:29) and takes a person farther away from God.

Speculation, as Paul demonstrated in Acts and Romans, tended to create a caricature of God by either projecting false attributes on Him or making Him to be something He is not. False attributes may include or combine something true and untrue, thus creating that which is false. When such attribution occurs, it results in false judgments about Him and His acts with humanity and His entire creation.

The Apostle John warned about false teachers who arrive with another message, “Beloved, do not be... more The Apostle John warned about false teachers who arrive with another message, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). False teachers begin with a false view of God. That view in turn propagates a false view of the Scriptures. A false view of Scriptures yields a false gospel. While the early church embraced Jesus as the Christ and Redeemer, many from among Jewish Christians in Jerusalem sought to add to the gospel, thus claiming that Christ was insufficient and secondary to Moses (Acts 15:1-11). This first attack from false teachers focused on the gospel itself. If the apostles and Paul had not met and settled the controversies about circumcision and the Law of Moses in Jerusalem (48-50 AD), future generations could have faced greater intensity contending with Gnostic teachings, Christology, and the Scriptures.

As in the early church so also today, the church faces spiritual warfare with hosts of false teac... more As in the early church so also today, the church faces spiritual warfare with hosts of false teachers and their different gospels. They relentlessly creep in under disguise with secular creeds as social justice, racial equality, economic fairness, equal rights, liberation, and numerous other appealing ideologies. They focus on identity politics instead of identity in Christ. They divide instead of call for unity. These false teachers give lip service to the gospel but appeal to other books’ philosophies as having equal standing with the Bible. Modern day apostles and prophets engage a publishing spree with their own language and definitions of biblical terms. They are emergent, missional, apostolic, cultural, mystic, organic, and tribal. They endlessly change their strategy while exchanging the gospel for religious symbols, metaphorical language, and secular ideologies.

Allegory and metaphor have a long history in poetry and plays with ancient civilizations, especia... more Allegory and metaphor have a long history in poetry and plays with ancient civilizations, especially in Greek culture. As we fast forward to today, the church faces the rise of another allegorical “school” – the missional movement. The missional movement’s history of allegorical and metaphorical use for doctrine returns to Alexandria through the hallways of Roman Catholicism and brings with it a Docetic metaphorical portrait of Jesus.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author conflates time as though the events occurred almost sim... more In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author conflates time as though the
events occurred almost simultaneously. How do we reconcile such time events? Through the eyes of the author, time and space held no bounds concerning redemption. That is, time and space is not an issue.
It was as though redemption accomplished and Christ’s ascension was one event although 40 days separated to two. Just as death could not restrain Jesus to the grave, so neither could time and space restrain His priestly office. In his highly compact statement in 1:3, the author upheld both Jesus purification through His death in time and space and His exaltation to the right hand of God where He ever lives (eternally) to make intercession for all believers (7:25).

These portrayals the Hebrews author provides of Jesus demonstrate that he grounds his central app... more These portrayals the Hebrews author provides of Jesus demonstrate that he grounds his central application, do not defect (2:1; 6:1-6; 10:19-27) and persevere, in the gospel of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Father.

Three major presentations of Jesus appear in the Letter to the Hebrews: Prophet (He speaks), Prie... more Three major presentations of Jesus appear in the Letter to the Hebrews: Prophet (He speaks), Priest (He sacrifices), and King (He rules).

He blends the roles or titles of Jesus as he weaves them through the discussion of his message (1:3; 2:1-18; 4:16; 8:1; 12:2). That is, his message guided his flow of reasoning about Jesus and his portrayal of Him. Jesus is the central figure in Hebrews among all the people he cites (Moses, Melchizedek, Abraham). He wrote in persuasive essay style within the framework of what some call a hortatory or homily to uphold Jesus as the divine Messiah, the Supreme God who created history and rules in eternity.

What is the destiny of those not hearing the gospel? The issue related to this question is the g... more What is the destiny of those not hearing the gospel? The issue related to this question is the gospel itself. It is important to identify how the different approaches to salvation appraise the gospel and its contents. Is it the only message or one of many messages by which a person comes to a saving knowledge of God? Many authors have written about the different ways to salvation for the “unevangelized,” especially the proponents of inclusivism. Most within the Evangelical Christian community uphold the exclusivist approach to salvation. That is, explicit faith in the proclaimed gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. The exclusive approach to salvation takes the Apostle Paul at his face value when he makes the unambiguous claim, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The word of God arouses faith in the hearer of the gospel.

Idolatry is people looking to themselves and the material world as the highest forms of worship o... more Idolatry is people looking to themselves and the material world as the highest forms of worship or priority in life. When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers debating their religious and philosophical speculations about a variety of worldviews (Acts 17:22-30).

They began with themselves and then speculated from their sights set on created order in creating gods and idolatry. Paul brought them back around to the source of true knowledge – God Himself.

Culture plays a large role in the missional movement. One of the driving forces for many churche... more Culture plays a large role in the missional movement. One of the driving forces for many churches within the missional movement consists of the APEST culture Alan Hirsch discussed in his books. The acronym APEST represents to what Hirsch referred as the five leadership gifts in Ephesians 4:11. This APEST culture involves one of six to what Hirsch attributed as elements of a hierarchical structure with the immediate head as the mDNA. The Apostolic Genius acts as the hierarchical ideology above this mDNA.

Hirsch claimed that all of these terms and structure are biblical and located in one verse in all of Scripture. However, some of his major terms discussed in this article derive from Roman Catholic origins (Apostolic Genius and incarnational). Given all Hirsch wrote about these theoretical terms and how he came about them, they raise the question about their validity as Scriptural. Do they represent what the Apostle Paul actually teaches? Do they warrant biblical legitimacy at all? This article provides a firm answer of no. In fact, they constitute the doctrines of men.

The emphasis on biblical authority must receive highest priority to evaluate Hirsch’s doctrines, because he tends to downplay those who disagree with his philosophy of Apostolic Genius. He associates those who disagree with the pejorative institutional, traditional, or attractional church who inherited their theology from Christendom. This is a diversionary tactic. The reader of his books must be aware of these denigrating and straw man portrayals. Critics must continue to point to the Scriptures as final authority for validation. While appropriating what appears to be Christian through seemingly biblical terminology, Hirsch created a system of false doctrines that must be rejected as contrary to the clear teachings of Scriptures.

Through the books of Alan Hirsch, his co-authors, and various organizations, the missional moveme... more Through the books of Alan Hirsch, his co-authors, and various organizations, the missional movement has defined and propagated a theoretical framework through metaphors and historical revisionism. Hirsch called this framework the Apostolic Genius.

This article, along with subsequent articles, evaluates the terminology and methods Hirsch applied through his metaphors, systems, acronyms, imagination, and core practices. This article reveals how Hirsch deconstructs one verse from Ephesians (Ephesians 4:11) for developing his own ecclesiastical and Christological theology. Through this departure he created a works based theology and overlays grace as a veneer over a works salvation to call people out of what he sees as a dying Christendom.

However, he ignored that the church belongs to Christ Himself. He promised He would secure it until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). He knows his sheep and keeps them through the Holy Spirit until He comes again (John 10:1-4, 14-15, 27-30). The church will not die out. The only dying that occurs are those who do not belong to Him. Many in scattered churches throughout the world do not belong to Him just as many who attended synagogue in Jesus time did not belong to Him. He knows those who belong to Him and will give them eternal life (John 6:44-47). This article concludes with this message.

Intersectionality has received enormous headlines and academic interest in recent years. Just ent... more Intersectionality has received enormous headlines and academic interest in recent years. Just enter the term in a Google search, and over 32 million results appear. Hardly one demographic, ethnicity, educational level, or economic class author sympathetic to or antithetical to it remains silent on the subject either pro or con. Intersectionality reflects on subjects apart from its standard topics of binaries such as environmentalism, therapy, feminism, the Internet, futurity, violence, combat, digital gaming, and Marxist dialectics. Intersectionality, deconstructionism, and Gnosticism possess close kinships with Gnosticism as its base. These connections will be explored more in Part 2 of this two part series of articles.

The new birth arises as one of the major doctrines of Christian faith. In fact, it acts as a foun... more The new birth arises as one of the major doctrines of Christian faith. In fact, it acts as a foundational doctrine that marks the difference between grace and merit, which this article will explore. These two differences act as stark contrasts relative to salvation from its beginning to the conclusion of one's life. That is, the new birth raises the issue of human initiative versus God's initiative or the combination of both at the inception of spiritual life. It influences the nature of salvation itself and related biblical doctrines. This new birth produces a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17) and pronounces the old gone. While sin remains and never becomes eradicated in this life, the new life increasingly expresses itself, as overcoming, through the grace of God.

Valentine’s Day launches a shopping spree for flowers, chocolates, hearts covered cards, champagn... more Valentine’s Day launches a shopping spree for flowers, chocolates, hearts covered cards, champagne, and candlelight dinners at crowded restaurants with their clanging dishes and low level chatter. It’s a once a year occasion that occurs just after the Super Bowl, another event that rings up the tab for beer, pizza, burgers or brisket on the grill, fries, wings, tailgate parties, jam-packed bars with several 60 inch TV screens, and an overflowing stadium.

Does romance take a back seat in our day and time to sports or many other extracurricular activities? Have love songs lost their luster? Does Cupid still have a good aim? Has the warranty expired on a passionate adventure and candy hearts?

That couple in the biblical poetic book of the Song of Songs had a very different take on the modern version of romance on a day set aside for it. It informs the reader of a very different type of romance and love. This article explores this love and romance.

How do we apply a biblically sound view of the prophet and prophecy? Through the Holy Spirit, Go... more How do we apply a biblically sound view of the prophet and prophecy? Through the Holy Spirit, God gave gracious blessings to enable effective gospel proclamation and equipping believers to build up its members to “stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:7-13). We must remind ourselves that God and God alone sends the messengers and the message of the gospel (Romans 10:15).

Not until the mid to latter first century did the church have more than the Old Testament as inspired text from God. When the Apostle Paul wrote his letters, especially the letter to the Ephesians, he wrote from the perspective of what these new Gentile members had to guide them apart the preaching they received. When he mentioned apostles, the twelve would come to mind. When he spoke of prophets, they focused on those before Christ’s coming. They knew the prophets who preceded Christ. This article expands on what Jesus and Apostle Paul’s audience understood about the proclamation gifts, specifically prophets.
We possess in the Bible the testimony of numerous gifted people God called to reveal and proclaim Him for redemption. Among those gifted and the gifts includes that of prophecy. This article seeks briefly to identify the biblical meaning and intent of prophecy within the contexts of the Old and New Testament.

A new Babel is arising. The first Babel stood for confusion in languages, epistemology, and rogu... more A new Babel is arising. The first Babel stood for confusion in languages, epistemology, and rogue justice from one known as Nimrod. The new Babel arises with its collection of epistemologies and political languages, foundations for social justice. Social justice has a nice ring, especially when it includes the word “justice.” Everyone wants justice, that is, when it aligns with certain ideologies. Few impugn it unless they call for defunding it. It belongs in our world and divides rights from wrong. Notice how the preceding sentence modified right and wrong by presenting false opposites? It did not juxtapose right from wrong but rights from wrong. It made rights a core ideology in creating a binary for new “truth.” Right becomes rights and relegates anything dealing with what may be called “right” to the garbage heap.

Deconstruction and privilege are no laughing matters for academics. In our postmodern society, th... more Deconstruction and privilege are no laughing matters for academics. In our postmodern society, they appear to stand out like a blistered thumb after a pounding with a hammer. Deconstructionism attempted to expose privilege in text while those who followed in its wake turned to society to discover its dispensation scattered across the cultural landscape. What do we make of such an obvious and onerous malady? This article explores the constructs lending to privilege and turns to an inconspicuous source for its origins, one not so evident to postmodern philosophers and academics alike. This article explores the time-honored societies of intellectuals to locate privilege in authoritative bibliographies and abstracts. It reveals how privilege served its purpose in ancient philosophies and raised tall shoulders on which contemporary scholastics stand. No one escapes its lure. Valentinus, Heracleon, and Ptolemy would be proud that their shoulders still support privilege even among those who find it to be like garlic to a vampire.

This article provides a broad summary for the Letter to the Hebrews. With any communication, the ... more This article provides a broad summary for the Letter to the Hebrews. With any communication, the author's message is the most important element. All the content lends to this message. Therefore, the approach of this overview has the message primarily in view and is a guideline with a focus on the message. The intent of this overview is for the reader to be able to derive the author's message given the discussed elements that contribute to it. It reviews the following elements that contribute to the message:

Bible study takes careful reading, observation, ability to follow an author's thinking in a given... more Bible study takes careful reading, observation, ability to follow an author's thinking in a given text. Our purpose with the biblical text before us is to discover not only the author's message and intent but also God's message. God speaks through His inspired human agency. This article provides an approach to any book of the Bible for delineating the author's message, intent, and application. Our purpose is to discover all of these. While this article focuses on the Letter to the Hebrews, its approach can apply to any one of the 66 books of the Bible or any literary work. This article highlights a general approach, thereby not delving into detailed hermeneutical principles.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Everyone has fallen so far from God that we lost sight of the nature of sin and redefined it out ... more Everyone has fallen so far from God that we lost sight of the nature of sin and redefined it out of existence through euphemistic terms. Such redefinition attempts to reframe the gospel so that people bring about their own redemption through humanistic power politics and social science ideologies. Material ideology (the external) displaces the spiritual (the internal), thereby making human philosophy the reigning paradigm for redemption. Sin must then be redefined to fit the observable problems that result in insurmountable suffering for certain groups of people – those identified as the oppressed and down-trodden in society through an intersectional archetype. Postmodern philosophy renders sin as indifferent error, mistake, a slip, glitch, passive omission, or uninvolved oversight. It makes sin external rather than that which dwells internally. Postmodern philosophies also move from individual to social sins and from personal to impersonal. The redefinition of sin in these ways has led to a cancel culture. First, cancelling sin then cancelling people or persona non grata. This article argues that we must return to the biblical definition of sin for coming to terms with the gospel and one’s accountability before God and eternal destiny.

When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers sharing their ignorance over various worldvi... more When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers sharing their ignorance over various worldviews (Acts 17:22-30). He brought them back around to the source of true knowledge – God Himself. Through His self-disclosure, God made known His will and provided the basis for it and the way of salvation in Christ alone. Paul also pointed out to these Greek philosophers that God is not far from each person (17:27), for He created all humanity in His image (17:29). Consequently, speculation about the things of God is not the means of seeking after God, because it tends toward idolatry (17:29) and takes a person farther away from God.

Speculation, as Paul demonstrated in Acts and Romans, tended to create a caricature of God by either projecting false attributes on Him or making Him to be something He is not. False attributes may include or combine something true and untrue, thus creating that which is false. When such attribution occurs, it results in false judgments about Him and His acts with humanity and His entire creation.

The Apostle John warned about false teachers who arrive with another message, “Beloved, do not be... more The Apostle John warned about false teachers who arrive with another message, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). False teachers begin with a false view of God. That view in turn propagates a false view of the Scriptures. A false view of Scriptures yields a false gospel. While the early church embraced Jesus as the Christ and Redeemer, many from among Jewish Christians in Jerusalem sought to add to the gospel, thus claiming that Christ was insufficient and secondary to Moses (Acts 15:1-11). This first attack from false teachers focused on the gospel itself. If the apostles and Paul had not met and settled the controversies about circumcision and the Law of Moses in Jerusalem (48-50 AD), future generations could have faced greater intensity contending with Gnostic teachings, Christology, and the Scriptures.

As in the early church so also today, the church faces spiritual warfare with hosts of false teac... more As in the early church so also today, the church faces spiritual warfare with hosts of false teachers and their different gospels. They relentlessly creep in under disguise with secular creeds as social justice, racial equality, economic fairness, equal rights, liberation, and numerous other appealing ideologies. They focus on identity politics instead of identity in Christ. They divide instead of call for unity. These false teachers give lip service to the gospel but appeal to other books’ philosophies as having equal standing with the Bible. Modern day apostles and prophets engage a publishing spree with their own language and definitions of biblical terms. They are emergent, missional, apostolic, cultural, mystic, organic, and tribal. They endlessly change their strategy while exchanging the gospel for religious symbols, metaphorical language, and secular ideologies.

Allegory and metaphor have a long history in poetry and plays with ancient civilizations, especia... more Allegory and metaphor have a long history in poetry and plays with ancient civilizations, especially in Greek culture. As we fast forward to today, the church faces the rise of another allegorical “school” – the missional movement. The missional movement’s history of allegorical and metaphorical use for doctrine returns to Alexandria through the hallways of Roman Catholicism and brings with it a Docetic metaphorical portrait of Jesus.

In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author conflates time as though the events occurred almost sim... more In the Letter to the Hebrews, the author conflates time as though the
events occurred almost simultaneously. How do we reconcile such time events? Through the eyes of the author, time and space held no bounds concerning redemption. That is, time and space is not an issue.
It was as though redemption accomplished and Christ’s ascension was one event although 40 days separated to two. Just as death could not restrain Jesus to the grave, so neither could time and space restrain His priestly office. In his highly compact statement in 1:3, the author upheld both Jesus purification through His death in time and space and His exaltation to the right hand of God where He ever lives (eternally) to make intercession for all believers (7:25).

These portrayals the Hebrews author provides of Jesus demonstrate that he grounds his central app... more These portrayals the Hebrews author provides of Jesus demonstrate that he grounds his central application, do not defect (2:1; 6:1-6; 10:19-27) and persevere, in the gospel of Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the Father.

Three major presentations of Jesus appear in the Letter to the Hebrews: Prophet (He speaks), Prie... more Three major presentations of Jesus appear in the Letter to the Hebrews: Prophet (He speaks), Priest (He sacrifices), and King (He rules).

He blends the roles or titles of Jesus as he weaves them through the discussion of his message (1:3; 2:1-18; 4:16; 8:1; 12:2). That is, his message guided his flow of reasoning about Jesus and his portrayal of Him. Jesus is the central figure in Hebrews among all the people he cites (Moses, Melchizedek, Abraham). He wrote in persuasive essay style within the framework of what some call a hortatory or homily to uphold Jesus as the divine Messiah, the Supreme God who created history and rules in eternity.

What is the destiny of those not hearing the gospel? The issue related to this question is the g... more What is the destiny of those not hearing the gospel? The issue related to this question is the gospel itself. It is important to identify how the different approaches to salvation appraise the gospel and its contents. Is it the only message or one of many messages by which a person comes to a saving knowledge of God? Many authors have written about the different ways to salvation for the “unevangelized,” especially the proponents of inclusivism. Most within the Evangelical Christian community uphold the exclusivist approach to salvation. That is, explicit faith in the proclaimed gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. The exclusive approach to salvation takes the Apostle Paul at his face value when he makes the unambiguous claim, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). The word of God arouses faith in the hearer of the gospel.

Idolatry is people looking to themselves and the material world as the highest forms of worship o... more Idolatry is people looking to themselves and the material world as the highest forms of worship or priority in life. When Paul went to Athens, he discovered philosophers debating their religious and philosophical speculations about a variety of worldviews (Acts 17:22-30).

They began with themselves and then speculated from their sights set on created order in creating gods and idolatry. Paul brought them back around to the source of true knowledge – God Himself.

Culture plays a large role in the missional movement. One of the driving forces for many churche... more Culture plays a large role in the missional movement. One of the driving forces for many churches within the missional movement consists of the APEST culture Alan Hirsch discussed in his books. The acronym APEST represents to what Hirsch referred as the five leadership gifts in Ephesians 4:11. This APEST culture involves one of six to what Hirsch attributed as elements of a hierarchical structure with the immediate head as the mDNA. The Apostolic Genius acts as the hierarchical ideology above this mDNA.

Hirsch claimed that all of these terms and structure are biblical and located in one verse in all of Scripture. However, some of his major terms discussed in this article derive from Roman Catholic origins (Apostolic Genius and incarnational). Given all Hirsch wrote about these theoretical terms and how he came about them, they raise the question about their validity as Scriptural. Do they represent what the Apostle Paul actually teaches? Do they warrant biblical legitimacy at all? This article provides a firm answer of no. In fact, they constitute the doctrines of men.

The emphasis on biblical authority must receive highest priority to evaluate Hirsch’s doctrines, because he tends to downplay those who disagree with his philosophy of Apostolic Genius. He associates those who disagree with the pejorative institutional, traditional, or attractional church who inherited their theology from Christendom. This is a diversionary tactic. The reader of his books must be aware of these denigrating and straw man portrayals. Critics must continue to point to the Scriptures as final authority for validation. While appropriating what appears to be Christian through seemingly biblical terminology, Hirsch created a system of false doctrines that must be rejected as contrary to the clear teachings of Scriptures.

Through the books of Alan Hirsch, his co-authors, and various organizations, the missional moveme... more Through the books of Alan Hirsch, his co-authors, and various organizations, the missional movement has defined and propagated a theoretical framework through metaphors and historical revisionism. Hirsch called this framework the Apostolic Genius.

This article, along with subsequent articles, evaluates the terminology and methods Hirsch applied through his metaphors, systems, acronyms, imagination, and core practices. This article reveals how Hirsch deconstructs one verse from Ephesians (Ephesians 4:11) for developing his own ecclesiastical and Christological theology. Through this departure he created a works based theology and overlays grace as a veneer over a works salvation to call people out of what he sees as a dying Christendom.

However, he ignored that the church belongs to Christ Himself. He promised He would secure it until the end of time (Matthew 28:20). He knows his sheep and keeps them through the Holy Spirit until He comes again (John 10:1-4, 14-15, 27-30). The church will not die out. The only dying that occurs are those who do not belong to Him. Many in scattered churches throughout the world do not belong to Him just as many who attended synagogue in Jesus time did not belong to Him. He knows those who belong to Him and will give them eternal life (John 6:44-47). This article concludes with this message.