Exegesis, Hellenization, and Carrie Buck

So this weeks reading appears to be a little "lighter." Only a few pages in, and I already have much to say.

Exegesis

These chapters are very interesting and I hope a little easier for us to get through. I do encourage you to take advantage of the glossary in the back. Words like "exegesis" will continue to appear and it will make you less frustrated to have some sort of meaning to apply. If you have the time and inclination to do so, take a moment and read some information on some of the names that you see as well. Men like Augustine and Aquinas will continually be mentioned. Simple sites like Wikipedia can give you some context about the time these men lived and can help you can grasp just how long these debates have been going on. Like I've said though, you can invest as much or as little time as you have available to this. While having some information will help your reading as you go along, studying and understanding "epistemology" is not necessary to walk away from this with a much fuller, better understanding of these doctrines and your own faith and position surrounding them.

Hellenization

One of the arguments used against the Substantial View of the image of God is the idea that it was influenced by the Hellenistic culture. Hellenization is the influence of Greek culture on a society. Imagine crossing the Mexican border and seeing the Mexican people drinking Coke, wearing American Eagle t-shirts, and watching MTV. In many ways this group of people has been Americanized. Think of Hellenization as being Greekanized. When Alexander the Great began to conquer much of the free world around B.C. 320, he brought with him to these conquered nations the Greek culture - a culture steeped in Greek mythology and the philosophical minds of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. This argument about the influence of this Hellenistic culture on a Christian doctrine is one that you will see again, as it is often a valid consideration, especially when we discuss the Hell as eternal torment debate. Many early Church Fathers like Justin Martyr were students of Plato before they heard the Gospel and became followers of Christ. 

Carrie Buck

In the "Posing the Question" section of chapter 5, Boyd discusses how our view of the image of God influences our decisions, essentially our worldview. He talks specifically about how it can effect our view on the reproduction rights of the mentally challenged. In some of your long periods of quiet free time, when you have absolutely nothing else to do except peruse random websites, Google Carrie Buck and the case of Buck versus Bell. This woman's story is mind blowing and disturbing. 

Let me know what you think about her situation and this week's reading. 

Looking forward to finding out how it's going in Chapter 5.

Love to you all,

Tonya

Thanks and prayers

I enjoyed our time together today and wanted to extend a word of appreciation to each of you for your transparency and accepting hearts. It is so nice to be a part of a group that you know loves and accepts you "warts and all." I look forward to this journey with you all. This week as I read I am going to be sure to ask for the Spirit's guidance and will ask the same for you.
I received this prayer request today and thought it worthy of passing on. Love and prayers-Shannon


Good morning all!

I want to share some troubling news and ask for your prayers. My son, Josh, has been a Marine since he graduated high school in 2008. He's 20 years old and a squad leader of a 6 man gunner team. They are leaving the country the first week of December.

Josh called me last night and asked if I would start to pray for his men. In fact he gave me the names of all of his men and asked that I get everyone I know to pray for them by name. He told me that he is confident in the power of prayer. He said to me "Mom I am not going to sugar coat this for you, the mission we are facing is extremely dangerous." Once fighting season begins in the spring they will be involved in gunfire most of the time.

Here are the names of his team:

Josh Strickland
Rocky Herdinar
Phillip Brossard
Wahli Morris
Craig Tinal
Matthew Miluv

Please pass the name of these young Marines along to any prayer warriors that you know. God has protected His people from harm throughout the history of time. I believe he's still in the business of doing that if we ask him to!!

Thanks and God Bless!

Chrystal Strickland

Just A Little Light Reading?

Okay, as I've delved back into some of this stuff I've realized that Across the Spectrum isn't the "light" reading I remembered it being. This is some pretty heady, wordy stuff. I forgot to mention that there is a small glossary in the back of the book. I also forgot to touch on the way the book is set up, but by now i'm sure that you've got the idea. The introduction gives some information on the different sections as well.

Wouldn't it be nice to read that the Bible has absolutely no errors apparent or otherwise. For a long time I thought that that was the case, and by now you all know why..."I was raised to believe that way." No one ever bothered to point out that there are actual examples of apparent contradictions, so I was definitely not equipped to deal with such accusations. My ethics teacher at Southern Union 15 years ago dropped out of seminary and denounced his faith because of the inerrancy debate. He spent a good part of the semester of this required class pointing out Biblical "errors" and asking us to defend our faith. He just laughed and said he knew he was going "to burn like a crispy critter." Fuller Theological Seminary changed their position on the Bible from inerrant to infallible. This debate is still very much alive, and we need to be able to give an answer.

Last semester I took a Creation Science class, which I'm sure you'll hear more about with the Genesis debate, but the professor of that class always talked about how quickly people  will adjust their religious beliefs in order to make it fit with what science teaches. As Christians, however, he encouraged us to always adapt our science to make it fit with what the Bible teaches. How can we apply that same principle to the inerrancy debate? We'll talk about that on Wednesday. I found some good information about Rahab and Leviathan as it relates to the myths of the Ancient Near East, which is simply the culture and setting of the Old Testament including Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions. I'll share that on Wednesday too.

Before you leave each debate, I would encourage to mentally engage in a defense and explanation for your belief. Imagine questions that you may be asked and try to be able to give an answer. For example:

Do you believe that the Bible has errors?

How would you answer questions about the varying accounts of the women at the tomb of Jesus (time of day, who arrived first, whom did they tell)?

If the Bible is infallible but not inerrant, how can we determine what parts are faith versus science and history?

These are the kinds of questions that we will engage in on Wednesday, and are most definitely the kinds of questions that believers and non-believers will have regarding the Word of God. Check out Cornerstone's website, www.cornerstonebuzz.org to see where it stands on this issue. You can find it under About - Who We Are - Values.

Don't forget to post any questions, comments, concerns, or prayer requests.

Love to you all,

Tonya