apologetics – 11:3 Restoration

The tension between them was visible and he was clearly not comfortable. My wife and I sat to the left of them for dinner on the first evening of the Second B’ney Yosef North America Summit in Mesa AZ. His somewhat pointed and at times combative conversation with the gentleman to his right was curious, particularly because he was aggressive towards the Messianic perspective, yet he was in attendance at a BYNA event!

I listened a few minutes and realized his wife was ‘all in’ and he, not understanding even basic Hebraic thought, was here to protect her. Later, I found out she was fervently praying for him and was happy that he had even come to dinner. His plan, as I understood it, was to not participate at all.

My passion is to compassionately and clearly explain what we believe, and why, from the Scriptures. I have a Masters of Divinity and ten years of experience in the pulpit of a Presbyterian church, yet the Father opened my eyes and showed me much more than the Reformed traditions I was reared with. When this gentleman we were providentially seated next to mentioned his Presbyterian background, I had my opening.

We talked about twenty minutes in a conversation that began tensely Continue reading “How RtB changed a man’s life and marriage”

I was pondering a little Christian theological conundrum this morning.

Every seminary student is taught sometime early in his Masters program how to interpret Scripture according to the rules of hermeneutics.

[As an aside, my son is over my shoulder asking about the origin of the word ‘hermeneutics.’ Well, I explain it comes from the Greek ‘messenger god’ Hermes to which he reminds me that Hermes was also the god of deception, thieves, the conductor of souls to the underworld, trickster, etc… Hmmmm. Seminarians ought to get a clue here, but, I digress.]

Continuing, hermeneutic rules have to do with how to interpret the text. While the list of rules can vary depending on the teacher/text and denominational/religious division, almost always, on every list, near the top is a rule that says obscure or unclear passages must be interpreted by or through the lens of clear passages. Further, all Scripture leads to harmony and therefore, a clear passage or two that contradicts an obscure or unclear interpretation should immediately override the misunderstood unclear passage.

So, I was pondering this hermeneutic rule, or shall we say, law and the multiple Christian doctrines that violate the law in order to Continue reading “Hermeneutics: How to Break the Law”