Lee Harmon's Blog, page 36
February 2, 2014
Luke 2:21-22, Was Jesus Miraculously Born?
And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
//The Catholic doctrine of perpetual virginity arose in the sixteenth century, and typically includes the assumption of a miraculous birth (not just a miraculous conception) so that M...
February 1, 2014
Book review: He Who Has an Ear
by Laura J. Davis
★★★★
Caution to readers of this review: As a liberal Christian who promotes liberal Christian books, I am a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who will be held accountable by God for deceiving Christians. That is Laura Davis’s reckoning, who calls for Christians to rightly discern doctrine by making sure it aligns with scripture.
Don’t worry, I didn’t just offend my new acquaintance. Davis actively promotes stringent intolerance as a Godly virtue, and couldn’t have picked a better book...
January 31, 2014
Revelation 20:14, The End of Death and Hades
Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
//In my book about Revelation, I assume that this verse symbolically presents the end of death … that death has been conquered. Hades, the holding place of the dead, is therefore no longer needed. It is emptied and discarded.
There is, however, a deeper way to read the verse. It is by referring back to the four horsemen, where Death and Hades are first introduced as villains:
So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. An...
January 30, 2014
Romans 5:18, Adam and Christ
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
//To understand the controversy over this verse, we must back up just a little and explain what Paul is talking about. He is naming Jesus as the second Adam. As Adam was the first man of the first age, so Jesus inaugurates a new age, and the impact of these two men on humanity is profound.
Paul wro...
January 29, 2014
1 Timothy 6:16, The Immortal Soul
… who [God] alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
//I was taught as I was growing up that I possessed an immortal soul. That this soul could not die, and after the body perished, it would continue living forever. Some souls went to heaven, some to hell.
Today’s verse presents a different opinion. It claims that only God is immortal. Man, who is not innately immortal, must seek to attain it:
To those who...
January 28, 2014
Book review: Powers of Darkness
by Clinton E. Arnold
★★★★★
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. –Ephesians 6:12
This is a fascinating five-star book by a guy who believes in demons. He reasons that because belief in the spiritual world of demons and angels was prevalent among New Testament authors, we should believe the same today. In the preface, Arnold states “If...
January 27, 2014
Dubious Disciple Top Ten Books of 2013
It’s about time I posted my favorite religion books of 2013. In order by review date, here are my top ten:
Faithest, by Chris Stedman
The Myth of Persecution, by Candida Moss
Chasing an Elusive God, by Ray Vincent
God or Godless, by John W. Loftus and Randal Rauser
Pastrix, by Nadia Bolz-Weber
Invitation to the New Testament, by Ben Witherington III
God in Slow Motion, by Mike Nappa
The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero, by Joel Baden
The Question of Canon, by Michael J. Kruger
All Yo...
January 26, 2014
John 5:19, The Nature of God
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
//Do you ever wonder if it’s possible to discern the nature of God? Might some theological stumpers—such as whether or not a God of love could condemn someone to eternal conscious torment—be easier to answer, if only we could get a handle on what God is really like?
I have yet to hear of anyone who experiences G...
January 25, 2014
Romans 9:13, Is God Love?
Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
//This is God talking. He loves who he wants to, and hates who he wants to. As he explained to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
Enter Calvinism, which implies that God does not love everyone. God does not really love all men redemptively, nor does he really desire to save them. God chooses to save some, and passes on others, who are predestined to a lost eternity.
As Pa...
January 24, 2014
Book review: The Faith: What Christians Believe, Why They Believe It, and Why It Matters
by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett
★★★
For anyone who hasn’t heard of the late Charles Colson, he was known as Richard Nixon’s “hatchet man,” convicted during the Watergate scandal. He pleaded guilty and served seven months in prison. Just before serving, he converted to Christianity and underwent a radical life conversion. He founded a prison ministry and authored perhaps two dozen books about Christianity.
In this book, Colson promises to explain what Christians believe, why, and why it ma...
