On and after the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was very much the driving force behind the activity of the church. But who was the Spirit? Had he existed before this time?
The Spirit certainly existed before Pentecost, because the New Testament tells us that the Holy Spirit is God himself. The Holy Spirit had been active both in the life of Jesus and in Old Testament times. Read more
We are ‘flesh‘, made of the ‘dust of the earth’. We are part of creation; we eat, excrete, procreate, suffer and die just like the other creatures. The very idea of ‘dust’ describes our creaturely status. No humanist could speak more definitely of our lowly origins. Far from making us too otherworldly, the Bible cuts us down to size: ‘You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust,’ says the Psalmist. But if the Bible writers are realistic, they are in no way negative. The Bible affirms life, and joyfully encourages us to enjoy life’s pleasures. It tells us that if God has seen fit to create us as physical beings there is nothing in our make-up or anatomy to be ashamed of. Read more
In recent years there has been a widely-reported resurgence of occultism in the West. This has coincided with a strong movement, in other parts of the world, to return to traditional religious practices. Far more people are now aware of the reality of the spirit world than a generation or two ago. And when we look at the Bible, we find that God has created a universe of which non-material beings form a very real part.
Today people would acknowledge the influence of outside forces on human beings. We are not so autonomous as we once supposed. To an extent, we can be controlled, and sometimes we are. People’s experience, in many parts of the world today, goes along with Jesus‘ teaching to suggest that personal outside forces (angels, demons, spirits) can and do influence the behaviour of human beings. Read more
Another commonly-drawn consequence of belief in inspiration is the claim that the Bible is ‘inerrant’ or ‘infallible’. If we believe that God overruled and inspired the record of those events upon which faith depends, then it is right to suppose that such an account should be reliable. Clearly an inspired Bible is a reliable Bible. But does this reliability necessarily extend to every single detail? Read more
Although the main evidence for the doctrine of the trinity is to be found in the New Testament, we need to start with the Old. We must never forget that the New Testament is based on the Old. No statement of belief is complete, unless it is seen within the context of the whole Bible, including the Old Testament.
When we study the Old Testament, one thing immediately stands out: the main emphasis is on the unity of God. The word used for ‘one’ is the ordinary Hebrew numeral. God is all on his own. He has no ‘relations’. As far as his Godhead is concerned he is alone, unique. This confession was utterly central for the Jew. It is said of Rabbi Akiba that in the hour of his execution he continued to repeat: ‘One, one, one . . . ‘ Read more
The New Testament also takes its starting-point in the confession and the commandment that God is one. Jesus himself repeats the opening words of the ‘Shema’; Paul writes to the Corinthians: ‘For us there is one God, from whom are all things and for whom we exist.’ James writes: You believe that God is one; you do well.’ The apostles time and again speak of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, the Father and Jesus are clearly distinguished. Yet the same writers say, with equal emphasis, that Jesus Christ himself is also God. Read more
But why do we as Christians make so much fuss about all this? If we cannot understand it anyway, is it not wiser to drop it as a piece of sterile speculation? Does it really have any theological and religious significance? Is it important for our own personal experience? The answer is Yes. The significance of this doctrine is so great that it is the very foundation of our Christian faith. Why? Read more
All Muslims acknowledge that Jesus (Isa) was a prophet and a messenger of God. He is also called Al-Masih (the Messiah) in the Qur‘an, although most Muslims would only mean by this that he was anointed to preach salvation to the people of Israel. His virgin birth, his miracles, especially his power to raise the dead and his purity are also generally accepted. Read more
