Wyatt Graham

Faith | Books | Culture

Paul Went to the Third Heaven. What in the World Is He Talking About?

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Somewhat apologetically, Paul describes himself as a man “in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven” (2 Cor 12:2). What in the world is he talking about? Or better: what in heaven is he talking about? 

Here are four textual clues that can help us answer this question. And I have to admit at the get-go, I am attempting to understand Paul’s experience myself. So please read this as an example of thoughts-in-process. With that caveat in place, here we go.  [Read more…] about Paul Went to the Third Heaven. What in the World Is He Talking About?

What Did Thomas Aquinas Believe about Scripture?

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Sometimes we think of church history as a pattern of discontinuity. First, the New Testament church births a pure church. Then it goes south. Then in 1518, Martin Luther and the rest return the church to its pristine form (or at least start a reform in that direction).
 
Yet many have pointed to key continuities between the medieval and the reformed churches (e.g., Richard Muller, Heiko Oberman). The reformed movement did not make a clean break from the medieval church. Instead, the reformed churches cleaned the pollutions of 15th century Romanism to restore the church to its biblical foundation.
 
And this biblical foundation finds continuity with much of the medieval (and the patristic) church. One such example of this is Thomas Aquinas’s view of Scripture. His view of Scripture has many continuities with the reformed faith and some discontinuities.

[Read more…] about What Did Thomas Aquinas Believe about Scripture?

Can Christians Use Cultural Ideas without Compromising Their Faith?

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Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) transports triglycerides and cholesterol to repair and to provide cells with energy. We know this because modern science has discovered this reality and invented the language (low-density lipoprotein, triglycerides, and cholesterol) to conceptualize how my body works. 

We use all sorts of words that our culture has invented and which derive from larger concepts.  We engage in a capitalistic, free-market economy. We program with Java and Ruby. And like LDL or other medical concepts, we use these words freely and participate in their respective systems of thought (e.g., the free market, nutrition, etc.). 

But can using language and engaging cultural ideas have a negative outcome? Some think so. A group of American evangelicals have used the analytic tools of a contemporary political ideology to describe inequality in American culture. In response, a second  group has decried such a method as being incompatible with Christianity. Who is right? 

Well, the answer to such questions relies on how we understand cultural words and ideas and their ability to integrate into Christian modes of thinking. Here are some scriptural and non-scriptural examples that will ground our thinking on the matter.  [Read more…] about Can Christians Use Cultural Ideas without Compromising Their Faith?

What Does “Pure Act” Mean, and Why Should I Care?

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Sometimes Christians talk about God as being pure act. While such language sounds good and wholesome, it is unlikely that even those who use the phrase know what it means. To define God as pure actuality is abstract, obscure, and strange. 

And also very true. 

God is pure act. If he was not, he would not be God and we would be of all people most to be pitied. For God’s promises may not be sure, his desires in process, and his goals merely a possibility. 

The basic idea behind God’s pure actuality follows from God’s eternity. Since God exists eternally and so has no beginning, cause, or potentiality, then he is pure act (Thomas, Sum. Cont. Gent. 1.16). Let me try to unfold what this means.  [Read more…] about What Does “Pure Act” Mean, and Why Should I Care?

Christians Should Desire the Salvation of All People Because God Does

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We die once and then enter into judgment (Heb 9:27). In that judgment, Christ will distinguish between sheep and goats, between those who walk the narrow path and those who the wide path, and between the faithful and the faithless. According to Jesus, the first will enter “eternal life,” while the second “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt 25:46).

When the Lord judges, he will justly judge those who enter eternal punishment. Yet we should still grieve for every soul that falls into eternal perdition. We should desire the repentance of everyone. And we should take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. 

Every Christian should desire that all people repent and come to a knowledge of the truth. And we should do so because God desires the same.  [Read more…] about Christians Should Desire the Salvation of All People Because God Does

How Did New Testament Era Christians Understand and Celebrate the Lord’s Supper

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Christians today understand the Lord’s Supper by comparing common Reformation-era debates concerning the meal with the New Testament. The most important theological notions then become whether or not one holds to the real presence, spiritual presence, or memorial view of the Supper. 

While such distinctions help us understand the Supper, we should not omit the wealth of historical and theological witnesses we have from the first and second century.

We have a number of writings that explain how the Lord’s Supper was understood and celebrated during the time of the apostles and while the New Testament still was being written. And we have additional witnesses that follow the apostolic age who adopted already established practices from the apostolic era.  [Read more…] about How Did New Testament Era Christians Understand and Celebrate the Lord’s Supper