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Wyatt Graham

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Hermeneutics

How Old Is the World?

February 10, 2017 by wagraham 3 Comments

In the mid to late twentieth century, Christians sought to establish the young earth creationist (YEC) view against what they perceived as an unbiblical intrusion of modern science. Evangelical Christians galvanized many around YEC, but in recent times YEC’s influence has begun to wane: “For some time now,” Tim Challies wrote, “the weight of conviction within the Evangelical world has swung toward views that demand an old earth.”

The Age of the Earth in Academics

The doctrine of YEC has today become a third-tier doctrine while 50 years it might been a second or maybe even a first-tier doctrine for certain groups. Evidence of this is the recent debate at Trinity International University. The title of the event was Genesis and the Age of the Earth and Drs. Albert Mohler (YEC) and John Collins (Old Age Creationist / OEC) discussed the issue.

Mohler opened his talk by clarifying how the age of the earth is not a central issue to the faith (watch the talk here). He objected to the term “debate” in that setting because he felt the issue did not merit winning an argument at all costs. Mohler was simply discussing an important issue among friends. There seems to be widespread agreement that the age of the earth is tertiary or non-central point of doctrine among Christians. The impulse to press the doctrine of YEC in the 1950s-1980s has become gentle hum, with Answers in Genesis being an exception to the rule.

[Read more…] about How Old Is the World?

Filed Under: Hermeneutics, Theology Tagged With: Old Earth Creationism, Theistic Evolution, Young Earth Creationism

Review: Paul and Gender by Cynthia Westfall

February 9, 2017 by wagraham 1 Comment

Westfall, Cynthia. Paul and Gender: Reclaiming the Apostle’s Vision for Men and Women in Christ. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2016. Pp. xix +347. ISBN 9780801097942. $32.99 USD [Softcover]. Source for Book Cover.

Cynthia Westfall’s work Paul and Gender will likely become the standard evangelical work on Paul’s understanding of gender in the Bible. Westfall thoroughly exegetes the key biblical texts and avoids writing a book merely on women’s issues or on controversial biblical passages on women in the church.

Pastors and biblical students should read Paul and Gender to understand the contemporary discussion on the topic. Complementarian readers should especially invest time in reading Westfall because she presents a well-argued and biblical rationale for an egalitarian reading of Paul. Westfall’s monograph is not without its negatives, and Westfall’s arguments for an egalitarian Paul run into numerous problems. [Read more…] about Review: Paul and Gender by Cynthia Westfall

Filed Under: Books, Hermeneutics, Theology Tagged With: Apostle, Complementariansim, egalitarianism, Paul

The Twofold Intent of Messianic Psalms

February 7, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

RonAlmog. Source. CC BY 2.0
RonAlmog. Source. CC BY 2.0

Roland De Vaux, the former director of  École Biblique, speaks about the double-intent of messianic psalms.  De Vaux, a thorough-going historical researcher, argues that the messianic psalms speak of every king in the Davidic line and ultimately to the ideal king who was to come:

“It has been maintained that Ps 2, 72, and 110 were at first royal psalms, and were modified after the Exile in a Messianic sense; but it is very hard to say what the revisions were. It is more reasonable to suppose that these psalms, like Nathan’s prophecy and other texts referring to royal Messianism, had a twofold meaning from the moment of their composition: every king of the Davidic line is a figure and a shadow of the ideal king of the future. In fact, none of these kings attained this ideal, but at the moment of enthronement, at each renewal of the Davidic covenant, the same hope was expressed in the belief that one day it would be fulfilled. All these texts, then, are Messianic, for they contain a prophecy and a hope of salvation, which an individual chosen by God will bring to fulfilment” (De Vaux, 1961: 110)

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Filed Under: Hermeneutics Tagged With: Messiah, Psalms

Intertextuality And Its Problems

January 5, 2017 by wagraham 1 Comment

Joseph Kosuth, Unmodified, License

Intertextuality has become something of a buzz word in Christian academic literature. But the term probably will or perhaps has begun to influence church leaders through commentaries and through the popular(ish) writings of Richard Hays.

As many in Biblical Studies describe it, an intertextual connection refers to how a later biblical text cites an earlier biblical text. For Example, Hebrews 1:5 cites Psalm 2:7: “You are my Son, / today I have begotten you.” Hebrews 1:5’s citation is an intertext because Hebrews 1:5 cites the Old Testament (Psalm 2:7), which was written before Hebrews. The way that I have explained intertextuality here relies on the notion that a later author has intentionally cited an earlier author for a specific purpose.

The problem is that intertextuality means something entirely different than how Biblical Studies uses it. The problem is not merely an issue of misusing of the term intertextuality. The misuse inserts a serious confusion into the practice of understanding how later biblical passages cite earlier biblical passages. Consider the following four problems.  [Read more…] about Intertextuality And Its Problems

Filed Under: Hermeneutics Tagged With: Inner-biblical exegesis, Intertextuality, Richard Hays

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Wyatt is the Executive Director of The Gospel Coalition Canada. He enjoys his family and writing. You'll generally find him hiding away somewhere with his nose in a book.

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