Wyatt Graham

John 1:1-18 – A Paraphrase

September 22, 2017 by wagraham 1 Comment

One of the most helpful kinds of Biblical commentary are biblical paraphrases. If you read New Living Translation or other similar translations, then you are really reading an interpretive paraphrase of the Bible. The paraphraser makes explicit his or her interpretation of the text. But this is really a commentary. It makes interpretive decisions for you.

For my devotional study of the Scripture, I will be writing paraphrases of the Bible that accord with my interpretation of the Bible. My goal is to sharpen my understanding of God’s word and help people to understand what the Bible says. Yet I am only providing a paraphrase. Read the Bible for yourself and see if my paraphrase matches the context and meaning of the passage that I translate.

I start this series with John’s Gospel. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

The Christian Creation Account: A Retelling of Genesis 1

In the beginning was the Word,
and the word was with God.
And God was the Word.
He was in the beginning with God. (vv. 1-2)

Everything came into being
through him, and,
apart from him,
not one thing came into being. (v. 3)

In him
is life,
and this life is
the light of humanity. (v. 4)

And the light shines
in the darkness,
and the darkness
does not overtake the light (v. 5). [Read more…] about John 1:1-18 – A Paraphrase

Review: The Triune God by Fred Sanders

August 30, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Sanders, Fred. The Triune God. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016.

The Threeness of the one God stands as the centre of the Christian faith. It is both our primary confession (we confess God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and our central mystery (how can the one God be three persons?). But we cannot help but believe in the Trinity, be baptized into the name of the Triune God (Matthew 28:19), and live the Christian life in a distinctively Trinitarian way (we pray to the Father, live by the Spirit, and trust in Christ alone for salvation).

Fred Sanders provides readers with a thoroughly researched and thought out work on the Trinity to help us understand the mystery of the Trinity. For Sanders, a true Trinitarian theology is one of worship (20, 25). And rightly understanding the Trinity means paying attention to the two revelatory missions of God: the incarnation and Pentecost.

The first mission is the mission of the Son in his incarnation. The second mission is Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit was given to the church. Together, these two events constitute the missions of God. And from them, we can understand God’s eternal processions: “… the truth is that the temporal missions of the Son and the Spirit make known the eternal processions of the Son and the Spirit” (112).

While the language is somewhat technical, God’s eternal processions or relations tell us how the Trinity relates to each other as God. The Son relates to the Father because he is generated or begotten of the Father; and the Spirit relates to the Father because he is spirited from the Father (112–113). [Read more…] about Review: The Triune God by Fred Sanders

Song of Songs Article at TGC Canada

August 29, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

I recently wrote an article for TGC Canada called, “Three Ways We Misread Song of Songs.”

Here is my conclusion: “Let’s not misread the Song of Songs by reading too much sex into it or by being wary of the sexual content that is in it! And let’s also realize that there is more to the book than simply romance. It is a book that gives insight into a great mystery: Christ’s love for his people, the Church.”

Make sure to read the article before you judge my conclusion! I am not engaging in allegorical interpretation.

Review of How (not) to Be Secular by James K. A. Smith

June 21, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Smith, James K. A. How (not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Kindle Edition.

Charles Taylor’s 2007 work, A Secular Age, is a profound analysis of our current age. Taylor won the Templeton Prize for his intellectual achievements throughout his long-standing career, with A Secular Age as something of a cap-stone to his intellectual pursuits.

The purpose of James Smith’s book How (not) to Be Secular is to explain what Charles Taylor is getting at in A Secular Age and also to guide readers on how to not to be secular.

The value of Smith’s book is, in part, reliant on how much someone values the work of Taylor. For my part, I have not finished A Secular Age, not because I am uninterested in the book, but because it is taking so long to read. Every page is thoughtful, intelligent, and often gives me pause to reflect. In short, Taylor’s A Secular Age is one of the most brilliant works that I have ever (started to) read. [Read more…] about Review of How (not) to Be Secular by James K. A. Smith

Review of The Righteousness of God by Charles Lee Irons

June 20, 2017 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Irons, Charles Lee. The Righteousness of God: A Lexical Examination of the Covenant-Faithfulness Interpretation. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. 2. Reihe. Volume 386. Tübingen, DE: Mohr Siebeck, 2015. ISBN: 978-3-16-153518-5. Pp. xxiv–444.

Charles Lee Irons has written the book that I did not know that I needed but realized that I did after I read it. He accomplishes two things. First, he uncovers and traces the interpretive history of the New Perspective on Paul’s (NPP) interpretation of the righteousness of God. Having read N. T. Wright who proposes that the righteousness of God is a cipher for God’s covenant faithfulness, Irons’ history of interpretation helps me to read NPP scholarship and understand their interpretive grid. [Read more…] about Review of The Righteousness of God by Charles Lee Irons

Review of Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw

June 19, 2017 by wagraham 1 Comment

Dawn of Wonder is a coming of age story within a fantasy world. The story follows Aedan an abused boy from a small town (Mistyvales) whose life is shattered whens slavers visit his town, kidnap his best friend Kalry, and kill her. Aeden then commits his life to justice, to stopping the slavers who are from a nation called Lekrau from hurting anyone again. To do so, he trains to be come a grey marshal.

The centre of the story is Aeden’s time in training as a grey marshal and the struggles he faces. The main struggle that he faces is his own fear. Aeden’s father had beat him before his father abandoned his family. As a consequence, Aeden freezes up in combat with anyone who reminds him of his father. [Read more…] about Review of Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw