Are the Original Languages Important?

Here are four reasons given for the necessity of certain persons knowing the original languages of the Bible (i.e. Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). They are taken from an article found in the latest issue of Themelios (the whole article is accessible at http://thegospelcoalition.org/themelios/article/the_profit_of_employing_the_biblical_languages_scriptural_and_historic).

1. Using the biblical languages exalts Jesus by affirming God's wisdom in giving us his Word in a book (God's Word as foundation).
2. Using the biblical languages gives us greater certainty that we have grasped the meaning of God's Book (studying God's Word).
3. Using the biblical languages can assist in developing Christian maturity that validates our witness in the world (practicing God's Word).
4. Using the biblical languages enables a fresh and bold expression and defense of the truth in preaching and teaching (teaching God's Word).

Knowing God

Jeremiah 31:33-34       “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

Let us never feel it a cliché to say that God offers us a “personal relationship” with him. As the verses cited above make clear, this “personal relationship” just happens to be the central aspect of our salvation- the diamond in the crown of our redemption. Let us rather marvel that so holy and transcendent a God would condescend so lovingly to bring such sinners as us into his fellowship. Let us each day- indeed, each moment of each day- cultivate our relationship with the Creator, blessing the blood of Christ by which our reconciliation with the Father was obtained. And let us, having drawn near to God ourselves, do all we can to draw others to him as well, that their joy and ours might be full.

The Elements of Effective Preaching

I have been, as I mentioned a ways back, loving listening to Bryan Chapell's lectures on preaching. They are chock-full of helpful wisdom.

Today, I listened to his lecture entitled "Word and Witness." In it, he mentioned that three elements have, since ancient times, been considered essential to persuasive speaking, including preaching. These three are: logos, pathos, and ethos (all from Greek words).

Logos, Chapell explains, has to do with the verbal content of the message. This involves not only the words spoken, but the logic and the organization of what is said. For preachers, this boils down to bringing the Word of God to others in clear and accurate ways. This is an essential element of preaching.

Pathos, by contrast, refers to the "emotive" content of the message. Here is where passion comes in to the message. Nobody is gripped by the message of a monotone preacher. It ought to come through loud and clear that we actually believe what we are saying! Logic alone is not usually enough, passion too is an essential aspect to effective preaching.

Finally, Chapell considers ethos the most important element of all. Ethos is our "perceived character." Do people sense we care about them? Are we viewed as men of compassion and integrity, worth listening to? Of course, there is always the danger of being misunderstood. This happened to the apostle Paul frequently. But insofar as we have the capability by the grace of God to be preachers marked by loving concern for the people of God and for the lost, we ought to pursue such a path.

Now, to be clear, Chapell's theology is sound: he knows the man is but an instrument in the hands of God, incapable of effecting even the slightest change in the hearts of men and women. Still, though, I believe Chapell is right: the ordinary way in which God works is through preachers whose logos, pathos, and ethos are, by the grace of God, in order in His sight.

Spurgeon and the Old, Old Story

From the Spurgeon sermon titled, "The Old, Old Story":

"There is a mysterious softening and melting power in the story of the sacrifice of Christ. I know a dear Christian woman who loved her little ones and sought their salvation. When she prayed for them, she thought it right to use the best means she could to arrest their attention and awaken their minds. I hope you all do likewise. The means, however, which she thought best calculated for her object was the terrors of the Lord. She used to read to her children chapter after chapter of Alleine's Alarm to the Unconverted. Oh, that book! how many dreams it gave her boy at night about the devouring flames and the everlasting burnings. But the boy's heart grew hardened, as if it were annealed rather than melted by the furnace of fear. The hammer welded the heart to sin, but did not break it. But even then, when the lad's heart was hard, when he heard of Jesus's love to his people, though he feared he was not one of them, still it used to make him weep to think Jesus should love anybody after such a sort. Even now that he has come to manhood, law and terrors make him dead and stolid, but thy blood, Jesus, thine agonies, in Gethsemane and on the tree, he cannot bear; they melt him; his soul flows through his eyes in tears; he weeps himself away from grateful love to thee for what thou hast done. Alas for those that deny the atonement! They take the very sting out of Christ's sufferings; and then, in taking out the sting, they take out the point with which sufferings of Christ pierce, and probe, and penetrate the heart. It is because Christ suffered for my sin, because he was condemned that I might to acquitted and not be damned as the result of my guilt: it is this that makes his sufferings such a cordial to my heart.

"See on the bloody tree,
The Illustrious sufferer hangs,
The torments due to thee,
He bore the dreadful pangs;
And cancelled there, the might sum,
Sins present, past, and sins to come."

Friday Psalm

Thank you for the cross, Lord
Thank you for the price you've paid
cancelled all the debt against me
nailed it to the cross

Thank you for the cross, Lord
Thank you for the blood you've shed
washed away transgressions
nailed upon the cross

Thank you for the cross, Lord
thank you for your flesh, giv'n for me
Bread of Life from Heaven
raised this dead man's life

Learning to Preach

I have only limited experience preaching. Moreover, what opportunities I have had to open God's Word publicly, good though they have been in so many respects, have served primarily to show how inadequate I am for the task. It is for this reason that I am thankful for a lecture series given by Bryan Chappell on "Christ-Centered Preaching" (available from Covenant Theological Seminary at http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/ or at the itunes store). Chappell, professor of Practical Theology and president of Covenant Theological Seminary, walks students step-by-step through the entire process of developing expository sermons. I've only listened to a couple of the lessons, but what I've heard has been very informative. I'm sure anyone, regardless of experience, could learn a thing or two from this man of God.

DMin or PhD?

This is a little older post, but I found it helpful in thinking through issues relative to future education:


http://canterbridge.org/2008/09/04/dmin-or-phd-that-is-the-question/