Dr. Michael Brown and Sir Anthony Buzzard discuss the Deity of Jesus. Sir Anthony starts off making a case for his rejection of the pre-existence of the Son. He doesn’t view the Word as a divine person as some would describe.
Dr. Brown cross examines him on the first chapter of John’s Gospel and later on Hebrews. During these it appears to me that Sir Anthony’s way of handling the text is unique. Part of the program appears lost in the middle but its not. The show will pick back up. Listen and decide for yourself.
Views from Dr. Benjamin Shaw of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary have been slowly making the rounds. He talked about how “dynamic equivalence” translators rearrange sentences and move things around and how the NASB, ESV, KJV are word-for-word. The host, Cris Arnzen, seemed to quietly offer a query about word-for-word asking if we really have a word-for-word translation, then Dr. Shaw brought up Young’s Literal translation.
His interview concludes that anything other than “formal equivalence” is “dumbed down” and the NIV is a “dynamic equivalence” translation. There was also a claim about “liberal groups” making the Bible “gender-neutral”. Compare the NIV to the NLT and you’ll see quickly that the “dynamic” claim about the NIV is problematic.
The closing recommendations were the NASB, ESV, KJV for a primary Bible. I’m puzzled why the KJV was recommended since Dr. Shaw stated at the start of the show readers have trouble understanding it. He warned to stay clear of the “New Living Translation” because it’s gender-neutral and their not upfront about it. He claimed it’s the worst of the bunch and don’t confuse “The Message Bible” with the Bible.
In the aftermath of the talk between Dr. Michael Brown and Dr. James White, it looks like some Calvinist blogs are slowly going to work on Dr. Brown, now labeled ‘Mr. Arminian’ by some, and trying to make this personal. This was one of the traits, us against them, that caused Dr. Brown to back away from the Reformed faith.
Listen for yourself on Brown’s further reflections.
I’m not going to be complete, but covering a couple points that were raised in their first exchange,
Does God love everyone equally in a saving way?
How much do our choices count?
Does everything have a purpose, even evil?
The big one, how much does God’s will, will?
This was on Dr. Brown’s show so he had home court advantage. Dr. White made a more solid presentation. It appeared to me that Dr. Brown played a little defense on a couple points and I don’t think he was as prepared. Fine men, great talk, listen for yourself.
Dr. Brown is going to have a discussion with Dr. James White on Jan. 26-27 on the subject of Calvinism, which starts tomorrow. I will be curious to see if Dr. Brown can move anything forward. The web-page for his radio show is here. Dr. White’s page is here.
In the ‘Beliefs’ link of Restoration Fellowship, lead by Anthony Buzzard, you will witness a complete Biblical train wreak. It states for the first tenet of their Unitarianism,
There is one God, the Father (1 Cor. 8:6), the one God of the creed of Israel affirmed by Jesus Christ (Mark 12:28ff). The Father is “the only true God” (John 17:3).
Putting John chapter 17 into context and not just slicing out four words, “the only true God”,
After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. (emphasis mine, John 17:1-5, tniv)
Also by the same Biblical author,
And we know that the Son of God came so we could recognize and understand the truth of God—what a gift!—and we are living in the Truth itself, in God’s Son, Jesus Christ. This Jesus is both True God and Real Life. (1 John 5:20, the message)
For 1 Cor. 8:6 they neglect to tell you that the same author for 1 Corinthians also wrote,
For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. (Col. 2:9-10, tniv)
Looking up the rest of the texts they quote for their various beliefs, many follow the same pattern.
The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood has an article on the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement by Sam Storms. It’s probably been available for awhile but it was just brought it to my attention. It briefly touches on the late John Wimber and the Vineyard group.
In the article it states that John Wimber wrote,
“I believe God has established a gender-based eldership of the church,”…”I endorse the traditional (and what I consider the scriptural) view of a unique leadership role for men in marriage, family, and in the church.” Wimber proceeds to cite Eph 3:14-15 in pointing out that “this [view] ultimately reflects the hierarchy of the Trinity.”
Ephesians 3:14-15 (English Standard Version)
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,
Wimber has passed on and I want to be fair to him. I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing ‘gender-based eldership’ jump out of the hierarchy of the Trinity in Eph 3:14-15.
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