Dear Theophilus

[Jesus lifts Adam and Eve (and you) from their graves in the Resurrection] the text: John 5:19-29 Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. ‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the ...

" But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means Teacher)" (John 20:11-12). There are so many Easter significances that should roll through our mind. Jesus, being raised forever as the sign of the new age and eternal life, has paved the way through sin...

“I know who made the environment and he’s coming back and going to burn it all up. So yes, I drive an SUV." - Mark Driscoll Prime example of why bad theology leads to bad practice. Also, great example of why he is such a polarizing figure and why we should be on the frustrated/dissatisfied side of that polarization. The part that frustrates me most about this is that even the founder of his own tradition (John Calvin) totally disagrees with this interpretation of the Petrine theology. This is a dispensationalist rendering of 2 Peter 3, not a Calvinist or Wesleyan view. 2 Peter 3:10 & 12 says, "the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed... because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?" Calvin says, "What afterwards follows, respecting the burning of heaven and earth, requires no long expl...

I wrote the below for a friend and have been really chewing on it ever since. I think if I could have any theology balance our/my American evangelicalism, it would be this smattering - with its hints of Christus Victor atonement theory, death as God's enemy, and a reclaiming of the resurrection of the body as the ultimate hope for Christianity. " I believe in the ...resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen" (Apostles' Creed). "We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come" (The Nicene Creed). My understanding has only recently been developed. American Christianity tends to emphasize Jesus as the perfect sacrifice/atonement for the sin and evil in the world. But an overemphasis on this, though right, sometimes leaves out too much. This focuses too much on Jesus as divine and leaves out that Jesus is also human. A divine death and resurrection is sad, yet understandable. But Jesus as human shapes our th...

You only live once (YOLO) is becoming big with kids these days! If you are "cool" you will know exactly what I am talking about. I hate to be that guy but not a single of the world's dominant religions believe this - Christianity not in the least bit. You will live again. This life is but the passing of a season. You will die. You will live again. This body is perishing, constantly dying, constantly getting sick, cut, bruised, beat up but you will get a body that is not perishing or fading. For I will reveal a mystery to you... this body will pass away but we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye to receive a resurrected body. After this life our bodies will sleep. After that sleep comes the renewal of all creation and the resurrection of the dead. You will live twice. And let me tell you, your second life bears the consequences of the first. What you do now has a great impact on the second. 1 Corinthians 15, St. Paul's magnum opus on the resurrect...

Here is Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3 and Part 4 : This is the final part of my review of one of my favorite books. This book explains a comprehensive view of Christianity based on a proper eschatology (end-times) centered around resurrection. Highly recommend that you all buy this book! You can borrow mine, but I want it back because it is autographed... :) Chapter 13 This chapter is titled “Building for the Kingdom.” Inherently in the title, Wright wants to make clear that we don’t build the Kingdom; we build for it. God is always the architect. He has a great analogy about stonemasons carving out different pieces for the construction of a cathedral. The mason probably hasn’t even seen the blueprints but his work will go towards the final project (p. 210). This analogy is couched in an admittedly mysterious truth that our work will not be in vain (1 Cor. 15), that our work will be apart of the new creation, that our labor and work for the Lord will be apart of the future. ...

  Here is Part 1 , Part 2 , and Part 3 : This is a small, reviewish type piece about a book I adore. I like to mostly summarize and quote, so not really a critical review, but whatever! Surprised by Hope is fantastic, hopefully you are inspired. Read it: Chapter 11 The 11 th Chapter is entitled “Purgatory, Paradise, Hell.” For such a huge undertaking, there are not a lot of surprises. In tackling purgatory, he tackles the medieval (and earlier) idea that there is a hierarchy of Christians. There is: the Church Triumphant or those saints who already made it to heaven, the church expectant are those who are in purgatory or are awaiting heaven and finally the church militant which are those still alive “fighting the good fight of the faith” (p. 165). Wright finds this hierarchy and also Purgatory to be a complete misunderstanding of Scripture. He is adamant and a little pointed about this (“I think with great respect that you ought to see not a theologian but a th...

Here is PART 1 if you are so inclined... Again, this book has been amazing! Loved it. I am skipping chapters 3 and 4 and heading right to 5 and 6: Chapter 5 Wright begins that chapter with a discussion on where we are to begin. He explains that in the medieval period a greater emphasis was placed on the individual. There is a reward for individuals, he says, but he suggests that we should, and are going to in this book, start with a much bigger question: “What is God’s purpose for the world as a whole?” (p. 80). Wright then describes myths that we currently have in society and why they are ineffective. He titles the first one, “Evolutionary Optimism,” he subtitles this one with “the myth of progress.” The premise is that evolution is a much broader thing then biology and it has given us an idea that progress is good and will eventually lead to some sort of utopia. Marxism, Darwinism, technology, politics all play on this worldview. Wright then tells us that “the re...

This is by far one of my favorite theological/ Christian books ever! I cannot be misunderstood. There is no hyperbole in my statement. This book rocked my world. I mean, I love C. S. Lewis. "Mere Christianity" changed my life. But if I can be a little blasphemous against Lewis, this book is better. It is better at framing a Christian Worldview and the entirety of the Christian life than the above mentioned. It also clears up the murky waters of Death, Dying and the after-life and what Wright wants to call something like "life after death after life." Basically this is a book about the Ultimate Christian hope (Resurrection into New Creation) and how that hope impacts our lives now! These are the types of questions Lewis sometimes missed on. I have two critiques. (1) I wish there was more scripture actually quoted. I know the verses he alludes to. I know many more that he doesn't. But more is better when you are challenging 200 years of Dispensationalism and...

Today is Easter, the celebration of the anniversary of Jesus raising from the dead. I am not going to spend significant time trying to convince anyone that the resurrection happened. I am assuming either you believe it or you don't. Though, I do believe that any student of life should honestly seek the validity of the claim. There are a lot of reasons to believe that it happened and only one to believe it didn't and "It's too mind blowing" isn't a good enough reason to dismiss it. Let's begin, rather, with what the Resurrection means. Resurrection is an interesting idea in itself. First, we have little to no information about it in the Old Testament (before Jesus). In the Old Testament the death/ end times scenario was pretty basic. There was a place called Sheol. Every single person went there, good or bad. There were glimmers about being with God. The Psalms talk of it, Elijah was raptured to it, and a few other occurrences, but basically sheol was t...