I've decided to respond to replies first before plowing ahead with the next installment of Romans 5:12. What follows are comments drawn from replies (COMM) and my response (MSH) or clarification. I'm only sticking to the germane material. That is, a lot of the comment...
Soteriology
Predestination and Free Will: A Summary of The Naked Bible Position
Well, I never figured that we'd be getting into this topic so early, but we did. I'm not going to post any more comments to the post that started all this; time to move on. However, I thought it would be advisable to post a summary of my thoughts on the subject for...
The “Sin Unto Death” in 1 John 5:16-17
Here's a link to a short article I originally wrote for Bible Study Magazine on this passage. Its meaning is a common question from Bible readers: "Does God Always Give Second Chances?"
Perspective on the “New Perspective” on Paul
If anyone has read the comments recently, you know that I wasn't planning on taking this topic. I had been thinking about the Pentateuch authorship issue, as noted a few days ago. But, over the past couple of weeks I've had several people email me out of the blue...
Michael Bird: Brief Thoughts on the New Perspective on Paul (NPP)
I get asked about my opinion of the NPP at events and on Q & A episodes of the Naked Bible Podcast. I always recommend Kent Yinger's book, The New Perspective on Paul: An Introduction. It's short and clear. I'm happy to also recommend this brief set of comments...
Thoughts on Some New Testament Salvation Language
I recently received a question from a reader asking me to comment about the NT phrase "born again" with respect to its relationship to "saved" language in the NT. What follows are a few thoughts. Here was the question: "My question, that I hoped you would get to in...
Suggestion for Continuing with the New Perspective
A friend of mine, Prof. Kent Yinger, recently published a short, very accessible book on the NPP that would be good reading for anyone interested. You can literally read through in in the evening. It is aimed at the non-specialist. I would be willing to fire up the...
Further Commentary on the New Perspective
I thought I'd post some comment questions / statements produced by the initial NPP post that I said I'd return to. Here goes. My take at MSH. Q: What about the Romans 5 "sin is not counted where there is no law?" That can't mean that pre-Moses people were "let off the...
Thoughts on the New Perspective on Paul
Time for a few thoughts on the "Law" article I posted lasted time to get us started on the New Perspective on Paul (NPP) topic. First, I think the article is telling in its summary of how modern reformed theology (and so, much of evangelicalism) has essentially...
Romans 5:12, Part 5: A Few More Replies to Replies
Still doesn't seem like the time to go into what I really want to (the "where do babies go when they die?" thing). I promise that will be the next post. But for now, some mop of further replies and questions seems best. Same format as last post. COMM: "You SEEM (I am...
The Ends, Not Necessarily the Means (Sovereignty and Free Will Addendum)
I've been thinking about the last couple of exchanges on the predestination / free will topic. It's occurred to me that there's an element of my position that I haven't specifically included in posts that would be helpful. It's something I allude to in Chapter 4 and...
The Premises of Universal Salvation
Creating this post was a bit of a challenge. I want to faithfully represent the position of Robin Parry ("Gregory MacDonald") in his book The Evangelical Universalist, but I obviously can't reproduce it here. Parry clearly lays out his thinking (and so presents his...
The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah 53
I just wanted to put in a good word for John Barry's new book, The Resurrected Servant in Isaiah. John is a colleague of mine at Logos. Having read through some sections of John's book when it was a thesis, and having read the recommendations (Bruce Waltke was...