We come now to the last of the Ten Commandments, the prohibition of covetousness. And with this requirement, we come to the fountainhead of all our love to our neighbor — a prohibition of any sinful refusal to be glad and grateful for the blessings of others. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you …
Primer on Eschatology 2
14. Okay. Can you go back to hermeneutics? Once again, the word hermeneutic refers to the art, science and methodology of interpretation when approaching the text of the Bible. There are different hermeneutical schools of thought; we shall only consider the three options here that affect our discussion of eschatology. The allegorical method: An allegorist …
Biblical Anger
At this portion of His great sermon, Jesus comes to teach on murder, along with the thoughts and attitudes that are prohibited under the scriptural prohibition of murder. When God prohibits something, we cannot hide our disobedience through clever appeals to the technicalities. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘”You …
Primer on Eschatology 1
1. What is eschatology? Eschatology is the study of the last days; a person’s eschatology is his view of the last days. The word is less frequently applied to the doctrine of heaven and hell. 2. The last days of what? The answer to that question divides Christians into various schools of thought. 3. What …
Foundations of Marriage XII
Introduction: So now we come to the particular duties of wives. We have to remember the same distinctions we covered when talking about the duties of husbands. That is, we have to remember the difference between being and doing. Wives must be careful not to rush off to work through a list of do’s and …
False Witness
This commandment strikes at the heart of falsehood and lies, which in their turn are the native language of the devil. Without truth and trust, biblical culture is an impossibility. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16). First, what is the context of false witness? The commandment prohibits lying against one’s …
Foundations of Marriage XI
Introduction: So what are the duties of husbands? We have discussed what their orientation and demeanor toward their wives should be (masculinity), but this is all still theoretical unless we make a point of applying ourselves in close imitation of the Incarnation. What are the duties of husbands? We may divide them into two broad …
Jesus and the Law
In the course of working through the Sermon on the Mount, we inevitably must come to a subject that has been greatly debated among Christians. Unfortunately, the debate is not caused because the Scripture is all that ambiguous theologically on the point under discussion. It is caused because the teaching of Scripture is difficult for …
Theft
Just as Moses assumes the permanence of marriage in His prohibition of adultery, so does he assume the legitimacy of private property in his prohibition of stealing. And as we have discovered with the other commandments, obedience is not as simple as it may appear — not all thieves break into houses at night. “You …
Foundations of Marriage X
Introduction: Having addressed the question of masculinity, and how men are different from women, we now turn, as promised, to femininity, and how women are different from men. Please remember that our central concern (at this point) is not biology, but rather how the broader questions of masculinity and femininity relate to our obedience as …