“The hardest thing in the world to keep is balance, and this is particularly the case when you are in discussions with folks who think you might not be keeping yours” (Against the Church, p. 72).
All Is Grace
“For those who persevere, how they subjectively receive grace is part of what has been objectively given” (Against the Church, p. 69).
Fixing the Omelet
“It is not possible to make a good omelet with rotten eggs. The new birth deals with the eggs. The church, whenever she is not animated by the regenerating Spirit of God, tries to fix the problematic omelet by means of kitchen upgrades, better recipes, graduate studies for the cooks, and more” (Against the Church, …
Animated Letters
“The letter kills. Paul cannot mean that letters themselves automatically do this, because he is warning of this problem by means of letters. He was not guilty of the problem he was warning against — his ministry was not of letters, but of the Spirit, and we know this because he used letters to tell …
A Temptation for the Tidy-minded
“Illegitimate systematics is done by the kind of people who put together jigsaw puzzles with a pair of scissors and mallet handy. The solution is not to abandon systematics, which is not possible anyway. Everybody in this discussion has a system because everybody wants to understand what the Bible as a whole teaches. Our task …
Tota Scriptura
“Systematic theology is nothing less than remembering what you read in other passages while you are reading this passage. The kind of thing that gives systematic theology a bad name is remembering what you thought other passages said, privileging them in some sort of special pleading, and making the verse in front of you do …
More or Less
“The Bible says that Jesus taught with authority, and not like the scribadiddles” (Against the Church, p. 52).
Which Is Rude
“When we commune with God in this divine conversation, the first lesson is that of how to stop finishing His sentences for Him” (Against the Church, p. 49).
More Than the Sum of Parts
“The church is nothing without individual conversions, but the church is not nothing but individual conversions” (Against the Church, p. 47).
A Really Cool Tradition Actually
“The central tradition that must be passed on to our children, and their children after them, is the long and honored evangelical tradition of rising from the dead” (Against the Church, p. 43).