An elemental consequence of sin is alienation – alienation between people, between humanity and creation, and, most profoundly, alienation between humanity and God (see part 2 of this series for more detail). And thus central to the project of salvation is reconciliation – bringing creation back to healthy, loving relationship, beginning with the relationship between God...
Tag: how to read the bible
Understanding the Bible 20: The Meaning of Jesus’s Miracles
The miracles of Jesus were only slightly less of an intellectual challenge to citizens of the 1st century than they are to us. Raising a dead girl to life, for example, was no more common in ancient Israel than it is now! And thus it was Jesus’s ability to perform such “signs and wonders” that...
Understanding the Bible 19: The Sermon on the Mount
How to interpret the Sermon on the Mount has been one of the most debated questions in all of church history. The content and tone shift so dramatically – from the comforting assurance that “your Father in heaven gives good things to those who ask him,” to the simple faith of the Lord’s prayer, to...