175 results for tag: Q & R

Question: Women in Pastoral Ministry – Greg Albrecht

QUESTION: I spent some time in two church organizations both of whom believed women should not be involved in pastoral ministry.  But I now question this view.   I did make  a sort of peace with the idea over the fact that I'd rather hear a woman speak truth than hear a man speak nonsense. In spite of that though, I'm still a bit troubled by the Epistles of Paul on this issue. I'm aware of the argument that Paul's statements were directed to a male dominated culture but that raises the question that if the culture were wrong, why did God cater to it? What I want to understand is the theology of this issue. I don't ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Do ECT & PSA hold any theological merit for you?”

QUESTION Do ECT (eternal conscious torment) and PSA (penal substitutionary atonement theory) hold any theological merit for you? RESPONSE Only in that some of my brothers and sisters hold these views and I believe we’re meant to continue in fellowship around our shared love for Jesus. I only wish that more Christians who hold those views felt the same way. When these positions are held as essential dogmas necessary for salvation, they too easily become a cause for breaking fellowship (in the name of 'faithfulness'). QUESTION So, is fellowship the best way to treat a theology that was born out of the Genesis 3 disease? RESPO...

Q&R: Bumping into unChristlike faith statements – Brad Jersak

Question I am just reading your book, ‘A More Christlike God’. I have been deconstructing and reconstructing my faith for the past 10-15 years. It’s definitely a work in progress. I am so grateful to people like you who are helping others along. I could, would, never go back. In our church statement of faith, there is a section that reads: We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the unjust. Those saved through faith in Jesus are fully restored to God into a resurrection of eternal life while the unjust are separated from God's presence into a resurrection of judgment. [John 5:28-29; Matthew 25:31-46] This does not ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak: Do only Christians Love with Agape (1 John 4:16)

Question Many years ago, I said to a fundamentalist that according to 1 John 4:16 and according to what Jesus says at the Last Supper, loving one another is itself participating in the life of God because God is Love. I think that you made a similar point in A More Christlike Way. The response that I got was that agape referred specifically to the love that is only possible after receiving the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is not possible for non-believers love in that way. What you have to say about that? Response First, let's read 1 John 4:16 in context: 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. ...

Q&R: Why listen to abusive preachers? Don’t! Brad Jersak

Question I used to listen to a podcast preacher every day on my way to work but I really don't know why because I always felt beaten up after listening to it. I think it was that I thought he was speaking God's word so I had no choice but accept everything he said. Response I have asked people about why they regularly attend churches or listen to preachers who scold them week after week. These preachers are typically leading rapidly growing mega-churches with skinny-jeans, neo-Calvinist preachers who are very hip but continually harangue the congregation ... From a local pulpit in my region, I heard this (via a recording): "You ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – “Is 1 Corinthians 3 a judgment of believers? Or everyone?”

Question I’m hung up on one word in 1 Corinthians 3.   “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”‭‭ 1 Corinthians‬ ‭3:14-15‬ ‭ESV‬‬ Here’s my hang-up: if the foundation referenced here is Christ, is Paul speaking only to believers? This is nagging me and keeping me from accepting the universality of God’s grace wholeheartedly (or maybe, whole-headedly is a more apropos word). Response Good question. I would certainly not want to make ...

Q&R: Blessings & Curses – Deut. 11:26-28 Brad Jersak

Question I'd like to know if there is somewhere you have addressed Deut. 11:26-28? I've heard you say that God let His people tell the story. But what about God promising blessing or judgment on the land, based on their obedience to Him?   Response I have not written on this text before. Let's look at it together; See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,&...

Q & R “Religion Burnout” – Greg Albrecht

Greg Albrecht - President PTM Question: Is it possible to have a personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ without the religious ties? The reason I ask is because I have been involved with different religions that are cultic in nature since the age of 15 years, ranging from Mormonism, Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventism. I've been told that SDAism has strong tendencies towards cultism, so as far as things go for me, it's very difficult to get involved with any church of any kind. I guess that's what they call church/religion burnout. Is there such a thing called that? Would any materials you may have dealing with religion ...

Q&R with Brad – “Does God have enemies?”

Question Does God have enemies? Response What a fascinating question, and one I have thought about both theologically and personally. To answer it biblically, I am drawn to two important texts:  Matthew 55:44 - “Love your enemies.”Romans 5:10 - “For while we were enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son...” What both these verses show us is that enmity—the disposition of being an enemy, in opposition, or hostile toward—can be one-sided.  While God’s enemies (or ours) are those who have chosen to hate, mistreat, or even kill God’s Son (or God’s children), God refuses to be ...

Q&R with Brad: If ‘his mercy endures forever,’ how can death separate us from God’s love?

Question I posed this question at our pastor's fraternal meeting in our area. "Seeing that we all believe God's mercy endures forever, why is it that his mercy has no bearing on us after we die? My question is: Why do we believe that death has the last or final and decisive word and not his mercy? Any comment that you could make? Response I think your question is spot-on. In my young evangelical days, I would have cited a couple of key texts as our "gotcha deal-killers." 1. "It is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment" (Hebrew 9:27). We used this verse in isolation as an ultimatum with a ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak: If not penal substitution…?

Question: If there is no penal substitution, which I want to believe, how do I deal with passages such as Isaiah 53 or 1 Thessalonians 1:10? I have a hard time reading so much of the Scripture in any other way. I always wonder how any less educated, less theologically trained person can read these scriptures in any other way (even if he was never taught them in this way)? Could that person come to any other conclusion? And if not, would the most obvious interpretation not be also the one God wanted us to get? I have struggled with my faith over these issues for so long, and I just don't seem to be able to "exorcise" the penal substitution idea ...

Q&R: Two Thieves & the Third Cross-piece

Question: ​ I have a question about the cross.​ I have seen what some call the "Russian ​C​ross​." What troubles me about it is the symbol of the third wooden cross-piece at the bottom, because it contradicts my belief in apokatastasis (ultimate redemption).​ Can you help me understand ​the following explanation better or offer an alternative?  "The slanted line reminds us of the two thieves on both sides of the cross. One of them to the right of Christ ascended to Heaven, while the other one sank to Hell. Thus bottom bar of the cross is like the scale of justice and its points show the way to the ...

Q&R: The Lord’s Supper: if not penal substitution, what’s communion about? – Brad Jersak

Question Once one has left a penal substitutionary understanding of the Cross behind, how do you understand the meaning of the Lord's Supper? Response The Eucharist (which means "thanksgiving") is a beautiful gift whereby I join the great banquet, one of Jesus' favorite images for the Kingdom of God. This is the Passover meal that commemorates our exodus out of slavery and death passes over us. This is the table of Psalm 23 that he spreads before us when the Good Shepherd anoints us with oil and presents us with his overflowing cup. This is the celebratory banquet the Father prepares for every prodigal who comes home. This is a foretaste of ...

Q&R with Brad Jersak – Who is Paul’s “antiChrist” in 2 Thessalonians?

Fresco showing the Antichrist directed by Satan by Luca Signorelli in the San Brizio Chapel (Capella della Madonna di San Brizio) in the Orvieto Cathedral. c. 1505. Question I left dispensational eschatology a long time ago but it seems to be on the rise again. What do you think this passage in 2 Thessalonians is referring to? 2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by ...

Q&R: “If hell is not eternal conscious torment, why share the gospel?” Brad Jersak

Question: If hell is not eternal conscious torment, why share the Gospel? Response:  This reader rightly perceives that I would balk at the idea of hell as eternal conscious torment in a lake of fire. That a good and loving God could somehow inflict his children with everlasting torture in a fiery furnace would render the words 'good' or 'loving' utterly meaningless and call into question how his character is any better than that of Satan. The good news (or gospel) is that in his love, God sent his Son as Savior of the world. He is the means by which God conquers "the wages of sin" (death) and flings wide the gates of ...

Q&R Propitiation, Expiation or Mercy Seat? Brad Jersak

Question Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and experiences of Jesus, his Father and the Holy Spirit. I also appreciate being able to contact with a question regarding the word "propitiation" in Romans 3:25 ("whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood") in the context of a non-violent God. How should we understand that term? Response What an important question, especially when readers are often at the mercy of the theology of translators, which is why we compare translations and check in with those who have more time to dig a little deeper. 1. The Greek word you see translated as propitia...

Q & R: Reading Romans without courtroom lenses – Brad Jersak

Question I’ve been reading through Romans and am just having a hard time *not* seeing consistent affirmations of PSA (penal substitutionary atonement) and the forensic view of “justification” and “righteousness.” But I’m aware that this is because of my background, and I’m trying to unlearn it. I know that you’re able to read Romans in a completely different way and I’d like to learn how to do that. I’m aware of some concepts, like N.T. Wright's "New Perspective," but have a hard time seeing them as I actually handle the text. So I was wondering if you have recommendations that would help me handle Romans differently? Response...

Q&R re: A More Christlike God – Brad Jersak

Question 1 I just finished A More Christlike God and was hoping you could answer some follow-up questions. In the “restorative” version of the chairs gospel (chapter 14), it struck me how you used Moses as an example of how God never turns from us. But in doing so, you glossed over the 10 plagues that did so much harm to Egypt in order for God’s people to be set free. This just feels like a “God has favorites” thing to me, so I’m curious what your thoughts are on why the harm had to be done to Egypt for Moses and his people to be freed?  Response ​Yes, the plagues, and especially the 10th plague that wiped out ...

Q&R with Greg Albrecht – What about the Rapture?

Question My question is about the Rapture. I was baptized in the Free Methodist Church.  I now attend a community church. I watched several prophecy preachers when I was first saved. They helped me a lot, but now I have doubts about the Rapture. What is your opinion about the Rapture? My grandchildren are asking me about this and I want to speak the truth. Is there going to be a Rapture of the church before the tribulation, after the tribulation or none at all? Also, if the Rapture is to be after or during the tribulation or not at all, why did Christ die?  I know we could never be good enough for heaven and without Jesus’ ...

Q&R: What does “prepared for destruction” mean? (Romans 9:22) – Brad Jersak

Question: Romans 9:22 "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?"  What is the tone/intent of the phrase "prepared for destruction"? Response: I don't believe we can understand this phrase in isolation from the pastoral concern, rhetorical question and assuring response in which it is embedded. That is, we need to read it in the context of Romans 9-11 after 8 chapters arguing Gentile inclusion by faith in Jesus Christ. In what follows, I am drawing from David Bentley Hart's interpretation in his short, dense ...