Bible and Mission

[An Advent Homily] The second Sunday in Advent carries the theme, ‘preparation for the peace of God’.   That peace comes with the birth of Christ our Saviour, and it is always and only through Christ that God’s peace comes. Of course, we associate Christmas with an exciting and happy time—family, gifts, celebration, and services commemorating the birth of Jesus.   The image of Christmas is warmed with pictures of cosy fires in the fireplace, children playing on the floor with trainsets and dolls around a lighted and decorated conifer, and a gentle snow falling outside—even if you do not live in the northern states of America or England and are sitting in the summer heat in South Africa!—so powerful is the marketed version of Christmas. The coming season of Christmas is intended to be joyful and peaceful, but it can also be stressful, hectic, and even hurtful.   Rushing around to complete Christmas shopping, the financial stress this entails, travelling somewhere in a ...

 [A short story.] ‘Eve!   Wow!   Wonderful to see you after so long!   My badness, look at you!   How the hell did you get back in here?’   The snake slithered up his favourite tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so that he could be eye to eye with his protégé. ‘I’m surprised myself!’ replied Eve.   ‘It seems that the cherubim is really guarding the path to the Tree of Life.   Anyway, here I am, and it is good to see you again!’ ‘Likewise,’ smiled the snake.   ‘How have you been?’ ‘Oh, you know, I’m sure.   Having babies—lots of them.   All painful.   Sure, Adam tills the land by the sweat of his brow, but what is that to having your hips structurally rearranged and soft tissue torn?’ ‘Ah, that.   Pain.   God wants you to believe that He is good, but then there is pain.   Why would a good God let you suffer pain?’ ‘Yes.   Yes, that is why some these days do not believe in God at all. ...

The sixth section of the Lausanne Statement in Seoul, Korea addresses a concern for peace in a world of violent conflict.   Just how are Christians to advocate peace in the world?   The statement does not call for peaceful ‘coexistence’.   Instead, the Church’s universalism is stated in terms of ‘God’s saving rule over all peoples’ (6.77).   Thus, peace comes not by opposing evangelism but by nations permitting Christians to proclaim the Gospel.   Peace and reconciliation come through Christ and the transformation and love that flows from Christian faith.   This thoroughly Biblical and Christian understanding is hardly that touted by others (including universalists in the broader ‘Church’) that all faiths are equal ways to God, and therefore peace is by affirming everyone and even celebrating whatever they contribute to the smorgasbord of multi-faith multi-culturalism.   (This appears to be Pope Francis’s view and one that has been articulated in conte...

Introduction   In this article, I intend to explore how God’s grace is not simply ‘mercy’ for sinners but also ‘healing’ for the morally infirm who are dying and need new life in our Saviour and Lord.   The imagery of healing grace is primarily post-New Testament, and later Christian authors like Augustine or John Colet, who will be discussed, depend for it more on Greek and Roman philosophy than on the New Testament.   That said, links can be made to the Old and New Testaments, and the theological value of ‘healing grace’ captures the Bible’s theology of salvation.   While the Reformation’s focus on justification by grace through faith can, in some expressions, be faulted for underemphasizing the very Biblical (Old Testament and New Testament) teaching on God’s empowering work of righteousness through Christ and the Spirit in our lives, we might note that John Calvin did place his discussion of justification within the larger section of ‘Regeneration’ in his Insti...