Tag: Books

PART III from Dr. Ben Witherington on the Imago Dei

Read Part I here.

Read Part II here.

Thanks for joining me in this series that summarizes Dr Ben Witherington’s lectures on the Imago Dei (at the Welsey Forum 2014, Evangelical Seminary).

The following are snippets of the talk; the things that made the biggest impact on me.

(Scroll to the bottom to read a bio of Witherington and access his books.)

 

“By loving God you become like God. You become what you admire.”

The Kingdom of God is here now.

my note: (God broke into history and time with Jesus and his mission-and has always done that, to which the Bible attests.)

The Kingdom is also to come.

Kingdom means dominion (a realm). Dominion is a noun. Dominion is our inheritance.

 

“We live in a foreshadow, not a foretaste of the kingdom.”

my note: (The kingdom will come fully in the “fullness of time” and all will be put to rights-evil vanquished.)

 

Yom means day in Hebrew.

Yahweh can be translated as “Ancient of Days”

“Jesus is the only human + superhuman.”

Jesus is laid in the tomb and covered in incense

 

Matt 11:27

I Tim. 2:3-5

Jesus:

• he is fully unique

• he meets the requirement (for sacrifice)

• he is the only God-man

• he is the only one worthy to be a mediator

 

Jesus imposed self-limitation
(Satan tempted him to abandon that.)

Jesus’ limitations on the “OMNIs”:

• Time

• Space

• Knowledge

(He did have immediate access to God through his intimate relationship with God and that is why he could know secret or hidden things and how he could prophesy.)

• Mortality

• Power

Jesus accepted our natural limitations.

Phil. 2:6-8

Though in the form of God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

The big difference? He sinned not.

How Jesus dealt with problems:

1. Using the scriptures

2. With the spirit of God

Thus:

• We have the same resources

• We can imitate Jesus

BIO:

Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies.

Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.

Witherington has written over forty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website.

Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.
Click to View the Books by Dr Ben Witherington.

Birthday Dread?

doggybdayUm…Today’s my birthday.

At first I thought I’d be all weirded out…you know ….being 29 for so long… and whatnot, but that’s not what happened at all.

I just stopped wearing my glassing when I looked in the mirror and things got better.

(Great photo, right? Pugs just have this certain aptitude for conveying feelings.)

 

Want to make my birthday special?

But one of my books or check out my birthday wish list at amazon.

Books:

KINDLE books:

1. “Dog in the Gap: Brief Explorations on Canine Care-Taking and Human Flourishing”

2. Dog in the Gap BONUS EDITION.

3. Life As Prayer: Revived Spirituality Inspired by Ancient Piety (Brother Lawrence makes a great spiritual mentor. This book is great if you want to increase a felt awareness of God’s presence throughout you whole day, and was part of a Devotional Classic Project in Seminary.)

4.  Love You, (in Theory)

5. Soul Care for Creators and Communicators (Inspiration, Soul Care, and great advice for those of us who create and communication. This helps you fill up your tank to keep on with your calling. shot. in. the. arm.)

6. Sparky’s Go-to Guide for Dream Control

 

Mindset Followup: A [visual] framework for abundance

[scroll down for visual guide]

I used to think books with “daily affirmations” were goofy new-age baloney.

Why would reciting some sappy self-help mantra change anything?

I still don’t own a book of daily affirmations but I’ve learned a lot about transformation.

Plus, the recent empirical scientific data shows what many of us who’ve studied spiritual formation already knew from a long record of wisdom writings and human history:

“As a man thinks so he is.”

3D brain scans verify that our thoughts, habits, and patterns (physically) change our brains, down to the cellular level and even into our DNA!

Prayer works like focus. Meditation works like concentration. And yes, affirmations can truly transform attitudes.

All 6 can, and do, change us for the better. It comes down to effort.

With practice, bad habits get harder to break (not so great), but new thoughts and actions build new cortical pathways (hope for betterment!).

I have some firm beliefs that I’m bent on making a potent reality:

1. My perspective can determine my actions.

2. My attitude can improve my life.

3. Reminding myself of the truth about abundance can transform me.

4. Connecting to a positive version of reality can revitalize me.

5. Hope is my choice.

 

I decided to create a handy guide to make each day better.

 

If you ever struggle with being positive and hopeful, I hope this makes it easier.

It’s really helped me to see the path visually.

I’m hoping to improve how I determine and live out my outlook and actions each day. How about we do it together?

Sure, we’ll fail sometimes, but maybe some guidance will steer us right again, soon.

Skeptical? Give it a chance.

Seriously. Try it for a few days:

 

1. Use this visual guide to help you.

2. Remind yourself throughout the day about your choice of a scarcity or an abundance mindset.

3. At the end of each day, review and see if you lost track of your perspective–then recommit to keep at it.

3. Note your mood and attitude throughout the day to gauge your progress.

4. Share your progress and this guide with others, if you’ve been helped.

I made it for you to ebed at your website, or share on Facebook or pinterest.

Want to pass it along? I’d love that.

 betterdayguide

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Interested in brain science?
I recommend this:

Discovery: The Cave of the 5 Kings

photo by David A. Dorsey (area of Makkedah)
photo by David A. Dorsey (area of Makkedah)

 

This is my final post that pays tribute to Dave Dorsey, in light of his recent passing. (To read the others, please use the search field in the sidebar and search “Dorsey”.)

One of the lasting legacies of David Dorsey is in archeology.

After much research and motorbiking around the area. Dorsey correctly located the biblical place Makkedah–the location of the cave where five Canaanite kings hid from Joshua (Josh 10:16).

In class he gave us the details of this adventure which included a lot of language research (forensics, really), visiting the area and speaking with local inhabitants, and even included a strange tale of a strange (and he said perverse) Arab man who offered him his wife and daughter for sexual pleasure.

(I’ve heard of Middle Eastern hospitality…but that’s just too hospitable, right?)

Dorsey’s proposal was not accepted immediately– theories are typically contested–but the location is well-accepted now in reference books and textbooks. It’s commonly seen printed on Biblical maps that refer to that time period. If you hear the story, think about Dave and this contribution. It’s a fine legacy.

You can read his paper on the location here.

You can read of this and other findings in this book.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief foray into the influence Dave Dorsey had on me. I could continue this series for a long time, and perhaps, once in a while, I will post a gem of knowledge or wisdom he gave me.

The Letter X: The Key to understanding the Bible (tribute to Dave Dorsey)

images

This post is part of the continuing series I’m doing to honor the late Dr David Dorsey.

Don’t forget to read the others:

1. Faith = Eggs in a Basket
2. Follow Mosaic Laws?

The letter X.

It’s the shape of something. It’s the shape of the structure of how the Pentateuch (and Joshua) was composed. It was authored carefully with a structure that helped ensure it was remembered in a world where people memorized stories and rarely wrote them down or read them.

Chiastic refers to the letter X (“X” is Chi, in Greek, of course).

Check out the wikipedia article on ancient literary structure:

a field that Dave contributed to that is likely one of his most enduring legacies.

It shreds the 18th century theory, borne out of cultural ignorance and literary ignorance of ancient texts. One that has prevailed for too long: The Documentary hypothesis. (This theory came about when a French medical professor (Jean Astruc) thought the Pentateuch was very oddly written. No, he wasn’t a biblical scholar or historian, sadly, but he read the Bible and wanted to postulate. (Soon after, German liberal scholars jumped on his theory, expounded on it, and proliferated it as it aided their objectives in the 19th Century.)

Reading the non linear narrative form had him confused. He postulated that multiple authors at different times probably wrote the text and then it was cobbled together. After all, some things were mentioned twice, but how could that be? Must be a mistake or proof of multiple authors lending their two shekels.

Modern narratives are written in a linear form, usually, hence the puzzlement.

Astruc was a bright man, but his acumen was clearly restricted to the medical sciences. He had never pieced together that all the ancient texts tended to be written this chiastic way as a memory aid because they had been transmitted orally at first, sometimes for many hundreds of years. The book of Job is a very good example of this. It dates back to long before Abraham.

Thankfully, our understanding of the ancients is much improved now and it’s easy to spot this same structure in ancient tales like the Iliad and the Odyssey, for instance. Perhaps it is because of the stronghold of liberal bias in the scholarly world that this poor rabbit trail tends to still be esteemed. (Truth be told, its prevalence also works toward discrediting or tempering aspects of the Bible which is a happy agenda for a great many scholars.) So, this 18th century misunderstanding still prevails.

As one understands the chiastic structure of the bible, the main points are easily underscored. The Mosaic Law for instance, centers on the importance of protecting the weak (in that culture: females, foreigners, the the poor classes), the marginalized, and the outcast. The Law then, is an excellency picture of the heart of God that should be the same as ours.

So Remember:
The climax and thrust of a passage in the first 6 books stands out in the middle and the supporting text flanks it on either side. A sandwich of meaning: the meat is in the middle.

If you’d like to understand it for yourself here’s the best book for that:

 

 

In my final tribute post, I’ll share about Dorsey’s most famous archeological discovery. It’s a great story!