June 15, 2016

Whoever Digs a Pit Will Fall Into It by Kyle Butt, M.Div.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=935


Whoever Digs a Pit Will Fall Into It

by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

One of the most outspoken atheists of the past couple of decades is a man named Dan Barker, who wrote his most recognized work, Losing Faith in Faith, after he “deconverted” from a form of evangelical Christianity to naturalistic atheism. In 1992, he was the public relations director for the Freedom From Religion Foundation. In his book, Baker uses a host of arguments to attack religious people who have attempted to “reconvert” him. In a chapter titled Why I Am An Atheist, Barker lists several reasons that religious people have offered to explain his “deconversion.” Sadly, many of those people attacked Barker’s character. The following is a brief list of some of the allegations they made against Barker.
  • “You are arrogant and hate God.”
  • “Your heart is in the wrong place.”
  • “You are cold, empty, and pessimistic.”
  • “You are an angry person.”
  • “You are too stupid, limited, or afraid to see what is obvious to everyone else.”
After denying these allegations, Barker stated: “A strong clue that a person is arguing from a position of weakness is when character, rather than content, is attacked. Bertrand Russell pointed out that ad hominem is a last-ditch defense of the losing side” (1992, p. 88). Therefore, according to Barker (who agrees with Russell), a person who uses arguments that attack character is a person who is fighting desperately on the losing side.
While the truth of Russell’s statement may be questioned (since there are many ill-informed ad hominem arguers who happen to be on the right side), it nonetheless is quite interesting that Barker falls headlong into his own pit by repeatedly attacking character rather than focusing on real evidence.
In fact, only a few pages earlier, Barker wrote an entire chapter titled “Ministers I Have Known,” in which he proceeded to attack the general character of ministers he has known. On page 78, Barker commented, “When I think of ministers I have known…I picture the overweight perspiring Foursquare preachers, waving their hankies, shouting and prancing about the stage, ruling their churches like little kingdoms.” Just one paragraph later, he included in this list the “skinny Mexican pastor in Nogales whose second wife was pregnant with his twelfth child!… And the televangelist I know who ran off with his secretary and was back on the air in less than two years.” The rest of the chapter consists of the same attack on the general character of ministers, as Barker views them. Near the end of the chapter, Barker wrote: “I have a friend who says if you were to take all the preachers in the world and lay them end to end, it would be a good idea just to leave them there.”
Now, let us apply Barker’s own reasoning to his chapter on ministers. The entire chapter attacks the character of ministers, and thus would be classified as an ad hominem argument (from the Latin meaning “to attack the man”). But, according to Barker, those who use such arguments are using “a last-ditch defense” and are on “the losing side.” In this instance, I agree wholeheartedly.
Again, in his treatment of those who are against abortion, Barker stated: “This is the real drive behind the antiabortionists: misogyny [hatred of women—KB]. I don’t believe that any one of them cares a hoot for a fetus” (p. 213, emp. added) Such a statement is definitely a bold, ad hominem attack on the motive and character of those who disagree with abortion. I, for one, can say with certainty that I do not hate women. However, I also can say with certainty that an unborn baby is innocent, and that God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:17). It is on this basis that I must stand as an antiabortionist. Once again, using Barker’s own thoughts, he must be “arguing from a position of weakness.”
Please note that this article has not attacked Barker’s character. He is not referred to as a misogynist or anything of the kind; nor are any moral indiscretions alleged in an attempt to discredit his arguments. On the contrary, his own words have been used to show that, if his thinking is indeed correct about ad hominem arguments, then he is arguing from “a position of weakness rather than content,” and such an argument is a “last ditch defense of the losing side.”
[For a more in-depth refutation of Barker’s book, see:http://www.tektonics.org/JPH_BWTB.html]

REFERENCES

Barker, Dan (1992), Losing Faith In Faith—From Preacher to Atheist (Madison, WI: Freedom from Religion Foundation).

Tunneling For The Truth by Kyle Butt, M.Div.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=518


Tunneling For The Truth

by Kyle Butt, M.Div.

Quite often, the Bible will make a very specific remark about a certain person, place, or thing that can be checked against historical and archaeological evidence. Such cases provide an excellent way to build up corroborative evidence in support of the Bible’s accuracy and inspiration. The book of 2 Kings relates the story of King Hezekiah, one of the few kings of ancient Judah who did “what was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done” (2 Kings 18:3). Second Kings 20:20 lists a number of his achievements: “Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he made a pool and a tunnel and brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah.” We then read in 2 Chronicles 32:30 that “this same Hezekiah also stopped the water outlet of Upper Gihon, and brought the water by tunnel to the west side of the City of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.” These two verses provide us with a wonderful opportunity to verify the Old Testament’s accuracy. One would think that such a feat of aquatic engineering would leave behind some type of archaeological evidence as a memorial to this king. Is there any extra-biblical information to verify this story?
Indeed there is. Randall Price, in his fascinating book, The Stones Cry Out, catalogs amazing evidence to confirm the tunnel Hezekiah dug underneath the old city of Jerusalem. In fact, on page 267 Price includes a picture of his daughter standing in the actual tunnel. How Hezekiah carved this 1,750-foot tunnel through solid limestone remains a mystery, even today. However, in 1880, an inscription now known as the “Siloam Inscription” was discovered that helped fill in some of the blanks. Apparently, two crews of Hezekiah’s men, working with picks, tunneled from opposite ends, snaking through the limestone in an S-shaped style. How these two crews met in the middle without the aid of a modern compass or other such device is still unknown. However, the fact that Hezekiah built this tunnel leaves no mystery to uncover. Time and time again, the Bible “checks out,” and remains the most accurate and authoritative book ever written.

REFERENCE

Price, Randall (1997), The Stones Cry Out (Eugene, OR: Harvest House).

The Quran and Jesus’ Personal Conduct by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=8&article=1546

The Quran and Jesus’ Personal Conduct
by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

The Quran’s confusion regarding the person of Jesus manifests itself repeatedly—a confusion that reflects the misconceptions and misrepresentations of the New Testament that were prevalent within Christendom in the sixth and seventh centuries, which, in turn, were mistakenly accepted into the Quran. For example, consider the Quran’s report of Allah’s communication with Mary regarding Jesus:
(And remember) when the angels said: O Mary! Lo! Allah giveth thee glad tidings of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, illustrious in the world and the Hereafter, and one of those brought near (unto Allah). He will speak unto mankind in his cradle and in his manhood, and he is of the righteous. She said: My Lord! How can I have a child when no mortal hath touched me? He said: So (it will be). Allah createth what He will. If He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. And He will teach him the Scripture and wisdom, and the Torah and the Gospel. And will make him a messenger unto the children of Israel, (saying): Lo! I come unto you with a sign from your Lord. Lo! I fashion for you out of clay the likeness of a bird, and I breathe into it and it is a bird, by Allah’s leave. I heal him who was born blind, and the leper, and I raise the dead, by Allah’s leave. And I announce unto you what ye eat and what ye store up in your houses. Lo! herein verily is a portent for you, if ye are to be believers (Surah 3:45-49, emp. added).
A parallel passage is found in Surah 5:
When Allah saith: O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour unto thee and unto thy mother; how I strengthened thee with the holy Spirit, so that thou spakest unto mankind in the cradle as in maturity; and how I taught thee the Scripture and Wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and how thou didst shape of clay as it were the likeness of a bird by My permission, and didst blow upon it and it was a bird by My permission, and thou didst heal him who was born blind and the leper by My permission; and how thou didst raise the dead, by My permission; and how I restrained the Children of Israel from (harming) thee when thou camest unto them with clear proofs, and those of them who disbelieved exclaimed: This is naught else than mere magic (5:110, emp. added).
Even the casual reader of the New Testament is familiar with Jesus healing the blind and lepers, and raising the dead. But the New Testament is conspicuously silent about Jesus creating birds or speaking from the cradle, even as it is silent on nearly all details of Jesus’ childhood. That is because the Quran’s allusion to Jesus fashioning birds out of clay, which then came to life, was a fanciful Christian fable with a wide circulation. It is found, for example, in the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior (15:1-6) that dates from the second century (Hutchison, 1939, 1:199)—four hundred years before Muhammad’s birth:
And when the Lord Jesus was seven years of age, he was on a certain day with other boys his companions about the same age. Who when they were at play made clay into several shapes, namely asses, oxen, birds, and other figures, each boasting of his work, and endeavouring to exceed the rest. Then the Lord Jesus said to the boys, I will command these figures which I have made to walk. And immediately they moved, and when he commanded them to return, they returned. He had also made the figures of birds and sparrows, which, when he commanded to fly, did fly, and when he commanded to stand still, did stand still (The Lost Books, 1979, pp. 52-53).
A similar legend is found in the Gospel of Thomas (1:4-9) that likewise predates (Cullmann, 1991, 1:442) the production of the Quran:
Then he took from the bank of the stream some soft clay, and formed out of it twelve sparrows; and there were other boys playing with him.... Then Jesus clapping together the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and said to them: Go, fly away; and while ye live remember me. So the sparrows fled away, making a noise (The Lost Books, p. 60).
Observe also in the above Quranic passage the allusion to Jesus speaking while yet in His cradle. This point is elaborated more fully in Surah 19 where, after giving birth to Jesus beside the trunk of a palm tree in a remote location, Mary returned to her people carrying the child in her arms and received the following reaction:
Then she brought him to her own folk, carrying him. They said: O Mary! Thou hast come with an amazing thing. Oh sister of Aaron! Thy father was not a wicked man nor was thy mother a harlot. Then she pointed to him. They said: How can we talk to one who is in the cradle, a young boy? He spake: Lo! I am the slave of Allah. He hath given me the Scripture and hath appointed me a Prophet, and hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and alms‑giving so long as I remain alive, and (hath made me) dutiful toward her who bore me, and hath not made me arrogant, unblest. Peace on me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt (Surah 19:27-34, emp. added).
The idea that Jesus spoke while yet in the cradle preceded the Quran, having been given in theArabic Gospel of the Infancy of the Savior (1:2-3): “Jesus spoke, and, indeed when He was lying in His cradle said to Mary his mother: I am Jesus, the Son of God, the Logos, whom thou hast brought forth, as the Angel Gabriel announced to thee; and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world” (Roberts and Donaldson, 1951, 8:405). These mythical accounts are contrary to the Bible’s depiction of the Christ. Yet the legendary folklore extant in the centuries immediately following the production of the New Testament is replete with such absurdities, which obviously were so commonplace that the author of the Quran mistook them as authentic and legitimate representations of the New Testament.

REFERENCES

Cullmann, Oscar (1991), “Infancy Gospels,” New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Wilhelm Schneemelcher (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press).
Hutchison, J. (1939), “Apocryphal Gospels,” International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, ed. James Orr (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 1:199.
The Lost Books of the Bible (1979 reprint), (New York: Random House).
Pickthall, Mohammed M. (n.d.), The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Mentor).
Roberts, Alexander and James Donaldson (1951), The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).

"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS" Introduction by Mark Copeland


                "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS"

                             Introduction

AUTHOR:  PAUL, the apostle (1:1; 16:21)

PLACE OF WRITING:  EPHESUS (16:8)

TIME OF WRITING:  Probably in the spring of 57 A.D., shortly before
the Jewish feast of Pentecost (16:8), during his third missionary
journey (Ac 19:1-41).

BACKGROUND OF THE CITY OF CORINTH:  Corinth was situated on the
Isthmus of Greece (called Achaia in the Bible) between  the Ionian Sea
and the Aegean Sea, above the Mediterranean Sea. About 50 miles to the
east was the city of Athens.

The Corinth of Paul's day was relatively new.  The old Corinth (which
was famous and powerful in the days of the Peloponnesian War) was
burned in 146 B.C. by the Roman proconsul, L. Mummius.  Because it was
a city devoted to the gods, a hundred years were required to pass
before the city could be rebuilt.  In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar rebuilt
the city, populated it with a colony of veterans and freedmen, and
named it Julia Corinthus.  It soon became a very important commercial
center.

With a population of 400,000 and being a prominent center of commerce
in the Mediterranean world, it was a place for all sorts of vice.  An
example of its immorality was found in the temple of Venus (Aphrodite),
which hosted 1000 priestesses dedicated to prostitution in the name of
religion.  The city's close proximity to the city of Athens probably
added the problem of intellectualism.  As noticed in the epistle, such
an environment had its effect upon the church in Corinth.  It is
amazing that a church existed at all in such a city.

BACKGROUND OF THE CHURCH AT CORINTH:  The establishment of the church
occurred during Paul's second missionary journey.  It is recorded by
Luke in Ac 18:1-18, which can be divided into three sections:

   1) Abiding with Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tentmakers; reasoning
      in the synagogue every Sabbath (Ac 18:1-6).

   2) In the house of Justus, abiding there and teaching for a year and
      six months (Ac 18:7-11)

   3) An incident before Gallio, proconsul of Achaia (Ac 18:12-18)

It appears from reading the epistle that the church was adversely
affected by the immoral environment found in the city.  Pride caused
division in the church and disruption in the services (1Co 1-4, 11).
Immorality and immodesty found its way into the church, which gave it a
bad reputation (1Co 5).  The brethren were taking their personal
problems with each other before the heathen courts instead of working
them out among themselves (1Co 6).  Other issues affecting the church
included questions about marriage (1Co 7), meats sacrificed to idols
(1Co 8-10), women praying and prophesying with heads uncovered (1Co 
11), the use of spiritual gifts (1Co 12-14), the resurrection from the
dead (1Co 15), and the collection for the saints in Jerusalem (1Co 
16).  Thus the church was one beset with problems and questions that
needed to be answered.

PURPOSE OF WRITING:  The bad news concerning the problems at Corinth
had reached Paul in Ephesus.  It seems that this news came from at
least two sources:  1)  the household of Chloe (1:11); and 2)  a letter
sent to him (7:1), possibly by the hands of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and
Achaicus (16:17).

Therefore, in answer to these reports Paul writes:

          TO CORRECT SINFUL PRACTICES AND REFUTE FALSE DOCTRINE

THEME:  1 Corinthians 1:10

"Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the
same mind and in the same judgment."

BRIEF OUTLINE (adapted from Dextor Sammons)

INTRODUCTION (1:1-9)

I. PROBLEMS REPORTED BY THE HOUSE OF CHLOE (1:10-6:20)

   A. FACTIONS IN THE CHURCH (1:1-4:21)

   B. SEXUAL IMMORALITY (5:1-13)

   C. LAWSUITS AMONG BRETHREN (6:1-11)

   D. MORAL DEFILEMENTS (6:12-20)

II. PROBLEMS MENTIONED IN THE LETTER FROM CORINTH (7:1-16:9)

   A. MARRIAGE & CELIBACY (7:1-40)

   B. EATING MEATS SACRIFICED TO IDOLS (8:1-11:1)

   C. WOMEN PRAYING AND PROPHESYING WITH HEADS UNCOVERED (11:2-16)

   D. THE LORD'S SUPPER (11:17-34)

   E. SPIRITUAL GIFTS (12:1-14:40)

   F. RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD (15:1-58)

   G. COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS (16:1-4)

CONCLUDING REMARKS, INSTRUCTIONS, AND BENEDICTION (16:5-24)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE INTRODUCTION

1) On which journey did the apostle Paul establish the church in
   Corinth?
   - His second journey

2) Where do we read of the establishment of the Corinthian church?
   - Ac 18:1-18

3) What two people did Paul first stay with in Corinth?  What did they
   have in common? (Ac 18:1-3)
   - Aquila and Priscilla
   - Tentmakers by trade

4) Which chief ruler of the synagogue was converted? (Ac 18:8)
   - Crispus

5) Approximately how long did Paul stay in Corinth? (Ac 18:11)
   - A year and six months

6) Who did Aquila and Priscilla convert in Ephesus who later went to
   Corinth? (Ac 18:24-19:1)
   - Apollos

7) From where did Paul write this first epistle to Corinth? (16:8)
   - Ephesus

8) What is the approximate date of writing?
   - The spring of 57 A.D.

9) What two things existed in Corinth that appeared to have an adverse
   effect on the church?
   - Intellectualism
   - Immorality

10) What is the purpose of this epistle?
   - To correct sinful practices and refute false doctrine

11) Where is the theme of the epistle stated?
   - 1 Corinthians 1:10

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS" Chapter One by Mark Copeland


                "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS"

                              Chapter One

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To understand how division is unacceptable is the Body of Christ

2) To see why our boasting should be only in the Lord

SUMMARY

In his opening remarks Paul expresses gratitude that the Corinthians 
had been enriched by God, came behind in no gift, and were eagerly 
waiting for the revelation of the Lord (1-9).  He immediately begins 
dealing with the first problem, that of division which manifested 
itself in what we might call "preacheritis" (10-17).  Discerning that 
the underlying cause concerns the exaltation of human wisdom, Paul 
demonstrates the folly of boasting in such (18-31).

OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION (1-9)

   A. GREETINGS FROM PAUL AND SOSTHENES (1-3)
      1. To the church at Corinth, and those who in every place call on
         the name of Jesus (2)
      2. Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus (3)

   B. THANKSGIVING FOR GOD'S GRACE TOWARDS THEM (4-9)
      1. Enriching them in all knowledge, even as Christ's testimony 
         was confirmed in them (5-6)
      2. Coming short in no gift as they eagerly await the revelation 
         of the Lord Jesus Christ (7)
      3. Who will confirm them so they may be blameless (8)
      4. For God is faithful, who called them into the fellowship of
         His Son (9)

II. THE NATURE OF THE DIVISION AT CORINTH (10-17)

   A. AS REPORTED TO PAUL (10-12)
      1. His plea for unity (10)
      2. For those of Chloe's household have reported contentions among
         them (11)
      3. Evidently involving "preacheritis" (12)

   B. PAUL'S INITIAL REACTION (13-17)
      1. Rhetorical questions to illustrate the absurdity of what we
         would call "preacheritis" (13)
      2. Gratitude that he personally baptized few of them (14-17)
         a. Lest any should accuse him of baptizing in his own name
            (14-15)
         b. Administering baptism was not his chief calling anyway
            (16-17)

III. THE FOLLY OF BOASTING IN HUMAN WISDOM (18-31)

   A. GOD WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE (18-25)
      1. Granted, the message of the cross is foolish to some, but not
         to the saved (18)
      2. But God will the destroy the wisdom of the world (19-20)
      3. God chose to use His foolishness and His weakness to save
         those who believe (21-25)
         a. Because the world through its wisdom knew not God (21a)
         b. So God chose to save mankind through a "foolish" message
            about Christ crucified (21b-24)
         c. But even God's "foolishness" and "weakness" is wiser and
            stronger than men (25)

   B. THE CORINTHIANS' OWN CALLING DEMONSTRATES THIS TRUTH (26-29)
      1. Not many of them were "wise, mighty, or noble" (26)
      2. But God has chosen those things that are "foolish, weak, base,
         despised, and which are not", so that no flesh should glory in
         His presence (27-29)

   C. INSTEAD, BOAST IN THE LORD (30-31)
      1. He provides for us the true wisdom, plus righteousness and
         sanctification and redemption (30)
      2. We should glory only in Him (31)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) List the main points of this chapter
   - Introduction (1-9)
   - The Nature Of The Division At Corinth (10-17)
   - The Folly Of Boasting In Human Wisdom (18-31)

2) Who joined with Paul in addressing this letter to the Corinthians?
   (1)
   - Sosthenes

3) What was one thing the church did not lack in Corinth? (7)
   - Spiritual gifts

4) What is the first problem Paul deals with in this epistle? (10)
   - Division

5) Who reported this problem to him? (11)
   - The household of Chloe

6) How was their divisiveness expressed? (12)
   - Calling themselves after men

7) Who had Paul personally baptized at Corinth? (14,16)
   - Crispus, Gaius, the household of Stephanus

8) Why was Paul thankful that he had not baptized any other? (15)
   - Lest they should say he baptized in his own name

9) In what two ways do men view the preaching of the cross? (18)
   - Foolishness to those who are perishing
   - The power of God to those being saved

10) How did the preaching of Christ crucified appear to the Jews and 
    the Greeks? (23)
   - A stumbling block to the Jews
   - Foolishness to the Greeks

11) How has God chosen to confound the wise of this world? (27-28)
   - By using that which in their sight is foolish, weak, base, 
     despised

12) Upon what grounds may we boast? (31)
   - Only in the Lord


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS" Chapter Two by Mark Copeland


                 "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS"
 
                              Chapter Two

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To appreciate Paul's method of proclaiming the gospel

2) To see the need for inspiration and understand the process by which
   it took place

SUMMARY

Continuing to demonstrate the folly of boasting in human wisdom, Paul 
reminds them of how he came to them.  Instead of depending upon 
excellent speech or persuasive words of wisdom, he proclaimed Jesus 
Christ and Him crucified, confirming his testimony with a demonstration 
of the Spirit and power (1-4).  This he did that their faith might rest 
in God's power, not in the wisdom of men (5).

He did proclaim a type of wisdom, however, that wisdom which comes from 
God (6-9).  He describes the process by which God has revealed this 
wisdom through His Spirit (10-13).  Paul then contrasts the difference 
between the "natural man" (one who depends upon his own human wisdom) 
who does not receive the things of the Spirit, and the "spiritual man" 
(one led by the Spirit of God, such as Paul) who has the mind of Christ 
(14-16).

OUTLINE

I. PAUL'S MANNER OF PREACHING (1-5)

   A. HE PREACHED "JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED" (1-3)
      1. Declaring the testimony of God without excellence of speech or
         wisdom (1)
      2. Determined not to know anything among them but Jesus and Him
         crucified (2)
      3. Done in weakness, fear and much trembling (3)

   B. WITH DEMONSTRATION OF THE SPIRIT AND OF POWER (4-5)
      1. Not with persuasive words of human wisdom (4)
      2. That their faith would rest in the power of God, not the 
         wisdom of men (5)

II. THE TRUE WISDOM OF GOD (6-16)

   A. THE "HIDDEN" NATURE OF GOD'S WISDOM (6-9)
      1. The apostles do speak a sort of wisdom (6)
         a. Among those who are mature (6a)
         b. But it is not the wisdom of this age or its rulers, which
            is coming to nothing (6b)
      2. The wisdom  of God they speak has been a "mystery" (7-9)
         a. Ordained before time began, but hidden (7)
         b. Unknown by the rulers of this age, which is why they
            crucified the Lord (8)
         c. Man had not discovered what God has prepared for those who
            love Him (9)

   B. THE SPIRIT'S REVELATION OF GOD'S WISDOM (10-13)
      1. Revealed through His Spirit (10-11)
         a. The Spirit searches for the deep things of God (10)
         b. Only the Spirit of God can know the things of God (11)
      2. Made known to the apostles (12)
         a. Who have received the Spirit from God (12a)
         b. So they might know the things freely given by God (12b)
      3. Spoken now by the apostles (13)
         a. Not in words according to human wisdom (13a)
         b. But in words taught by the Spirit, comparing spiritual
            things with spiritual (13b)

   C. THE "NATURAL MAN" VERSUS THE "SPIRITUAL MAN" (14-16)
      1. The "natural man" (e.g., a philosopher) does not receive the
         things of the Spirit of God (14a)
         a. They are foolish to him (14b)
         b. Because they are "spiritually" discerned (14c)
      2. But with the "spiritual man" (e.g., an apostle), such is not
         the case (15-16)
         a. He is able to judge all things properly (15a)
         b. No one is able to properly judge him (15b)
         c. For he has "the mind of Christ" (16)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) List the main points of this chapter
   - Paul's Manner Of Preaching (1-5)
   - The True Wisdom Of God (6-16)

2) How does Paul describe his preaching among them? (1-2)
   - Not with excellence of speech or of wisdom
   - Determined to preach only Jesus and Him crucified

3) How does Paul describe his feelings among them? (3)
   - In weakness, in fear, and in much trembling

4) What accompanied Paul as he preached the gospel? (4)
   - Demonstration of the Spirit and of power

5) What six phrases in verses 9-13 help to explain the process by which
   the hidden mystery of God was made known?
   - "Things which God has prepared"
   - "God has revealed...through His Spirit"
   - "We have received...the Spirit"
   - "That we might know the things...freely given to us by God"
   - "These things we also speak"
   - "In words...which the Spirit teaches"

6) What phrase teaches the concept of "verbal inspiration"? (13)
   - "not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit
     teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual"

7) What is said about the "natural" man? (14)
   - Does not receive the things of the Spirit of God
   - They are foolishness to him
   - He cannot know them, for they are spiritually discerned

8) What is said about the "spiritual" man? (15-16)
   - Able to judge all things
   - None can rightly judge him
   - Has the mind of Christ


Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS" Chapter Three by Mark Copeland


                "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS"

                             Chapter Three

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To see the proper place of preachers and teachers in relation to
   their work

2) To appreciate God's view of the church as the temple of God

SUMMARY

Paul continues to deal with the problem of division in this chapter.
Its seriousness is seen in its carnality, which prevented Paul from
being able to speak as to spiritually mature people (1-4).   To help
them see the folly of exalting preachers over each another, Paul shows
their relation to one other and to their work, which is building the
temple of God (5-17).  To the warning not to defile the temple of God,
Paul adds another not to glory in the wisdom of this world nor in men
(18-23).

OUTLINE

I. THE CARNAL NATURE OF DIVISION (1-4)

   A. CARNAL CHRISTIANS AT CORINTH (1-2)
      1. Prevented Paul from speaking to them as to spiritual people
         (1a)
      2. Their carnality indicated that they were still babes in 
         Christ, unable to receive solid food (1b-2)

   B. EVIDENCE OF THEIR CARNALITY (3-4)
      1. The envy, strife, and divisions among them (3)
      2. As expressed in their calling themselves after men (4)

II. RELATION OF PREACHERS TO THEIR WORK (5-17)

   A. PREACHERS ARE SERVANTS, USED BY GOD (5-7)
      1. Ministers given the opportunity to serve God in various ways
         (5-6a)
      2. But it is God who gives the increase (6b-7)

   B. THEIR RELATION TO ONE ANOTHER AND THEIR WORK (8-17)
      1. United in their  work, though their labor and rewards may
         differ (8)
      2. Fellow workers with God, they work on God's building (9)
         a. Laying the foundation (as Paul did) of Jesus Christ (10-11)
         b. Building upon the foundation, using various materials to be
            tested at the Last Day (12-15)
      3. A strong warning, since this building is the temple of God and
         indwelt by the Spirit (16-17)

III. AVOID GLORYING IN WORLDLY WISDOM OR MEN (18-23)

   A. REASONS NOT TO GLORY IN WORLDLY WISDOM (18-20)
      1. You will only deceive yourself (18)
      2. The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (19-20)

   B. REASONS NOT TO GLORY IN MEN (21-23)
      1. All things (including men) are yours (21-22)
      2. You are Christ's, and Christ is God's (23)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) List the main points of this chapter
   - The Carnal Nature Of Division (1-4)
   - Relation Of Preachers To Their Work (5-17)
   - Avoid Glorying In Worldly Wisdom Or Men (18-23)

2) What prevented Paul from speaking to the Corinthians as unto
   spiritual people? (1-3)
   - They were carnal, still babes in Christ

3) What manifested their carnality? (3-4)
   - Their envy, strife, and divisions, as manifested in calling
     themselves after men

4) Who was more important, he that planted, or the one that watered?
   (6-7)
   - Neither, it was God who gave the increase

5) Upon what foundation is the church built? (11)
   - Jesus Christ

6) When will the work of ministers be fully made manifest? (13)
   - At the last Day

7) If those converted by preachers are lost, will the preachers be
   lost? (14-15)
   - No, but their reward will not be as great

8) What sort of building is the church? (16)
   - The temple of God, indwelt by His Spirit

9) What is the wisdom of this world to God? (19)
   - Foolishness

10) Why should we not glory in men? (21-22)
   - Because they are but instruments of God used to benefit us

11) And to whom do we belong? (23)
   - Christ

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2016

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The Tower Of Babel And The “New World Order” by Allan Turner


http://allanturner.com/article17.html


The Tower Of Babel
And
The “New World Order”

(This article was written when George Bush was President and shortly after the Gulf War.)
In Genesis 11:1-9, we learn of a united human race, one in both language and purpose, determined to build a tower in the Plain of Shinar. The construction of the tower was to serve as a monument to human achievement. The attitude of the builders was indicative of those who had rejected God as their Creator. Dr. Merrill F. Unger, in his well-known dictionary of the Bible, identifies the basic motivation underlying the entire project as “God-defying disobedience and pride” (Unger's Bible Dictionary, p. 114). In his book, New Age Globalism, H. Edward Rowe wrote:
We must not miss the central warning that resounds through the corridors of the long centuries to our time. The tower builders structured a mighty global organization, independent of God. They dedicated it to the establishment of a human unity which would secure them against the prospect of being scattered apart throughout the world (p. 6).
The Bible, of course, teaches us that God was very much displeased with such an effort, and , as a result, “confounded their language” and “scattered them abroad,” the very thing they were trying to prevent!

The New Babel
The descendants of the Babel builders are still with us today. Their plan for creating a “global society” is evident in their various writings. In Humanist Manifesto II, under the heading, “World Community,” we read:
We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds. We have reached a turning point in human history where the best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty as to move toward the building of a world community... We look to the development of a system of world law and a world order based upon transnational federal government.
Elsewhere in the same document, we read:
What more daring a goal for humankind than for each person to become, in ideal as well as practice, a citizen of a world community.
According to this document:
No deity will save us: we must save ourselves.

As a result of the 1944 Dumbarton Oaks Proposal, as well as the 1945 Yalta and San Francisco Conferences, the United Nations Charter came into force on October 24, 1945. On December 14, 1946, the U.N. accepted a gift of $8.6 million from John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to buy the eighteen acres of land on New York's East River upon which the current U.N. building sits. The next year, the U.S. Congress approved a $65 million interest-free loan to finance the construction of the glass, stone, and steel tower dedicated to the enshrinement of “collective security.” Between 1945 and 1987, the United States contributed $17 billion of the estimated $87 billion spent by this organization. The nonaligned nations, which make up the majority of the United Nations delegations, have voted with the communist line fully 85 percent of the time in the General Assembly. Like the Tower of Babel before it, the United Nations, worshipping the false gods of man, all in the name of unity and security, represents a denial of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Creator, Sustainer, and Savior of the world. The builders of this modern-day Tower of Babel place man above God and the Almighty State above man.
The initial optimism with which the world was aglow after World War II has long since faded before the gruesome reality of some three-hundred plus civil and regional wars that have raged since 1945, including Korea and Vietnam (Fred Bruning, “The U.N. At Forty,” The Courier-Journal, September 22, 1985, p. D1). In addition, during these past forty-six years, there have been no shortages of bombings, assassinations, hijackings, and other such demonstrations of man's inhumanity to his fellowman. Although the recent “defeat” of communism and the “one--hundred hour” war to “liberate” Kuwait has bolstered the optimism of some, as we shall see later, these are nothing to get excited about, and have, in fact, caused untold suffering and death for many people.
The Underpinnings Of Both Projects
Obviously, then, both projects—the tower on the Plain of Shinar and the one on New York's East River—convey significant information about the societies they represent. Dr. Rowe, who we mentioned previously, in identifying these indicators as they relate to the Tower of Babel, wrote:
Philosophically, it represents belief in the priority of the materialistic realm over the spiritual.
Theologically, it involves a substitution of a false god for the True and Living God.
Psychologically, it implies confidence in the achievement of security by means of a global man-made unity.
Educationally, it means problem solution based on adequacy of man rather than guidance of God.
Administratively, it exhibits an unfounded assurance of the self-sufficiency of organized man without reliance on God.
Anthropologically, it proclaims the glories of human pride and self-aggrandizement.
Of course, one has little difficulty applying these same indicators to the United Nations.
“Whose Top May Reach Unto Heaven”
The builders of the Tower of Babel were determined to build a tower “whose top may reach unto heaven.” It is interesting, then, that Alvin Toffler, in his popular book, The Third Wave, wrote:
Globalism presents itself as more than an ideology serving the interests of a limited group. Precisely as nationalism claimed to speak for the whole nation, globalism claims to speak for the whole world. And its appearance is seen as an evolutionary necessity—a step closer to a `cosmic consciousness' that would embrace the heavens as well (p. 308).
Quoted in an official brochure of the World Federalists Association, the late Bertrand Russell summed up the case for “One-World-ism” with these words:
Science has made unrestricted national sovereignty incompatible with human survival. The only possibilities are now world government or death”(World Peace Through World Law With Justice...Developing New Avenues To World Order, 1101 Arlington Blvd., Suite S-119, Arlington, Va. 22209).
Lord Beveridge of England put it this way:
World peace requires world order. World order requires world law. World law requires world government (Phillip D. Butler, Parliamentarians for World Order, in The Canadian Intelligence Service, Vol. 33, No. 5, May 1983, p. 41).
Back in June, 1976, Former presidents of the National Education Association (an organization that is a strong supporter of the U.N.) had this to say about educators and their role in developing a new world order or “global community”:
It is with...sobering awareness that we set about to change the course of American education for the twenty-first century by embracing the ideals of global community, the equality and interdependence of all peoples and nations, and education as a tool to bring about world peace” (From the Forward to A Declaration of Interdependence: Education for a Global Community, A summary Report of the NEA Bicentennial Program, an NEA publication dated June 26, 1976).
The title of this document is even more interesting when one considers that on January 30, 1976, the World Affairs Council announced the Declaration of Interdependence, which was signed by 32 U.S. Senators and 92 U.S. Representatives in Washington, D.C., and read in part:
Two centuries ago our forefather brought forth a new nation; now we must join with others to bring forth a new world order.
This document further stated:
To establish a new world order...it is essential that mankind free itself from the limitations on national prejudice....
And again:
We call upon all nations to strengthen the United Nations...and other institutions of world order... (A. Ralph Epperson, The Unseen Hand, p. 371).

Furthermore, we ought not to be surprised that former ambassador to the United Nations, and now president, George Bush, who was between 1977 and 1979, a director of the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations, a body of so-called “wise men” who have dominated foreign policy making by the United States government since before World War II, and who came up with the idea of the United Nations, would fight the Persian Gulf War under the aegis of a United Nations Security Council mandate. On January 29, 1991, during his State of the Union address, President Bush made it clear that the fate of Kuwait was not the main issue:
What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea—a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children's future.
In his March 6, 1991 address to Congress commemorating the successful conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, Bush said:
Until now, the world we've known has been a world divided—a world of barbed wire and concrete block, conflict and cold war. Now, we can see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very real prospect of a new world order.... A world where the United Nations, freed from cold war stalemate, is poised to fulfill the historic vision of its founders.
Then, when the wounded dictator of Iraq, a despot we had helped arm, lashed out against people in his own country, we suddenly refused to intervene. Why? We cannot support the Kurds, we were told, because it is not part of the United Nations mandate.

I am not so naive as to think that President Bush allowed himself and American to be used by the United Nations. In fact, it is the other way around. Bush effectively manipulated the United Nations apparatus to do what he wanted it to do. We, of course, have strategic interests in this very unstable part of the world, and Saddam Hussein needed to be taught that he could not exercise his military muscle without serious consequences. The military might that was exercised in the Persian Gulf War belonged to America, not the United Nations. The United Nations did what our government wanted it to do, and some will argue that this is good because our cause was just. But, suppose it had not been just? This, of course, is one of the problems with world government. A world government apparatus can be, and eventually will be, used by tyrants and imperialists to manipulate the greater masses for even greater evil. Interestingly enough, Isaiah Bowman, at a U.S. Council on Foreign Relations meeting in May 1942, suggested a United Nations body as a way for the United States to exercise its strength to assure “security” in the world, and at the same time “avoid conventional forms of imperialism” (Memorandum T-A25, May 20, 1942, CFR,War-Peace Studies, Hoover Library on War, Revolution, and Peace, Stanford, CA).
Nevertheless, should we not see the irony in an united mankind (viz., the United Nations) in the name of “collective security” assembling once again in the very place where mankind was originally scattered abroad by God because of their ungodly and ill-conceived unity platform?
Globalism And One-World-Ism Is
A Man-Made Delusion
The apostle Paul taught a “oneness” of mankind that can only be recognized by those who understand that Jehovah is their Creator (Acts 17:22-31). Nationalism, which has been ordained by the Creator-God, cannot be abridged by man's devices without serious consequences. Ultimately, the solution to mankind's problem is of Divine and not man-made origin. All nations are to seek the Lord (Acts 17:26,27). He, and He alone, is the Savior. His house, the church of Christ, has already been established and “all nations [must flow] unto it” in order to be saved (Isaiah 2:2,3). It is only in this everlasting spiritual kingdom that men out of every nation on the face of the earth will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks,” and “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isaiah 2:4).

June 14, 2016

Being right, absolutely! by Gary Rose


People become offended all too easily.  This is today's reality. Why, I wonder? Human beings are the same as they always have been. Nothing has changed but their thinking. However, there has been a significant change in the WAY they think. From childhood, they are taught that one option is as good as another because there is no absolute right or wrong. This is absurd because if everyone is "right", then there is no "right".  Absolute truth does exist...

The Truth is from God
John, Chapter 8 (WEB)
Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.   40  But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God.... (emp. added GDR)  

Romans, Chapter 1 (WEB)
16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.  17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.” (emp. added GDR) 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,  19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.  20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.  21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. 

John, Chapter 17 (WEB)
 17  Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. (emp. added GDR)

The God of heaven is the GOD of absolutes. Wisdom, power, righteousness, love, understanding and TRUTH abide in HIM perfectly. And only in HIM. Flawed human beings simply can not be perfect in their thoughts and actions. There is no comparison. If you wish understanding and TRUTH, one needs to consult the word of God, period.

The Truth is from Jesus
John, Chapter 3 (WEB)
 16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (emp. added GDR) 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.   18  He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.   19  This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.   20  For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.   21  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.” 

2 Corinthians Chapter 4 (WEB)
 1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.  2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  3 Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who perish;  4 in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.  5 For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake;  6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (emp. added GDR)

John, Chapter 3 (WEB)
 16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.  (emp. added GDR) 17 For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him.   18  He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.   19  This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.   20  For everyone who does evil hates the light, and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed.   21  But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.” 

2 Corinthians Chapter 4 (WEB)
 1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we don’t faint.  2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  3 Even if our Good News is veiled, it is veiled in those who perish;  4 in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.  5 For we don’t preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake;  6 seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (emp. added GDR)

Wake up, buttercup- the world does NOT revolve around you! However, God loves you enough to send Jesus to help you with your sin problem and has given you the opportunity to either accept his son or not. If you don't accept Jesus, you still have a sin problem and the penalty for that problem is death.

Why die? Why argue with God? Wouldn't it be far better to obey his Gospel and live?

Acts, Chapter 2 (WEB)

  22  “Men of Israel, hear these words! Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God to you by mighty works and wonders and signs which God did by him in your midst, even as you yourselves know,  23 him, being delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by the hand of lawless men, crucified and killed;  24 whom God raised up, having freed him from the agony of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by it.  25 For David says concerning him, 
‘I saw the Lord always before my face,
For he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved.
  26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced.
Moreover my flesh also will dwell in hope;
  27 because you will not leave my soul in Hades,
neither will you allow your Holy One to see decay.
  28 You made known to me the ways of life.
You will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

  29  “Brothers, I may tell you freely of the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.  30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,  31 he foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that neither was his soul left in Hades,*n3 nor did his flesh see decay.  32 This Jesus God raised up, to which we all are witnesses.  33 Being therefore exalted by the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, which you now see and hear.  34 For David didn’t ascend into the heavens, but he says himself, 
‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit by my right hand,
  35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

  36  “Let all the house of Israel therefore know certainly that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 

  37  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 

  38  Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far off, even as many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40 With many other words he testified, and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 

  41  Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls.  42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.


Fact: You will only be "right", when God makes you RIGHT!!!