Son of Man in The Bible Project

Frequently in the Gospels of the Bible, we hear Jesus call himself, “The Son of Man.” The December 2018 video from The Bible Project, “Why Jesus Called Himself the Son of Man,” provides an outstanding overview of how Jesus’ use of this phrase references the Old Testament book of Daniel and foretells the roles he will play in both “defeating the forces of evil / darkness” (the “beast”) on earth, and ultimately rule with God and the Holy Spirit, as a co-equal part of the Holy Trinity which we understand as “God: Three in One.” The video presents important yet sometimes confusing theology in an effective, animated storytelling style. In this post, I’d like to reflect a bit more on this video specifically as well as the Bible Project videos more generally. The video is just 6 minutes long, and I encourage you to check it out and watch it first:

I first learned about The Bible Project from Tim Sean Youmans, at the time (and currently) the head Vicar (priest) at Casady School in Oklahoma City, the Episcopal Day School where I worked and served in various roles for 7 years, from 2015 to 2022. My first blog reference to “The Bible Project” dates to October 2018, in my post, “Gospel Encounter: The Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-35).” Tim Sean is the author of “Blessed to Bless: An Introduction to the Bible,” which is used a guiding text in Bible classes taught at Casady. Father Youmans would often use Bible Project videos in the homilies and messages he shared with students, faculty and staff at Casady.

When I had the opportunity to teach and lead an adult Sunday School class at First Presbyterian Church of Edmond, Oklahoma for 3 years (2019-2021, through the pandemic) The Bible Project videos were a frequent media element in my lessons and slideshows. These are (mostly) all archived, by the way, on followjesus.wesfryer.com. These videos also inspired me in my “almost-completed for many years” book project, “Pocket Share Jesus: Be a Digital Witness for Christ,” and the workshops I’ve shared over the years (now through “Storychasers“) on “Christian Digital Storytelling.”

My wife, Shelly, has always been an extremely discerning and spiritual follower of Jesus, and has taught me a great deal over our 28 years of marriage about Biblical values like love, grace, forgiveness, humility, sacrifice, and service. Shelly has been using videos from “The Bible Project” more recently in her own morning devoitions, and she shared the video, “Why Jesus Called Himself the Son of Man,” about a week ago with me via text.

As you may know, I’m a confessing “digital over-sharer” In my life. Slowly over time, in part due to encouragement from my spiritual director, Curt Gruel, I’ve become a more “integrated person” when it comes to my spiritual / Jesus-following / “Sunday morning side” and my “rest of the week” / more secular / professional educator side. This is reflected in several ways, including the ways I now share different kinds of media (most often “Bible Verse InfoPics.”) via the different social media channels I maintain.

Sharing a simple hyperlink can be a powerful and potentially TRANSFORMATIVE act. I credit Tim Sean Youmans with not only introducing Shelly and I, and eventually our FPCE adult Sunday School class, to The Bible Project, but also to the absolutely INCREDIBLE TV series, “The Chosen,” which is soon about to release Season 4. Those videos continue to shape my own understanding and visualization of the characters and narratives in The Bible / Holy Scripture, but also the faith journey of (at least) one of our own children, who has been particularly captivated by watching the series this past year.

I encourage you to not only watch the 6 minute video, “Why Jesus Called Himself the Son of Man,” from The Bible Project, but also check out more of the resources from bibleproject.com. Download the YouVersion Bible app and explore the words of Holy Scripture through its well designed interface, using multiple translations and interpretations of the Bible in your languages of choice. I also encourage you to SHARE these resources and your own experiences with them.

The words of God, expressed in the Holy Bible, are powerful and can be transformative in our lives. We live in an era of challenges and opportunities, and it is vital that we focus our minds DAILY on the words and messages of Jesus Christ, to maintain our hope in a world filled with dangers, fears and perils.

I pray God will bless you this day. I know God continues to bless me through my wife and spouse, Shelly, in many ways… Including the ways she shares helpful resources that assist me in my ongoing journey to deepen my relationship with and understanding of Almighty God. To God be the glory!

Bible Verse InfoPic” (CC BY 2.0) by Wesley Fryer

No Human Hierarchy in God’s Family

Through the YouVersion Bible app for iPhone, Shelly (my wife) has discovered the “Eyewitness Bible Series” of videos. This morning, on her recommendation, I watched the 11.5 minute video, “Topics 07 Gratitude,” which features the Biblical character Cornelius the Centurion. In this post, I want to reflect a bit on the theme of “human hierarchy” and how we are called to REJECT it as a “cultural norm.” This is vital to understand as a follower of Jesus Christ. This links directly to two books I have read (or listened to on Audible) in recent years, and I’ll also share some links to past posts reflecting on these themes more deeply.

Here’s the “BIG BIBLICAL IDEA” I took away from this excellent video as well as my (relatively) recent related theological readings: Through Jesus Christ, God calls us to reject the human hierarchies imposed and enforced by authorities and cultural influencers. As we read in the closing verses of the third Chapter of Galatians, written by the Apostle Paul:

‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Galatians 3:23-29

Rejecting the cultural norm of “hierarchies” is both challenging and radical. Most societies “teach” that hierarchies are real, natural, and should be both expected and embraced. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, rejects this. Throughout history, including the Jewish faith and the Christian faith, however, we see how many church authorities and leaders have MISSED this critical idea and value from Jesus, Instead, these “authorities” have worked to impose hierarchy and establish it as a universally accepted constant. As a follower of Jesus Christ, however, I understand that perspective to be heresy / heretical.

I’ll try to explain what I mean.

In this context, when I speak of “hierarchy” I’m talking about a perception or understanding that human beings are NOT equal and should not be accorded equal treatment. This is a cultural value in most human societies. In the infamous words George Orwell from Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Orwell was literally writing about animals, but he was metaphorically explaining hierarchy in human as well as animal societies / communities. Hierarchy is common and often accepted, even when it is (often) oppressive and destructive to the goal of human flourishing.

According OxfordReference.com: hierarchy is:

A type of social organization in which individuals are ranked according to their status or dominance relative to other group members. This affects their behaviour in various ways, e.g. by determining their access to food or to mates. Many vertebrate animals and some invertebrates live in hierarchical social groups.

Hierarchy. (n.d.). Oxford Reference. Retrieved December 19, 2023, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095935499

Although Jesus Christ taught his disciplines to love one another without regard to hierarchical status or privilege, human authorities relatively quickly moved to co-opt Christianity, make it a “state religion,” and pervert it so it enforced rather than dissolved hierarchical divisions and separations in society. 2 years ago, for fun, I read Paul Stephenson’s 2010 book, “Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor,”  I wrote a lengthy reflection about the book and things I learned from it, titled, “Lessons about Constantine & Ancient Rome.” As I highlighted and attempted to explain in that post, these ideas relate directly to conceptions of “Christian Nationalism” and the ways we see Christianity continue to be perverted and mis-represented in contemporary U.S. politics.

As a follower of Jesus Christ and a student of the Bible seeking to be led by God’s Holy Spirit, I understand that:

  1. God does not condone or support the enslavement of human beings.
  2. God does not bless or endorse the oppression of women, or the patriarchal discrimination of women by men.
  3. God opposes discrimination and discriminatory treatment of human beings based on ethnicity or perceptions of race (which are, btw, in the case of “whiteness,” entirely culturally constructed)
  4. God does not condemn or exclude from full participation in His family any human being based on a self-identified label of gender or sexual preference.

This past week, I finished listening to Heather Cox Richardson‘s outstanding book, “How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America.” I need to both record and write a full review of the book, similar to the post I shared about Stephenson’s book on Constantine. There are SO MANY important and outstanding ideas and perspectives on history which Richardson shares in that book which deserve both amplification and further reflection.

Here’s my main connection to this book and the topic of hierarchy in the Christian faith: As followers of Jesus, we are NOT called to be disciples of oligarchy or hierarchy. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to view every human being on our planet as a child of God, a unique and miraculous creation of our Heavenly Father both deserving of love as well as every right and privilege as everyone else. We are all sinners, and all fall short of the grace of God. We all stand as equals, WITHOUT DIFFERENTIATING HIERARCHY, before the throne of God.

”But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—“

Romans 3:21-25

Here’s one final reflection, returning to the words of Paul in Galatians 3. In verse 23 we read, “nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Let’s consider what that means in the context of our ongoing culture wars in the United States. There is an enormous focus by some political actors on hierarchies based on gender and sexual preference. Those individuals and groups repeatedly preach a false and heretical gospel of hierarchy and condemnation of fellow citizens and human beings on our planet. Those voices proclaiming these divisions and perspectives, “endorsing hierarchical values,” do NOT speak for God or Jesus Christ. Rather, they are false prophets, and need to be called out as such.

”But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.“

‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Here ends today’s sermon as blog post.

For more resources relating to these ideas, see my growing resource list for my inquiry project, “Heal Our Culture.”

Go in peace. My God’s Holy Spirit fill our hearts and minds this day, and may we all speak and act in kindness and love, representing the radical and transforming grace of Jesus Christ in a suffering world in desperate need of His embrace.

All Human Beings are Equally Deserving of Human Rights and Dignity” (CC BY 2.0) by Wesley Fryer

Human Rights and Southern Baptist Protestant Christians

This should be obvious to all people in all modern cultures, but sadly it is not and some groups are working to “turn back the clock.

Women are full human beings and should be accorded FULL human rights. This goes for ALL people by the way. Check the Universal Declaration of Human Rights if you or someone you know is unclear about this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_Rights

Both in secular and religious contexts, women have full rights (just as men do) to live, lead, and serve as human beings irrespective of their sexuality or gender identification. HUMAN RIGHTS. These rights are foundational, unconditional and irrevocable.

Jesus did not come to our earth, live among us for 30 years, willingly submit to crucifixion and death on a cross, and bodily resurrect from the dead so that His followers could “keep women in their place” or His followers would act as legalistic jurors presiding over tribunals on the basic rights of fellow humans.

Jesus came to our earth for many reasons, but principal among these was to teach us (as humans on this planet) how to LOVE and better care for each other. He also came to free us from the legalistic and oppressive rule of religious groups like the Pharisees, and offer us a NEW covenant based on grace, love, forgiveness and community.

It’s really quite remarkable and wonderful. We can all even read about it in our own language today!

Some Southern Baptist Protestants “need a heads up” on these topics.

Southern Baptists’ Fight Over Female Leaders Shows Power of Insurgent Right (NYTimes, 16 June 2022) – Gift Link 🎁:

http://wfryer.me/44j

Princeton Theology and Christian Fundamentalism

This is another ChatGPT 4 “theological and historical coaching” example today, in my continuing quest to better understand the historic roots and contemporary flavors of American Christian fundamentalism. If any of you / anyone reading this can identify any factual errors in these presented ideas, please let me know!

This line of personal inquiry continues to be catalyzed by my slow reading of “Fundamentalism and American Culture” by George M. Marsden

My first query:

Briefly summarize “the Baconian tradition in Scottish Common Sense Realism.”

ChatGPT4’s response:

“The Baconian tradition in Scottish Common Sense Realism refers to the influence of Sir Francis Bacon’s empirical and inductive approach to knowledge on the philosophical movement of Scottish Common Sense Realism. Developed by key figures such as Thomas Reid, George Campbell, and Dugald Stewart in the 18th century, this school of thought emphasized the importance of everyday human experience, common sense, and self-evident truths as the basis for understanding the world. By combining Bacon’s inductive methodology with an emphasis on common sense, Scottish Common Sense Realism aimed to counter the skepticism and excessive rationalism prevalent in other philosophical traditions of the time, such as those associated with Descartes and Hume.”

My follow up query:

Continue with more details, elaboration and examples of this philosophy’s impact on the overall arc / development of Christian theology and philosophy in the United States.”

ChatGPT4’s response:

“Scottish Common Sense Realism had a significant impact on the development of Christian theology and philosophy in the United States, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. Key proponents of the movement, such as Thomas Reid and George Campbell, sought to reconcile religious beliefs with reason and empirical knowledge.

The influence of Scottish Common Sense Realism on American Christian theology can be seen in the following ways:

  1. Princeton Theology: The Scottish Common Sense Realism was adopted and adapted by theologians at Princeton Theological Seminary, which became a major center for American Presbyterianism. Key figures, such as Charles Hodge, Archibald Alexander, and Benjamin Warfield, combined Reformed Calvinist theology with the principles of Scottish Common Sense Realism to argue for the rationality and coherence of Christianity. This approach, known as “Princeton Theology,” influenced generations of American theologians and pastors.
  2. Opposition to skepticism and deism: The reliance on common sense and empirical evidence provided a robust response to the rising influence of skepticism and deism during the Enlightenment. By emphasizing the self-evident truths of human experience, proponents of Scottish Common Sense Realism sought to counter the arguments of skeptics like David Hume and deists like Thomas Paine, who questioned the rationality of traditional religious beliefs.
  3. Moral philosophy: The emphasis on moral sense and innate moral principles in Scottish Common Sense Realism helped shape American Christian ethics. Thinkers like Francis Wayland and William Paley drew on this tradition to argue for the existence of a universal moral law, which they saw as evidence of God’s design and authority.
  4. Apologetics: George Campbell, a prominent figure in the Scottish Common Sense Realism movement, wrote an influential work called “The Philosophy of Rhetoric” (1776), which provided a basis for Christian apologetics. Campbell emphasized the importance of appealing to common sense, reason, and the evidence of the natural world when defending religious beliefs. This approach influenced many American theologians and apologists, including Timothy Dwight, president of Yale College, who employed these methods to defend orthodox Christianity against the challenges posed by the Enlightenment and rationalism.
  5. Education and social reform: The emphasis on reason, empiricism, and morality in Scottish Common Sense Realism influenced American education and social reform movements. Many American educators and reformers, inspired by the ideas of this philosophical tradition, sought to promote moral and religious education and address social problems through rational, empirically informed approaches.

In summary, the Scottish Common Sense Realism movement left a lasting impact on the development of Christian theology and philosophy in the United States, shaping key areas such as Princeton Theology, moral philosophy, apologetics, and education. By promoting the compatibility of religious faith and empirical reason, this tradition contributed to a broader intellectual framework that helped Christianity navigate the challenges posed by skepticism, deism, and the Enlightenment.”

My third / final query in this series:

How do “Scottish Common Sense Realism” and “Princeton Theology” continue to shape contemporary Christian theology and particularly modern conceptions of Christian fundamentalism? How do these philosophical frameworks intersect with conceptions and beliefs about “premillennial dispensationalism,” Biblical literalism, and debates over Creationism and evolution?

 GatGPT 4’s answer:

Scottish Common Sense Realism and Princeton Theology, while rooted in the 18th and 19th centuries, continue to influence contemporary Christian theology and shape modern conceptions of Christian fundamentalism in various ways. Their impact can be seen in the areas of biblical interpretation, theological conservatism, and the relationship between faith and reason.

  1. Biblical Literalism: Both Scottish Common Sense Realism and Princeton Theology advocated for the plain, literal interpretation of the Bible. This approach to biblical hermeneutics has been adopted by many modern Christian fundamentalists, who assert the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. By emphasizing the self-evident truths and common sense in interpreting Scripture, these fundamentalists resist allegorical or symbolic readings of the text.
  2. Premillennial Dispensationalism: While not directly related to Scottish Common Sense Realism or Princeton Theology, premillennial dispensationalism shares some similarities, such as an emphasis on literal biblical interpretation. This eschatological view, which emerged in the 19th century, divides history into distinct periods (or dispensations) and posits that the Second Coming of Christ will precede a literal thousand-year reign on earth (the Millennium). The literalist approach to interpreting biblical prophecy, often associated with Christian fundamentalism, can be seen as influenced by the hermeneutical principles of Scottish Common Sense Realism and Princeton Theology.
  3. Creationism and Evolution: The commitment to biblical literalism and the belief in the harmony of faith and reason have contributed to ongoing debates over creationism and evolution. Many Christian fundamentalists, drawing on the principles of Scottish Common Sense Realism and Princeton Theology, argue for a literal reading of the Genesis creation account and reject the theory of evolution as incompatible with Scripture. These debates have led to the development of various creationist positions, such as Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism, and Intelligent Design.
  4. Theological Conservatism: Princeton Theology, in particular, sought to defend traditional Reformed orthodoxy against the rise of liberal theology and higher criticism. This emphasis on theological conservatism and the defense of orthodox doctrines can be seen in the development of modern Christian fundamentalism, which seeks to preserve the core tenets of the faith in the face of perceived threats from secularism, modernism, and liberal theology.

While Scottish Common Sense Realism and Princeton Theology are not synonymous with modern Christian fundamentalism, they have undeniably influenced its development in various ways. The shared emphasis on biblical literalism, theological conservatism, and the harmony of faith and reason provide a philosophical framework that continues to shape contemporary Christian theology and debates over issues such as premillennial dispensationalism, biblical inerrancy, and the relationship between creationism and evolution.

(There ends ChatGPT 4’s responses to my curious questions this morning.)

A final thought from me on ChatGPT, AI, inquiry, truth and curiosity: As a teacher, I strive to encourage my students’ own senses of curiosity, wonder, and desire for inquiry. What a rich and amazing, yet challenging context, AI and ChatGPT presents for this style of “seek and find learning!” We need to remind ourselves, “ChatGPT is a language model, not a truth model or search engine.” Its scope of knowledge and ideas is breathtaking today, however, and that scale and depth will only increase (exponentially, by the way) in the days and months ahead.

We all need to be “playing with ChatGPT” today, to better understand, process and grapple with its capabilities, limitations, and pitfalls.

Welcome to the future.

Lessons about Constantine & Ancient Rome

This summer I read Paul Stephenson’s 2010 book, “Constantine: Unconquered Emperor, Christian Victor,” and gained a wide variety of insights into the history of early Christianity as well as the Roman empire and its politics. In this post, I’d like to share the background of why I decided to read this book, many of my “key takeaways” / learning points from the book, and some reflections which I’ve had as a result of the ideas in this text. As I read the book, I shared quotations and thoughts on Twitter, and organized those tweets in a single “Twitter thread” you can view chronologically. I’m at the point in my life where I just want to read eBook versions of books or listen to them digitally, and unfortunately this book wasn’t (in late May 2021) available in the Amazon Kindle ebookstore. I did, however, find it for sale in the Google Play Store, so I ended up reading my first book in the iOS “Google Play Books” app. It was ok, but I much prefer reading eBooks on a physical Kindle eReader or in the iOS Kindle app.

There were three primary catalysts for my decision to read this book about the Emperor Constantine.

1 – Christian Nationalism Historically and Today

Our mainstream and social media channels in the United States have amplified “Christian nationalism” to the point where it has become a significant political and cultural force. The rhetoric of Christian nationalism has militaristic / jingoistic overtones, and I am not only interested in these contemporary strains of Christian heresy (which was and remains after reading this book my perception) but also the movement’s historical roots. I suspected I would learn more about this studying the history of Constantine’s rule over Rome, and I was correct. Presbyterian Pastor Tim Keller’s article, “A Book Review on the Topic of Christian Nationalism,” is an excellent overview of these topics and issues from a contemporary perspective.

In part through my research and work supporting the “Conspiracies and Culture Wars” media literacy project, I’ve been alarmed by the way Christian conservatives have been mobilized as well as deceived to support the QAnon conspiracy theory and political movement. My desire to have a more comprehensive and accurate understanding of the history of Christianity and its theological foundations were also motivators for me to learn more about Constantine and his Christian legacy.

2- Portrayal of Ancient Rome in “The Legacy Imperative”

Our Friday Morning Men’s Group at the Presbyterian Church we attend in Edmond, Oklahoma (FPCE) just finished a 10 part video series this summer called, “The Legacy Imperative.” I have wanted to write a blog just summarizing my thoughts and responses to that series, and still may do so. While there are many good ideas and exhortations in the series (like it’s good for Christian grandparents to share Bible stories with their grandchildren, read to their grandchildren, and share stories about their faith and beliefs with them) there are also some political as well as theological ideas woven throughout the series with which I have substantial issues with and criticisms to offer. Early in the series (maybe even in episode 1, the videos are locked behind a paywall so I can’t link directly to them) the author extols the Roman Empire, their wholesale destruction of Carthage in 146 BC, and paints overall a picture of Roman history which is romantic, nostalgic, and dangerously disconnected from many facts from history. At one point, the video series producers included a clip from the 2000 Russell Crowe movie, “Gladiator,” to cast a dramatic vision of the role today’s grandparents (allegedly) must play if their grandchildren and “this entire generation of lost souls” will be saved from hell and oblivion. So my experiences watching that entire series (as the youngest member of our group, it fell to me to ‘make the technology work’ over Zoom for most of our meetings) were additional catalysts encouraging me to learn more about Constantine and Roman history, especially as they intersected with Christian faith and early church history. For more on this topical thread, I highly recommend the Angry Planet podcast episode, “Rome Was Always in Decline” with author Edward J. Watts, who wrote the 2018 book, “Mortal Republic: How Rome Fell into Tyranny” as well as “The Final Pagan Generation: Rome’s Unexpected Path to Christianity” in 2015.

3- Battle of the Milvian Bridge Artwork

The third primary catalyst for my decision to read this book was Pieter Lastman’s 1613 painting, “The Battle of Constantine and Maxentius” which is shared on the Google Art & Culture website. I was looking for an image of “Crossing the Rubicon,” and instead ended up learning a bit about “The Battle of the Milvian Bridge.” Like so many works of historical art, this image is a mix of state-sponsored propaganda, myth, and real historical events. I used this image in my March 7, 2021 Sunday School class lesson, “Introducing Tim Keller & “The Reason for God.” (It’s slide 28) I had never previously heard of that battle or its significance, and I was interested after my brief digital exposure to this artwork to learn more about this history.

With those three primary reasons for reading this book in mind, let’s dive into some of the key takeaways / learning points I had as a result of reading this book.

4- Persecution of Christians

First of all, I was a bit surprised to learn that the era of “Christian persecutions” in the Roman empire was as long as I’d imagined. It’s incredible to consider that Roman history spanned almost 2000 years, when the histories of both the western and eastern Roman empires (Byzantium) are combined and the early “Roman Kingdom” is included. Christians faced different types and levels of persecutions under Rome after the death and resurrection of Jesus, but those persecutions “mostly” came to an end during and following the rule of Constantine the Great. There was “one more pagan emperor in Rome” (Julian the Apostate) but Christianity’s official status within the Roman Empire during and following the rule of Constantine put an end to the types of Christian persecutions (death by lions in the colosseum, etc) which I’d learned about previously. 300 years may seem like a long time to us in the United States, since our nation is not yet that old, but in the span of Roman history it’s relatively shorter. I don’t intend to minimize the terrible reality of those years of persecution, but somehow in my mind I’d imagined Christians persecuted for many more centuries. So this was one thing I learned.

5- Religious Toleration in Rome

Throughout his reign as Roman emperor, Constantine continued (and enforced) official Roman policies of religious toleration. Although those policies definitely changed under different rulers, I was interested to learn that the Roman Empire generally permitted a variety of different religious practices throughout its history. Roman military units practiced “religio” rites, which at times were manifested in worship of the emperor himself, and at times these were impossible for Christians to follow because they required the elevation of one’s loyalty and allegiance to the emperor over God. They also could, at times, require sacrifices to be offered to the god of the emperor at the time, which Christians regarded as prohibited.

The overall “bend” of Roman religious history, which I understand more deeply because of Paul Stevenson’s book, was to support and allow diverse worship practices through religious toleration.

Constantine had less toleration for dissent within Christian communities, however, he resorted to calling councils of bishops on multiple occasions to try and resolve disputes of theology and belief. The Nicene Creed, dates from the ecumenical council convened by Constantine in 325 A.D., and is still used by our Christian denomination as a foundational profession of faith. Because of the challenges of studying ancient history and particularly ancient personalities (even emperors) it’s difficult to have full confidence in any historian’s account of an individual’s temperament and personality traits. As Stephenson synthesizes the historical records about Constantine, however, it appears his ideas and opinions about Christian theology varied considerably depending on who his confidant(s) and trusted advisors were at the time. He was unable to force Christian leaders to “follow orders” and conform precisely to his will, as he could and did as a military commander, and resorted to ecumenical councils on multiple occasions to try and resolve differences of opinions and beliefs in Christendom. It is from this historical legacy “orthodox” Christianity emerged, and many of the articulated beliefs we (in the reformed Christian tradition) regard as foundational to our faith. I found it fascinating to learn more about these aspects of Christian history in this book.

6- History Can Be Tricky

One overall perception I took from Stephenson’s book is how extremely difficult and tricky it can be to seek “historical truth” among so many authors who were writing with overtly biased agendas (like writing an official history for a particular ruler / emperor) and the fact that many conquering emperors (including Constantine) sought to deliberately malign the historical records of their predecessors and opponents to expunge their legacy from history.

7- Constantine Was Not a “Good Guy”

Since he is credited as the Roman emperor who ushered in “the golden age” of Roman Christianity and originated “Christian orthodoxy,” I think Constantine is errantly regarded by some people as a hero and a “good guy.” He was not. Certainly Constantine was a consistent VICTOR in military battles, and this was the primary way he established his right to rule, claiming his victories proved that “the highest god” / the gods were on his side. Eventually he substituted “the Christian God” for Sol Invictus, the Roman Sun god, as the author of his divine blessing and right to rule. But we should not delude ourselves by overlooking facts of history or whitewashing the historical record as experts acknowledge with consensus. I was surprised to learn Constantine not only executed one of his wives (Fausta), he also killed one of his sons, allegedly because of an affair involving them both. Constantine was a brutal and effective military commander, which incidentally was historically a common denominator among most “successful” (relatively long lived) emperors of the Roman Empire. Of course my opinion here may incite criticism that we should not bring our twenty-first century moral sensibilities to bear in judging historical figures and specifically leaders from antiquity. We need to be aware of and acknowledge our own biases as well as beliefs in studying any topic, including history, but I think we are foolish to check our ethics and sense of morality at the door in these analyses.

8- Christianity Was Thriving and Diverse Before Constantine

One of the big misconceptions which Stephenson’s book addresses and debunks is the idea that Constantine’s embrace of Christianity was the primary factor in its “success” and growth throughout the Western world. While the official recognition of Christianity as the state religion in Rome, and in the Roman military, certainly did contribute in significant ways to its growth and popularity, Stephenson documents how Christianity was growing and thriving both inside and outside the Roman Empire before Constantine. It is important to note Christianity, even then, had a variety of sects / groups / theological adherents, which would eventually manifest after the Reformation in different denominations. As Christians seeking to follow Jesus Christ, we have always been a diverse and opinionated lot. We’ve never been just a single, “orthodox” religious group all “on the same page” which every element of belief or religious practice.

9- Constantine Co-oped Christianity to Serve His Imperial Purposes

This is perhaps one of the most important takeaways from Stephenson’s book and hopefully from anyone’s careful, historical consideration of Constantine: He was NOT a faithful follower of Jesus Christ throughout his life, and WAS a ruthless Roman emperor who co-oped the rituals, trappings and projected authority of the Christian faith to serve his own imperial purposes as an absolute monarch of a vast and diverse territory.

Here’s where the mythology and story of “The Battle of the Milvian Bridge” outside of Rome comes in. Stephenson clearly demonstrates not only by citing historical writings, but also the coins which were ‘struck’ / created by Constantine at different times and in different places throughout his rule to commemorate events and project his desired vision of the moment of himself as Rome’s supreme ruler, Constantine demonstrated a gradual, progressive move from pagan imperial worship to his own manufactured, Roman-state-supporting version of Christianity. In the stories which were spun by state sponsored historians, as well as later artists like Pieter Lastman’s 1613 painting, “The Battle of Constantine and Maxentius,” Constantine is portrayed as having a sudden conversion experience to Christianity, known as a literary plot technique called “peripety.” We must all beware, even today, not to fall under the misleading and openly manipulative spell of historians and artists who (often with deft artistic skill) portray the facts of history through not just “colored glasses” but rather through outright “distorted lenses.”

Where I might have considered Constantine a heroic historical figure in the past, I do not consider him to be one now after reading this book. He certainly advanced important ideas and causes throughout the Roman Empire and world during his rule and life, and I do see how God worked through him in bringing us priceless articulations of our Christian faith like The Nicene Creed. But given his ruthless actions and nature, I would not consider Constantine to be a “hero of the Christian faith” or Christian tradition. To the contrary, I think Constantine perverted and usurped the powerful, authentic and original teachings of Jesus Christ and created an “orthodox institution” in the Catholic Church (as well as its subsequent iterations) which took the people of God / Christians / “the church” farther away rather than closer to an authentic understanding of Scripture, the nature of God, and our calling as God’s children.

10- Roman Emperors Ruled From Outside Rome Too

I never took a course in high school or college specifically focused on just Roman history, so my background in this area is admittedly limited. I had, however, mainly conceived of Rome as the primary seat of power for the Western Roman Empire, and Constantinople s the primary seat of Eastern Power. However, Stephenson’s book revealed that throughout the centuries, Roman emperors made their palaces and seats of power in different parts of the empire. I was able to travel to Turkey on a two week bus trip in the early 1980s, but I’ve never been to some of the other places mentioned by Stephenson in this narrative about the life and legacy of Constantine. Among others, now I want to visit Trier (in Germany) and Nicomedia in northwest Turkey. I LOVE history and storytelling, and the idea that “places have stories to tell.” Reading this book has invigorated my desire to travel internationally more, and hopefully further deepen my own understanding of history including the Roman chapters which left ruins and artifacts that can still be studied today.

11- Vicars Were Roman Bureaucrats

At our Episcopal chapel services at school each week, I’m now used to prayers being offered and references being made to our ‘vicar.’ I learned that in the Roman empire, vicars were “officials subordinate to the praetorian prefects.” A substantial part of the “genius” of Roman government and a key to its relative long lasting history was the intricate bureaucracy which the state developed and maintained. It’s not a life changing fact, but I was very interested to learn more of the etymology of “vicar.”

12- Oaths of Allegiance

It’s very important to consider who we believe we owe and pledge our allegiance, both individually and collectively. One of the most important lessons I learned in Boy Scout Troop 74 in Manhattan, Kansas, growing up, under Scoutmaster Ray Hightower, was that we’re called to have our allegiance and loyalty first to God, then to country, then to state, community and family. I’m not saying family comes last, but I AM saying that God is FIRST and our nation / our Constitution is second.

In Stephenson’s book =, I was very interested to learn that no pre-Constantine military oaths of allegiance which Roman soldiers were required to take and annually reaffirm survived antiquity. Stephenson explained that Christian pacifists as well as other Christ followers refused to pledge their highest allegiance to the Roman emperor above God, and this led to some of the persecutions of Christians in the pre-Constantine Roman world. By refusing to fight under arms or sacrifice to the gods of the emperor / the military, some Christians historically brought down condemnation and even death upon themselves. They were martyrs for the Christian faith. Christians refused to swear oaths of equal allegiance “to two masters.”

13- Infanticide of Female Babies Was Common in Ancient Rome

I didn’t know it was common for Roman families to kill female babies. Stephenson explains the value Christians placed on ALL loves, including female lives, was one of the factors contributing to its explosive growth in the years prior to Constantine’s rule.

14- The “Rain Miracle” of 168/169 AD

Before reading Stephenson’s book, I had never heard of “The Rain Miracle” of 168/169 AD during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Of course like all stories from history, we need to read this with “our filters on and up” for how tales are told and myths promulgated. Still, it’s a fascinating tale and would make a great children’s picture book. I wonder if anyone has made one?

15- “The Tetrarchy” which preceded the rule of Constantine

In yet another sign of my general historical illiteracy about ancient Rome, I hadn’t previously heard of (or remember hearing about “The Tetrarchy” in Rome which preceded the rule of Constantine. It’s fascinating to me that in some cases, Roman Emperors successfully utilized multiple rulers and both peer as well as subordinate authorities. The title “Augustus” was for the senior emperor / emperors, the title “Caesar” was for the junior emperors. Reading these chapters of history, it’s easy for me to have the names blur together, in part because I don’t have a mental picture (or much mental schema overall) to understand the described events and people in context. Still, my historical understanding and literacy of ancient Rome was deepened a little bit by Stephenson, in his references to The Tetrachy.

16- Christian Triumphalist Theology Contradicts Martyrdom

This is one of the most important points I think Stephenson makes convincingly in his book, and I probably should have elevated it far earlier in this post. The “Christian Triumphalist Theology” of Constantine, which we see shades of today in modern “Christian nationalism” in the United States, is contradictory to the lives and life claims of Christian martyrs. In the Constintinian / triumphalist view, God always intervenes in history to impose His will on the world. In the worldview of the Christan martyrs (as well as both orthodox and reformed traditional Christianity, from what I understand) God can and sometimes does choose to miraculously act in our lives to save, heal and redeem. However, God is not a ‘vending machine,’ and in His divine reality and nature He does allow both suffering and death, which can both bring Him glory and work out his ultimate purposes for humanity. These are big issues here: The existence of evil and faith in our God who is simultaneously omniscient and omnipotent is challenging both philosophically and theologically. I won’t comment further on these topics here, but definitely want to highlight this contradiction for the “Triumphalists” which Stephenson identifies.

17- Constantine: A Successful Book Burner

I’ve always found it fascinating to imagine what documents of heresy and unorthodox / forbidden writings might lie in the dark recesses of the Vatican Library. (I imagine it has dark recesses… perhaps it does not!) One of the works which is NOT in the Vatican Library or apparently anywhere else, because Constantine succeeded in his efforts to have all complete copies destroyed / burned, is “Against the Christians” by “Roman-Phoenician Neoplatonic philosopher Porphyry of Tyre.”

https://twitter.com/wfryer/status/1419860272819359779

As I previously mentioned above in reference to Constantine’s toleration for non-Christian beliefs and practices, but intolerance for “unorthodox” Christianity, his rule over the Roman Empire was characterized by these challenging dynamics. I wonder if a full copy of “Against the Christians” will ever be uncovered in a European, Asian or African castle library or other archive, as the Waldseemüller map was in 1901?

18- Arias & Arianism

At some point, I may read further into the history of “Arias & Arianism.”

According to the current English WikiPedia entry for “Arius:”

Arius (256–336) was a Cyrenaic presbyter, ascetic, and priest best known for the doctrine of Arianism. His teachings about the nature of the Godhead in Christianity, which emphasized God the Father’s uniqueness and Christ’s subordination under the Father, and his opposition to what would become the dominant Christology, Homoousian Christology, made him a primary topic of the First Council of Nicaea convened by Emperor Constantine the Great in 325.

“Arius.” Wikipedia, 14 July 2021. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arius&oldid=1033618333.

The prospect of studying Arianism to better understand orthodox and reformed Christianity reminds me a little of discussing “critical race theory” today in 2021, when that entire topic has been declared taboo by our state legislature in Oklahoma as well as in other states. To better understand a topic, idea or concept, it’s not just important but also VITAL to consider counter-arguments and objections others have raised and do raise to it today. So at some point, I’m going to learn more about Arianism.

Closing Reflections

If you’ve read this entire post up to this point, kudos to you. I’m writing this in part for myself, to better clarify and solidify my own learning from reading this book about Constantine by Paul Stephenson. But I’m also hopeful people I know or others just interested in this topic will find this post helpful, and if you’re in that category, please let me know by commenting on Facebook, leaving a comment on this post below, by reaching out on Twitter, or another electronic contact method.

Here are my closing reflections.

Reading this book makes me want to return to Turkey and Istanbul, but also travel in Italy, Germany, and other parts of the former Roman Empire. I can’t wait for COVID to end and (hopefully) my wife and I to have more opportunities for international travel.

On a more theologically serious note, reading this book draws into sharp relief the sad truth that Constantine and the architects of the Roman Catholic Church basically ignored the essential words and writings of Jesus Christ in developing an institution which was focused much more on social control and projecting support for the legitimacy of governing authorities than sharing the simple, transformative truth of the Gospel. Yes Constantine (in his subsequently legacy) made “Christianity the official religion of Rome,” and ended centuries of Christian persecutions. There are definitely good and valuable elements to those actions. Yet Constantine did those things at a tremendous cost, perverting and re-architecting for earthly goals the Gospel message and Truth of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for The Nicene Creed and the vital clarifications which the Council of Nicea and other ecumenical councils called by Constantine provided to counter basic heresies within early Christian faith traditions. I regret, however, that the Catholic church with its relics and associated superstitions, its prescription to pray to God through a member of the clergy rather than directly to God the Father through Jesus Christ, its focus on ornate and expensive cathedrals, its history of indulgences, its sponsorship of the Crusades, the Inquisition, the “conversion” of non-Europeans literally at sword point, and so much more.

Given all these misgivings about the history of “The Christian Church” post-Constantine, it might not come as a surprise that I’m eager to “lean further into my own theological roots” in the Protestant Reformation and the ‘reformed understandings of theology’ which resulted and continue to guide my life. I’ve really enjoyed and continue to enjoy worshipping in the Episcopalian traditions thanks mainly to our school chapel program, but it would be difficult for me at some point to altogether leave this “reformed Christian heritage” about which I feel and believe so strongly.

Finally, reading this book about Constantine and reflecting on the history which he shaped makes me want to continue DIRECTLY reading the Holy Scriptures of God’s Word, and continuing to seek the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit as I seek to know Him and understand the calling of His Son, Jesus Christ, on my life. I am awed by the arc of history and by our fortunate place in it today in 2021. I want to continue seeking and finding God at work in our world, to join Him in His ongoing struggle to bring the good news of Jesus Christ, with healing and wholeness, to our suffering world filled with darkness and beset by so many devils.

May God use us to further his kingdom and bring His light into all the dark places of this world.

Responding to Possibilianism & Dr. David Eagleman: Knowing & Authority Beyond Science

As I’m continuing to teach and lead the class, “Curiosity and Questions: Jesus and Science” this year, I’m enjoying the YouTube recommendation engine (in moderation, of course) to help me discover other videos I can share and use in class as well as outside of class as ‘extra recommended media / videos.’ This morning YouTube helped me find Dr. David Eagleman’s (@davideagleman) 2016 presentation from PopTech, “GOD vs NO GOD – And the Winner Is?” It’s 20 minutes long. In the presentation, David makes some excellent observations about the awe and wonder with which we can (and perhaps should) regard our universe and our amazing human bodies, especially the human brain. He misses, however, some key perspectives about “knowing and authority beyond science,” however, and it is to those topics I want to turn in this post. Before going further, however, I recommend you watch his talk:

It’s good to be reminded of The Hubble Deep Field photograph, which is staggeringly beautiful and mind blowing in its implications for not only astronomy and science but also cosmology and faith. Created in 1995 as a composite image from a very small portion of the night sky using the Hubble Space Telescope, the Deep Field image powerfully conveys how vast our universe is, and how little we can literally glimpse of it from our position on earth on the outer rim of the Milky Way galaxy. It’s truly an awe-inspiring image that can be a catalyst for wonderful conversations about the origins of our universe and BIG questions of faith as well as science. How did we get here? Did God create all of this? How can we know about things like “Who created the universe” or “Why are we here?” “Are we alone in the vastness of space?” Science can encourage and provoke us to dive into these questions, but ultimately, there are a number of questions “modern science” (as we’ve learned to understand it the past 400 years of human history) can’t answer.

One of the lessons I’ve enjoyed sharing with my 5th and 6th grade students this year involves creating and sharing InfoPics. One of my 5th graders, Masha, commented to me last week how looking at images of the universe and our galaxy “makes her feel so small.” This is one of Masha’s InfoPics she shared on our class Seesaw blog. Her expressed sentiment is laden with cosmological and theological questions. It is to these questions as well I’d like to turn now.

In his video, ““GOD vs NO GOD – And the Winner Is?”, David Eagleman correctly points out the folly in dogmatically claiming that a creation story from any culture fully apprehends and describes the processes and observations of cosmology. Here are a few important elements he either omits or gets wrong in his talk about beliefs, science and the origins of our universe.

Creation Stories Were Not Crafted to Compete with a Scientific Worldview

David Eagleman conflates the Biblical creation story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden with the Kuba Kingdom’s Creation story in the Congo. and his connections elicit laughter from his audience. The paraphrase of his message here is, “How can any rational human in the 21st century actually subscribe to such a patently incomplete and false story of cosmology?” Eagleman fails to grasp, or at least communicate to his audience in this 2016 presentation, that the Jewish creation stories (because remember, there are two of them in Genesis) were not formulated and should not be interpreted today to be comprehensive texts summarizing all that is known and needs to be known about cosmology (the origins of the universe). The Bible as a whole, and the Pentateuch specifically, are not “books of science.” Portraying Biblical cosmology as a “fail” because we have learned so much observationally about our universe in the past 400 years risks misunderstanding the value and purpose of these stories and literature. For more on these perspectives, I commend “The Bible Project” videos to you and specifically the six minute video, “The Book of Genesis – Part 1 of 2.”

Not All Faith Derives from Predominant Culture

David Eagleman misses another extremely important point about faith and belief in this talk, when he tries to explain to his audience how we understand where religion comes from. Eagleman asserts that predominant cultures imbue faith and belief, and this cultural transfer of cosmological perspectives is understandable from an anthropological / scientific perspective but not valid from the viewpoint of scientific truth. Eagleman’s observation can be more accurately stated this way: MANY people DO adopt their beliefs and faith perspectives from their parents, family, and predominant community culture. HOWEVER, some people “break” with their family and culture, and take on beliefs which are different and even bear a huge physical cost. The testimony of our former pastor, Mateen Elass, who grew up as a Muslim in Saudi Arabia and eventually came to faith at Stanford University after traveling to India and studying Buddhism intensely is a case that comes to mind. The faith of C.S. Lewis, who documented his journey from atheism to Christianity as a follower of Jesus in his book, “Mere Christianity,” also provides a counterpoint to Eagleman’s assertions about the origins of faith. Francis Collins, the leader of the Human Genome Project and author of “The Language of God,” grew up an agnostic but came to faith in Jesus. Orthopedic surgeon Curt Gruel, who spoke to our class on September 15, 2019, has a similar story of “being a disciple of science” but through his lived experiences coming to know and follow Jesus Christ. A couple weeks ago we heard from a Christian missionary working in Iran about the ways God is revealing himself to Muslims through visions and dreams today. Here’s the point Eagleman misses, and it’s very important when we discuss faith and cosmology. Not all faith and beliefs about God derive from a predominant culture / environmental pressures.

https://twitter.com/PocketShare/status/1179550552985878528

We Have Sources of “Knowing” Outside of Science

Another vital point which David Eagleman missed in his 2016 talk is the idea that as human beings, we have sources of “knowing” outside of science. Certainly science has tremendous value to us as a systematic way to not only understand our world but also creatively project our own ideas into it. Engineering is the application of scientific principles to design and build structures as well as solve problems. Your reading of this blog post right now is the result of technological innovation built on scientific principles and understanding. Yet the replicability of experimental conditions in a controlled setting / laboratory only provides PART of the ways we know and understand reality as human beings. Our ‘lived experiences’ can inform us and also reveal to us fundamental truths about our world, ultimate reality, and God. My own journey of faith, which included a dramatic ‘near death experience’ in undergraduate pilot training in the US Air Force, is a part of my own story and powerfully shaped my acknowledgement of and understanding of God’s reality in our world. Curt Gruel shared a similar “journey of faith” story with our Sunday School class in September. These experiences are not scientifically replicable in a lab setting where variables are tightly controlled. They are still, however, valid “ways of knowing” and point to the importance of understanding that “scientific knowledge is not the only type of knowledge which exists or points us to truth.”

Our Faith in God and Jesus is More than a “God of the Gaps” Understanding

One of the important points author and scientist Francis Collins makes in Chapter 4 of his book, “The Language of God,” is that Christian faith or any other faith in God as the creator of the universe should not hinge on a “God of the Gaps” understanding. In other words, we certainly DO regard the universe with awe. Our world IS still filled with mysteries which we do not understand, to the extent that we don’t have comprehensive or even “good” insights into the processes which define and explain phenomena we observe.

I’m not sure if there is a more generally acknowledged term for this, but it seems this dynamic throughout history has gone like this: “The more things we can NAME scientifically, the less space we have in our minds for God, his active role in our lives and world, and even His very existence.” In other words, as “the gaps” in our understanding of our world and universe have started to “fill in” through scientific inquiry and discovery in the past 400 years, we’ve (naively) convinced ourselves that we no longer need God. That God is a human, psychological and cultural creation. As Nietzsche said, “God is dead.” The Enlightenment and the scientific revolution which followed it have provided “science” as a replacement for religion and faith.

Thankfully, the God of our universe is not dead, and our perception of Him, our understanding of Him, and our faith in Him and his goodness need not hinge on a “God of the Gaps” understanding. Charles Darwin himself alluded to this in his concluding sentences in “The Origin of the Species,” when he observed:


“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved.”

Charles Darwin, concluding The Origin of Species, as quoted by Francis Collins in “The Language of God,” pp. 98-99.

In his 2016 PopTech talk about God and science, David Eagleman omits this important perspective that acknowledgement and understanding of, and faith in God, can be compatible with the rhetorical answer to scientific questions, “I don’t know.” One does not have to be a “Possibilianism,” to have and regularly express this kind of humility in the face of the universe’s mysteries. One can, in fact, be a Christian and follower of Jesus. Humility and acknowledging our inability to ever fully apprehend the fullness of God’s reality is, in fact, an essential in the Christian life.

‘He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. ‘

Micah 6:8 https://my.bible.com/bible/111/MIC.6.8

Scientific Uncertainties and Discoveries Need Not Threaten Our Faith in God

Finally and importantly, David Eagleman omits the idea in his talk that scientific uncertainties and discoveries need not threaten our faith in God. This perspective was summarized well by Saint Augustine, who lived from 354 to 430 AD. He wrote:

“In matters that are so obscure and far beyond our vision, we find in Holy Scripture passages which can be interpreted in very different ways without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such cases, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on the one side that, if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we to fall with it. “

Saint Augustine, “The Literal Meaning of Genesis,” translated and annotated by John Hammond Taylor. Quoted by Francis Collins in “The Language of God,” page 83.

As David Eagleman encourages us in this 2016 video, we can and SHOULD be in awe of our universe and the mysteries it holds. We need not abandon faith and our belief in God, however, because we realize religious texts and Biblical stories fail to fully capture scientifically understood observations of and theories about our cosmology.

For more thoughts and resources related to these topics, I encourage you to check out the public website for our Sunday School class, “Curiosity and Questions: Faith and Science.” If you have feedback about this post or that site, you can leave a comment for me below, reach out on Twitter to @wfryer or @pocketshare, or use my online contact form.

Thinking about Christian bumper stickers

So this is an unusual find this weekend. One of Alexander’s roommates shared this with me. You can ask for 10 random “Christian” bumper stickers from the website below, or select 10 that you want for free. I definitely do NOT agree with all the messages included in their bumper sticker menu, but I DO agree with many of them. In most cases, these short messages encourage some worthwhile, critical thinking. Some reference Bible verses, most do not.

As an example of a bumper sticker message with which I disagree: We don’t simply need to require / mandate prayer in public schools to remove all ills, like drug abuse or premarital sex from teen and adult culture. I happen to work at a school that mandates chapel for all students, and I can tell you this is not received well by many of the students. At some point I will write a blog post reflecting on mandatory chapel. I am definitely a fan, and I love having chapel services at our school, but it is recklessly naïve for people to think we simply need to mandate prayer and Bible reading in schools and this will heal all of our society’s ills like a magic wand. God has the power to heal any of us at any time, but the mechanism of his healing for our culture is not via a mandated school Bible curriculum in public or private schools. If you’re a little fuzzy on historic problems with mandated religion, refer to the English Wikipedia article for the “European Wars of Religion:”

It is true bumper stickers on our cars can provide an opportunity to encourage people to think about questions of faith, morality and propriety. I don’t think putting a bumper sticker on your car is going to realistically lead to immediate, life changing decisions for people to turn their lives over to God and reject evil, but it’s worth considering whether or not this is something you want to do. Check it out: www.christianbumpersticker.org

I think a more random selection of these bumper stickers could be used as a catalyst for excellent conversations in a Sunday school class, about our beliefs and the ways in which we are called to advocate for and work for God‘s kingdom on earth.

The Gospel Encounter of the Apostle Paul (Part 1)

Last week in our “Gospel Encounters” adult Sunday School class on February 3, 2019, we started a multi-part study on transformative experiences of the Apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus. These were the notes I took during our class discussion:

We started by using the KWL strategy about Paul’s life and conversion: What do we KNOW, what do we WANT to know, and what have we LEARNED?

Some of the things class members shared that they know about Paul, his life and his conversion to become a follower of Jesus were:

  1. Saul was a persecutor of the early Christian church
  2. Saul was highly schooled (reminded us of Pastor Mateen Elass)
  3. He was “a Pharisee’s Pharisee” (someone who ardently followed all the directives and prescriptions of Jewish law)
  4. He was born a Roman citizen
  5. He was zealous
  6. Paul wrote most of the letters included in the New Testament
  7. Paul had important arguments with the Apostle Peter, over the historic requirements of Jews to follow dietary restrictions and men to submit to circumcision
  8. Paul went on several important missionary journeys
  9. Saul was a tent maker by trade
  10. God annointed Paul as His missionary to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the Gentiles (non-Jews)
  11. Paul’s letter to the Galatians addresses the toxic organizational structure of that early church, and includes his teachings on how to properly handle church leadership and organization

Things we WANT to know include:

  1. Where was/is Tarsus? (a historic city in south-central Turkey)
  2. How did a person become a Roman citizen?

We read the 9th chapter of the Book of Acts from the New International Version, which is the first of three accounts of Paul’s conversion which are included in Acts. (The others are in Acts 22 and Acts 26.) After reading this chapter, we watched the 5.5 minute video, “The Road to Damascus – Saul Takes his Journey.” Since this video was published by the Mormon Church, I shared the same disclaimer I have before when sharing Mormon videos: Some of the videos shared by the LDS church (like this one) are outstanding, but my use of them in teaching does NOT constitute an endorsement or recommendation of LDS theology.

After watching the video, we discussed in small groups and then shared together things which stood out for us, after reading Acts 9 and watching this video. Some of the standouts were:

  1. Paul’s conversion experience was VERY dramatic
  2. The events detailed in scripture and depicted in the video required obedience on the part of both Paul and Ananias.
  3. The video did a good job portraying the tenderness of Paul after his conversion experience, it’s both understandable and reasonable that he was extremely humbled by this experience on the road to Damascus.
  4. In his communication to Ananias, God reveals his plan for Paul to be his missionary to the Gentiles, bring them the Gospel of Jesus Christ
  5. Paul’s response to his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus included baptism, an act in which his old identity (Saul) was washed away and he was reborn into his new identity (Paul)

This coming Sunday (tomorrow) we’ll continue our study of Paul, his conversion experience, and the lessons we can glean from this powerful Gospel encounter with Jesus Christ!

Biblical Interpretation and the Role of Women

For our “Gospel Encounters” adult Sunday School class on January 27, 2019, Pastor Dave Moore led us in a verse packed overview of Biblical Interpretation and specifically a deep dive into the roles of women in the church and society, as highlighted primarily in the New Testament. These are the whiteboard notes and Bible verses from which Dave taught:

A friend of mine on Facebook had asked me some excellent questions regarding the role of women, and specifically some of the verses from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians this past January. After seeking direction and counsel from both our lead pastor (Eric Laverentz@ericlav) as well as Dave, I recorded and shared a 10.5 minute video for him of my best understanding of these passages and the overall perspectives of Christians on the roles of women in the church.

Women have and continue to play extremely important roles of leadership, service, teaching, and prophesy in the Christian church. If you are seeking answers yourself to questions about this topic, I hope this video and the verses Dave Moore shared with our Sunday School class are helpful and instructive to you.

‘“ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. ‘

Acts 2:17-18 (NIV)

Gospel Encounter: The Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-35)

Tomorrow in our adult Sunday School class, “Gospel Encounters,” we will be reading and discussing The Last Supper as recounted in the 26th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in verses 17-35. These are the slides we’ll use during our lesson. Please feel free to use them and any of the ideas/resources which are included for your own Christian teaching and learning. (My slides are licensed CC-BY. Linked video content, however, is shared by others under varying license terms.)

After reading this scripture together, we will watch this six minute depiction of the Last Supper with Jesus and his disciples, focusing specifically on what Jesus SAID and DID during this time.

If we have time, we may watch The Lumos Project’s video about Matthew 26:1-35. (It’s free to watch from the previous link, but not embeddable or readily downloadable.) In the Lumos Project version, a narrator reads the words of the scripture while actors re-enact the scenes. Both are powerful and valuable for better understanding this pivotal episode in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I’m choosing to share the LDS website version (the video embedded above) because it is a more detailed and theatrical presentation, which seems to provide a more immersive peek into the world and life of Christ. (As noted in my slides, the use of this LDS video should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the Mormon Church or LDS beliefs.)

I plan to focus some of our discussion on both the Old Testament and New Testament contexts for “atonement,” and will show The Bible Project’s excellent six minute video, “Sacrifice and Atonement.” Note a freely downloadable version of this video is available on their project website, which does not include the request for project donations included in the YouTube version.

If you live in Edmond, Oklahoma, or the Oklahoma City area and are able, please visit our church (First Presbyterian of Edmond) and consider attending our Sunday School class! You can check out past lessons as well as our upcoming schedule, continuing our focus on “Gospel Encounters” both historical and contemporary, by visiting pocketshare.speedofcreativity.org/ge/.

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