Teaching Documents by Stephen Walley
Jesus said: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath".
The matter of material riches and poverty in scripture is more complicated than is often made out... more The matter of material riches and poverty in scripture is more complicated than is often made out. However, at the risk of gross over-simplification, the following statements (in italic script) can just about be justified.
If there is a God, is He able to predict the future? Or perhaps ‘predict’ is the wrong word to ap... more If there is a God, is He able to predict the future? Or perhaps ‘predict’ is the wrong word to apply to Him if time is a property only of the creation we live in and not of God Himself (Isaiah 57: 15)? If that is the case, then if He tells us something about our future, He would be communicating to us something He already knows as He is as much present there as he is here with us now.
Question: In what activity does the worship of God consist? To many this is an absurd question, f... more Question: In what activity does the worship of God consist? To many this is an absurd question, for we know what worship is: it is turning up at a sanctuary and partaking in religious activities. The type of religion carried out there may depend upon the personal preferences of the worshippers: some will prefer formal and majestic ceremonies, others emotional, even ecstatic, meetings. But God’s opinion is often not taken into account. Think about it: if we offer Him what He does not want and has not asked for, will He accept it from our hands? But that begs the question: has God told us what He wants from us in the way of worship? The answer the Bible gives may be surprising to many: God Himself is portrayed in many places in scripture as being more critical of religion than any atheist.
The most famous use outside the Bible of the Greek word stoicheia (often translated into English ... more The most famous use outside the Bible of the Greek word stoicheia (often translated into English as ‘elements’) is in the title of Euclid’s ‘Elements of Geometry’ (4th-3rd centuries BC). It does not occur (as far as I have been able to ascertain) in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, although it does occur in the Intertestamental literature (Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha) in Wisdom, 2 Maccabees and 4 Maccabees. The word is also used for the classical Greek elements (earth, air, fire, water).
Many people who have read the Gospels are puzzled as to what possible connection there can be bet... more Many people who have read the Gospels are puzzled as to what possible connection there can be between what they read there and what happens Sunday by Sunday at their local church or chapel. The concerns and priorities of the people who gather there Sunday by Sunday seem so different to those of Jesus and His Apostles. They gather to sing hymns to Jesus Christ but seem little inclined to obey Him.
So what, if any, relationship is there between what churches typically do on Sundays and the teaching of Jesus and His Apostles? On the face of it, not very much.
Many people who have read the Gospels are puzzled by what connection there can possibly be betwee... more Many people who have read the Gospels are puzzled by what connection there can possibly be between what they read there and what happens Sunday by Sunday at the church down the street. The concerns and priorities of the people who gather there seem so different to those of Jesus and His apostles. They seem willing to gather to sing hymns to Jesus Christ but often there seems to be very little attempt to obey Him. Yet what alternative is there? People don’t want to become religious eccentrics like those Bible bashing zealots at the mission chapel over the hill who button-hole you at every possibility with the cry, “Are you saved?” No, they don’t want to end up like that, living only for religion and peppering their talk with quotes in quaint 17th century English. We can hardly blame folk for saying, “A plague on both your houses” and pursuing other interests and hobbies at the weekend. “Jesus yes, church no” is a very widespread attitude.
Some notes about the attitude of the New Testament writers about the prophecy of Isaiah
Some notes on the attitude of the New Testament writers about the Biblical Book named Isaiah
The aims of this document are to see what the scriptures say about the person and work of the Hol... more The aims of this document are to see what the scriptures say about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
If the gospel is true, how should churches function?
Romans 3: 2b, …the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Romans 15: 4, For whatever was wr... more Romans 3: 2b, …the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. Romans 15: 4, For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Luke 24: 27, And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Matthew 24: 15-16, So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
The aims of this document is to see what the scriptures say about the person and work of the Holy... more The aims of this document is to see what the scriptures say about the person and work of the Holy Spirit. As you can see, there is a great deal of material! I have tried to summarise a few key ideas.
There is a Creator God who has graciously revealed Himself to humankind, speaking to us “in many ... more There is a Creator God who has graciously revealed Himself to humankind, speaking to us “in many and various ways... through the prophets. In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he created the world.” (Hebrews 1: 1,2). We cannot come to a personal or saving knowledge of God from natural experience or ‘General Revelation’. On the question of God’s character and purposes, Special Revelation is absolutely necessary, and that without it there is only speculation
Book Reviews by Stephen Walley
A review of “The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism” by Ronald L. Numbers, pub... more A review of “The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism” by Ronald L. Numbers, publ. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, 1992, pp xvii + 458 (including 88 pages of notes and an index
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Teaching Documents by Stephen Walley
So what, if any, relationship is there between what churches typically do on Sundays and the teaching of Jesus and His Apostles? On the face of it, not very much.
Book Reviews by Stephen Walley
So what, if any, relationship is there between what churches typically do on Sundays and the teaching of Jesus and His Apostles? On the face of it, not very much.
The puritans have left a bad taste in the mouth in English culture: the epithet ‘puritanical’ has only negative connotations. There is nothing new in this. Richard Baxter, one of the ‘heroes’ of this book complained that in his youth his family was “the common scorn of all the rabble in the streets and called Puritans, Precisians, Hypocrites, because we rather chose to read the Scriptures than to do as they did.” Thus from the beginning the term ‘Puritan’ was one of abuse.
If you grew up in western Europe, you would imagine the great division in the Church was between protestants and catholics. If you grew up in eastern Europe, you would know it was between the catholics and the orthodox. But as this book points out, there is a much older, deeper and more bitter divide: that between those who believe that Jesus has one nature and those who hold that He has two. This book is about how this older divide came about. And a less edifying story it is hard to imagine.