 Dr Jordan B Peterson @jordanbpeterson There is nothing Christian about #SocialJustice . Redemptive salvation is a matter of the individual soul.  Pope Francis @Pontifex 8:00 AM ∙ Mar 2, 2023 2,842Likes297Retweets On the topic of social justice, if I had to choose between the Pope and Jordan Peterson, I'm going to go with the Pope. Now, I do not believe in the "social gospel" of old liberalism from 19th/20th century Protestant theology. In old liberalism, the promise of the forgiveness of sins is replaced with the love of God and the brotherhood of man and the eschaton is collapsed into quasi-Marxism rather than working for and waiting for the new creation. Hard pass from me! That said, Jesus does have his own social gospel, in that the gospel includes Israel's liberation from exile, and the proof that Israel's exile is ending is that the Isaianic signs of restoration are happening: the blind see, the lame walk, the captives are freed, and good news is preached to the poor! Luke 4:14-30 narrates how Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth where he is invited to preach in the synagogue. Jesus stands up, reads from Isa 61:1-2, and then utters a nine-word sermon (in both Greek and English): "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus is then rebuffed by the audience as something of an upstart and he responds by quoting the proverbs of the sick physician and alluding to the stories of the widow of Zarephath (1 Kgs 17:1-24) and Naaman the Syrian (2 Kgs 5:1-14)—scandalous stories where an Israelite prophet heals Gentile outcasts. Jesus, therefore, warns his fellow Jews that if they reject God's messenger then God will extend his blessings to those outside the boundaries of Israel (Lk 4:16-30). This episode, called the "Nazareth Manifesto," illustrates how the gospel has a holistic vision of salvation. Jesus does not say: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me to bring good news to the affluent middle classes who want enough religion to make them feel secure with God, but nothing that is going to challenge their consumerist, therapeutic, individualist, and indulgent way of life." Rather, the biblical view of salvation means rescuing the poor, the oppressed, the blind, and the captive. If the gospel is to be good news, then it must have a good message for those on the margins of society, for those who know poverty, hunger, alienation, and shame. Accordingly, Luke's favourite words for salvation are aphesis and aphiēmi, which refer to the act of freeing people from their sins (Lk 1:77; 3:3; 5:20; 7:48; 11:4; 24:27; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 10:43; 13:38-39; 22:16; 26:18), infirmity (Lk 4:39), and debts (Lk 11:4). This perspective does not to reduce the gospel to a social gospel of the love of God and the brotherhood of man or to secular social justice projects with a light sprinkling of Bible verses. Rather, the biblical gospel is a justice-bringing, sin-forgiving, slavery-crushing, illness-healing, debt-remitting, low-status-reversing, sin-cleansing, outsider-including, and truthing-to-power gospel. That was Jesus's manifesto and it should be ours too! As the church goes forward in its mission it goes forth with the very same Nazareth Manifesto.
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Loved by God.
- UBF Gospel Musings
- Chicago, IL, United States
- * It's good to suffer loss, for it draws me to the Cross where God's loss is more than what anyone ever lost. * We cannot hear what the stories of the Bible are saying until we hear them as stories about ourselves. * Let go of control. * Trust God. Thank God. Think about God. Talk to God. Talk about God.
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
The Social Gospel of Jesus by Michael Bird
Date: Wed, Mar 29, 2023 To: <benjamintoh@gmail.com>
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
Acts Epistles Timeline and Maps
- Acts spans about 30 years.
- Paul's 3 journeys are about 12 years from about AD 46-58.
Timeline of Paul's Ministry. Over the course of his ministry, the Apostle Paul traveled > 10,000 miles and established at least 14 churches. Acts records 3 separate missionary journeys that took Paul through Syria, Turkey, Greece, and numerous regions you won't find on modern-day maps.
The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy, 2018
- Introduction: Prodigal Prophet. How can God be both merciful and just? Jonah wants a God of his own making, a God who smites the "bad" people [wicked Ninevites] and blesses the "good" people [Jonah and his people]. When the real God shows up, Jonah can't reconcile the mercy of God with his justice: How can God be merciful and forgiving to people who have done such violence and evil? Jonah points to the ultimate Jonah (Mt 12:41) who is both just and the justifier of those who believe (Rom 3:26). Only the gospel enables us to be neither cruel exploiters like the Ninevites nor Pharisaical believers like Jonah, but Spirit-changed, Christ-like people. The parallel of 2 stories:
- 1st half Jonah plays like the "prodigal son" (Lk 15:11-24) who ran away from his father;
- 2nd half he is like the "older brother" (Lk 15:25-32) who obeys his father but berates him for his graciousness to repentant sinners. His response to God's mercy shows that he still has a great deal of self-righteousness.
- In both cases he's trying to get control of the agenda.
Saturday, March 18, 2023
The Prayer of St. Patrick
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.
I arise today
Thursday, March 16, 2023
Set Apart and Sent Off (Acts 13)
"...the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off" (Ac 13:2-3).
- Are all Christians called and "set apart" to be "sent" to the nations in some fashion or another? Do you have a personal sense of being "set apart" and "sent" (Jn 15:16)?
Wednesday, March 15, 2023
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