Bits and Bobs...

Martin Downes hosts an interview with Carl Trueman here who has some important things to say about humility. The internet is a unique portal, where words can be seen by all and brought up long after they were issued. We had a quotation on our bathroom door back home that read 'Keep your words tender, for tomorrow you may have to eat them'. It's true; the bathroom quote page rarely lies.

HT: The Bish

Also, the latest press release from UCCF on the Word Alive issue can be found here.

The definite lack of original content on the blog in recent weeks has been due to the fact that revision is well underway for finals (finishing June 1st). However, I have posted two pics of my own handcrafted dinner-for-one from Saturday night. On the left we have leftovers of my homemade lemon ice-cream, and on the right we have a fish-finger, peas, and lettuce sandwich, with added mayo.

A Year Ago: At church we were looking at God's sovereignty and suffering; where the rubber hits the road and theology is shown to be truly practical.

Pancakes and 1 Peter

Pancake day! Pancakes with mince-and-onion-and-peas-and sweetcorn, and pancakes with lemon-and-sugar-and-genuine-canadian-maple-syrup. And parents too. Good times around the eateries of Durham, lastly at 10 George St for the best egg, flour, and milk can offer.

Elsewhere today:
Some Psalms essay prep on the use of the psalms in interpreting the passion of Jesus in the NT.
Some reading on the history of typology in Biblical interpretation for the dissertation.
And polishing off a report on sociological approaches to the household codes in 1 Peter.

My Dad asked us last night if we'd change our degree courses looking back at two and a half years of 'study'. I don't think I would exchange reading Theology for any other subject. It's hard to judge where Theology has indirectly affected my thinking, and even more so where it has shaped my living (and I would not want to be so ignorant as to say that there has never been any connection, especially a negative one, for the subtle hardening of the heart to God's word will affect one's life). Yet Scripture should always make sense. Not in a sensible worldy sense, but in a as-logical-as-the-cross-can-be sense.

I mean looking at these household codes in 1 Peter, the argument went that actually all they are is the writer using a standard form of writing (the household code) to get across the message that the Christian sect should assimilate to the pagan way of life to keep the pagans happy and to ease persecution. And it looked like a convincing line.

But actually, give the Scripture some space and it'll tell you what's really going on. 1 Peter isn't about assimilation at all - sure there are times when the Christian is to act in a way that could easily look like a pagan (general obedience to the governor), but at the same time there is a distinctness that is attached to the fact that the Christian community are living for a different value, a living hope.

The gospel calls people to live differently, and that's the same 1900 years ago. And you can see that as you sociologically, historically, psychologically pummel away at these documents. They make sense, because they're real. They happened. They're living proof that the gospel changes people and makes history, and they're changing people and making history today.

Keeping it brief

Yesterday I ate a bacon and honey sandwich. For lunch, 10GS enjoyed our first barbeque of the summer, with do-it-yourself Sangria. After SBR it was really cool to see Menaz again - it's been a while - I look forward to spending more time with the people I love as exams draw to a close.

Must work hard!