Theology for the Masses

When was the last time you describe your relationship with God as a "personal" one?

A recent article I read last week pointed out that when it comes to a personal relationship with Jesus:

As far as the Bible is concerned, this doctrine is simply made up by evangelical Christian theologians.

The article seems to be a response to something Rick Warren wrote.  The author then goes on to debunk the doctrine by quoting some Bible verses (I don’t know if the author is quoting Rick Warren or making his own apologia).  In any case,  the verses used are totally not something I would have thought of using and I don’t know how one would use them to defend the idea of a personal relationship with God. 

John 15: 1-13 | John 10:1-16 | Revelation 3:20 | Revelation 19: 7-9 | Revelation 19: 17-21

With that said, I thought it was worth a discussion here at MassTheo. 

If you believe in a personal relationship with God, how do you define it?  What Bible verses would you use to back up this doctrine or teaching?

p.s. the original article is from an atheist site so I don’t want to link to it from here unless you want me to. 

1. December 25th is not Jesus’ birthday
2. January 6th is also not Jesus’ birthday
3. The Bible doesn’t tell us how many magi/wisemen visited Jesus
4. Christmas was created to cancel out the pagan holiday – Saturnilia
5. 125 AD, is the first recorded mention of a celebration of Jesus’ birth and it comes from a note from, Telesphorus, the 2nd bishop of Rome declaring that church services should be held to memorialize the nativity of Jesus (Collins, 12)
6. 320 AD is the year when Pope Julius I chose December 25th as the official day to celebrate Jesus’ birthday (Ibid, 13)
7. 325 AD is when Constantine made December 25th the official day for Christmas (ib., 13)
8. Clement Carke’s A visit from St. Nicholas (1822 AD), also known as, The Night Before Christmas, and Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol (1843 AD) gave us our modern day Christmas celebration (ib., 100).
9. Writing “Xmas” instead of Christmas is orthodox.
10. The virgin birth is true.
11. Jesus is the reason for the season
12. Love one another and they will know we’re his disciples

If you know other historical facts, leave us a comment.

Resources
Stand To Reason Podcast. Greg Koukl. The Origins of Christmas. December 9 2007.

Collins, Ace. Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas

I have been following the story of the unidentified Saudi woman who was raped, and later sentenced to 200 lashes and six months in jail. She wasn’t punished for the rape. She was punished for breaking segregation laws which prohibited her from being alone with a male who wasn’t her husband or relative (read her story).

This story got me thinking about the PR statement that is tossed around in the media: Islam is the most women friendly religion in the world.

Really? Do people reach this conclusion by reading the Quran? Or do they reach it by looking at Saudi Arabia, Iran, or other Muslim countries?

Consider this list:

• Women in Saudi Arabia cannot vote
• Women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive
• The Koran allots daughters half the inheritance of sons
• Under Shari’a, or Muslim law, compensation for the murder of a woman is half the going rate for men.
• The Quran condones domestic violence against women(Sura 4:34). In fact, Prof. Jim Arlandson suggests that “[d]omestic violence sits at the heart of Islam, not at its periphery.”
• The Koran instructs women to “guard their modesty,” not to “display their beauty and ornaments” and to “draw their veils.” Is this freedom?
• In most Muslim countries tradition keeps ordinary women at home and off the street.

Now, a sensible Muslim person would question this list. Of course, she would tell us, Islam doesn’t teach any of this. These are corruptions of the Quran.

If this is so, I invite this person to write an open later to the Saudi government and all Muslim people pointing out the errors and listing the Suras that contradict this list. Wouldn’t you like to read such a list?

Finally since this post is biased, I encourage you to do the research on your own.

Resources:

1. Arlandson, James. Domestic violence in the Quran. February 14, 2005.
2. Beyer, Lisa. The Women of Islam. November 25, 2001.

Cross-blogged at theChristianAlert.org

One of my recent purchases from iTunes was How great is our God by Chris Tomlin. The song has a great little melody and simple lyrics but the end product is an addictive anthem.

The song is one of my favorites because it projects the truth of our days. People are confused. They are lonely. They are tired. They want meaning. They want better lives. They want happiness. They really want assurance of the things not seen. Yet, they reject the good news of Jesus. They mock him. They cheapen his gospel. They ridicule him in their arts, their comedies, and their books.

Yet – how great is our God that – in the midst of all this hatred – that he still abides by his promise – that no one should perish.

Consider this YouTube video in which a Jesus character is paraded on Hollywood Boulevard. Should we laugh along? Should we boycott? Or should we sing together: How Great is Our God?

[youtube:http://youtube.com/watch?v=WLKk00OYKhU]