Category Archives: Hermeneutics

How to Argue Like a Christian: Judging Motives

To combat the divisions within the Churches of Christ, our first and most important task is to press for a change in the tone of the conversation among the factions. Things have gotten so emotional that all sides are increasingly … Continue reading

Posted in How to Argue Like a Christian, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

How to Argue Like a Christian: Labels

(Psalm 19:14) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Words matter. Words can bless and words can curse. Ananias and Sapphira were struck … Continue reading

Posted in How to Argue Like a Christian, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

How to Argue Like a Christian: Introduction

Well, it’s time to get back to my normal, left-brained, analytical self. It’s been interesting delving into the creative, artistic, musical side of life, but at last it’s time to talk logic and reasoning. (But not for too long). There … Continue reading

Posted in How to Argue Like a Christian, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

The Blue Parakeet: Naive Approaches

McKnight suggests that different people take different approaches to taming parakeets. Retrieval Some churches read the Bible to retrieve everything that was practiced in the First Century. If the early Christians met in homes, we should do the same. If … Continue reading

Posted in Blue Parakeet, The Blue Parakeet, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

The Blue Parakeet: How We Read the Bible

Good morning. Well, the Ray Vander Laan series is over for now. And I know you’d rather hear him than me! I would, too. But we’ve decide to take a break and continue the series in the fall. (We were … Continue reading

Posted in Blue Parakeet, The Blue Parakeet, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The Blue Parakeet: Introduction for Teachers

Not long ago at all, I posted a series of articles on Scot McKnight’s book The Blue Parakeet, dealing with hermeneutics. We’re now starting a series of lessons at my church on the same material, and so I’ll be posting … Continue reading

Posted in Blue Parakeet, The Blue Parakeet, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Hermeneutics and Blue Parakeets: Further Reading; How to Teach Hermeneutics

It’s time to move on — because I’ve run out of book. But there is, of course, much more that could be said on hermeneutics. I’m going to repeat some things I’ve said in the comments to make sure no … Continue reading

Posted in Hermeneutics, Uncategorized | Tagged | Comments Off on Hermeneutics and Blue Parakeets: Further Reading; How to Teach Hermeneutics

Hermeneutics and Blue Parakeets: The Sermon on the Mount

While teaching a class on the Ray Vander Laan series, it occurred to me that the key to the Sermon on the Mount is the Story. It should have been obvious, but it takes a while for these things to … Continue reading

Posted in Hermeneutics, Uncategorized | Tagged | 2 Comments

Hermeneutics and Blue Parakeets: How Things Could Have Been Different, Part 2 (Division)

Surely the dominant characteristic of the 20th Century Churches of Christ was our propensity for splitting churches. A lot of good was done by the Churches in those days, with many missionaries sent, colleges founded, and such — but the … Continue reading

Posted in Hermeneutics, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

Hermeneutics and Blue Parakeets: How Things Could Have Been Different, Part 1 (Race)

As I’ve been pondering this approach to understanding the Bible, I’ve asked myself how the church’s history might have been different had this approach had greater prominence in our thinking. How might the Churches of Christ behaved differently in the … Continue reading

Posted in Hermeneutics, Uncategorized | Tagged | 9 Comments