Category Archives: Index

Paul and the Faithfulness of God: Baptism and Justification

We’ve been considering N. T. Wright’s newly released Paul and the Faithfulness of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God) — a massive and masterful consideration of Paul’s theology. Wright briefly (by his standards) discusses the connection of justification with … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 8 (Rightly Dividing the Law of Moses)

So just what parts of the Law of Moses survive? Do we honor the Sabbath? The Sabbath as Sabbath or Sunday as Sabbath? I bring up the Sabbath because it’s a good example of just how muddy our thinking can … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 7 (The Jerusalem Council’s Decision)

In the last post, we considered the process by which the Jerusalem church’s leadership came up with an answer to the circumcision question: whether Gentiles must convert to Judaism to be saved. Peter and Paul both addressed the council, pointing … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 6 (How Much of the Law of Moses Continues?)

Oddly enough, one of the  toughest questions the early church had to wrestle with was to what extent the Law of Moses continued in effect after Pentecost. We like to imagine that the apostles or New Testament prophets were gifted … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 5 (Jesus an Old Testament Prophet?)

So now it’s time to talk about Jesus some more. You see, lately I keep seeing this odd teaching that because Jesus taught before Pentecost, he’s really an Old Testament prophet and so his words are not binding on Christians. … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 4 (Is the Law Hung on the Cross?)

One of the most commonly cited verses in Church of Christ theology is — (Col 2:13-14 ESV) 13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 3 (Hebrews)

The book of Hebrews, of course, addresses the superiority of Christianity to Judaism. This has led many to treat Judaism as repealed — as a mistake that God has now corrected. I suppose this attitude is the origin of the … Continue reading

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“Muscle and a Shovel”: In Reply to Paul McGinty

This is in reply to a comment from Paul McGinty, Paul, The reason I’ve written the books I’ve written and posted here, and the reason I set up this blog back in 2007, posting daily for 7 years, is my … Continue reading

Posted in Muscle & Shovel, by Michael Shank, Uncategorized | 39 Comments

From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 2 (Jesus)

We should next consider what Jesus says about the entry of the Gentiles into the Kingdom. The difficulty, of course, is that Jesus said quite a lot about the Kingdom, and we often disagree as to when he was speaking … Continue reading

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From the Comments: The Connection of the Church with Israel, Part 1A (Israel’s final fate)

Some of the readers have brought up the question of Israel’s final fate. I should have thought to cover the question, and am attempting to correct that oversight now. In Romans 9 – 11, Paul prays for and certainly hopes … Continue reading

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