Welcome to Thesis, the BibleMesh Blog

Owen Strachan | April 4, 2011 | BibleMesh

On behalf of the BibleMesh team, welcome to the new blog of BibleMesh. BibleMesh is the online discipleship tool designed to teach Scripture as a single, Christ-centered narrative and help people from all backgrounds grow in their knowledge of the Bible. We’re calling this blog Thesis.

We have started Thesis to help people understand that the Bible applies to all of life. The Bible is not merely a collection of dramatic stories and moral examples. While cinematic in its scope and deeply instructive in matters of piety, it is a message of salvation, a true story about a God who saves sinners and enables them to be “salt” and “light” in a decaying, darkened order (Matthew 5:13-16). This blog is our attempt to equip Christians to be just that: salt and light. We can best do so by helping you to think carefully and thoughtfully about our culture and society from a robustly Christian standpoint.

We will address a plethora of topics on this blog. We will look directly at scriptural passages and their application for our modern lives. We will peer into Church and world history and derive strength and wisdom from the past. We’ll range over a host of topics that draw our interest and require a word of insight, whether Enlightenment philosophy, bioethical practices, or the pleasure of reading. Fueling all of these forays is a restless curiosity about this strange and beautiful world God has made and a desire to think well about it. Among our regular contributors will be expert theologians and BibleMesh editors Mark Coppenger, Michael McClenahan, C. Ben Mitchell, and Greg Thornbury, in addition to other provocative and faithful voices.

We have already posted a number of entries to get you started, but please take note of our first series on the blog, one that tackles an issue that is at the center of our mission: Christian cultural engagement. In the blogs that follow, our editors address how Christians are to carry out this duty within crucial disciplines—ethics, philosophical theology, historical theology, and bioethics. This series, as with the content of this blog in general, will help stimulate your own reflection in these areas.

Enough telling. We’re glad you’re here. We trust that in reading you will have as much fun, and as much spiritual profit, as we have in writing.

–Owen Strachan for BibleMesh

Work as the Christian Calling—Paul Helm

BibleMesh | April 1, 2011 | Scripture, Worldview

Paul Helm teaches theology and philosophy at Regent College, Vancouver, following his retirement as professor of the history and philosophy of religion at Religion at King’s College, London. In his writing on the scriptural teaching about “calling,” he underlines the significance of human labor for Christians. Daily employment is not “just a job;” it is rather a calling from God to serve Him in the world. Moreover, the Christian is to take pleasure in his work, just as the Creator God delights in all that He has made. Continue reading →

No Mere Legal Code: The Harshness of Shari‘a Law

BibleMesh | March 30, 2011 | Current Events, Theology, World Religions, Worldview

Today, the expression, “shari‘a” – as in “shari‘a law” and “shari‘a finance” – is heard with increasing frequency. It is important to get clear on just what shari‘a is, particularly since some Muslims wish to bring it to prominence and even dominance around the world.

The great Western scholar of Islamic law, Joseph Schacht, once described the shari‘a as “the core and kernel of Islam itself.” The concept appears obliquely in the Qur’an at verse 45:18: “Then We put thee on the (right) Way of Religion [shari‘a]: so follow thou that (Way), and follow not the desires of those who know not.” This passage underpins the common Muslim claim that shari‘a law is divinely sourced, fixed and immutable, a gift to humanity from Allah, designed to show Muslims how to live and govern correctly. Continue reading →

You Know Not What You Doubt: Bavinck on the Bible

BibleMesh | March 28, 2011 | Scripture

Herman Bavinck’s nineteenth-century Reformed Dogmatics is solidly biblical and confessional. He faces the difficult questions and seeks answers in line with the teaching of Scripture and the godly tradition of the church. In this discussion of biblical authority, he takes a step back and reflects on why it is that men critique and question the Bible. It is salutary to note that the cause is not primarily academic or scholarly—it is moral. At the heart of every objection to the gospel is the sinful will, a fact that should be remembered by those who are engaged in counseling and apologetics. Continue reading →

Sayers: Theology is Thrilling (The Dogma Is the Drama!)

BibleMesh | March 25, 2011 | Philosophy, Theology, Worldview

Dorothy L. Sayers was a well-known British author, playwright, and scholar. Graduating from Oxford University in 1915, she was among one of the first groups of women to achieve this distinction. Sayers had a knack for unmasking misperceptions of the faith. In her day, efforts to redefine Christian practice and teachings were fueled by an apparent boredom with presentation of doctrine. In her Letters to a Diminished Church: Passionate Arguments for the Relevance of Christian Doctrine, she countered this mentality, critiquing the appalling apathy and biblical ignorance of those who called themselves “Christian.” Sadly, though, times have not much changed and her words are as pointed as ever. Continue reading →

More than Knickers and Goatees: Toward Understanding Our World

BibleMesh | March 23, 2011 | Worldview

Francis Schaeffer, twentieth-century pastor, theologian, and author, is best known for founding the L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland in 1955. His many books and lectures sought to educate Christian leaders toward a creation-affirming and culture-challenging message. In this excerpt, taken from his book The God Who Is There, Schaeffer speaks to a fundamental problem in the modern Church—the lack of understanding of the world in which it lives. Continue reading →