tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post2514240465159355901..comments2009-04-17T10:55:44.549-07:00Comments on The Crucible: "We don't offer a system"Aaron Snellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08551668915973379312noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-42697345238126695422007-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:002007-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00I'd respond by asking the following: Just offer th...I'd respond by asking the following: <BR/><BR/>Just offer them Jesus? Who's Jesus, what did He do, and why offer Him? <BR/>. . . <BR/>Where's that information coming from? <BR/>. . . <BR/>Oh, the Bible? How do you know that's accurate or any better than the Qu'ran? Why not just offer people Muhammad, Buddha, or Joseph Smith?Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11853366401521123552noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-19172892861542803682007-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:002007-08-10T17:03:00.000-07:00Amen!Amen!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342391408412861663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-59267241731054160542007-08-05T15:35:00.000-07:002007-08-05T15:35:00.000-07:00Maybe a good way to say it, Matt, would be that we...Maybe a good way to say it, Matt, would be that we <I>do</I> offer arguments and a system, but we do not offer <I>merely</I> those, nor are they bare and empty things. They are always and everywhere anchored to the person of Jesus Christ, who is alive and at work through our arguments and is the reality that gives the system its structure.Aaron Snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08551668915973379312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-67158584572181495752007-08-02T11:42:00.000-07:002007-08-02T11:42:00.000-07:00Clearly we do offer arguments and a system. But w...Clearly we do offer arguments and a system. But we don't rely on them, because "Jesus is good enough". As you say, Jeff, it comes across as not quite fully thought throughAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342391408412861663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-69018531599583350382007-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:002007-08-02T10:35:00.000-07:00Thanks, Jeff. Athanasius is a great example. I w...Thanks, Jeff. Athanasius is a great example. I wonder if McKnight would clarify his comment by saying that offering arguments and superior systems, while done by the church (it would be ludicrous to say that we aren't and haven't been doing this for millenia), is really beside the main point of offering the person of Jesus. I think I'd still have a beef with this, particularly in light of 2 Corinthians 10:5 - <BR/><BR/><I>We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ</I><BR/><BR/>Now tell me Paul isn't saying the nature of our warefare doesn't require offering arguments and a better system? It is the <B>world</B> system, the empty deception and philosophy according to men rather than Christ, that we are to combat (Colossians 2:8). THAT'S spiritual warefare in a Pauline sense - and notice that we are to combat it with the truth of another system, another philosophy - one "according to Christ."Aaron Snellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08551668915973379312noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2545318833391348896.post-6171100878410562122007-08-02T00:47:00.000-07:002007-08-02T00:47:00.000-07:00Aaron:McKnight's comment is curious ... perhaps he...Aaron:<BR/><BR/>McKnight's comment is curious ... perhaps he made it without thinking through its implications.<BR/><BR/>Yes, we offer the Person of Christ as the only way, truth and life. But to say we don't offer arguments for the truth about that Person is quite bizarre and historically ignorant. Can you imagine saying that to Athanasius who passionately argued - at the risk of his life - for the deity of Christ at the Council of Nicea?<BR/><BR/>Good stuff ... thanks for posting.<BR/><BR/>JeffAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com