Session 4: Knowing God – The Doctrine of Inspiration

What do you understand by the word “inspiration”?
Is it merely a motivation like one would have after a great athlete had given an inspirational speech? Is it what you feel when you hear an encouraging tale of how someone overcame cancer? Or is it more than that?
In order to fully understand inspiration, we first need to fully understand some key words that are often associated with the subject.

Session 3: Knowing God through Special Revelation

Since General Revelation refers to the knowledge of God that is available to all mankind, it suggests then that all man has some form of knowledge of God based on either creation, history or the conscience, special revelation refers to those acts of God whereby He reveals Himself and His will directly to specific people.
Why was this special revelation necessary? The answer lies simply in the fact that man has lost the relationship with God that existed before the fall. Knowledge of God therefore has to be learned in a more fuller, direct way, and had to go beyond the initial or general revelation that is all around.
This is seen in five key areas:

1. Personal Experience
2. Miracles
3. Prophecy
4. Christ
5. Scripture

Session 2: Knowing God through General Revelation

How can one truly know God? How does He reveal Himself to man?

There are two basic classifications of revelation. Firstly there is what is known as General Revelation. This is God communicating about Himself to all people at all times and in all places.

Then there is Special Revelation. This involves God's particular communication and manifestations of Himself to particular people, at particular times. These revelations are only available to us today through particular sacred writings.

Session 1: Studying God

Purpose
So often people's theology is a combination of things that have been heard from the pulpit, seen on TV, and read in books. Often things are taken for granted in theology that have been handed down through tradition, denomination, and time, that are not always Biblically correct. Instead of being like the Bereans who tested everything (Acts 17:11), even the words of Paul, many people are like sponges who just absorb anything and everything thrown at them.
The purpose of BT101 is to facilitate discussion so that we can formulate a Biblical Theology of Christianity. It is not coming from any particular denominational stance, nor is its purpose to show errors in different denominations. Instead we are approaching the topics from a Biblical viewpoint, discussing and dissecting Scripture so that we will always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have to anyone who asks (1 Peter 3:15)

Before one embarks on a theological journey for the first time, one needs to be sure that they understand the basics of theology right at the beginning.

The Shack & Its New Age Leaven

Being an owner of a Christian bookshop I am constantly coming across books being introduced into the Christian market that are actually New Age and have absolutely nothing to do with true Christianity. One such book is The Shack written by William P. Young.
I tried a couple of times to read this book, but as of yet have not been able to finish it. Apart from its lack of action, drama and intrigue, this book is so theologically perverse that I am not ever going to try again. Needless to say that I will not be stocking this book in our shop.
I came across the following review of the book on the Herescope website and found it to be so well put that I thought I would post it here.

The Jesus Driven Life

The biggest questions of all time certainly have to be, “Why am I here” or “What is my purpose in life?” On the surface, they do not seem like such bad questions, after all, the Bible does tell us that God has a plan for everyone's life (e.g. Jeremiah 29:11). But what is our purpose? Through this topic I am going to uncover what, or rather, who is meant to be driving our lives.

An Old Fashioned Doctrine

Would Jesus Oppose the Death Penalty?

One of the most contentious issues facing us today is that of the death penalty. There are many theologians that fight their point vehemently on both sides of the argument. I remember while in Bible College there were people on both sides of the fence and no resolution was ever reached. For many years I sat on the fence with the whole issue, but having worked through the whole issue of the law and its application today, I have come to a final decision. So in this final instalment of the role of the law, we are going to look at the issue and hopefully end off with a proper position on the subject. Some of you may be surprised with the outcome.

The Law As the Schoolmaster

Dispensationalists who teach that Old Testament law has been completely cancelled out by Christ, quote Galatians 3:23-25 as proof for their claim: "Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law." (The last phrase in the New King James Version translates as "we are no longer under a tutor.")
In order to fully understand this passage we need to answer two questions.

1. What does Paul mean by the term "law"? and
2. What does he mean when he says "we are no longer under a tutor"?

Sanctification and the Law

Before we go any further in discussing the role of the Law, let us proceed to look at the issue of sanctification. “Why?” you may ask. Quite simply, because the issues of justification and sanctification cannot be separated from each other and need to be fully understood together. But before I can explain the connection properly, we first need to look at what the word sanctification means.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism defines sanctification as “the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” In justification, once the sinner believes in Jesus, he/she is declared righteous before God purely on Jesus Christ's sacrificial death on the cross. The guilt of sin is removed and the sinner is clothed in the righteousness of Christ. At this point, the the lifelong process of sanctification immediately begins. This process is described by the theologian, Louis Berkhof as “that gracious and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He delivers the justified sinner from the pollution of sin, renews his whole nature in the image of God, and enables him to perform good works.”