Category: New Testament Theology

N.T. Wright-Scot McKnight-Matthew Bates New Perspective on Faith and Salvation

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Debates about justification and New Perspective on Paul (NPP) seemed to have quietened down for a while, but recently the debates have received new impetus with the publication of three books by Matthew Bates – Salvation by Allegiance Alone, [SAA] Gospel Allegiance [GA] and Beyond the Salvation Wars [BSW]. It is undeniable that the teachings of the NPP (represented by N.T. Wright-Scot McKnight-Matthew Bates) are in conflict with the doctrine of justification and salvation taught in the historic Confessions of the Reformation. However, Bates writes, “Yet the creeds are not good stand-alone teaching tools about the gospel without an intervening reframing. The biblical and apostolic gospel relentlessly emphasizes Jesus’s messianic kingship—and this is muted in the creeds. Furthermore, creeds are doctrinal statements that invite intellectual affirmation – belief – more than allegiance.” [BSW54] Apparently, Bates seeks to intervene, reframe (and revise) the historic Reformation teaching of salvation based on his new perspective on faith and salvation, that is, salvation is by allegiance to Christ the king. Continue reading “N.T. Wright-Scot McKnight-Matthew Bates New Perspective on Faith and Salvation”

Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR Part 10

Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR Part 10

Question. What is the nature of appearances of the risen Jesus and the nature of his resurrected body?

A. Nature of the Appearances
The initiative in the resurrection appearances always rested with Jesus.
They occurred to several individuals. Some appearances were to a single person; one was to a group of five hundred. They are reported to have taken place during a very specific period of forty days.

Ophthe, which means “he appeared.” This term probably implies seeing something which was objectively present outside the mind of the observer. Phaneroo, “reveal,” as in John 21:1, “Jesus revealed himself”; Harao, in its aorist passive form ophthe – permitted to become visible (Acts 1:3a), (“God permitted him) to become visible” (Acts 10:40).

The writers of the Gospels and Paul agree that Jesus appeared in bodily form. But Jesus’ body is no longer bound by space & time. Finally, there was a continuity between Christ’s body before the resurrection and his mode of existence after the resurrection.

B. Nature of Christ’s Resurrection Body
His body made impressions on physical senses.
Jesus’ body is no longer bound by material or spatial limitations. It has new powers diff. from his earlier, natural body. It belongs to a different order of reality. Jesus’ body is both materialistic and non-materialistic.

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Encounters With the Risen Christ and the Nature of His Resurrected Body. BADR 10