Theological Ethics: A Mustard Seed Approach

"God is light, and in Him is no un-Christlikeness"--Graham Cole

Take a few of Paul's commands to the church in Rome: "Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good" (12:9); "Do not repay anyone evil for evil; respect what is right in the sight of all men.  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men" (12:17-18).

Do God and Jesus adhere to these ethical commands?*  Is it odd to consider that God himself clings to good, doesn't meet evildoers with evil and seeks peace with his creation?  Or that Jesus loved sincerely and did what was right in the sight of men? (I find that last bit especially interesting).

*I'm sorry I left out the Holy Spirit.  I'll try to make it up to him in a later post.

(Almost) Free (Michael F.) Bird

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There's a March sale over at cbd.com, where you can nab Michael Bird's 'Are You the One Who Is to Come?' for a sweet price of $3.99.  This book is a fascinating read where its depth and scope go beyond its length (208 pages).

I'm sort of offended that you're still reading this post; you should've bought 4 copies of the book by now.

'Jesus the Temple' Review

Nicholas Perrin's 'Jesus the Temple' is a helpful and thought-provoking book that investigates how Jesus and the early Christian movement related to the Jerusalem temple.  The book sets up the discussion by taking passages from Paul and other early Christian writers where language of the temple is used (1 Cor 3:9-11; 6:16, 19-20), of which Perrin asks where the source of this 'Temple identity' came from.  His answer is Jesus, which he seeks to demonstrate by spending the next 185 pages arguing that Jesus' actions and teachings constituted an alternative temple movement.

For its small size (190 pages +32 pages of references and indices), this book covers a lot of ground.  Perrin sets this book in the midst of debates about the historical Jesus and his relation to Paul and the other New Testament writers (what did Paul know of Jesus?  What continuity is there between Jesus' teachings and the rest of the NT?).  However, the bulk of the book (three of the five chapters) is devoted to Jesus' words and deeds that (in Perrin's mind) ought to be seen as 'Temple acts' (my words, not his).  Let me allow Perrin to speak for himself: "Jesus of Nazareth's most distinctive activities, healings/exorcisms, and meals were public signs that he had reconstituted time, space, and a people around himself, the new convergence of heaven and earth, the new temple" (p 179).

To this reviewer, the most illuminating discussion was on the topic of Jesus and the poor (chapter 4).  Here, Perrin treats the thorny issues of Jesus' teachings on money (the rich young ruler incident, etc.) and how they relate to his temple program.  While trying not to gush too much, I urge scholars and pastors (if I must dichotomize the two) to wrestle with Perrin's understanding of Jesus' poverty ethics. He seeks to go beyond the social justice vs. spiritualizing antithesis, which helps provide a more nuanced understanding of Jesus' view of riches and poverty.

Lastly, historical Jesus scholarship is blessed with not only gifted scholars, but gifted writers as well.  Perrin joins this enviable group, with his consistently clever turns of phrase and penchant for illustrations.  Occasionally his style would impede the clarity of the discussion, but on the whole his style made this book a delight to read and engage with.

Perrin has provided New Testament readers with a fresh perspective on the mission of Jesus that does justice to material in the four gospels.  Those interested in the historical Jesus, New Testament theology, and Jesus' ethics will find plenty of thought-provoking insights here. I hope this book would be widely received, and I cannot wait for the follow up volumes from Perrin.

(NOTE: This was a copy of the review I posted on Amazon.  I'm looking to interact with this book more in later posts)

Hebrews 11:24-27

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin,
26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.
27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen.

Right now this is the most fascinating section in the Bible to me. What does it all mean?

My Deep Thought for the Day

Jesus is the only one who can truly tell us to "rise and shine."

Sum_thin' Bibluh-kal

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20


I find this portion of Deuteronomy to be worth reflecting on because it is a strong reminder of the purpose of Bible study. While I am not in a position to speak about the devotional life of contemporary Christianity (nor do I want to), I will be bold to say that this pericope could prove to be a fitting corrective for many who take the devotional life seriously (even I could learn something from it).

Once brought into office, the king was to write out the law. Whether this means Deuteronomy or the whole Pentateuch, I don't know, but the point remains: the law of God defines your kingly office; The word of God is above you and has authority over you. And not only will the king note the law, but he will know the law as well (wow, this sounds like a sermon outline). Day after day, the king will burn this law into his retinas. And for what?? Simply put: revere God, be obedient, and be humble. What blows the mind is that these three effects can not be separated from one another. How can a person grow in reverance to God and not be obedient or show humility to others? James condemns that idea. Or can one accurately be humble toward others while actively slandering God by their actions? This type of Bible study was to result in obedience to the two greatest commandments: love for God and for others. The king of Israel was to act out the law perfectly by having God's transforming word continually in his view, so that he could echo the praises of God in Psalm 119--

12 Praise be to you, O LORD;teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

If I may, I would like to single out one aspect of my own experience that fits in well with this topic. I was engaged in an intense study of Numbers for a class on the Old Testament. Throughout the book of Numbers, Israel bats 1.000 when it comes to blowing it with God: rebellion, complaining, apostasy, idolatry, etc. And time after time God brings in the big stick of wrath and punishes the evildoers. Now, having grown up in the church, stories of God's wrath weren't unusual to me. Yet, reading over these stories for myself made me pause. These stories are depressing! After some time and time, I came to two conclusions about these stories: 1) God was having some major mood swings, so He frequently overreacted. So He may have judged a lot, but He apologized soon afterwards; or 2) Sin is terribly evil and offensive to God, and Israel were getting what they deserved. As much as I didn't like it, option #2 rang true. However, it wasn't until a few weeks later that the truth of God's hatred for sin came home to me. I saw myself deserving only fire from heaven and for the earth to open and swallow me. I finally saw that I was no better than the wicked, faithless people of Israel. And there I was, laying in bed, being given breath after breath, and not being utterly destroyed by God's righteous wrath. If God's boot would have come down on me at that moment, or any other moment in my Godless existence, God would have been right to do so. It is in those moments of surrender, of a damned felon who begs with a dead heart for life, that the cross creates a new being, a new goal, a new conception of the world. God is supreme, and everything of Him is worth giving one's life for. Loving one's neighbor is effortless because the greatest effort was given on my behalf. Obedience is a joy because perfect obedience was carried out with joy--even to death.