Jesus and Salvation series - part 4

The Foundation Being Laid

How would you approach a subject like “Is Jesus The Only Savior?” if you were writing such a book?

Would you start by appealing to scripture? Come up with a list of reasons why you think Jesus is the only savior? Then compare Jesus with the founders of other religions, and of course they would compare negatively, right? That might make you feel good, but it would repel those you want to try to convince. Edwards takes a different approach.

The study this summer is about to go in a direction that will seem foreign to many. Edwards saw the need to lay down a foundation that will support the structure of evidence that will eventually answer his question. The foundation may seem strange and may raise some questions like: Where is he going with this? Why did he go off on this tangent? and How will this help answer my questions about talking with others about Jesus as the Savior?

As you saw in the outline of the book listed in Part 2, the foundation includes such subjects as the Quest for the Historical Jesus, The Jesus Seminar, the reliability of the New Testament, and Postmodernism. If these subjects are new to you, it may be quite a ride, but in the end it will be worth it. You will have a stronger foundation yourself.

The culture in which we live is not likely to become friendlier to Christianity soon. Moral relativism, multiculturalism, and instant worldwide communications that put us in contact with people of all backgrounds will tempt us all to either retreat to the safety of the church building or let go and float with the current. Whether you think of Edwards’ material as a foundation or as an anchor to hold you against a strong current, it will be important background material for the later chapters. Enjoy!

Jesus and Salvation Series (Part 3)

Metaphors Of Our Cultural Shift

Welcome to the Summer 2006 study for the Koinonia Class of Calvary Baptist Church, Denver, Colorado. We’re looking at the issue of Jesus and Salvation, using the book “Is Jesus The Only Savior” [James R. Edwards, Is Jesus The Only Savior? (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: 2005)]. We encourage each person to buy a copy and follow along.

In his Introduction, titled “The Shore and the Current”, Edwards explains why this apologetic is needed. There has been a massive shift away from a respect for religion (and Christianity in particular) by those who shape our culture and influence public opinion.

Movies, television, magazines, books, universities, and the amplified voices of those who enforce Political Correctness have all made it harder for a Christian to speak up and say “I believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior”.

Rather, it is more common to hear someone talk about their “mix-and-match religion”. In “The DaVinci Code” movie the Opus Dei leader Bishop Aringarosa rejects “cafeteria Catholicism” in which people feel free to pick and choose which parts of the Catholic faith they want to incorporate in their own personally-devised faith. To see what he means, check out “Cafeteria Catholicism” for the perspective that describes the cafeteria approach and sees it as a good thing—the dominant view of the culture in which we live.

The point is that people want to design their own religion to suit. As a Realtor, I often see a similar phenomenon. A client will say, “I like this kitchen, the open floor plan of the first house we saw, and the location of the last house. Too bad we can’t pick out the best parts and combine them.” Well, with religion, some people think they can pick out “the best parts” and combine them (even if the various parts from different religions are in direct opposition to each other). What they end up with might be an attractive flower arrangement that will make them feel good and make no demands on them, but it will be a religion without roots.

For example, I often hear the phrase “judge not” as someone’s reason that they accept any belief, behavior, or lifestyle. It’s as if it is now impossible to call anything “sin” or “heresy” because we are not to judge someone else. Edwards refers to a study in which The Barna Research Group “concluded that American Christianity is suffering theological collapse. The primary commitments of church members seem to be to peace, the search for personal fulfillment, and the conviction that God judges no one.” (p. 4)

This is replacing a distortion of the command to “judge not” with a concept of “no Judge”. If there is no sin and therefore no ultimate Judge, then God (or whatever you want to call your own personal deity) devolves to irrelevance, or at the most nothing more than a benevolent dispenser of goodies (“cheap grace” as Dietrich Bonhoefer called it in “The Cost Of Discipleship”).

Edwards uses the metaphors of the shore (a fixed point—“the biblical testimony to Jesus as savior of the world”) and the current (“a riptide of cultural values and assumptions” that is the confluence of the currents of “Enlightenment rationalism and the scientific method, pluralism, moral relativism, postmodernism, the quest for peace, and the challenge of other religions”).

This current carries us along without our conscious awareness of its effect on us (because in the current, and without constant reference to the fixed point on the shore, we don’t sense that we are moving). Unless we learn to use and navigate that current to further our understanding and our faith we will drift farther and farther from the shore. That’s his intention with this book—to give us the tools so we can navigate the current and not be swept away by it.

Jesus and Salvation--Part 2

The Book We're Using

In my last post I said the series would follow the outline of the book “Is Jesus The Only Savior?” by James R. Edwards. This will not be a review of the book, nor a study of just this one book, but by following the book’s outline anyone who has a personal copy will know the path the study will take.

Whether you agree with the book at every point is not the point. The study will probably raise more questions than it answers. If you agree with the book, submit your comments. If you disagree with the book (or my comments), submit your comments. We will all learn together, as was my hope in starting my blog.

Here is the outline of the book: James R. Edwards, Is Jesus The Only Savior? (Grand Rapids/Cambridge: 2005)

Introduction: The Shore and the Current
1. The Quest of the Historical Jesus
2. The Jesus Seminar
3. How Reliable Is The New Testament as a Historical Document?
4. What Can We Know about the Jesus of History?
5. Did Jesus Consider Himself God?
6. Jesus—The Savior of he World
7. Can the Gospel Compete in a Pluralistic World?
8. Is a Savior from Sin Meaningful in a Day of Moral Relativism?
9. The Gospel and Postmodernism
10. Does an Exclusive Savior Threaten World Peace?
11. How Should Christians Think About Other Religions?
12. The Mystery of the Incarnation

Isn’t that a daunting list of subjects? Doesn’t it pose an important list of questions? This should be enough to keep us occupied for one summer. I’m looking forward to the journey, and I’m glad you are coming along with me.

Summer Series On Jesus and Salvation

In the Koinonia Class this morning we discussed several options for our summer study. We landed on one that is very timely in light of The DaVinci Code movie, the Gospel of Judas hype of the past month, and current religious debates—taken from the title of a recent book by James R. Edwards, our study asks “Is Jesus The Only Savior?”

I recommend this book for both of the intended targets of the material as Edwards states in his preface (see below). The material in this book is scholarly, but very readable.

In the preface Edwards says, “A constellation of factors…has subjected the claim that Jesus is the only savior to suspicion and doubt. It has become fashionable to express such doubts in public venues. It is my impression that people are anxious about this question, and that they would breathe more easily if we could all agree that Jesus is a savior of the word, not the savior of the world.”

Edwards goes on to say the book is written to “help two types of readers … (those) whose faith has been unsettled or stimulated by the views of Jesus expressed above … (and) a second group of readers …, one that does not adhere to any particular Christian claims…”

Some of the statements I have heard and the questions that have been raised recently have led me to conclude that there is one overarching religious question making the rounds in our culture—the question of salvation. But it’s not really asked in the way Edwards states it. It comes masked in two other questions: (1) What can we really believe about the Bible?; and (2) What can we really believe about Jesus Christ?.

The DaVinci Code book and movie present the dominant secular view of Western culture—that the Bible is not trustworthy and Jesus was just a (married) man whose teachings and compassion inspired his followers to later claim that he was divine. So, the Church is both deluded and deceptive in continuing to promise heaven to Jesus’ followers.

Following the material in the Edwards book and other sources, we will answer the objections to both the trustworthiness of the Bible and of Jesus as the source of salvation for a world in need of being saved.

Out of my own study and reflection on this and several other books which will be referenced throughout this study, I drew up some questions under a heading of “Salvation Series”.


1. Is there a need for “salvation”?
2. Is there such a thing as “salvation”?
3. Does salvation require a savior? (or is it attainable by one’s own efforts or automatically conferred by some deity, spirit, or force?)
4. What would a savior look like? (what qualifications would a “savior” have?)
5. Are there any “saviors”? (i.e. at least one; how many possible?)
6. Is Jesus a savior?
7. Is Jesus the only savior?
8. Is Jesus the savior for everyone? (i.e. universally available salvation through Jesus)
9. Is Jesus the savior of everyone? (i.e. universally accomplished salvation by Jesus—or that salvation is a fait accompli)
10. What about those who have heard of Jesus and rejected Him as their savior?
11. What about those who have not heard of Jesus, or lived before Him?

You might think of some other questions. If so, feel free to ask them in the comments or email me the questions.

In various ways each of these questions will be addressed this summer. In order for us to stay together, I’ll be following the outline of Edwards’ book. This will also result in an overview of the foundational questions that are essential to explore and answer the ultimate question of the book: “Is Jesus the only Savior?”.

Follow Up To The Gospel Of Judas Debate

An editorial in the current issue of “Christianity Today” gives some important information and analysis of the “Gospel of Judas”. Check it out here:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/006/3.22.html

Some key graphs:

“More importantly, the best liberal scholars admitted up front that this find "tells us nothing about the historical Jesus, nothing about the historical Judas." Those are the words of James M. Robinson, lead scholar of the team that investigated the last great find of Gnostic Gospels, the Nag Hammadi library. Or as Adam Gopnik told New Yorker readers, "The finding of the new Gospel … no more challenges the basis of the church's faith than the discovery of a document from the nineteenth century written in Ohio and defending King George would be a challenge to the basis of American democracy."

"The latest Gnostic gospel may tell us little about Jesus or Judas, but the credulous public fascination with it tells us something about the spiritual state of America. Our nation continues to be enamored with a version of religion—Gnosticism—that is little more than a reflection of the self.”

This graph speaks to the issue of the canon of the New Testament and why this “gospel” was not included.

“The reason that lost Gospels like Judas disappeared is not, as some are now claiming, that "orthodoxy" is simply a record of the winners writing history. Rather, these Gnostic texts were rejected precisely because they had rejected the Christian continuity with historic Jewish faith. Orthodoxy was a serious attempt to be faithful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob rather than to seek the little-G god within.”

And here is an opinion as to why “The Da Vinci Code” and the “Gospel of Judas” appeal to so many. Read the entire editorial to put this in context.

“Finally, the Gospel of Judas appeals to our American neighbors because we have made a religion out of diversity.

Americans have a phobia about making commitments to truth.”

As we head into the weekend when the movie form of “The Da Vinci Code” comes out, we need all the information available to be able to stand for truth and answer questions that are sure to come.