For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel:
not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 KJV
The Apostle Paul was a very intelligent man who could possibly have sat for years in a safe haven synagogue and had long discussions about Christian Philosophy, Christian Politics and the future of the church planting movement. Surely a man like him would have been a greater asset to the kingdom as the founder of the original seminary and someone who could sign his name to documents of protest against the extreme godlessness of the Roman system. It seems reasonable that he could have been a master politician and an advocate for moving the Christian agenda onto the floor of the Roman Senate and into the politics of the entire world. What great benefit there would have been for all the ages of Christianity from a perfect, Holy Spirit inspired systematic theology. Instead, Christianity has had to endure the nonsense inflicted upon it by the "brilliance" of Augustine and Calvin...vain janglers who imagined things in the eternal realm that Paul was not allowed to discuss (2 Corinthians 12:4).
The Holy Spirit's program for the life of Paul as a Christian leader was not a life of comfortable ease and scholarly repose. The Holy Spirit directed the missionary apostle from city to city with the almost invariable result of his being beaten for preaching about Jesus. Paul's strategy was to enter the local synagogue and preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). The controversy would often stir to the point where the religious leaders, who knew that their power over people was threatened, would become maniacal in their rage and accuse Paul of all sorts of outrageous lies. The beatings would commence as the name of Jesus and the preaching of the cross could not be shouted down by the loud mouth, self-appointed sophisticates attempting to impress someone that was considered an important leader in the religious community (John 12:4). Quite often the letters of Paul, wherein he worked through practical and theological issues on behalf of church leaders, were written from jails where he suffered from wounds and bruises and broken bones. It is clear why he needed to have Luke, the former Roman army physician, along for the journey.
Thankfully, cowardly compromisers like Calvin were not asked to write the Bible from their comfortable cloisters; speculating on how God should have worked out salvation if He had only asked for the advice of human wisdom. Thankfully, the real reformation that came in the 15th and 16th centuries involved the bravery of men who translated the Word into other languages so that the foolishness of calvinist dogma could be refuted by those who prefer to read what God has to say to them. The continuity between apostles who were thrashed and trashed along with translators who were beaten and burned points to a Holy Spirit movement that promotes the truth about the Cross of Jesus.
Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
but to preach the gospel:
not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:17-18 KJV
The Apostle Paul was a very intelligent man who could possibly have sat for years in a safe haven synagogue and had long discussions about Christian Philosophy, Christian Politics and the future of the church planting movement. Surely a man like him would have been a greater asset to the kingdom as the founder of the original seminary and someone who could sign his name to documents of protest against the extreme godlessness of the Roman system. It seems reasonable that he could have been a master politician and an advocate for moving the Christian agenda onto the floor of the Roman Senate and into the politics of the entire world. What great benefit there would have been for all the ages of Christianity from a perfect, Holy Spirit inspired systematic theology. Instead, Christianity has had to endure the nonsense inflicted upon it by the "brilliance" of Augustine and Calvin...vain janglers who imagined things in the eternal realm that Paul was not allowed to discuss (2 Corinthians 12:4).
The Holy Spirit's program for the life of Paul as a Christian leader was not a life of comfortable ease and scholarly repose. The Holy Spirit directed the missionary apostle from city to city with the almost invariable result of his being beaten for preaching about Jesus. Paul's strategy was to enter the local synagogue and preach "Jesus Christ and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). The controversy would often stir to the point where the religious leaders, who knew that their power over people was threatened, would become maniacal in their rage and accuse Paul of all sorts of outrageous lies. The beatings would commence as the name of Jesus and the preaching of the cross could not be shouted down by the loud mouth, self-appointed sophisticates attempting to impress someone that was considered an important leader in the religious community (John 12:4). Quite often the letters of Paul, wherein he worked through practical and theological issues on behalf of church leaders, were written from jails where he suffered from wounds and bruises and broken bones. It is clear why he needed to have Luke, the former Roman army physician, along for the journey.
Thankfully, cowardly compromisers like Calvin were not asked to write the Bible from their comfortable cloisters; speculating on how God should have worked out salvation if He had only asked for the advice of human wisdom. Thankfully, the real reformation that came in the 15th and 16th centuries involved the bravery of men who translated the Word into other languages so that the foolishness of calvinist dogma could be refuted by those who prefer to read what God has to say to them. The continuity between apostles who were thrashed and trashed along with translators who were beaten and burned points to a Holy Spirit movement that promotes the truth about the Cross of Jesus.
Sinner.
Come to Jesus.
Come to the Cross.
No comments:
Post a Comment