Zondervan Blog

What is the central theme of the Bible?

Given the diversity of authorship, genre, and context of the Bible’s various books, is it even possible to answer such a question? Or in trying to do so, is an external grid being unnaturally superimposed on the biblical text?

These are difficult questions that the discipline of biblical theology has struggled to answer. In this thoroughly revised and expanded edition of his classic Toward an Old Testament Theology, Walter Kaiser offers a solution to these unresolved issues. He proposes that there is indeed a unifying center to the theology and message of the Bible that is indicated and affirmed by Scripture itself. That center is the promise of God. It is one all-encompassing promise of life through the Messiah that winds itself throughout salvation history in both the Old and New Testaments, giving cohesiveness and unity to the various parts of Scripture.

After laying out his proposal, Kaiser works chronologically through the books of both testaments, demonstrating how the promise is seen throughout, how the various sub-themes of each book relate to the promise, and how God’s plan to fulfill the promise progressively unfolds. Here is a rich and illuminating biblical theology that will stir the emotion and the intellect. Click here for more information on The Promise-Plan of God by Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.

When the mysterious Jesmet, whom the authorities brand as a Magician of the Old Order, begins to connect with Orianon, he is banished forever to the shadowside of their planet Corista. Click here for more Information on Trion Rising by Robert Elmer.

Look Unto Me by Jim Reimann features 366 of Charles Spurgeon’s great classic devotions updated and expanded in today's language. Jim Reimann is editor of the bestselling updated editions of Streams in the Desert and My Utmost for His Highest. Based on the classic Morning by Morning, the new devotional now includes comments, applications, and prayers developed for today’s reader. More Information.

Zondervan recently invited two atheist bloggers to read Chuck Colson's latest book The Faith and enter into a dialogue with Chuck about his book.  Below is a link to one of the questions from an atheist blogger and Chuck's response.  Stop by this Zondervan blog next week for Chuck's dialogue with another atheist blogger about The Faith.

Russell Glasser with The Atheist Experience wrote Chuck a 25 paragraph question after he read The Faith, which you can view in full on his blog at this link.  Below is Chuck Colson's reply:

"Thank you for your recent letter commenting on my book The Faith. I can tell from your message that you have read the book carefully, and I appreciate that, since you come from the perspective of what you call an agnostic atheist. But it’s quite clear that you are also in an honest pursuit of the truth, wherever that pursuit leads you.

I’m glad that we start out with some common ground in our critique of postmodernism. You have obviously thought through where the rejection of objective truth in any form leads. People like Stanley Fish try to rationalize it, but they’re never able to avoid thoroughly untenable consequences. In writing of the attack on the Twin Towers on 9/11, Fish said we’re not to judge the motives of those flying the planes. In other words, there is nothing that can be called evil, because there’s nothing that can be called good. If that’s true, we have no way of dealing with death and destruction of the innocents. I think he exposed the flaw in postmodern thinking better than anyone else.

Let me deal with the first question you raised about whether or not we were able to “prove†an 8 percent re-incarceration rate vs. 20 percent in a comparable control group in the IFI prison in Texas. The grounds for the compilation of empirical data, established by Prison Fellowship in cooperation with the Texas Department of Corrections was that we would measure graduates, that is, those people who completed our program, as opposed to simply people who signed up for it. The reason we did that was obvious: we could not select the people coming in—we had no control over that. The state made that choice, as it did with the people in their control group. If both sides had made their own choices, then you would consider including drop-outs. But we knew the state couldn’t choose the kind of people we knew were motivated to do this.

The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania believed that this was sound methodology. We were very clear about this from the beginning, because we use a process of self-selection. In other words, the initial curriculum was geared to a pretty intense biblical grounding, so only people who really wanted this would take part in it. Anyone who has worked in this area, like Alcoholics Anonymous, will tell you that it’s the motivation of the participant that is crucial. If the person doesn’t want to change, you can’t change him. As Christians, we believe everyone has a free will to choose or not choose to follow Christ. So we’re obviously looking for people in our programs who are at least open to that.

Consider a possible analogy here. Let’s say a drug company wants to do a test on a dramatic new cancer cure. The pill must be taken for one month to be effective. A double-blind test is conducted, and the people who took a placebo would perhaps get 90 percent cancer. The people who took the 30-day medicine would get 50 percent. That’s a dramatic result. But would you get the same result if some didn’t take the full dose for the full month? I think not; nor would you detract from findings by including all those who after a week didn’t like the flavor or the after-effect and stopped taking it.

The acid test here, however, is what has happened since that data was compiled and released in 2003. We have continued to monitor these programs across the country, and they have continued to produce between 8 and 10 percent recidivism.

As for the case in Iowa, we did indeed lose it at the trial level. But the case was appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held in our favor on all of the substantive questions except accepting state funds. We had only accepted states funds because the state asked us to in order to conduct some secular programs which we could do more cheaply than others. Once the lawsuit was brought, we stopped taking the funds and didn’t care about them; nor do we take them any longer in any other states. So on that issue, Barry Lynn succeeded. But on the more important question of whether the program is effective and whether it is constitutional without federal funds, the Eighth Circuit, in an opinion joined in by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Conner, did not declare anything we’re doing to be unconstitutional. I consider that a very significant victory. The state of Iowa, which had been drawn into the litigation, decided to terminate the program. In view of the fact that the district judge still kept jurisdiction, we were delighted to comply. But we are doing extremely well in every state where we’re operating.

As for the question you raised about whether someone could be paroled, not get a job, and therefore not be counted in our statistics, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that. I’ll ask one of our staff to look at that, but I can’t believe that’s the case. I don’t think the University of Pennsylvania would have accepted that. The researchers who did this study were enthusiastic about the results.

I’m sorry if you felt that I conveyed more certainty than is warranted in my writing, or that my own interpretation is always correct. I hope I’ve not given that impression to anyone. I believe, as the scientific method describes it, that there is an objective truth that may be discovered through investigation, but that our human perception of that truth is always limited. I would certainly believe that theologically in view of my conviction about the Fall.

The position I have always taken is that I am constantly learning. And a lot of times I’ve reversed my position when I’ve discovered I was wrong. So if I’ve suggested a certain arrogance to you, I apologize. It was unintended.

You raised a number of very thoughtful questions about epistemology—how we can really know something. I'm under some serious scheduling restraints at the moment, so I would like to take a little longer before answering that part of your question. But I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you.
Chuck Colson"

Stop by the Zondervan blog next week for Chuck's dialogue with another atheist blogger about The Faith.  To learn more about The Faith by Chuck Colson and Harold Fickett, visit www.Zondervan.com/TheFaith. 

I would love to connect with you personally on Tuesday, July 15th at 10am (Pacific Standard Time) in our next Teleseminar. It’s free!

The topic: Catalyzing Community (starting a small group, a ministry, a non-profit, or even a church). We’ll also interact and I’ll try to answer as many of your questions as I can.

To Register, email your name and location to: teleseminar@ericbryant.org

A reply will be sent to you via email with call details and dial in instructions. A recording of the call will be made available 48 hours after the live call is complete.

If you have specific questions you would like to ask during the call, please email me those to eric@ericbryant.org.

Hope to talk with you then!
Eric

Eric Michael Bryant serves as an elder, speaker, and navigator overseeing the leadership team at Mosaic in Los Angeles. His book, Peppermint-Filled Piñatas: Breaking Through Tolerance and Embracing Love, published with Zondervan in June 2007, seeks to move people to serve, love, and reach those who are too often overlooked because they might believe, act, or even look differently.  Eric lives with his wife, Debbie, and two children, Caleb and Trevi in the middle of Los Angeles County.

Coming soon!  Bookmark this blog posting. We will be posting up more details in the coming days.

Do you often find yourself saying, “I’m so busy†or “I just have so much to do?†It’s easy to get overwhelmed with appointments, gatherings, to-do lists. But what are we really doing with our time? Many of us are running from place to place and it seems like life is just passing us by. We’re doing so many things, a little bit of everything, and yet it doesn’t feel like much of a life. But most of us find it hard to say no. We feel obligated. There are so many good things to do. So many good causes to join. But while we’re busy doing all these good things, are we missing out on something great? More Information

Taken from the 2007 tour with the same name, Rob Bell explores the following questions:

Where did the first caveman or cave-woman get the idea that somebody, somewhere existed who needed to be worshipped, appeased, and followed?

And how did the idea evolve that if you didn't say, do, or offer the right things this being would be upset, agitated, or even angry with you?

Where did religion come from? More Information

It has been said that all men are messy, and while I can’t speak for all my gender, I know that this has been true of me. Neatness has never been my strongest point. Like other families in the 50’s and 60’s, I grew up in a home where mom stayed at home, cooked the dinner and cleaned the house. Granted, she generally didn’t get out of bed until noon, but I still remember her washing and waxing our kitchen floor on her hands and knees. Whenever she did this, you could be sure that someone would spill a glass of milk on it before the day was through. She sprinkled Ajax in the sink and Clorox on the counter top. But somehow our capacity to make a mess outpaced her ability to clean it up.

Keeping things neat was never one of my father’s values either. When he and my mother got engaged, my grandmother took her into my father’s bedroom to show her what she was getting herself into. Years later, she confessed to me that she should have taken the warning more seriously. Our basement was so cluttered with junk, it became something of a legend in the neighborhood. Children lined up to peer into the windows and see the wreckage.

These days, stay-at-home moms are harder to find. But for some reason the division of labor hasn’t changed. For most couples housework is still women’s work. Indeed, the institution of marriage seems to have a strange effect on men and housework. A recent George Mason University Study of 17,000 people in 28 countries revealed that married men do less housework than live in boyfriends. Ironically, this was true even of couples where the men held egalitarian views of gender roles. Perhaps this isn’t surprising. But it is a shame, in every sense of the word. There is no biblical reason a married man cannot pick up a broom or a dish cloth and share the load. If Jesus did not think it was beneath his dignity to wash the disciples’ feet, we husbands should not think that it is beneath us to wash the floor or clean a sink.

Despite my family background, I’ve come to see house cleaning as a spiritual exercise. It is a good antidote to the megalomania that comes so naturally to me. Like Jeremiah’s scribe Baruch, I am prone to seek great things for myself. There is nothing like discipline of scrubbing a dirty toilet to bring a person back to reality. As I move from room to room, it helps me to turn my thoughts from myself to my wife and children. Perhaps that’s why the sixth century Rule of St. Benedict required all monks to perform kitchen duty. Every Sunday after morning prayers the servers were to gather an pray for one another. When one server finished his week of duty, he was to say, “Blessed are You, O Lord God, who did help me and console me.†After this, the monk who was just beginning his week of kitchen duty was to say, “O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.â€

Nicholas Herman, 17th century Carmelite lay brother who took the name of Brother Lawrence and whose sayings are preserved in the classic entitled The Practice of the Presence of God, described his experience serving in the kitchen this way: “The time of business,†said he, “does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess GOD in as great tranquillity as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.â€

Like him, I have found that the common work of house cleaning is its own kind of sacrament. Not in the sense that it conveys spiritual merit or saving grace. But because it gives me a chance to take up the basin and the towel and serve those I love. And like Brother Lawrence, I often find that Christ meets me there, reminding me of the many times he has done the same for me.

Zondervan's blog occasionally features essays from our authors. Today's essay is by John Koessler, author of A Stranger in the House of God.

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Dear Seatbelt Suspenseâ„¢ readers:

As I write this I’m in my Idaho home office, looking out at Lake Coeur d’Alene. It’s a beautiful weekend of 85 degree weather, and lots of boats are on the water. Not too long ago it was Memorial Day weekend. I can’t help but think of Kanner Lake, the town in my series by that name. Kanner Lake, set here in northern Idaho, is as real to me as any town you’d find on the map. According to the story in Amber Morn, the climactic conclusion of the series, the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend will bring chaos and trauma to the entire town. I feel like I should be running through the streets of Coeur d’Alene, shouting, “Don’t go over to Kanner Lake next weekend! Tragedy’s coming!â€

With the end of my bestselling Kanner Lake series, I look forward to the release of my next novel, Dark Pursuit, in November. This twisting story features novelist Darell Brooke, once known as the King of Suspense, and his twenty-two-year-old granddaughter, Kaitlan. After a brain injury left him unable to concentrate, Darell can no longer write. He becomes a bitter recluse, estranged from family. When Kaitlan discovers her boyfriend is a killer, she flees to her grandfather to help her catch the cunning Craig. But in order to save Kaitlan, Darell’s muddled mind would have to devise the plot of a lifetime.

You can read the openings to all my novels (including Dark Pursuit) on my web site. Those of you too frightened to read suspense—do you know there’s an unofficial club just for you? (Named by its proud members, not me.) Check out the Big Honkin’ Chickens Club for some very unique products.

~ Brandilyn

Seatbelt Suspenseâ„¢

Note: Tomorrow, Tuesday morning, July 8, Brandilyn Collins will visit the set of the FamilyNet show "Mornings" to discuss her latest work Amber Morn. For viewing times visit www.familynet.com.