No Teacher Needed

I am always intrigued by what seem to be conflicts in the Bible between what the Text says in one place and in another.  I noted just such a conflict in 1 John 2.   The conflict is both an internal and external one.  Here are  the verses, 1 John 2:26   I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.  

Now compare this verse to Acts 2.42:  "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching...."  

The external conflict seems to be between needing teachers in Acts 2 and not needing anyone to teach us in 1 John.  The internal conflict is that as John tells these people they don't need to be taught that John is sending them a letter which teaches them.

So what do we do with this and why is it important?  I believe it's important because if we get these conflicts in scripture wrong it can lead us in bad directions.  For instance, if I believe that I don't need teachers, then I can start to interpret Scripture on my own (sometimes called Solo Scriptura), rather than listening to the wisdom of those who have come before me and understanding the Scriptures through the lens of the historic and orthodox Christian faith (an understanding called Sola Scriptura).  

So what do we do with the conflict of John and Acts?  We need to deal with it in two ways.  One is the practical.  Practically we know from Acts, the writings of Paul, John and all the rest in the New Testament that they take teaching and having teachers very seriously.   Since that is the case the words about not having to be taught can't mean dump your teachers.  The other way to deal with this passage is in context.  John is dealing with false teachers who are destroying the faith.  His word about teaching would seem to refer to our not needing a new teaching from these false teachers that leads us away from the truth.  What John's audience has already in terms of knowledge about the faith is enough.  All that conflicts with it doesn't add to this faith, but destroys it. They have no need for this teaching.

It strikes me that to properly read the scriptures we need at least three things.  First, we need to read them through the eyes of the historic Christian faith (the early church called this "the rule of faith", truth that came out of the Scriptures and yet becomes the eyes through which we read the Scriptures, an early rule of faith is the Apostles' Creed).  Second we need to see how a text falls into the practice that we find in other parts of scripture.  This keeps us from grabbing a text and declaring something that simply doesn't fit what we see going on in other parts of the Bible.  Finally, we need to carefully discern context so we see what the text means in the midst of what is going on in a certain time and place.  

Education: Time to make it harder

John Seel continues to be one of my favorite writers.  In this article he talks about the state of our educational system.  Just a bit of what he writes, 
And so it is that the April 2009 McKinsey & Company report, "The Economic Impact of the Achievement Gap in America's Schools," finds American schools wanting. The economic cost of this gap is larger than the US recession of 1981-82. "These educational gaps imposed on the United States the economic equivalent of a permanent national recession." The longer a student spends in an American school the wider the gap becomes. In short, increased exposure to American classrooms makes one increasingly uneducated.

Fearless Faith

A friend sent me the link to this video.  I'm reminded of Jesus' words in the high priestly prayer, 12 While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from evil.

Can we hold on to a nation without God

A great article, with thoughtful insight. Here's just a bit of it,
If repudiation of its past and its identity is all that Western civilization can offer, it cannot survive: it will give way to whatever future civilization can offer hope and consolation to the young and fulfill their deep-rooted human need for social membership. Citizenship, as I have described it, does not fulfill that need: and that is why so many Muslims reject it, seeking instead that consoling “brotherhood” (ikhwan) that has so often been the goal of Islamic revivals. But citizenship is an achievement that we cannot forgo if the modern world is to survive: we have built our prosperity on it, our peace and our stability, and—even if it does not provide happiness—it defines us. We cannot renounce it without ceasing to be.

What is needed is not to reject citizenship as the foundation of social order but to provide it with a heart. And in seeking that heart, we should turn away from the apologetic multiculturalism that has had such a ruinous effect on Western self-confidence and return to the gifts that we have received from our Judeo-Christian tradition.

Understanding God

In the gospel of John Jesus consistent tells us that if you know him, you know the Father.  If you have seen him, you have seen the Father.  One place we get a taste of this is in in John 8.19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, a“You know neither me nor my Father. bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.”  As I consistently come across this truth is has led me to wonder, "How does this truth change the way that we understand God as we encounter him in the Old Testament?"  Could it be that when we read the Old Testament and see the face of God in the Old Testament in the mirror of Jesus in the new that we get a different understanding of the Father?  Could it be that we may need to reread and reinterpret how we see the Father at some level if we take seriously Jesus' claims about being the true picture of God?  

Great Lines from the Bible

Imagine that Jesus was your pastor, what would you do with this kind of response to a crisis--especially if you knew you were one of his favorites,
John 11:5   Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

A Song

I was listen to a compilation of songs today and this is the first I heard.  It is called "A Prayer".  Words are by Euston Jones.  It was not what I expected listening to a song style connected with Lord of the Rings

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

I'll say a final prayer for
Those I care for
Who've kept my company

My destiny is clear
I'm dying to have you near
To me

Lord
I don't belong now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

I'm prepared to go
Divide my body and soul
Won't you

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die

Have mercy, Lord
I'm told it's paradise
To have and to hold you

Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore

Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die