Romans and Galatians are not the Pastorals. The majority of scholars have never really found any reason to call Pauline authorship in question. That does not mean it’s absolutely certain he wrote them but they are more likely at being genuine Pauline works than the Pastoral epistles according to the arguments marshaled and judgments of trained experts in NT studies.
Vinnie
Let me be more clear. Do you accept the Gospel that is proclaimed in the NT. That through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the union with Him in it, belivers die to the Law of Sin that is in the flesh. They become born of God, New Creations in Christ, freed from the slavery to sin and the devil.
You know what? Who cares? Is what is written pertinent? Is it God’s message, inspired by Him?
Proving Paul didn’t write certain letters is a separate issue. The key is, is the letter God breathed?
To tease out what is inspired in the NT is worthwhile. Dismissing all the miracles before engaging in such an endeavor disqualifies the project from the start automatically. Removing the miracles from such a study cannot be an examination of the NT by definition.
Isn’t it the epitome of arrogance and pride to assume that those in conservative circles who discount such opinions have done so without careful consideration?
But that said, I think Lewis’s words are spot-on (as I always seem to believe)… when we examine those who have spent a lifetime in such studies…
“While I respect the learning of the great biblical critics, I am not yet persuaded that their judgement is equally to be respected.”
If the verses that teach about salvation or faith in Jesus are the ones that are not factual, then it matters very much, no?
Just speaking from past experience. And it is misleading to make a generalization from a limited statement.
The legends (worded in the ancient tribal hymn) lie cradled
In the seagulls call
And all the promises they made are ground beneath the sadists fall
Yes! Agreed. It liberates us from the evil of damnationism.
There is annihilationism, though, as opposed to lollipops for Hitler.
Why do you, personally, want to murder Hitler?
Doest thou knowest from wherest the above sentence cometh? Look above it too for the entire thought. Our good buddy spoke
Part of their problem is rather prickly. Demanding to be taken seriously and venerated to the highest degree are not realistic once you have tossed a third (roughly) of the NT before commencing their craft upon the body of work under examination. It would be like evaluating the efficacy of a new drug after a test trial, but dumping the results on all the controls prior to analyzing the results and proclaiming success.
Wot?! Do you think I am?!
I don’t. He’s already dead. If he were still alive, I’d be okay with his assassination, however.
So in the resurrection you expect God to. In late '44 we Brits developed a perfect plan to do just that. And decided it was better for him to remain in charge as his decisions were so bad.
… to be just. He knows a little more about true love and true justice than you or I. I don’t think the former makes the latter go away.
I don’t really know what it means to “die to the Law of sin that is in the flesh.” Can you explain what that means? I believe in being born again but not as some mystical cosmic incident where a debt was paid. Feeling the forgiveness and love of God changes a person. Forming a relationship with God and seeing his love through his Son Jesus sets us on a new path. We are no longer merely “of the world.” We are of God and are to live accordingly and bring his message of love, forgiveness and ethical commands to everyone.
I understand your concern but it is intellectually unwarranted. If maybe there were only a few passages pertaining to the basic idea of salvation, or maybe even just a dozen, your concerns might be vlid. But the entire thrust of all four Gospels and the entire NT is grounded in and preaches Jesus. If the entire thrust of the New Testament is wrong, then we have nothing to discuss. Christianity would simply not be true and the inspiration of the Bible would be completely meaningles at best and more probably a fictitious idea.
So no, I don’t see the entire thrust and explicit teaching of the NT and early church being undercut by potential errors if you believe in inspiration. There is still a message in the trees somewhere, or a push to be seen by God in “material falsehood.” There are different models of inspiration and different understanding of scripture and revelation.
Could you lose some certainty on a few doctrines? Sure. Is the bible no longer a factual encyclopedia of theological knowledge that can be proof-text hunted? It is not. But Christians disagree on a billion things already. Where has that indubitable certainty ever been? How important is it which model of substitutionary atonement you intellectually assent to, assuming you even accept a substitutionary model? What matters is being transformed by Jesus and the changes in your behavior that should result.
This is just a veiled form of “all or nothing.” It doesn’t work. Despite the errors that do exist, in his great care and providence, God left us no doubt about the importance of following Jesus in scripture. He gently nudged four authors to write four different portraits of him that are not all perfectly compatible in factual details or Christology. Jesus is so amazing words can hardly do him justice and each author described him as best as they could from their own communities perspective. Sure there is a lot in common and a lot that’s compatible, but I love that we have multiple, diverse communal perspectives on Jesus. We certainly don’t have a four-fold gospels because God forgot to write some stuff sown in Mark, then added to it in Luke and Matthew, and since he forgot all the I am stuff, he added it into John. Clearly human hands are all over these texts.
Being born again is just that, it’s a new birth, a rebirth of the spirit of a man.
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Jesus said this to Nicodemus, John 3:3 “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Necodemus looked at that statement with a natural mind, He said, John 3:4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” But Jesus was not talking about the body, He was talking about the spirit of a man. John 3:5-7 "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” It is the spirit of a man that is born again. A literal rebirth, an event that the Father wills and produces.
In 1John being born of God is spoken of multiple times. It is made clear here it is an actual event, not just a term for a different way of thinking. 1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
Another term used for this event is, New Creation. 2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! Gal 6:15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.” Being a new creation is just that. The spirit of man has been born of God and becomes a new creation, he is no longer what he was. If the word circumcision can be used to sum up the Law into one word, Paul is saying, that neither obedience to the Law or not obey means anything, what truly counts is being a new creation, born again. For it is the new birth, being “in Christ” that frees our spirit from the Law of Sin and Death, Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Above in 2 Cor 5:17 the phrase “in Christ” in mentioned. Do a study on this phrase and you will see that it is what a person is once they have true faith in Jesus. We no longer are what we were but we are literally “in Christ” now. United, bonded, one with Him, His very Spirit lives in us, we become a part of His body. The whole truth of being, “in Christ”, is what Jesus Himself revealed to Paul. As you read the NT, look for the phrase, “in Christ” and you will it pops up often.
Being “in Christ” is the Gospel. What the commandments of the Law couldn’t do was change the nature of a man, so God sent His son as a man to become sin, a curse, to die our death, to be judged and to be raised up from death. Death not just being the death of the body, but death, our spirits were dead, they did not have eternal life (not length of life but the nature of God’s life) in them.
In Christ, we are born again by the Spirit, we become New Creations, we are In Christ, united with Him in His death and resurrection. We have been united with Jesus in His crucifixion, Rom 6:6 “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin,” and by our union with Him in His crucifixion,” our old self was crucified with him” so therefore, “we should no longer be slaves to sin”.
In the New Birth, our spirits are recreated in the righteousness of God, 2 Cor 5:20 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” So, since in Christ our old self was crucified and we were birthed by the Spirit of God, by God’s will, with His righteousness in our new spirits, those who have true faith are true sons and daughters of God, by nature. Children of God, not just a neat term for those who think differently now and try to do good and obey God. But an actual rebirth, a new creation, reborn by the very Spirit of God, we are, “In Christ”.
It is this New Birth, being In Christ, in actual union with Him that delivers us from the Law of Sin and death (Romans 7: 23, 35 and 8:2) that our old spirits were slaves to. In Romans 7, Paul is speaking about when he was under the Law of God. Even though the Law showed him what was right, he did wrong because he was a slave to the Law of Sin, the Law of God could not set Him free. Chapter 8 declares the freedom that comes by being “In Christ”. A person who is, in Christ, has died to the Law of Sin and has been reborn by the Spirit and will of the Father. The Law of God could not do this, but God did this In Christ for us. That is grace, unmerited favor. No amount of trying hard to do right could ever change your nature, but the Father did by placing those who turn to Jesus, In Christ. So when Jesus raised up from death, so did they who believe. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from death now dwells in those who believe, and it is this that gives us power and authority over sin and the devil.
Our union with Jesus the Christ, to be in Christ, is our only hope. Col 1:25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The cross of Christ is the work of the Father to bring us salvation from our enemy, sin. It is in the cross and all that it entails, His becoming sin, a curse, His death, the Father crushing Him (Isa 53:10) judgment and resurrection. That is why Paul makes this declaration, Gal 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Through the cross of Christ, I have died to the ways of this world. Jesus has set my spirit free from it’s slavery to sin and the devil. For freedom sake, Christ set us free.
The Cross of Christ and all it includes, is the debt that was paid for our salvation, for our New Birth, to make us New Creations In Christ.
If a person only thinks being Born Again is just a phrase for a change of mind, and for trying to follow the teachings of Jesus, they do not understand what the Father actually did In Christ.
Study the scriptures with these thoughts in your mind. This is not some secret you have to twist your head and look a certain way to see it, it is everywhere. It is the Gospel.
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” -Colossians 4:6
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