Paul and Olena Miles with Grace Abroad Ministries
Next week (May 27, 2021), we will be launching the website of The International Society for Biblical Hermeneutics (www.biblicalhermeneutics.org). We will also be launching our first ISBH volume, which will consist of papers presented at the symposium on “Current Issues in Soteriology.” The volume will be free and available on kindle.
In the mean time, sign up for ISBH updates and announcements at www.biblicalhermeneutics.org.
Here is the preface from that volume:
Jesus did some things for everybody and some things for believers only. It is important to understand this to maintain a consistent theology of salvation through faith alone in Christ alone. If we confuse the work done for everyone with the benefits given to believers, then we could mistakenly think that faith alone in Christ alone is unnecessary. Likewise, if we confuse what Jesus did for believers and what Jesus expects from believers, then we could mistake faith alone in Christ alone as insufficient.[Read More]
James 2 has become a proof text for a concept that is known in Russian as “Salvation Through Lordship,” which supposes that saving faith must be accompanied by works (or submission to the lordship of Christ) in order to be truly salvific. There are several problems with this view, but one problem in this context is that James 2 is saying precisely the opposite, that it is possible to be saved through faith alone, not through lordship, and still lack works. Obviously, James wants his audience to have both faith and works, so in James 2:21–24, he appeals to the life of Abraham to distinguish between faith and works and to show that faith and works have two different results.[Read More]
This is part three of a response to a post by Jeremy Myers. In that post, Myers summarizes the view of Ron Goetz, which proposes that Luke 17:34–35 is about saved non-celibate homosexuals. While I believe that there are saved non-celibate homosexuals, I disagree with the process of forcing a gay reading into this text (especially by using Document Q and Pagan mythology).[Read More]
This is part two of a response to a post by Jeremy Myers. In that post, Myers summarizes the view of Ron Goetz, which proposes that Luke 17:34–35 is about saved non-celibate homosexuals. While I believe that there are saved non-celibate homosexuals, I disagree with the process of forcing a gay reading into this text (especially by using Document Q and Pagan mythology).[Read More]
Paul has been invited to contribute a chapter to an upcoming book entitled, Moral Theology and the World of Walt Disney. His submission is on anthropological, hamartiological, and soteriological implications of Pinocchio. Here is an excerpt from the soteriology portion of his draft.
Disney’s Pinocchio brings about a salvation essentially in the one grand event of his death and resurrection after rescuing Geppetto. After proving his maturity, Pinocchio is rescued from his donkey-puppet body into the new body of a real boy. However, the Bible presents salvation in an entirely different manner which actually consists of three phases. These three phases are salvation from the penalty of sin (often called, “justification”), salvation from the power of sin (often called, “sanctification”), and salvation from the presence of sin (often called, “glorification”).
[Read More]
