No Creature But Is Fed

Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;
And He Who feeds the ravens will give His children bread.

—William Cowper

I’m continuing the series on Scriptural Lessons from the Natural World at Out of the Ordinary today.

Scripture uses our knowledge that both humans and animals have food to teach us about God—or, more precisely, to remind us of what we already should know about God. We can know that God exists, and that he is good, wise, and powerful because he feed his creatures.

But there’s more. That God has revealed himself by providing food for us ought to influence what we do. I’ve found four biblical commands based on our knowledge of God’s food provision. The first two apply to everyone, but the last two are especially for believers.

Read the rest of All Creatures Eat (Part 1). 

Getting Our Expectations Straight

From Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books by Michael Kruger, four reasons from Scripture for us to expect some disagreement over the canon in the early stages of Christianity:

1. The Scriptures warn of false teaching (and false teachers) in the church (2 Pet. 2:2; 1 John 2:19). If so, then it is reasonable to think that the church would also face false teaching about the status of canonical and apocryphal writings.
2. We should not overlook the fact that these are spiritual forces opposing the church (Eph. 6:10-20; 1 Pet. 5:8-10; Rev. 12:13-17). Thus we have greater reason to expect there would be controversy, opposition, and heresy in early Christianity.
3. People often resist the Spirit by their sin and disobedience (Acts 7:51; Eph. 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:19). For this reason, the testimonium1was never understood by the Reformers as something that would lead to an absolute unity over the canonical books.
4. Not all groups who claim to be the “church” are really part of it. Some claim the name of Christ who are not really his followers (Matt. 7:21-23; John 2:23-25; Phil. 1:15-16; 1 John 2:19). Thus, the canons of these so-called Christian groups (Valentinians?) might differ significantly from those of true Christians. This can give the impression that there was more canonical diversity among early Christians than there actually was.2

Contrary to what some argue,  disagreements over the canon shouldn’t undermine our trust in the ability of the early church to identify the canonical books; but rather, the witness of scripture itself should lead us to expect some dissent.

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Other quotations  from this book:

• A Canon Based on Probability
• Canonical Bookends
• Like a Thermometer, Not a Thermostat

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1The testimonium is “the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit”—“not a private revelation of the Spirit or new information given to the believer—as if the list of canonical books were whispered in our ears—but it is a work of the Spirit that over comes the noetic effect of sin and produces the belief that the Scriptures are the word of God” (page 100).

2Page 198-199.

This Week in Housekeeping

Whew! I barely have time to keep up with the fixing and updating project for the theological terms. It’s been a month since I did any work on them at all. Actually, once a month seems to be the rate for the last half year or so.

perfectionism

• Fixed links to Wayne Grudem’s lectures on the doctrine of sanctification: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. (The Grudem Systematic Theology lectures have been moved around a lot over the years. I’m hoping these are links that last!)
• Added a link to R. C. Sproul’s The Heresy of Perfectionism.

autographs

• Added a link to Michael Kruger’s The Difference Between Original Autographs and Original Texts.

incarnation

• Fixed links to Wayne Grudem’s lectures: The Person of Christ, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.
• Added related terms advent, ascension of Jesus, crucifixion (of Christ), deity of Christ, humanity of Christ, hypostatic union, virgin birth.
• Added “Filed under Person, Work and Teachings of Christ.”