Linked Together: Setting the Record Straight

regarding some church history stories I’ve read. You may be familiar with these exaggerated or false accounts, too. 

Mrs. B. B. Warfield
“In biographical sketches of Warfield today, it is common to read of Annie’s ill-health, but … the story frequently goes a bit beyond the historical evidence. Reports that she was struck by lightning early in marriage, paralyzed the rest of her life, that Warfield provided meticulous care for his invalid wife for the entirety of their marriage, and such, are common.” —Read the whole post from Fred Zaspel  (Credo Magazine).

Jan Hus
It is very unlikely that the phrase his/her/your goose is cooked came from the story of the martyrdom of Jan Hus (World Wide Words).

Related: A few years ago I posted on what is probably a mythical account of Jan Hus’s last words: Words to Die By and Swan Song for the Goose Quote.

Theological Term of the Week

Great Commission
Christ’s command to “Go … and make disciples of all nations,” given to the apostles after his resurrection, summarizing what his followers are commissioned to do from the time of his ascension until he comes again.

• From scripture:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV)

• From D. A. Carson’s Matthew Commentary (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary), on Christ’s command to “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”:

1. The focus is on Jesus’ commands, not OT law. Jesus’ words, like the words of Scripture, are more enduring than heaven and earth (24:35); and the peculiar expression “everything I have commanded you” is … reminiscent of the authority of Yahweh (Exod. 29:35; Deut 1:3, 41; 7:11; 12:11, 14)… . The revelation of Jesus Messiah at this Scriptures pointed and constitutes their valid continuity; but this means that the focus is necessarily on Jesus.
2. Remarkably, Jesus does not foresee a time when any part of his teaching will be rightly judged needless, outmoded, superseded, or untrue: everything he has commanded must be passed on “to the very end of the age.”
3. What the disciples teach is not mere dogma stepped in abstract theorizing but content to be obeyed.
4. It then follows that by carefully passing on everything Jesus taught, the first disciples—themselves eyewitnesses—call into being new generations of “earwitnesses”. These in turn pass on the truth they received. So a means is provided for successive generations to remain in contact with Jesus’ teachings (cf. 2 Tim. 2:2).
5. Christianity must spread by an internal necessity or it has already decayed; for one of Jesus’ commands is to teach all that he commands. Failure to disciple, baptize and teach the peoples of the world is already itself one of the failures or our own discipleship.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions.org: What is the Great Commission?
2. Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Great Commission 
3. 9Marks: Who is responsible to fulfill the Great Commission?; What does the Great Commission require of local churches?
4. Thabiti Anyabwile: 7 Reasons to Care About the Great Commission 
5. J. Ligon Duncan:  The Great Commission (audio)

Related terms:

• ascension of Jesus
• believer’s baptism
• gospel

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Canonical Bookends

One of the points Michael Kruger makes in Canon Revisited: Establishing the Origins and Authority of the New Testament Books is that Genesis and Revelation form an inclusio (Look it up!) for the canon. The evidence he gives includes a list of connections between Genesis and Revelation.

1. Genesis begins with the creation of the “heavens and earth” (1:1ff.); Revelation ends with re-creation of the “heaven and earth” (21:1).
2. Genesis begins with the theme of paradise in the garden (2:8ff.); Revelation ends with the paradise of heaven (21:4).
3. Genesis begins with the theme of marriage (2:8); Revelation ends with the great wedding of the Lamb (21:9).
4. Genesis begins with a focus on the serpent’s deception (3:1ff.); Revelation ends with the serpent’s destruction (20:10).
5. Genesis begins with the curse being put upon the world (3:14ff.): Revelation ends with the curse being lifted (22:3).
6. Genesis begins by describing the creation of day, night, and the oceans (1:3, 10, 14); Revelation ends with no more need for day (sun), or night, or oceans (21:1; 22:5).
7. Genesis begins with the “tree of life” among the people of God (2:9); Revelation ends with the “tree of life” among the people of God (22:2).
8. Genesis begins with God dwelling with his people (2:8; 3:8); Revelation ends with God finally dwelling with his people again (21:3). 

A few years ago I traced the theme of light through the Bible and noticed that it started at the beginning Genesis and finished at the end of Revelation. You can see from the list above that light isn’t the only theme that unfold at the beginning of our canon and wraps up at the end of it. Altogether, it’s compelling confirmation of the internal unity of the canon of Scripture.