An Open Letter to Don Carson

Dr Carson,

Let me first say how glad I am that you have got involved in this topic*. On the other hand I do wish Theologians like you and John Piper would talk to Missiologists like Martin Goldsmith and David Bosch (were he still alive), and vice versa. Otherwise what tends to happen is the Theologians give a doctrinal answer, which is rather conservative, and the Missiologists give a pragmatic answer, which is based on the situation they have observed out there where the rubber hits the road, but the two don't match up at all. What we need is for some serious listening, serious debate, and even more importantly for each to be mini-experts in the other person's field. So Theologians (including church leaders) should have experience in Mission work, preferably overseas. Missiologists should have degrees in Theology, keep their Theological learning up-to-date, and spend time talking to home-based church leaders. Without this mutual understanding we will never reach agreement. I know that's an ideal, but we need to be committed to excellence in all that we do, so let's aim high.

As for your article, let me comment on your three final observations:

'First, the new approach to Bible translation is in danger of cutting off its ‘converts’ from the history of the confessionalism of the universal church. It is not a light thing to stand aloof from the authority of those early councils and creeds.' - Good point, and I agree whole-heartedly. The only thing we can do is keep trying to meet with the leaders of the new movements in Muslim countries. If they are willing to keep meeting with us, despite our differences (and the perceived threat from Western 'Big Brother' churches), some progress can be made.

'Second, a considerable literature has arisen from Muslim-convert believers who are aghast at these developments, arguing on both technical and personal grounds that these new translations are the product of Westerners who are imposing their work on local churches.' - True, but many of those who have left Islam have also left or been forced out of their communities. They have then found refuge in Western or Christian-culture communities. For example those in Turkey might start going to an Armenian or Greek church, rather than a Turkish one. This is very common, and means that they are having fellowship with those who are traditionally against the Turks. This causes them to take up views which are contrary to their upbringing, some of which are unnecessarily negative towards the culture or cultures from which they originate (I'm using the famous British understatement here, I hope you picked that up!).

'Third, the spread of the gospel in the early church saw the dissemination of Scripture along with the provision of missionaries and pastors. One wonders if at least some of the tensions over Bible translations spring from providing translations without simultaneously providing missionaries and pastors.' - Well I have never heard of such a thing happening. All the translations I know are being carried out in areas where either the church asked for it in the first place, or where the church grew very quickly, with church leaders who were using the translation. In very remote, pioneer situations there are often two couples, one of which spends time working in church-planting, and the other in translation work. The couples work closely together, so the translation team are well aware of the need for certain books of the Bible to be translated prior to others (e.g. Genesis before Esther, to pick an obvious example). If the translation is being carried out in an area where there are both Muslims and Christians, then the team try to listen to the majority Christian view-point, while producing a translation that isn't unnecessarily foreign-sounding to the Muslim reader's ears. For example, it is possible to translate Elohim/Theos (God) as Allah, or as Tanry in Turkish. The vast majority of Turks would use Allah for Elohim, so it makes sense to have Allah in a translation for Muslims. Tanry would only appeal to the minority secular audience, who don't, in any case, want to read the Qur'an or the Bible. This is an acceptable translation, just as acceptable as 'God' was when first chosen by the translators of the Bible into English (though they had the advantage of several centuries since the demise of the Norse religions that once used the term). If Tanry were chosen, those from a Muslim background simply wouldn't read it. That would be unfortunate, to say the least.

Lastly, a comment on these statistics: ' ...yet when certain tests are made, 46% of such converts avow they prefer to read the Qur’an than the Bible and 72% continue to think of Muhammad as the final prophet. How many of these conversions are spurious?' - I would like to know where these statistics come from, who made them, and at what point in the person's life? If it is within the first year or two (or five?) of their life following Jesus, then of course they are likely to think of Muhammed as the final prophet (after Jesus). It takes time to realise that Jesus is the only name given by God, the only rescuer, the only hope. For a period of one-five years after becoming a believer in 'Isa' (the Arabic version of 'Jesus'), the person struggles with thoughts of returning to Islam, of visiting shrines, of wearing amulets, or using charms. That is their old way of life and it doesn't always disappear overnight. If someone in the US or the UK takes six months to adapt and leave their old way of life, it's going to take ten times as long for someone in Saudi Arabia. Let us not be unaware, my brothers and sisters, of the seriousness of a Muslim turning to faith in Jesus the Messiah. They may lose their life. They are likely to lose the support of their family and friends. They need our prayers, not our criticism.

Here are links to my own papers on the subject:

http://www.samarkand.webspace.virginmedia.com/papers/context_transl_dkg1.pdf

http://www.samarkand.webspace.virginmedia.com/papers/context_transl_dkg2.pdf

See also Christianity Today http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/january-february/insider-movement-islam-wheres-jesus.html 

Yours, in Christ, Dave G

*Don Carson has a new book out, 'Jesus, the Son of God'. If you haven't got it, have a read of this summary:

http://www.e-n.org.uk/6122-Jesus-the-Son-of-God.htm

Glorious One

There is a better way
We have a better hope
We have a priest on high
Dressed in fine linen
And robes of righteousness
The angels praise His name

You are the risen One
You are the Son
You are the glorious One I love

You took on mortal flesh
Put on humanness
Shared our sufferings
Yet we see You now
At God's right hand on high
Robed in majesty

You are the risen One
You are the Son
You are the glorious One I love

There is a better way
We have a better hope
We have a priest on high
Dressed in fine linen
And robes of righteousness
The angels praise His name

You are the risen One
You are the Son
You are the glorious One I love

David Gray, December 2012

God's Heart for Mission

The church is the centre of God's activity on earth. But not the local church, it is the church worldwide. We don't have a mission, God has a mission. The church worldwide is His body. Local church is an expression of that:

We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace. 

You learned about the Good News from Epaphras, our beloved co-worker. He is Christ's faithful servant, and he is helping us on your behalf. He has told us about the love for others that the Holy Spirit has given you.  Colossians 1:3-8, NLT

For most of us our own jobs, homes, families are at the centre. For some the local church is at the centre. What we want to see is Jesus at the centre, and to achieve that we need to take part in what he is doing. His work while on earth was to move onto the next town to see God's Kingdom grow there as well (Mrk 1:35-39).

This has to affect everything, including the way we do theological education. Instead of training ordinands in theology, church history, pastoral studies, and then at some point mission, we should train them in mission, with all other training as part of that. Often mission is seen as a plug-in, something the church might, at some point, get involved in. Instead we should see church as a part of a larger whole that is encompassed by what God is doing worldwide, albeit through Jesus' body on earth, the church. Mission is not an optional extra, it is at the heart of what God is doing, and it is on God's heart. Please let it be in our hearts too!

Lord Send Revival, Start with Me

We don't hear much about revival these days. Perhaps it's because we haven't had one in England for so long - probably since the Pentecostal awakening at the beginning of the 20th century, or the Wesleyan revival before that. Wales and Scotland have both had revivals more recently, but England has been left behind. Most of us agree that revivals can't be started by us, it is a work of the Holy Spirit. We can, however, prepare for revival. Here's how:

1. Begin to expect revival, to look for it, wait for it. Spend time on our knees asking for revival to come.
2. Get rid of any sin in our lives, and experience the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit. 
3. Read about revivals in church history. Learn what the Bible teaches about revival.

Actually the scriptures mainly talk about restoration more than revival. One key phrase in the OT, 'restore the fortunes' [of God's people Isra'el] occurs again and again (Psalm 14:7; 126:4; Zeph 3:20...). The Old Testament context is one of exile - God's people were taken off to captivity in Babylon, and only slowly allowed to return to their land under the Persian king Cyrus, as a result of prophecies that God would restore His people. Ultimately Jesus the Messiah brought complete restoration to those from his people the Jews and from the nations (the gentiles) who follow him by bringing them into the kingdom. We should long for God's Kingdom to grow, and for us as God's people to be restored. God's Spirit will also create in us a desire to see His honour restored:

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;

bring an offering and come into his courts. 

Worship the Lord in the splendor of his a holiness;

tremble before him, all the earth.  (Psalm 96:8)

God's glory is His and His alone, and he will not give it to another (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). Let's begin by repenting of all the ways we have taken His glory to ourselves...

David Gray

Beauty

I just heard a sermon on beauty. The verse quote was Psalm 27:4, which goes like this:

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. ESV

The trouble is GNB has ‘goodness’, NET ‘spendour’, NLT ‘perfections’ and CEV ‘[see] how wonderful [he is]’. So the best question to ask is, ‘What is the root Hebrew word?’ It is no`am which means ‘kindness’ or ‘pleasantness’.

The only place where it might possibly mean ‘beautiful’ is in Song of Songs 7:6, where it is translated as ‘pleasant’, but is used in parallel with ‘beautiful’:

How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights! ESV

This could make them close synonyms, so we should then think of the word as meaning ‘gorgeous’ or something like that, especially in the context of the passage where it can be found:

How beautiful your sandalled feet, O prince's daughter! Your graceful legs are like jewels, the work of a craftsman's hands.  ² Your navel is a rounded goblet that never lacks blended wine. Your waist is a mound of wheat encircled by lilies.  ³ Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle.  ⁴ Your neck is like an ivory tower. Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon by the gate of Bath Rabbim. Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon looking towards Damascus.  ⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses.  ⁶ How beautiful you are and how pleasing, O love, with your delights!  ⁷ Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit.  ⁸ I said, "I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit." May your breasts be like the clusters of the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples,  ⁹ and your mouth like the best wine…

But in most cases the word does just mean ‘pleasant’ or ‘delightful’. We should therefore be careful about preaching long sermons on the beauty of the Lord. The word translated ‘beautiful’ in Song of Songs 7:6 is yafeh. This is found twice in the Psalms, once to describe the king (45:2), and once about mount Zion (48:2), which is the temple hill in Jerusalem. The king was originally an earthly king, but the Psalm is definitely Messianic, so we would be perfectly justified in understanding ‘Jesus Christ’ where we see ‘king’, but not God. This means that there basically isn’t a verse where the word ‘beautiful’ is used to describe God (true though it may be that God is beautiful).

So, it is probably not a good idea to read no`am as meaning ‘beautiful’ in Psalm 27:4, tempting though it may be. Sorry, preacher, it might be time to learn some Hebrew!

Is Balance Biblical?

Seems to me it's very British to be pro-balance. We like to take the middle ground, whether in politics or theology or in whatever area of life you look at. We Brits do not like extremism. We don't like to talk things up too much. Our football team usually does well but not brilliantly. Somehow we are now in the Euro finals without having played an outstanding game. How did that happen? It's all part of the British malaise.

In contrast the Bible tends to put down two extremes and let us try to work out how to live. For instance Paul tells us to work and rest in one breath:

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Php 2:12-13

How can you work out your own salvation while trusting that is God who works in us? There is something of a conundrum there.

Even more striking are some of the 'hard sayings' (as FF Bruce called them) of Jesus:

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple. Luk 14:26

How can it be right to hate your family? It seems against all cultural good sense even now, and at that time and in that culture it must have been even more shocking. Here's another one:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. Mat 5:43-45a

Now this is just hard to do. It is also against all common sense, but we know that Jesus himself practised it, and passed it onto those who came after him.

So balance may not be as biblical as we might think. A more important value is zeal:

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Rom 12:11

How can we keep our zeal in these lackadasical, apathetic, post-modern times when each of us keeps our beliefs as privately as possible for fear of offending others (the biggest crime out there)? The answer is not to be afraid to confront wrong, but do so quietly and confident of the Lord's approval of our actions. We also need to know that God is in charge, and we are, with the rest of humankind, answerable to Him. It is not our job to judge. God is just, and he will decide all things in the future. He is also patient with us, and allows us to stray from Him at times so that it will be our love for Him (and a sense of His love for us) that draws us back. That is why we see so many problems in the world. It is not that God is far off, but that He loves to woo us rather than hit us over the head with the truth. May we have the grace to mirror this in our behaviour to others!

For further reading: FF Bruce 'The Hard Sayings of Jesus' http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=the+hard+sayings+of+jesus&tag=googhydr-21&index=stripbooks&hvadid=7880267329&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7889344151829630944&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&ref=pd_sl_35pyhmjbvc_b 

All Nations

1 May God be merciful and bless us.

May his face smile with favor on us. Interlude

2 May your ways be known throughout the earth,

your saving power among people everywhere.

3 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

4 Let the whole world sing for joy,

because you govern the nations with justice

and guide the people of the whole world. Interlude

5 May the nations praise you, O God.

Yes, may all the nations praise you.

6 Then the earth will yield its harvests,

and God, our God, will richly bless us.

7 Yes, God will bless us,

and people all over the world will fear him. (Psalm 67 NLT)

The main purpose God wants to achieve in the OT is not the blessing of Israel – but the blessing of All Nations through Israel.

 ‘All Nations’ goes back to Gen 12:1-3 (v3 it is mishpahah ‘all families’ or ‘all clans’). Often the word for nations is goyyim. It can be negative (= ‘gentiles’) or positive, as in those God wants to draw to Himself, through His covenant people Israel.

There is a strong link between mission and blessing. ‘…make his face to shine’ from Numbers 6. Means to show favour. ‘Two men reported that Rabbi Abbahu had found a treasure. When they were asked how did they know, they replied: "Because his face shines".' To make one’s face shine for the towards another person means to show him favour, as in Pro 16:15.

The ultimate goal is believers v7; worshipers Jhn 4:23 (those worshiping in spirit and truth).

Mission in the OT is to do with drawing other nations towards Jerusalem to worship Yahweh, the one true God Isa 56:6-7. The foreigners actually become servants i.e. priests! The Old Testament context is important. We find ‘gods’ in Psa 95:3; 96:4-5. Each nation had their own ‘god’. Yahweh is King above all the gods, which are only idols. So the ancient Israelites had a belief based on Monolatry not Monotheism. Monolatry is 'the exclusive worship of one god without excluding the existence of others' (online dictionary). The gods of other nations were real to them even if considered merely idols by true believers in Israel.

Mission is centrifugal in the NT. Philip and Ethiopian. There are ripples outwards in Acts as first Jews, then God-fearers, then Gentiles are converted and filled with the Holy Spirit.

It’s not about us, it’s about Mission and the Kingdom of God!