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NASB | Romans 1:18 ¶ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 1:18 ¶ For [God does not overlook sin and] the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in their wickedness suppress and stifle the truth, |
Subject: response |
Bible Note: Just a quick note: The books and authors I mentioned were not talking about being scholars in theology. They were addressing the near-complete absence of a scholarly, Christian perspective in schools and universities regarding the art and humanities and sciences and other academic disciplines. The other books in that short list criticize how the church of today bears no huge difference between the world, and how that many of the techniques of churches today actually promote the abandonment of the salt and light which sets us apart from it. All of the books deal with why the Christian worldview has been marginalized and diluted in the larger culture, and why Christians are largely responsible for letting this happen. None of them deal directly with the supriority of one evangelical school of thought over another. Sorry if I wasn't clear there! Even though I have not been to seminary (yet), I would disagree that all who go end up being ineffective. Most missionaries have a significant amount of seminary training, and I know of amny ministers who are "on the front lines" as well. For example, D. James Kennedy is the chancellor of Knox Theological Seminary in Florida, but is the creator of Evangelism Explosion, one of the most well-known training programs. Every seminary student there must take classes in the program along with their theology courses to avoid the "ivory tower" mentality that any type of in-depth academic education can bring about. Incidentally, I do think that trained seminarians do not do enough to share their training with others who have not been. Theology is for everyone, not just the seminarian. That used to be a commonplace idea in Protestant churches, you know. I myself am blessed to be part of a church where the teaching elders do indeed take their teaching roles seriously (we currently have one of them teaching a weekly course in systematic theology to small groups, for example). Some of the criticism of the seminary-trained pastor is not merely because many of them do not "get out there," but also because there is quite a huge anti-intellectual bias in American evangelicalism today. Theology must always be put into practice, but one must have a good understanding of who God is and what he requires of us in order to be effectively sharing it with others. Working with teenage missionaries during the summer, I can tell you numerous instances of eagerness in evangelism but really WRONG things coming out of those kids' mouths sometimes. The bottom line is that we must study ourselves to be approved to God, and then act openly and purposefully on what we know to be true. --Joe! |