"Do not ask questions, just believe"

Celsus, a 2nd century Greek philosopher & opponant of Christianity wrote in his True Doctrine, "some [Christians] do not even want to give or to receive a reason for what they believe, and use such expressions as 'Do not ask questions; just believe,' and 'Thy faith will save thee.'"

How many Christians today have the same understanding of their faith? Just as belief without reason didn't convince many Greeks, it doesn't convince unbelievers today. In Greek times Christians were mocked for their counter-cultural actions. They were the butts of jokes and easy scapegoats for all things wrong. In today's culture Christians seem to be increasingly disregarded and mocked as well. Could there be a connection?

Even more dangerous than being mocked by non-believers, is not having relevant answers for the next generation of Christians. As large part of my ambitions in seminary will be to challenge and solidify what I believe so that I can, in turn, train other Christians to do the same, especially teenagers and college students who are abandoning the faith of their parents and grandparents at an alarming rate.

Inductive Bible Study

This is an excerpt from a blog about the importance of 1) Inductive Bible Study and 2) learning the original biblical languages by Ajith Fernando.

Those who lead God’s people into understanding God’s Word would be greatly helped if they get a feel of how the Bible was written originally by studying the original languages. It is hard work, and today with all the resources we have to access information quickly, studying what the original language says seems to be very counter-cultural. But our Seminaries are primarily not in the business of producing technicians who know how to handle available resources. They are in the business of nurturing men and women of the Word—people who can not only access resources but also who can think biblically, people who have a close relationship with the greatest wealth there is in the world—the Word of God. It is worth going through rigorous study in order to become more skilled in handling such a great treasure.

This is truly the main thing I am excited about as I launch my seminary career. For so long I have longed to better understand the bible, but didn't know how. This fall I will better learn both Inductive Bible Study (with the book of Matthew) and Greek - and yes, I'm excited. I'm ready to put in the long hours and hard work to do it because quite honestly, I'm tired of being stagnant. As I've heard said, we only change when the pain of remaining the same is greater than that of the pain of change.