Patreon Q&A

Knowing Faith

Jen Wilkin, JT English, and Kyle Worley answer questions submitted by patrons of Knowing Faith.

Questions Covered in This Episode:

• In the book of Proverbs, in times where wisdom is personified, is it fair to read that as if Christ himself is speaking or being described since he is the perfect embodiment of the wisdom of God? It seems the most obvious in chapters 1, 8, and 9. Are there any misinterpretations possible in seeing those passages purely as words of Christ?
• Is some sort of ministry/biblical studies degree important/helpful for leaders in the local church? (Aside from the pastor.)
• How does the book of Job fit in with the story of Genesis? Does it?
• What is one intentional thing you have done with your young children where you really felt you saw fruit from it in later years?
• Can you give some insight on Molinism and how that coincides with or goes against the Reformed position?
• When I was a kid growing up in a Baptist church, it was always the pastor who baptized people. I have noticed that occasionally the pastors at other churches in our community will allow others to baptize people. I am just curious when that shift came and does the Bible have any specifics on who can baptize?
• One of the things I appreciate so much about y'all is how unashamedly trinitarian you are and how unashamedly trinitarian you encourage Christians to be. It seems as if part of this is to view every act of God in the Bible as something in which the whole trinity is involved. While one person may be the primary agent, there is still involvement from the other two persons. So, my question along those lines is what was the work of the Holy Spirit at the crucifixion? Romans 8 talks about the Father giving up the son. John 10 and 1 John 3 talks about Jesus laying down his life for the glory of the Father, but there seems to be no mention of what the Spirit was doing or how He was acting in the crucifixion. How then do we see the crucifixion as an act of the entire trinity?
• Y'all have alluded to the uniqueness of the preaching event on Sunday mornings, specifically as it relates to complementarianism - what exactly do you mean by that? Why do we believe that the worship service & preaching event on Sunday mornings is unique?
• How do you regard the LXX (in terms of translation accuracy)? Is it essentially equivalent to English translations or should we give it extra weight?
• Since you are fans of The West Wing, I am curious if you’ve seen Newsroom.
• Best books (in addition to the Bible) for someone who has been a Christian for years but is new to reformed theology?
• Do you have any tips for facilitating deeper and more open discussion at Bible study?
• How do you evaluate the effectiveness of women’s Bible studies and determine when to make changes when the same format has been in place for 20+ years?
• How do you understand the word/title “Lord/kurios” in NT vs. OT? In the NT, it seems almost always a title applied to Jesus. In the OT (LXX), “Lord/kurios'' is also used in place of “Yahweh”. Should we be making some special connection there? (I.e. connecting Jesus and Yahweh) How should we understand this trinitarianly? Also, any thoughts about “Yahweh” (God’s personal name) being replaced with “Lord/kurios” (a title) in the LXX? (Do you think they were correct that we should not say “Yahweh/YHWH” because it is too holy?)
• Is it possible to idolize the Bible?
• I’m curious as to what your take is on what seems to be a movement towards lessening (in some sense) some of the OT miracles of God. The primary example I can point to is within the translation of the Red Sea as a “sea of reeds.” Lately, I feel like this has been presented as yes God did part a body of water, but it wasn’t really the Red Sea as we know, and while a miracle it was something far less impressive. The second example I can think of is the fall of Jericho as simply 6-foot mud walls in a small, vulnerable military outpost.
• I just finished JT’s book. I would love to hear an example of how JT could see this working in a small church of around 100.
• I think the conversation on Christophany is interesting. I’m just curious about this: if what appeared to Abraham or Hagar or in the furnace or whatever was a pre-incarnate Jesus, why is it important to call this the Son and not Jesus?
• What are some good ways to discuss sexual ethics with nonbelievers? A family member recently left the church because they found popular sexual ethics (LGTQ+, trans, and personal “freedom”) to be more just and fair than biblical sexual ethics. They did this without personal lifestyle motivation; they’re in a happy marriage. Quoting Bible verses doesn’t help nonbelievers because they disagree with those verses. What is a good logical way to explain God’s plan for sexuality without simply saying “because God said so”? That doesn’t lead to discussion or convince people because they think it’s arbitrary and judgmental.

Helpful Definitions:

• Molinism: God possesses knowledge not merely of all that is, all that isn’t, but all that could be. This knowledge is called middle knowledge. All the maybes and what-ifs. Luis de Molina proposed this idea as a way of helping reconcile free will and God's sovereignty. God could see every potential world that could possibly exist and subsequently chose to actualize a world in which there was the maximum amount of human free will and the minimum amount of evil as collateral damage. He could do this because he doesn’t just know the world that is, he doesn’t just know the world that isn’t, he knows every possible world that could be and he has chosen to actualize that world.
• Trinitarianism: God eternally exists as one essence in three distinct persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each of whom is fully God, yet there is One God.
• LXX or Septuagint: Greek translation of the Old Testament
• Natural Law Tradition: A very robust way of talking about human design that does not rely on the evidences of scripture. A way of reasoning that is informed as much by the laws of logic as it is by the witness of scripture. Example: The law of noncontradiction states that something cannot be A and non-A at the very same time.

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Romans Resources
• “Family Discipleship” by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin
• Family Discipleship Podcast: Twitter, Instagram, Facebook
• “Chosen by God” by R.C. Sproul
• Training the Church
• “Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law” by J. Budziszewski

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