Episode 147 Show Notes
Is It Okay to Call God ‘Abba’ or ‘Daddy’?
From the Show
What do you think about reading the Bible as literature?
Think of the analogy with Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus Christ is God, he’s more than a mere human being, but he is that, he is a human being. Exactly like us, but without sin. And the same is true of the scriptures, the scriptures are exactly like any other book, but without error. The Holy Spirit preserved the scriptures from error without, in any way, subverting the original personality, or intention, or genre, or style, or historical context of the original writer. Analogous to the fact that Jesus is truly God and truly human, the Bible is truly a human piece of literature, and yet it’s more than that, it’s also God’s Word to us. So, I don’t think that you should look at it in terms of a seesaw, I think sometimes we do this: to the extent that Jesus is divine, he’s not human; to the extent that he’s human, he’s not divine. Or, to the extent that we see evidence of the Bible’s humanity, the limitations of time and place, context and culture, to that extent, it isn’t the Word of God. No, it’s not like a seesaw; one goes up, the other goes down. Rather, it’s affirming both at the same time. It is through its humaneness, it’s through the fact that the Bible is literature, that God speaks his revelation to us. — Michael Horton
Questions in this Episode
1. When Christ was crucified on the cross, he said, “My God, why have You forsaken Me?” How could Jesus who is God be separated from the Father who is also God?
2. How can we call God ‘Abba’ or ‘Daddy’ and not profane God’s holiness or righteousness?
3. What do you think about reading the Bible as literature?
4. Is it unbiblical to leave a church to do ministry at another church?
5. When Jesus makes promises that he will never leave us or forsake us, where do we look to find Jesus in the here and now?
Resources
5 Ways God is Father to the Fatherless
The Bible Is More Like a Library than a Book
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