The apostle Paul encouraged believers to work with their hands so that they could give to those who are in need.
However, much of our giving supports church ministry, particularly paying the wages of full-time Christian workers. In addition, there are numerous para-church organizations who frequently appeal for money to support their ministry. There is a lot of competition for the Christian dollar. Is financial support for Christian ministry diverting funds away from the poor?
Paul says that gospel workers deserve financial support, but he did not exercise that right. Paul and his co-workers worked with their hands to supply for their own needs and offered the gospel free of charge. They did this to not be a burden on anyone and to be an example to others. And what was Jesus’ approach? This presentation also covers the historical development of church organisations from
• voluntary shared leadership from elders, to
• power and control centred on the bishop.
This was changed somewhat during the reformation, with emphasis on the priesthood of all believers, but do we have the balance right, and should unpaid lay Christians be more involved in church ministry rather than relying on the minister/pastor to do it on our behalf?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
During the first 300-400 years after Jesus’ ministry, the early church formalised the doctrine of the trinity and finalised what books would be included in the New Testament canon. The orthodox believed that there was one God in 3 persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ is eternally pre-existent, divine and became incarnate as a human being through the virgin Mary. However. the orthodox position was strongly contested by a range of ‘heresies’. There were those who taught:
• Jesus was just a man and was neither pre-existent nor divine (e.g., the Ebionites),
• Jesus was a man, but was adopted as son of God at his baptism or resurrection (adoptionism), or
• Jesus Christ was divine, but his humanity was an illusion (Docetism)
All of these positions deny either Christ’s divinity or humanity.
In “The orthodox corruption of scripture”, Bart Ehrmann claimed that, when copying the New Testament manuscripts, orthodox scribes modified (corrupted) some of the New Testament text to strengthen the orthodox position and refute the heretics. These variants were sometimes introduced prior to the earliest extant manuscripts thus creating uncertainty regarding what the original authors wrote. Textual criticism is the science of resolving the differences between the New Testament manuscripts to recover what the New Testament authors actually wrote. What Bart Ehrmann is saying is true to a degree. There are variants where scholars debate which is the original and you can see them in the Biblical footnotes (some manuscripts …). I go through some examples and then discuss the following issues:
• How bad is the uncertainty in our knowledge of the what the authors wrote?
• Does it affect our beliefs or theology?
• Does it affect the historicity of the Biblical accounts?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
On the 12th September 2024, Kevin Rogers presented a talk on “Is Jesus God?”
Orthodox Christians claim that Jesus Christ was pre-existent and is both man and divine. The doctrine of the Trinity is that there are 3 persons, but one God. However, the term ‘Trinity’ is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible. So: What are the arguments for Christ’s divinity? How did the doctrine of the trinity develop? What were the alternative beliefs? What do current unorthodox sects believe? Is belief in the Trinity necessary or helpful, or Is the doctrine of the Trinity unnecessary baggage?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. After a 40-year engineering career, he was a Research Fellow and lecturer with the University of South Australia but is now mainly retired.
On the 27th June, Stephen White spoke on the Pentecostal/charismatic movement.
At the Global Christian Forum in Accra, Ghana, 16-20 April 2024, Dr. Gina Zurlo, co-director of the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, pointed to the surprising statistic that today 44% of Protestant Christians reside in Africa:
“The Pentecostal Charismatic Movement, originating in the early 20th century, has become a hallmark of Global South faith, encompassing diverse manifestations within classical Pentecostalism, the Catholic Charismatic Movement, and other charismatic movements. Wherever Christianity spread, and in the 20th century, the Pentecostal charismatic movement spread with it. It appears that the future of global Christianity seems to be Pentecostal.”
The Pentecostal Charismatic movement hails back to the founding of the church on the Jewish Harvest Festival Feast of Weeks, 50 days after Passover (7 weeks or 50 days Pentecostal in Greek) when Jesus died and rose again. From that time many miracles were performed by the Apostles and other members of the church. The first one was speaking the gospel in languages understood by Jews from other parts of the world gathered for the festival.
In St Paul’s first recorded letter to the Corinthian church, about 55AD, he lists the charismatic gifts and places some restrictions on how they should be used in orderly church meetings.
After the completion of the recognized New Testament books recordings of miraculous signs seemed to lapse until just over 100 years ago when they burst out at the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles in 1906.
Since then, the Pentecostal Charismatic movement has spread widely particularly in Africa and Latin America, as well as in Australia and the USA.
R.T. Kendall, former minister at Westminster Chapel in London, has said that the Word Churches and Spirit Churches have much to learn from each other, and both recent Popes have encouraged their flock to encourage the charismatic movement in the Catholic church.
Stephen White has had a career as a physicist and is now retired. He has been a very supportive member of the Reasonable Faith Adelaide committee for a number of years.
The wrath of God is not a popular or frequent topic for Sunday sermons. There is more focus on the positive aspects of the Biblical message. Why upset people? Will it offend people? Will it help build a church? Is it an apologetic liability?
However, it is mentioned frequently in the Bible and is a common theme from Old Testament prophets.
It is also a common topic of ridicule cited by Christianity’s opponents. Thus their criticisms should be considered and answered carefully. Otherwise, we fiddle while Rome burns.
Also, is the Biblical teaching on the wrath of God part of the whole counsel of God, and is our proclamation deficient if we ignore or suppress it?
Dr Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide. He was an electrical engineer and then became a lecturer, researcher, and research supervisor at the University of South Australia. He is now mostly retired but continues with part-time research. He is also learning New Testament Greek, attends Ingle Farm Baptist Church and is blessed with a wife, 4 children and 8 grandchildren.
Does Religion Cause Wars? The short answer is: “Yes and No”. Consider the type of person who rhetorically asks this question and who answers passionately in the affirmative. Such zealots nearly always focus on Christianity rather than religion in general, and ignore their own religion. What is meant by “Religion”? It needs careful definition.
People who claim to be Christian have caused wars. So have people of other religions, e.g. Islam, Buddhism. People who claim to have no religion have also caused wars. Is there an identifier of all the people who have caused wars? And, if there is, what can we do about it?
The real question is: What can be done to eliminate wars? Is it even possible?
Geoff Russell was a professional electrical engineer. He has a Bachelor of Engineering with Honours from the University of Adelaide, a post-graduate Diploma in Engineering & Computer Applications and an Associate in Theology from the Bible College of South Australia. Geoff now lives in Warrnambool and is now an Associate Pastor at a local Baptist Church and the Chaplain at the Warrnambool Campus of Deakin University.
The Bible describes events that have certain geographical implications. This results in some debate that require interpretations.
In 1858 when Antonio Snider-Pelligrini produced his global map of a super-continent he was mocked by scholars but his theory led to more helpful investigations.
When the Apostle Paul addressed the scholars in Athens he appealed to the claim that the true God was the creator of the world and who founded the early nations and their regions. What is the evidence for this claim outside the Bible?
Defining the route of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their 40 years of wandering has many candidates. Are there some clues for the required logic?
Archaeology and topographic logic can be used to identify many of the sites of biblical Israel. Even today this topic causes passionate responses among scholars and politicians.
The New Testament describes key events in the life of Jesus. Where are some of the important locations?
The Apostle John was given a profound geographical description of the final destiny of the earth. Is it real or a surreal imagination?
Trevor Harris has an Honours degree in Architecture and a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning. He has practiced in these areas for 45 years. Twenty years ago he formed a company Key-line Christian Research dedicated to identifying and researching Bible sites and their history. This has included extensive field trips to the Middle East.
C.S. Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He was a gifted academic and held positions in English literature at both Oxford University and Cambridge University. He is best known as the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, but he is also noted for his other works of fiction, such as The Screwtape Letters and The Space Trilogy. He is also well known for his works on Christian apologetics, including Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain.
Lewis became an atheist in his teens. However, in his 30s he converted to Christianity under the influence of J.R. Tolkien, author of ‘Lord of the rings’. Lewis described himself as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.”
Lewis had a particular style of apologetics. His Christian world view infects most of his fictional works, but his explicit main arguments for Christian belief were arguments from desire, reasoning, and morality. Are these still effective today?
Kenneth Richard Samples earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy and social science from Concordia University and his M.A. in theological studies from Talbot School of Theology. He is a senior research scholar at Reasons To Believe (RTB). He uses his knowledge to help others find the answers to life’s questions and encourages believers to develop a logically defensible faith and challenges sceptics to engage Christianity at a philosophical level.
Bethlehem features in a number of Old Testament events which have prophetic significance. It is the setting of the Christmas story which is celebrated by many millions world-wide.
Bethlehem is now a Palestinian town that is a popular destination for tourists and pilgrims to visit. The sacred sites include:
The City of David (historic) with its wells,
The Church of the Nativity (built on Jesus’ birth location),
The Shepherd’s Field (2 contested sites),
The Field of Boaz, and
Rachael’s tomb (under Israeli control).
What is the evidence for these locations? In 135 AD the Romans established a pagan shrine and grove over the traditional site of Jesus’ birth. This site has a fascinating history – so is it correct? The other sites of Bethlehem also have controversy, so how likely are they genuine?
Trevor Harris has visited Bethlehem six times and has investigated these sites. He will present and assess the evidence.
In the first century Christianity (especially in the person of Jesus) raised the status of women dramatically in comparison with the prevailing Greek, Roman and Jewish cultures. Women played a key role in the rise of Christianity within the Roman empire. In fact, Christianity was mocked for being a religion filled with women.
However, some of the contemporary cultural male/female roles and practices (such as head coverings) were maintained, which now seem out of touch with modern egalitarian western views, especially those arising from the feminist movement. This is sometimes an object of ridicule that may cause some to dismiss Christianity as old-fashioned and irrelevant. So, is there an essential difference between a Biblical view and modern western values? If so, who is right?
The topics that will be discussed are:
What is sexism?
What were the cultural influences in the 1st century?
What does Genesis say?
How were women viewed in the Old Testament?
How did Jesus treat women?
What were Paul’s views on the role of women?
Are they still applicable?
How should we respond?
I would have preferred that this topic be presented by a woman, but I am the only one who has put their hand up so far; and I happen to be a man.
Kevin Rogers is the director of Reasonable Faith Adelaide and is a member of Ingle Farm Baptist Church. He is also an engineering researcher and research supervisor at the University of South Australia.
