Restitutio

Welcome to part three of our parenting class where Dr. Mary Ann Yaconis will help us deal with episodes of anger both within ourselves and our children.  This is such an important issue because childhood anger can lead to serious characterological disorders in adulthood if not dealt with appropriately.  In this episode you’ll learn about what’s underneath anger, what prevents anger, and what provokes anger.  The goal here is to learn how to relate to our children in a godly way that incorporates both age-appropriate discipline and unconditional love.

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Mary Ann Yaconis has served Living Hope Community Church for more than a dozen years in the areas of counseling and hospitality.  She is a licensed Mental Health Counselor with her doctorate degree in pastoral counseling from Loyola University Maryland.  She maintains a full-time counseling practice ,helping scores of people over the years to work through troubling issues.

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In this the second part of our parenting seminar, we will broach the topic of disciplining children.  For many of us, this is the hardest part of parenting.  We’d rather enjoy harmony in our homes rather than having to lay down the law.  Even so, the scriptures call us to do the hard work of holding our children accountable.  In this brief but incredibly helpful episode, you’ll learn about setting proportionate consequences to disobeying, affirming children when they do what is right, taking away privileges like screen time, and the controversial topic of spanking.

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Your teachers for this session are Russell and Joelle Brown, the proud parents of two young children, Hosanna and Isaiah who at the time of this recording were five and three and a half years old.  They live in Rhode Island and serve in several ministries at Living Faith Christian Church.

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For many of us during this COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine has been difficult.  A huge number of us are working from home and those of us with children are home schooling as well.  Add to that cold and rainy spring weather, and you’ve got a perfect storm for challenging parenting.  In an effort to help out, I thought we’d spend a few weeks equipping, challenging, and encouraging parents.

Now, I realize that many of you are not parents, but you may have grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or other children in your life.  I’m sure some of you plan to have children one day as well.  This parenting class will help you both understand ways in which our culture is hurting our children and the how the scriptures can guide us in a better direction.

Our first session is called, “Preparing Our Kids for the Road.” The simple fact is that our children are going to suffer at different times in their lives.  They are going to face failure, rejection, and disappointment.  This is absolutely unavoidable for everyone.  Rather than protecting them from everything, our goal as parents is to prepare them for real life in the real world.

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This is part four of our series on original sin. Last time Kegan Chandler and Jerry Wierwille discussed their different views of original sin and the resultant human condition.  In this final part of our series, we circle back to Romans 5 one last time and both explain how they understand it.  What drives our desire to sin?  Is it our mortality, our toxic environment, or our fallen flesh?  Listen in as these two scholars discuss this important issue.

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This is part three of our series on original sin. In part one, Kegan Chandler discussed the history of Augustine’s doctrine of original sin, arguing that the whole idea is post biblical. Last time Jerry Wierwille responded to Chandler, explaining that we do have solid biblical grounding to believe in some form of inherited original sin based on Romans 5.12-21. Today, we put these two scholars in dialogue with each other.

In today’s episode we being by defining how Chandler and Wierwille understand original sin. Then Chandler lays out his case for a positive view of children in the bible, using Deuteronomy 1.39, Isaiah 7.15-16, Ezekiel 28.15, Isaiah 53.6, Matthew 18.3, Mark 10.13-16, and Romans 9.11, 4.15, 7.8. Next we consider Ephesians 2.1-3, a major text for believing all humans are fallen and sinful as a default.

Although we’ll have to wait until next week to get into Romans 5, this discussion helpfully elucidates two important views on original sin to help you think through your own position.

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In our last episode Kegan Chandler presented his case against the classic doctrine of original sin.  Today we are going to hear a critique from Jerry Wierwille of Chandler’s presentation.  Wierwille makes the case for a middle position between Augustine and Chandler on the basis of the flow of thought in Romans 5.12-21.  He agrees with Augustine that Adam’s sin corrupted human nature so that we are all born with rebelliousness in our hearts.  However, he agrees with Chandler that these impulses are resistible, especially with God’s spirit living within us.  This is part two of a four part series on Original Sin.

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Romans 5.12

Greek

Διὰ τοῦτο ὥσπερ δι᾽ ἑνὸς ἀνθρώπου ἡ ἁμαρτία εἰς τὸν κόσμον εἰσῆλθεν καὶ διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ὁ θάνατος, καὶ οὕτως εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὁ θάνατος διῆλθεν, ἐφ᾽ ᾧ πάντες ἥμαρτον·

Latin

propterea sicut per unum hominem in hunc mundum peccatum intravit et per peccatum mors et ita in omnes homines mors pertransiit in quo omnes peccaverunt

ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned–

Five ways to translate Romans 5.12

Romans 5.12-21

Today we are beginning a new series on original sin based on Kegan Chandler’s presentation from last year, entitled, “Origins of Sin: The New Heretics and the Metaphysics of Disobedience.”  I’m excited about this four part series for a couple of reasons.  First off, I’m glad to host a place where we can discuss genuine theological differences in a respectful and constructive way.  So often in Christianity today, there’s just not an opportunity for peer review.  Well, here on Restitutio, we are going to do just that.  Secondly, I’m excited because this is an important topic that many of us have not through.  Oftentimes until someone challenges our beliefs, we just go with the flow.  However, whether we realize it or not, that flow was determined long ago by Christians whose reasoning may or may not stand up to scrutiny today.

In what follows Chandler is going to present his case that the idea of original sin goes back to Augustine who combined bits and pieces from earlier Christians like Cyprian and the Manicheans.  Now, this is a strong position Chandler takes.  Essentially, he argues that the doctrine of original sin is not native to scripture, an innovation of the fifth century. If Chandler is right then all of us are born neutral without the stain of Adam’s sin upon us.  Furthermore, Christians need to stop making excuses for sinning and realize that we can live without sin.

Next week, I’ll air part two, which will be Jerry Wierwille’s critique of this presentation.  Then I have two more interviews where Chandler and Wierwille discuss this topic at length.

Also, I took notes on Chandler’s presentation which may help you navigate your way through this talk as well as show you the spelling for these ancient Christians in case you want to research any of them further.  (See below.)

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Augustine’s Doctrine Defined

This is the sixth and final part of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class. In this panel discussion Josh Anderson, Jerry Wierwille, and I discuss several issues before taking questions from the audience.  Questions we cover include:

If you haven’t yet, check out the previous episodes in this six-part series here.

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We are living in an unprecedented time. As many of you know, I live in New York, the state with the most positive coronavirus cases in America. In my lifetime, I have never seen a disease spread like this all around the world. This pandemic is taking lives every day even if most of us who get it will probably recover in a week or two. We’ve seen hoarding and panic, but neither of these is fitting for Christ-followers in this time. Thankfully, we are not without guidance on how to behave in these times, for we have the scriptures, the example of Jesus, and the historical record of those who went through much worse plagues than COVID-19.

From all of this, I have come to see that we have been in training for this moment all our Christian lives. We have learned the priorities of loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. We have learned to pray, to read scripture, to repent of our sins, to live out the fruit of the spirit. And we have learned that through Christ, God has decisively defeated death, leaving behind an empty tomb and rock solid hope in his return to resurrect the saints. This hope is not wishy-washy or nebulous, but the anchor of our souls–a concrete expectation that when Messiah comes, he will make everything wrong with the world right.

However, our unbelieving friends, neighbors, coworkers, acquaintances, and family members, do not have the example of Jesus. They do not have a hope to anchor them through the storms of life. They have only the news, their instincts for self-preservation, and the uncertainty of the future. Now is our time to let our lights shine before people so that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father who is in heaven. Now is our time to be salt, the seasoning that grabs attention rather going with the flow. Now is our time to share the good news with people who are asking the big questions like “What happens when I die?” or “What’s the meaning of life?” or “Is there a God?” This is your chance to practice cross-shaped love, self-sacrificial generosity, and heroic kindness.

Although, I’ve thought about interrupting this evangelism class, honestly, I can’t think of a better topic for your consideration today than this evangelism session. This is part five of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class.  Today you’ll learn how to diagnose people’s spiritual condition, based on five thresholds that they typically cross on their way to becoming a Christians as well as how to handle objections. This approach will relieve pressure from you of thinking you have to convert someone in just one conversation and it will provide guidance to know what to do to help them along to the next threshold.

Now, I did want to mention that in this episode Anderson seems to equate the kingdom of God with the church. Although these two are obviously close ideas theologically, strictly speaking the kingdom arrives at the second coming. We are the citizens of the kingdom who preach the gospel of the kingdom while living out the kingdom ethics in anticipation of the kingdom, and there’s no question that the Jesus is already the crowned king who has inaugurated his kingdom in seed form, but we await his return for the consummation when the meek will inherit the earth and God will heal our world. So, I just wanted make that point that the kingdom is still primarily future.

In light of the topic of evangelism during the pandemic, I’m interested in hearing your stories. Have any of you seen opportunities to testify about your faith or open doors to speak to folks in this crazy time of pandemic? How have you been dealing with it? Leave a comment below or check out our facebook group.

This is part four of Joshua Anderson’s Announcing the Kingdom evangelism class.  Francis of Assisi allegedly said, “Preach the gospel at all times; use words if necessary.”  Sadly, many of us have taken this way of thinking as an excuse to remain silent.  However, as Anderson points out, the scriptures specifically call us to open our mouths and use words (Romans 10).  In fact, remaining silent can actually disprove Christianity, especially if you work really hard to show Christian love, but never mention your faith.  People will assume you are a well-adjusted non-believer and may even use you as an example of why they don’t need to look into Christianity!

In this episode, Anderson shares two secret tools of the missionary craft that he learned when he went off with his family to be missionaries in Japan. The first is running a language route and the second has two do with parties.  I don’t want to give a way too much, but these common sense strategies have the potential to get you back on track reaching people with God’s love.

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