We start a new series today at Village Church for the New Year. Dominic Steele is opening up the miracles of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel. Our focus is on the incredible power of Jesus in Matthew 8

9. Abraham and Promise | Biblical Critical Theory by Chris Watkin | Dominic Steele | Daily Bible Time | 6 Jan 2023

This is a super stimulating chapter. One of the ideas that freshly jumped out for me, is how important Promises are. That they are gift.

Watkin has a slightly different framework of God's promise to Abraham, than that taught by my former teacher Graeme Goldsworthy, and I think he persuaded me.

Significantly for Watkin after the promise that God gives Abraham, Abraham's faith is informed, active and dependent. As opposed to the popular culture view of faith which is ignorant, passive and superstitious. https://youtu.be/dYUGkwf0uxM

8. Babel, Judgement and Pride | Biblical Critical Theory by Chris Watkin | Dominic Steele | Daily Bible Time | 4 Jan 2023

In Chapter 8 we see a virtual replay of Genesis 3, as in Chapter 11 of Genesis, humanity asserts is autonomy against God, by building a tower to make a name for ourselves (effectively becoming self creators).

(Although Watkin doesn't say this I noted we are doing this again in social media).

I was helped in this chapter by Watkin helping us see the structure of Augustine's Two Cities, thesis. That it's basically a city of love of God, and a city of love of self. On the one hand each person lives in one of these cities. And yet on the other hand while the non Christian lives in the 'love of self city', the Christian has a life in both cities.

https://youtu.be/gkR0pA5jU3M

7. From Noah to Lamech | Biblical Critical Theory by Chris Watkin | Dominic Steele | Daily Bible Time | 3 Jan 2022

As we get to chapter seven, we move past creation and sin, to less familiar territory.   Issues covered in this chapter are the creation of culture and cities - with their mixture of wonder and corruption.

Two view of Gods interaction with humanity.  The secular 'n shaped performance dynamic vs the biblical u shaped dynamic of God reaching down to us, extending grace, and then us in  response offering our lives and worship to him.

Plus we start to explore the issues fo free will and determinism.  Issues of ecology and the environment introduced by the flood.  And the first discussion in the book on covenant.  All in 12 minutes. Crazy!

6. Sin, Anthropology and Asymmetry | Biblical Critical Theory by Chris Watkin | Dominic Steele | Daily Bible Time | 30 Dec 22

The problem is single lens anthropologists either become pessimistic Eeyore's or or Pollyanna utopians.

But the solution is not a narrow dance in the middle, rather says Chris Watkin we need to be more pessimistic than the pessimist because we recognise the sin at the heart of the human problem can't be expunged by any education, social reform, cash injection or medical intervention, but at the same time more utopian than the utopian, because we believe int eh radical transformation of the human heart, started in this life and completed in the next.

As Chesterton said 'In the best Utopia, I must be prepared for the moral fall of any man in any position at any moment; especially for my fall from my position at this moment.'

https://youtu.be/3gjcrKE9hEQ