Thinking Theology

How can God be one and three? How can Jesus be God and yet not another God? And what about the Spirit, where does he fit in? In the last episode of Thinking Theology, we saw that God promised in the Old Testament that a day would arrive when he would come in person to save his people and be with them. But astonishingly, that happened in the coming of the man Jesus. Jesus did all the things that only God himself does like creating the world, miracles and forgiving sins. Jesus showed himself to be God, distinct from the Father. But how does that work? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. We’re thinking about the Trinity—one God in three persons.

Who is Jesus? The identity of Jesus lies at the very heart of Christianity. But what is it about Jesus that’s so important? In the last episode we looked at the problem of sin. God made the world good. He made a world without death and decay. He made a world in which humanity could dwell with him in love and fellowship, ruling over and developing God’s world under him. But the world is not like that anymore. It’s broken. And the reason it’s broken is because human beings have sought to rule themselves and God’s world without God. We’ve tried to get rid of God. The result is judgement, which is seen immediately in death and decay, and in a world groaning under the wrath of God. But ultimately, the result is eternal separation from God. So what’s the solution? The solution, quite simply, is Jesus. And not just what Jesus has done, but who he is. But who is Jesus? That’s what we’re beginning to think about this episode of Thinking Theology.

What is sin? Where did it come from? How has it affected us as human beings? How has it effected the world in which we live? In the last episodes of Thinking Theology we saw that God created human beings. He created human beings to reflect him, to rule over the world under him. He made us to relate to him. But things are no longer as they were created to be. Our world is broken and we are broken. But what happened to get us from there to here? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology.

In the last episode of Thinking Theology we thought about what it means to be human. Who has God made us to be? In this bonus episode I sit down with Rob Smith, one of my colleagues at SMBC. Rob teaches theology, ethics as well as music ministry. Rob has just completed his PhD on what the Bible has to say about gender. He's written a short book on that topic too. But in this episode I'm talking with Rob about what it means to be embodied. What does that Bible have to say about human bodies.

What does it mean to be human? Are we different or special? Or are we just another animal? And what do we do with ourselves? Do we have a purpose? In the last episodes of Thinking Theology we saw that God created the world, that he upholds the world every moment, that he is in control of everything that happens, but in such a way that our actions are still meaningful. Now we’re moving on to think in more detail about who God has created us to be as human beings.

If God is in control of everything that happens in the universe, where does that leave us as human beings? Do we have a say? Do we have any meaningful choice? Are we just robots? And if we make meaningful choices, where does that leave God and his sovereignty over the world? In the last episode of Thinking Theology we saw how God upholds the world at every moment. God is in control of everything. He’s in control of the natural world, human events, individual life, human decisions, including faith and salvation. He’s even sovereign in some way over sin. But where does that leave us as human beings? How do we fit into God’s sovereignty? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology.

Episode Intro What does God do? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been thinking about what God is like: what is his nature, what is his character and what he does. Last time we looked at God’s work in creation. But God not only created the world, he also sustains it, upholding it at every moment. In theology, that’s called providence. But what does it mean that God is upholding the world? What does he control? Is there anything outside his control? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I write about theology and I teach it at Sydney Missionary and Bible College. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. God Controls Everything So what do we learn from the Bible about God’s control over the world. First of all, we see that he controls everything. For example, Psalm 103:19 tells us, The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalm 103:19 NIV) God rules over all things and there’s nothing outside his control. Nothing frustrates his plans. Nothing thwarts them. He says in Isaiah 46:11, What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do. (Isaiah 46:11 NIV) Moreover, when God acts to control all things he does it according to his own purpose and will. For example, Psalm 135:6 says, The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. (Psalm 135:6 NIV) Or again in Ephesians 1:11, we’re told that God, works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…. (Ephesians 1:11 NIV) God is not constrained by things outside him. He rules over everything and he does as he pleases. That’s what it means to be God. The Natural World But we can say more, too, about the kind of control that God exercises. That is to say, we can drill down to specific areas to understand more clearly what it means that God controls everything. John Frame in his Systematic Theology lists a number of categories in which we see God working out his control over all things.[1] For example, we also see how God controls the natural world. Psalm 65 says, You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. (Psalm 65:9–11 NIV) In fact, even the things that we think are pure chance are from God. Proverbs 16:33 tells us, The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33 NIV) A lot is like a roll of the dice. To us it’s chance, to God it’s an expression of his purpose and will. Human Affairs So, too, God is in control of human affairs. Job says, He makes nations great, and destroys them; he enlarges nations, and disperses them. (Job 12:23 NIV) God raises up nations and he brings them down. He makes them prosper or fail. He uses them to achieve his purposes. In Acts 17 says, From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. (Acts 17:26 NIV) It’s not human governments or presidents or kings who determine the success of their empires. Behind all those things stands God. Individual Human Life But God not only controls the big movements of nations and state and countries. He is also sovereign over our individual lives. So David can say in Psalm 139, all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:16 NIV) God has planned our days before they even happen. So, too, he works all things...

Thinking Theology is starting again and alongside the normal 15–20 minute episodes looking at key theological topics will be interviews with others that build out some of those topics. As a bit of taster of what’s to come, here’s the first interview with my colleague Dr Ian Maddock. Ian’s an expert on John Wesley and George Whitefield, two towering figures in the history of evangelical Christianity. But they’re also two figures who disagreed over the doctrine of election—whether God chooses people for salvation, or whether people choose God.

In that last episode of Thinking Theology we began to look at the actions of God, and we began with God’s act of creation. God created everything that is, on his own, without help from anyone else. He made the world for his own sake and purpose. He made it by speaking. He made it good. It’s separate from him but it depends completely on him for its continued existence. God’s creation of the world also establishes his authority over us and our obligation to him. But what we didn’t get to consider is how the Bible’s account of creation fits with modern science. Genesis 1 says God created the world in six days but science says that the universe and earth were formed over billions of years. The Bible says God created Adam and Eve from scratch, but science says that human beings have come through an evolutionary process from bacteria. What do we make of all that? How do the Bible and science fit together, especially with respect to creation?

Links Two Ways to LiveEpisode Intro What does God do? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been thinking about what God is like: what is his nature and what is his character. But in this and the next few episodes we’re moving on to think about what God has done and what he continues to do. In this episode we’re thinking about what God has done in creating the world. What does the Bible tell us about creation and, importantly, how does that shape our life? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Creation in Genesis Creation is the first act of God in the Bible. We find it on the very first page of the Bible. We’re told, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (Genesis 1:1–2 NIV) It seems that what those first verses describe is an initial act of God in creating the initial matter from which creation would be organised. So God brings matter into existence but it is formless. Before God created the world, then, there was nothing. God created the world “out of nothing”. Or as theologians sometimes say, ex nihilo, which is Latin for out of nothing. God didn’t use pre-existing material but he created everything that is. We find that same idea in other parts of the Bible. So Hebrews 11:3 says, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:3 NIV) Of course, that might simply mean that the matter God used to create the world was merely invisible and he made it visible. However, other places are more explicit. So Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11 NIV) If God created all things, then nothing exists that he didn’t make. In fact, as the theologian John Frame points out, not only did God create out of nothing, he created into nothing. Not only did God create the matter out of which the universe was made, but he also created the space into which it went.[1] The rest of chapter 1 then describes God’s organisation of that matter. And it follows a very structured pattern to show the logic and order that God imposes on his world. So pattern is more or less:[2] 1. Announcement: “And God said,” 2. Command: “Let there be X.” 3. Separation and Structure: God orders the items he has brought into existence.[3] 4. Report: “And there was X.” (or equiv.) 5. Evaluation: “God saw that X was good.” 6. Chronological marker: “And there was evening and there was morning—the nth day.” So there is a careful structure within each day, but there is also a careful structure between the days. There is a pattern in the order in which things are created, such that day 1 pairs with day 4, day 2 with day 5, and day 3 with day 6. So on day 1 light is created but on day 4 the light bearers—the sun, moon, and stars are created. On day 2 the sky and the waters are separated. While on day 5 the sea and sky creatures are created. And on day 3 the dry land and the plants are created, while on day 6 animals and humans are created. Within that pattern, too, the seventh day stand on its own as special. The seventh day is a day of rest for God. Genesis 2:1–2 says, Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. (Genesis 2:1–2 NIV) The seventh day is a kind of...

Episode Intro Over the last couple of episodes we’ve thought about the nature of God or what we’ve called the non-moral attributes of God. That is, we’ve focussed on his being. God is present everywhere, he knows everything, and so on. But in this episode we’re beginning to think about the character of God. What God is like to relate to? What is he like in personal terms? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The Character of God So what is God like? In one sense, describing the character of God is a bottomless pit. We can always say more. In fact, the key task of theology and the main goal of studying the Bible is to know and understand and love the character of God more and more. One place to look in trying to understand the character of God is the names that he is given in the Bible. For example, Hagar calls God, “El Roi”—the God who sees me” Abraham calls God, “Yahweh Jireh”—the God who provides. The psalms often call God, “Yahweh Tsevaoth”, which means “Lord of Armies”. Jesus means “Yahweh is salvation”. All those names give us insight into who God is. But while there are lots of things to be said about the character of God, there are some aspects of his character that are given great prominence in the Bible. And in this episode, I want to think about four of those. God is Holy First of all, he’s holy. There are a few times in the Old Testament where people catch a glimpse of God. And one of those occasions in Isaiah 6. There in a vision, Isaiah sees the throne room of God. He writes, In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. (Isaiah 6:1 NIV)But what Isaiah hears is just as important as what he sees. The angels who are attending God cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3 NIV)As has sometimes been noted, God is described in many ways in the Bible, but only here is he described using the same word three times. God is love. But he’s never described as “Love, love, love”. But he is described as “Holy, holy, holy.” The result of being confronted with the holiness of God is that Isaiah trembles with fear because he recognises his own sin and impurity in the face of the perfectly holy God. He says, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5 NIV)As one Bible commentator has said, Isaiah is condemned by what we might consider one of the mildest of sins, unclean lips—having said inappropriate things. Yet, for Isaiah, it’s enough to condemn him in the presence of God. Until, that is, God has one of his angels take a coal from the altar and touch Isaiah’s lips to cleanse them. The point is that God is completely and perfectly pure. As Psalm 145 says, The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. (Psalm 145:17 NIV)But holiness also includes what you might call God’s “set-apartness”. In Isaiah 6, when Isaiah sees God, he sees him “high and lifted up”, exalted, but also far above us. Later in Isaiah 57, God says that he dwells in the “high and holy place”. God’s holiness makes him distinct from us. Not least because he is set apart from sinners. But also because of the sheer majesty and glory of his holiness. Exodus 15:11 says, Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders? (Exodus 15:11 NIV)And yet, although God’s holiness makes him glorious and distinct and worthy of our praise and honour, remarkably,...

(the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro What is God like? What does he know? What does he control? Where is he? What is his relationship to time? Those are the kinds of questions we began looking at in the last episode of Thinking Theology. In the last episode we began looking at what are often called the attributes of God. We looked at some of the non-moral attributes: God’s self-existence, his eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence and sovereignty. In this episode we’re thinking about some of God’s other non-moral attributes: his omniscience, wisdom, immutability, infinity, unity and simplicity. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Omniscience The first attribute we’re looking at is omniscience. Or to say it how it’s spelt: omni-science. Omniscience refers to God’s knowledge of everything. So Psalm 147:4–5 says, He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. (Psalm 147:4–5 NIV) Or Psalm 50:11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. (Psalm 50:11 NIV) Hebrews 4:13 says, Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13 NIV) Or Job 28:23–24, God understands the way to [wisdom] and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens. (Job 28:23–24 NIV) So God knows all that goes on in the world. But God not only knows all that happens, he also knows what lies in our hearts and minds even before we do. So, David says in Psalm 139, You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. (Psalm 139:1–6 NIV) And yet, there are a few passages in the Bible that suggest that maybe God doesn’t know everything.[1] For example, in Genesis 18:20, God says, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. (Genesis 18:20–21 NIV) But why does God need to go down to Sodom? Doesn’t he already know what’s going on there? Or in Genesis 22, after Abraham shows himself willing to sacrifice Isaac, God says to Abraham, Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. (Genesis 22:12 NIV) But didn’t God already know what was in Abraham’s heart? The same occurs in Deuteronomy 8 when God says of the people of Israel in the wilderness, that, the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. (Deuteronomy 8:2 NIV) Or in the very same Psalm where David exalts God’s knowledge of him, he also invites God to, Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (Psalm 139:23 NIV) The solution to those is quite straightforward. In each case, the issue is what God already knows being shown to be true. God knows what is going on in Sodom and Gomorrah, but he goes to see in order that he might be seen to be completely just. He knows what is in Abraham’s heart and the heart of the people of Israel, but he tests them in order to bring to light what he already knows. So, too, in Psalm 139, it is because God knows what is in him, that David calls on God to know him. David is simply asking God to do what he knows God does. But God not only knows what’s...

Transcript (the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro You and I know what it’s like to be a human being. We know that we can only ever be in one place at the one time. We know that one day we’re born without us even having any say in it. And then another day we’ll die. But what about God? What’s he like? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Last time we began looking at the doctrine of God. In this episode we’re beginning to think about the nature of God. What are the attributes of God in his very being? Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. What Can We Say About the Nature of God? What can really say about the nature of God? Throughout the history of the church people have grappled with that very question. It’s a problematic topic in some ways, because as Zophar says to Job, “Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? (Job 11:7 NIV) Zophar is, of course, right. By definition it’s impossible for us as humans to probe the limits of who God is and what it’s like to be God. As the theologian, Louis Berkhof writes, The Being of God is characterized by a depth, a fullness, a variety, and a glory far beyond our comprehension….[1]But to say that we can’t understand God completely is not to say that we can’t understand anything about God at all. As Paul says in Romans 1, even creation tells us something about God’s eternal power and glory. But the place where we come to know accurately about God is in the Bible. In the Bible God has revealed to us insights into who he is and what he is like.[2] The knowledge that the Bible gives us is partial, but it is nevertheless true. So, too, as Luther pointed out, the knowledge that we have of God does not describe so much what he is, but it describes the qualities or the characteristics of God. That is, we can say something about what he is like but we can’t really describe his essential being.[3] There are lots of attributes that people have used to describe God. One famous list comes from the 8th century theologian, John of Damascus.[4] Or Jono of Damascus as I like to call him. He described God as, uncreate[d], unbegotten, imperishable and immortal, everlasting, infinite, uncircumscribed, boundless, of infinite power, simple, uncompound, incorporeal, without flux, passionless, unchangeable, unalterable, unseen[5]So, too, theologians have often organised them in different ways. In this and the next few episodes we’re going to consider them under the headings of the nature of God and the character of God. The nature of God refers to the “non-moral” attributes of God and relate more to the being of God. While the character of God refers to the “moral” attributes of God and describe more what he is like to relate to in personal terms. The attributes I describe here follow closely the list given by the theologian John Feinberg in his book on the doctrine of God, No One Like Him. That book would be a good place to go if you want to dig into these more deeply. Feinberg lists 11 non-moral attributes of God and 9 moral attributes of God. We’ll look at the moral attributes of God this time and next time. And then we’ll consider the character of God in a couple of episodes time. The 11 non-moral attributes of God that he lists are: aseity (or self-existence), infinity, immensity and omnipresence, eternity, immutability, omnipotence, sovereignty, omniscience, wisdom, unity and simplicity. Self-existence First, is what theologians often call “aseity” but a more helpful term is self-existence. Self-existence refers to the idea that God depends on no one else for his existence. In the last episode we saw that God just is....

Transcript (the following transcript may contain errors) Episode Intro What is the most important question of theology? Surely, it’s the question, who is God? Who is the God who has revealed himself in the Bible and in Jesus? Who is he? What is he like? What has he done and what is he doing? Those are the questions of what is often called theology proper. The part of theology that looks at the person of God. Knowing God is the most important thing that we can ever do. Knowing God is not arbitrary or irrelevant. It’s not a point of academic interest. We want to know God because he made us and sustains us. We want to know God because God wants us to know him. We want to know God because he loves us. And we want to know God because knowing God helps us to love God, relate to God and enjoy God. In season 1 of Thinking Theology we looked at what theology is and then we looked at the foundation of theology which is the Bible. In season 2 of Thinking Theology we’re beginning by going to the very heart of theology which is God himself. In the next few episodes will be examining who God is, what he’s like, what he does, and the three persons of the trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But today we’re beginning with the core facts of the God who is. Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. The God Who Is As Don Carson points out in his book, The God Who Is There, one of the most assumptions of the Bible is that God simply is.[1] The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning God…”. In the beginning, before anything else was made, God simply was. God is what we call, self-existent. Or as Jesus says, God has “life in himself” (John 5:26). He depends on no one else or nothing else to exist. In the beginning, God simply was. He describes himself to Moses as “I am” (Exod 3:14). He just is. He always was and he always will be. But although God just is, everything else that exists has been made and has been made by God. So Paul writes in Colossians of how God the Father created everything that is through God the Son. Paul writes, The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15–17 NIV)Everything, whether we can see it or not, was made by God the Father through the Son, Jesus. Although Jesus is described as the firstborn over all creation, that doesn’t mean that the Father created Jesus first. Rather it’s about inheritance. Everything that is, belongs to Jesus. He has the inheritance rights for everything as God’s eternal Son. “Firstborn” is really another way of saying “heir”. We see too in Isaiah 40 that God is the maker of everything and he rules over everything. It says in verse 25, “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:25–26 NIV)God is not just another part of the creation. He is not simply another thing that was made. God simply is. He existed before everything else and he made everything that we see, hear and touch. That counters a common idea that some people have of God. Some people think that didn’t make everything but God is in everything, or, in fact, that everything is God. That idea is called “pantheism”. It’s a bit like the force in Star Wars. The force is part of everything. In...

Links You can find out more about Vaccines and the use of fetal cells here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/the-faqs-fetal-cells-covid-19-vaccines-treatments/ Or about my guest Elissa Deenick here: https://www.garvan.org.au/people/elideehttps://med.unsw.edu.au/our-people/elissa-deenickTranscript (the following transcript was automatically generated from a transcription service and may contain errors) Karl Deenick (00:00): Living as faithful Christians in the world means not only understanding the Bible, but also understanding the world through the lens of the Bible and thinking wisely about the world that God has made and in which God has put us. And so here on Thinking Theology. We want to think not just about classical theological topics, but also bring theology and biblical wisdom to bear on important topics and issues in the world around us. And one of the most important topics and issues from this year has been COVID-19 and the potentially forthcoming COVID vaccine. Some people have significant reservations about vaccines, and it can be hard to know what's right. And what isn't. So today we're thinking about COVID-19 and vaccines, and we're thinking about those things in the light of the Bible. And to do that, we're speaking with our first ever guest on Thinking Theology. My sister Associate Professor Dr Elissa Deenick, who is a research immunologist with the University of N ew South Wales and the Garvan Institute in Sydney. Karl Deenick (01:11): Hi, my name's Karl Deenick. I'm a pastor theologian writer and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Karl Deenick (01:32): Elissa, thanks for joining us on Thinking Theology. You're a research immunologist now. I didn't know what that meant until you started doing it. So I'm guessing lots of other people don't know what that means. What is that? What is an immunologist? What's a research immunologist. Elissa Deenick (01:57): Yeah. So an immunologist is someone who studies the immune system and the immune system is the part of your body that fights off infection be that viruses or bacteria or fungus or all those things that can make you sick. So as a research immunologist, I'm interested in finding out new things about how the immune system works. And in particular, for me I study people who have problems with their immune system, which means that they can't fight off infection properly. So they keep getting really severe or constant infections. Karl Deenick (02:37): So there are people whose immune systems do a good job at fighting infection you're saying, and then other people who, for some reason, that doesn't work so well. Elissa Deenick (02:45): Yeah, that's true. So for most of us, we think about, you know, we barely even noticed the constant, bacteria and viruses and fungi that are in the environment around us, but there are people who have almost no immune system or just parts of their immune system that are defective. And that means that they're unable to fight these infections off. And that might mean that they're constantly in hospital or they're constantly on drugs or for some of those people actually they end up dying because they get such severe infections. Karl Deenick (03:24): So is that a, is that a common thing? What, what causes those kinds of immune problems? Elissa Deenick (03:32): There are different levels of severity. So most of the ones that I study, these are people who have a genetic conditions, so problems with their DNA, which then impact the functioning of their immune system. And they're actually kind of over 400 different kind of gene defects that can have that lead to problems with your immune system. But many of them are incredibly rare, like three or four people in the world. Whereas some of them are a much more common. And...

Episode Intro “God told me that he wants you to a missionary.” “God has put it on my heart to pray for you.” What do we do with statements like that? In the last few episodes of Thinking Theology we’ve been looking at God’s words in the Bible. The Bible is God’s words written for his people, by his Spirit, about his Son. The Bible is God’s authoritative word and we need to listen. The Bible is God’s powerful word. But does God still speak? And does he speak to us outside the Bible? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of Thinking Theology. Does God still speak through people? What about prophecy? Does God still prophesy through people? Or does he only speak to us through the Bible? Podcast Intro Hi. My name is Karl Deenick. I’m a pastor, theologian, writer, and Bible college lecturer. Welcome to Thinking Theology, a podcast where we think about theology, the Bible and the Christian life, not just for the sake of it, but so we can love God more, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Prophecy is about Jesus In thinking about how and whether God still speaks, a good place to start is with Acts 2. Acts 2 is the account of God pouring out the Holy Spirit in fulfilment of his promise in the Old Testament. Jesus’ life, death and resurrection has opened the way for God to remake humanity in the image of Jesus. And that begins on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 as the Spirit is poured out on believers and the Spirit unites them with Jesus and all that he has accomplished on their behalf. Peter and the other disciples are gathered together when a sound like the blowing of a violent wind suddenly comes upon them. They see tongues of fire coming down from heaven and resting on each of them. And when the neighbours hear and see what’s happening, a crowd begins to form. But then miraculously the disciples begin to speak in other languages that they hadn’t known before. And the crowd who are listening are absolutely astonished. It’s at that point that Peter says, that what was happening was the fulfilment of something Joel prophesied in the Old Testament. Peter says in Acts 2:17–18, In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17–18 NIV)Peter says that what was happening on the day of Pentecost was not only the beginning of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the people who trust in Jesus. But it was also the beginning of a great prophetic movement. In the past God had spoken through a few prophets here and there but now with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit all kinds of people will see visions and dreams and will prophesy. But what Peter means by that is really, really important to understand. If we’re not careful what we’ll do is import our understanding of what we think that means, rather than looking at the text of Acts 2 to understand exactly what Peter means. And what’s really interesting is that Peter says that what he and the other apostles are doing in Acts 2 is prophesying and fulfilling Joel’s prophecy. But if you read Acts 2, there are no dreams or visions that the apostle’s share and there are no predictions of what will happen in the future. There’s no words about what God will do in this person’s life or that person’s life. Rather what you get in Acts 2 is Peter explaining how Jesus is the Messiah and how Jesus has come in fulfilment of the Old Testament. So Peter says in verse 29, “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet….So David was a prophet. But what did David prophesy about? Peter says, But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he...

What’s the most important thing you can say about the Bible? The Bible scholar and pastor, Peter Adam in his book, Written for Us, points out that there are lots of the topics that feature in theology courses on the Bible. Topics like the inerrancy of the Bible. That is, that the original manuscripts of the Bible are without error. And while topics like that are important and crucial, we don’t always do well at reflecting the things that the Bible says about itself. And one of the characteristics of God’s word that the Bible says a lot about is the one that we’re looking at in this episode of Thinking Theology. That is, the power of the Bible. What does it mean to say that God’s words are powerful? In what way are they powerful? And for what purpose? For further reading, see Peter Adam's book, Written for Us: Receiving God's Words in the Bible. I've used that in making this episode.

Is the Bible clear? For some people, the answer to that question will be a resounding “no”. But should it be. Should we think of the Bible as unclear and hard to understand? In this episode of Thinking Theology we’re thinking about the clarity of the Bible. Is the Bible clear? Can the Bible be understood? If God is speaking to us in the Bible can we be sure that we understand him correctly? Can an infinite God communicate meaningfully so that finite human beings can understand? How can the Bible be clear when so many people disagree about what it says? And how can the Bible be clear when some parts seem very confusing?

What does it mean to say that the Bible is authoritative? If I say to my friends, “Let’s go fishing,” they may or may not listen to me. But if I a policeman says to me, “Show me your license”, I need to pay attention. Which kind of authority does the Bible have? That’s what we’re thinking about in this episode of thinking theology. What kind of authority does the Bible have? Should we listen to it? Should we listen to all of it or only some parts? And what kind of authority does it have compared to other things? For further reading, see Peter Adam's book, Written for Us: Receiving God's Words in the Bible. I've used that in making this episode.

What is the Bible? Over the last few episodes we’ve been dealing with some of the introductory issues of the Bible. Where did the Bible come from? Who wrote it? And is it reliable? And yet while that’s important it still doesn’t tell us a whole lot about what the Bible really is. What is the Bible about? What it’s trying to achieve? What is its character? In this episode we're beginning to look at what the Bible says about what the Bible is. For further reading, see Peter Adam's book, Written for Us: Receiving God's Words in the Bible. I've used that in making this episode.