Announcing Good New to All Nations

 

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples and said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature,” Mark 16:15. Apparently, Saint Fracis of Assisi took that command to preach to birds, animals, and all creatures, who, as rumor has it, were on their best behavior when he spoke to them.

Most of us are more apt to announce the Gospel (Good News) to people of every nation – a calling no longer confined to the work of missionaries. Thanks to God and the Internet, our biblically-sound writings, devotions, sermons, and inspirational poems can reach each corner or curve of the earth. The Lord Himself, of course, led the way.

As Acts 2 tells us in the King James Version of the Bible:

2 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

³ And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.

⁶ Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.

⁷ And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?

⁸ And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?

⁹ Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,

¹⁰ Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,

¹¹ Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.

 

 

from the FreeBibleImages website 

Because of the Jewish feast of Pentecost, people from all over the known world had gathered in Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit fell upon them, thereby giving us the Christian celebration of Pentecost.

God knew that gathering would occur, making the perfect occasion to reverse the confused languages of Babel and giving everyone ear to hear in their own language! Since that made me curious about the location of the nations mentioned in Acts 2:9-11, a little online research produced this information found on the BibleHub website:

Acts 2:9

The Parthians, know for their power, lived in what is now known as northeastern Iran.

The Medies, an ancient people, lived in Media, part of today’s Iran.

The Elamites dwelled in the southwestern part of present-day Iran.

The people of Mesopotamia lived between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the area often known as the “cradle of civilization.”

Judea, a region of the Roman Empire, is in the Middle East.

Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia are in what is now known as Turkey.

Acts 2:10

Phrygia and Pamphylia, also in present-day Turkey, have been known for their diverse cultures, which helped to spread early Christianity.

Egypt has frequently held a prominent place in Bible history.

Libya in North Africa, includes Cyrene, the place which gave us Simon who carried the cross for Jesus,

Rome, at the time of Pentecost, was the heart of the Roman Empire.

Acts 2:11

Cretans lived on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.

Arabs came from the Arabian Peninsula.

On this amazing day, people of all ages and ethnicity heard the Good News of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, ushering in diversity from the very beginning of Christianity. With each person hearing about Christ in their own language and frame of reference, the Bible sets a precedent for us to recall today as we become aware of peoples whose ways of worship show diversity too. May God continue to help us understand, love, and respect one another in Jesus’ Name.

 

Mary Harwell Sayler

 

 

 

 

The church: where we’re coming from and where we’ve been

When we’re with good friends or family most of us can express ourselves without having to explain every little thing. Those who are close to us know us. They know where we’re coming from – most of the time anyway, and hopefully, we know too.

Jesus did. According to John 8:14, He said, “I know where I came from and where I'm going.”

Cultural backgrounds, family histories, and past experiences help to define who we are, where we came from, what we need, and where we’re going. Understanding those aspects of ourselves and those close to us can help to relieve anxiety, suspicions, and misunderstandings.

Similarly, the more we know about the Family of Christ, the more we recognize our ties to one Lord and one faith.

And, the more we know why other Christians believe as they do, the more we begin to appreciate their sincerity and respect their choices.

And, the more we embrace each part of the Body of Christ, the more effective the church becomes in forgiving, loving, and working together in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Such beliefs made me want to know the histories of various denominations, so I can better understand where they’re coming from and what we have in common – in our common union in Jesus Christ. This caused me to request a review copy of God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology, which Crossway kindly sent.

In this highly recommended, hefty volume, research professor Gerald Bray shows us how Christian doctrines came about and what struggles caused theological differences or new developments in how people thought. For such a book to accomplish its goals, heavy-duty research and fair-mindedness are a must.

In the Preface, for instance, Dr. Bray shows where he’s coming from by saying: “…very few people would now assert that what their particular church teaches is absolute truth to the exclusion of everything else.” Most Christians today would not welcome a history of the church “whose main purpose is to debunk or defend a particular denomination.”

That said, Dr. Bray also recognizes that “We all have our preferences, of course, but anyone who argues that only the Baptists, or only the Roman Catholics (or the Reformed, the Eastern Orthodox, the Lutherans, or whoever) are right while everyone else is wrong is now regarded as a propagandist, not as a historian – and is dismissed accordingly. At the present time it is universally agreed that the historian must rise above his own bias and be as fair as he can be to others, accepting that even disagreeable facts must be analyzed and explained in their context, even if he might privately wish that the past had been different.”

We now take many principles of faith for granted, but from the earliest days of the church onward, various issues or problems arose that had to be resolved. Each solution brought a new resolution or another step in theology, and then other concerns came to light.

As Dr. Bray says, “Just as a piece of cut glass reveals different aspects of the light according to how it is held, so the New Testament appears in a new light when looked at in response to the different theological questions that have been put to it.”

For example, in the early church, “Christians who prayed to God as their Father had to stress that he was the God of the Old Testament – the Creator and Redeemer are one.... After that was established, the identity of the Son was next on the theological agenda,” which meant expressing “this great mystery in a way that would affirm both the divinity and the humanity of the incarnate Son without compromising the integrity of either.”

Beliefs about the Holy Spirit, the sacraments, and a calling to the ministry needed to be considered too, whereas present-day concerns often center on “the suspicion that either there is no God at all, or that all religious beliefs point to the same transcendent deity.”

Simply reading the Preface of this book will give you an overview of the denominational histories and diverse theological developments in the churches, but, as you might expect, these 1260 pages have more to say! Fortunately, the scholarly author has a conversational style that retains reader interest. Or, the book can be used as a reference guide to church denominations, key figures in Christianity, and historical events.

To organize this wealth of material, Dr. Bray divided the book into eight sections as follows:

Part One
The Israelite Legacy

Part Two
The Person of the Father

Part Three
The Work of the Father

Part Four
The Person of the Son

Part Five
The Work of the Son

Part Six
The Person of the Holy Spirit

Part Seven
The Work of the Holy Spirit

Part Eight
One God in Three Persons

For example, Part One discusses “A Shared Inheritance” among Christians and Jews, while Part Six talks about “The Inspiration of Holy Scripture.”

Regarding the latter, the early Christian theologian Origen considered “the overall purpose of the Holy Spirit in inspiring the Scriptures in the first place. As he saw it, the Spirit had two principal aims in view. The first was to instruct believers in the deep things of God, which only he knows. The second was to help beginners in the faith, who need guidance and can be reached only when the deeper mysteries are expressed in the language and concepts of everyday life.”

For biblical examples of this, consider the settings for Jesus’ parables in a vineyard or field or dimly lit home. Or, consider how the resurrected Christ identified Himself with the individual needs of seven churches in Revelation, letting Christians in Laodicea know He is the “beginning of creation” and not a created being as some thought. Or how they needed Him to clothe them and anoint their eyes, even though the area was known for woolen cloth and eye salve!

Only a God-inspired word could be so relevant and alive – then and now – in Christian lives and churches. God does not change, but circumstances, times, and languages do, causing Christians throughout the centuries to pray about and express their beliefs, so one generation to the next can understand.

As Dr. Bray says in closing, “God the Father has spoken to us in the Word; God the Son calls for us to hear and respond to that Word, which is found only and fully in him; and God the Holy Spirit gives us the understanding and the will to accept that Word and allow it to transform our lives by uniting us to Christ, in whom we dwell in the heavenly places and have fellowship with all three persons of the Godhead.”

May this book help us to have fellowship with one another as we consider each part of the Body of Christ, joined in love, in Jesus’ Name.

©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, reviewer, is an ecumenical Christian poet, writer, and lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church in all its parts.


God Has Spoken: A History of Christian Theology, hardback



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