Daily Archives: September 2, 2011

Sep 2 2011

journey through James (4)

I hope you’ve found some of the book excerpts I’ve shared here this summer to be helpful and perhaps even enlightening. While my reading will continue of course, God willing, next week (Sept. 5-9) I’ll share some excerpts from just one more book before setting aside the sharing of book excerpts and resume the penning of daily devotionals on Sun., Sept. 11.

What will I be reading the rest of the year outside of Scripture? I hope to feed my head with the following by the year’s end:

The daily devotionals this fall will originate from every verse in the letter of James. They will parallel our congregational Scripture reading project through that portion of Scripture at MoSt Church and will assist in our study of James in our Sunday morning adult Bible classes there. Consequently, most of my reading the rest of this year will be in James and in resources related to it, among which the following will receive my closest attention:

I believe it’s wise to always seek good counsel and books by scholars who have truly wrestled with the meaning of the Biblical text function in that capacity to me. If you’re an average “Joe or Suzy in the pew” looking for an accessible work on James to help you in your study of this wonderful letter, I’d steer you toward either the first and last works on the preceding list (Niccum and Motyer). I believe every Christian ought to own and use a copy of The Transforming Word and Motyer‘s work is very readable while clearly based on deep investigation of the text.

Sep 2 2011

questions and answers (5)

Q. “Is it wrong for a woman who is qualified to teach a class composed of men, women, and children? Please explain 1 Tim. 2:12.”

A. “I see no harm in a woman taking a class and teaching it in a quiet sort of way. To teach a class off to itself is not teaching the whole church, but is very much like Priscilla helping to teach Apollos ‘the way of the Lord more perfectly.’ She and Aquila took him to one side, took him to himself, and taught him the truth, and he went on teaching it. I see very little difference in a woman’s taking a class to itself and quietly teaching it. If a woman cannot teach that way, we would not know where she can teach. We think many good opportunities to teach the word of God are lost by opposing women’s quietly teaching classes.”

Questions Answered by Lipscomb and Sewell edited by M.C. Kurfees (McQuiddy Printing Co, 1921); pp.733-734

Note: “Lipscomb” is “David Lipscomb” and “Sewell” is “Jesse P. Sewell,” prominent leaders in the Restoration Heritage, particularly Churches of Christ, in the late 1800′s and early 1900′s in the United States.