aBeLOG
Welcome to the aBeLOG, a series of (hopefully!) fortnightly posts on all matters homiletical. I intend to touch on whatever grabs my attention regarding preaching—issues contemporary and ancient, ideas hermeneutical and rhetorical, personalities conservative and liberal, publications antiquarian and avant-garde. Essentially, I’m going to follow my own homiletical olfactory instincts up rabbit trails and after red herrings. Comments are always invited and appreciated.
1 Timothy 6:13–21
The people of God relentlessly pursue godliness as modeled by Christ, marked by a God-dependent, humble contentment with basic needs, manifesting a richness of generosity that results in an amply rewarded eternity.
The complicated sentence of 6:3–5 is unusually characterized by a cascade of doublets: “if anyone teaches falsely and does not agree with sound words” (6:3); “with sound words … and with the teaching that is according to godliness” (6:2–3); “understands
Theology Issues–2
This is Part 2 of an interview with friends from Asian Christian Academy‘s Evangelical Theological Seminary, Hosur, India, a school with which I have had a long and fruitful association. Its president, Dr. Stephen George, and its Director of DMin Studies, Dr. Saji Thomas, were the hosts. (Part 1 can be found here.)
Theology Issues–1
Another interview with friends from Asian Christian Academy‘s Evangelical Theological Seminary, Hosur, India, a school with which I have had a long and fruitful association. Its president, Dr. Stephen George, and its Director of DMin Studies, Dr. Saji Thomas, were the hosts.
Part 1 here (Part 2 to follow next month):
1 Timothy 6:1–2
The service of believing slaves towards their masters, a benefaction bestowed by the former upon the latter, is paradigmatic of selflessness and godliness in the divine household, as believers serve one another with good works, thus enhancing the reputation of God.
In 6:2, it appears that that situation is of believing slaves working for believing masters; therefore, it seems that 6:1 deals with the case of believing slaves working for unbelieving masters. In the latter
Devotion!
Recently, I answered a couple of questions for a series A Scholar’s Devotion on a blog maintained by a Southern Seminary student. His request:
I ask scholars and seminary professors: 1) how they spend their devotional time so that seminary students (and anyone else, really) can grow in their devotional life and become more enamored by Christ amidst the rigor of seminary academics (or, just the rigor of life); and 2) how they continue to love him with all their mind,
1 Timothy 5:17–25
God’s leaders who demonstrate godliness in their ministries, particularly with regard to Scripture, are to be amply rewarded, and impartially disciplined when they do not.
“Honor” that began the previous section (5:3), recurs to mark a new section (5:17). The word clearly has the connotation of remuneration; especially here in 5:17, in light of the following verse. Perhaps “double” honor means the honor of respect and the honor of remuneration. Such honor is due
Interview on H & H
Folks, here is a recent interview of mine on Homiletics & Hermeneutics (H & H) ….
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.