Toppling the House of Cards
From Toppling the House of Cards by Greg Boyd
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Questions can sometimes topple faith like a house of cards. In this sermon, we introduce the idea that following Jesus is the central aspect of faith. This frees us to question and critique different aspects of our faith, without losing that faith.
15 comments
Denni Arli January 31, 2011
Thank you for this great sermon, I have been questioning a lot about the Bible, this sermon helps me building much stronger foundation of my faith! thanks Greg!
Vinny February 2, 2011
Helpful message as always!
One consideration I have is that people outside of the church who are not familiar with Scripture and its historical accuracy might be skeptical of New Testament accounts of Jesus performing miracles precisely for the reason Greg mentioned: the fear or belief that they would have been- or could now be- explained by modern natural science…
Any thoughts?
Peggie Greenough February 2, 2011
Great sermon! Great series!! Thank you for being bold enough to focus on these issues! Amen and Amen!
Nicole February 3, 2011
I just love the way you think, Greg.
Erin February 4, 2011
A great reminder that God created us to be an inquisitive creature, just like the scripture calls us to be like babes; curious about everything. However, Greg makes the point of the point, once we have the confidence to accept Jesus as our savior, move on from those questions to questions that lead you from the milk to the meat (which the holy spirit will reveal and lead to you). How liberating!
Paul Buggy February 5, 2011
I loved the talk and it reflected my own journey out of a house of cards. Greg (or anyone) could you direct me to some books or websites/articles that might help in relation to the things Greg mentioned about the types of literature and the fact that the Hebrews could mix fact and metaphor freely. I am struggling to get a handle on this and scripture is so central to a Christian life.
How can you tell the difference in a text between metaphor and historical fact. I appreciate that they both represent ‘truth’. But for example, how do I know that resurrection is not metaphor , given this way of writing?
Does it matter? I think it does because I want to know the kinds of things God does and does not do in real life.
So I am hungry for more light on this topic.
Thanks
Paul
Jered February 6, 2011
The first time I ever met Greg was in Theology 101 at Bethel College. This dude comes in with a cup of Starbucks and writes on the board, “LIfe is Christ, NOTHING else matters.” I was like-who is this guy?? He rocked everything I thought I knew and understood about God..Thank you Greg for your voice, keep up the great work…Those words he wrote, continue to echo to this day……
Paul Eddy February 7, 2011
Hey Paul,
I just wanted to respond to your question about how to discern between historical and metaphorical truth in the Bible, etc. At Woodland Hills, we believe that this sort of distinction is very important. To use your example of Jesus’ resurrection: this is clearly an historical claim in the New Testament, and the apostle Paul himself says that if Jesus wasn’t actually raised from the dead, then, as Christians, our faith is “worthless” (I Cor 15:16-17). Probably the most important key to discerning historical claims from metaphorical claims in the Bible is to determine what literary genre you are dealing with in any particular passage (e.g., historical narrative vs. poetry, etc.).
A couple of very helpful introductory books on biblical interpretation that we recommend a lot around Woodland Hills are:
(1) Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (a great source on how to interpret the various genre of the Bible);
(2) Craig Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament
(3) John Walton, et al., The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament
Paul
Robin Parry February 9, 2011
Spot on! Really helpful. Thanks
Thomas Jay Oord February 10, 2011
Great stuff, Greg!
Tom
Mark J February 10, 2011
This was a good message indeed.
The only thing I wasn’t quite on board with was the idea of putting your faith and trust in Jesus alone, and not the scriptures- even the Gospels.
The Gospels is the only place I get my revelation of Jesus. Therefore I don’t see the ability to separate the two. For as my view of the accuracy of the Gospels go so does that of my view of Jesus.
I know as good Christians we’re all supposed to have stories and testimonies of when Jesus has made himself “known” to ourselves. Well, I don’t put my foundation of my faith in those memories. My foundation has to be on the Bible. So if we start to chip away at that foundation how will my faith stand?
I can just see someone saying, “No, you need to put your foundation in your faith in Jesus.” Yeah, but all my Jesus stuff comes from the Bible. Do you get the problem here?
Ryan Post February 10, 2011
Mark,
Good thoughts. I don’t think Greg’s point was that we should slightly de-value (for lack of a better word) the Bible in comparison to Jesus. The point was that Jesus is simply the ultimate embodiment of what the entire Bible points to, so he should be the lens by which we interpret all of Scripture.
Paul Eddy February 14, 2011
Hi Mark,
You raise an important question about where our ultimate trust should rest — Jesus or the biblical data about Jesus. Greg and I have wrestled with this question together, and here is where we’ve come to on it: The New Testament term for “faith” (Greek = pisitis) is best understood in the context of covenant relationship — it means to have trust in one’s covenant partner (it can also mean to be trustworthy toward your covenant partner). And so it is a very relational term. Ultimately, then, our highest level of faith — covenant trust — must be placed in Jesus, since he is the only completely trustworhy/faithful covenant partner. We can’t have a covenant relationship with the Bible, because it isn’t a personal being. But we can have a covenant relationship with the God who inspired the Bible! But your point about having confidence in the Bible’s portrait of Jesus is a very important one. For those of us who live two thousand years after Jesus’ time on earth, the Gospels’ accounts of Jesus become a vital path to knowing who Jesus is and that we can trust him (along with the testomony of others and the Holy Spirit within us). In this sense, Greg would very much agree with you. In fact, Greg and I have written two books together that present the evidence for why we can trust the Gospels’ portrayal of Jesus. And we believe a very strong case can be made for this. If you are interested in our take on it, see Eddy & Boyd, _The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition_ (Baker Academic, 2007); or Boyd & Eddy, _Lord or Legend? Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma_ (Wipf & Stock, 2010).
blessings,
Paul Eddy
Teaching Pastor
Laura March 28, 2011
This was wonderful… I’m a skeptical type who decided to ‘marry’ Jesus despite my questions and doubts and I find people like Greg very helpful in my spiritual walk. I also appreciate the level of humility (which seems to come from being Jesus centered) in his writings and teachings… it makes him easy and non-threatening to listen to and be challenged by. Thanks!
Chris April 1, 2011
Thank you so much Greg. This series, this message comes across like the morning dew. Thanks for being a teaching voice, as i learn to build the Kingdom :-)