Monday, May 26, 2008

Mohler Q and A

I love theological Q and A. I find it to be extremely practical and helpful.

Listen to Dr. Al Mohler answer Bible questions from the recent New Attitude conference. You can download here.



**Update**

Justin Buzzard is live blogging the conference and he summerizes the Q and A well here:
Session 3 was an unprecedented event at Na. Instead of delivering a message/sermon, Al Mohler (sporting a pink dress shirt) conducted the first ever Na Q&A session. Scores of people flocked to the two floor microphones in hopes making it through the line and asking Dr. Mohler their questions about the Bible. I counted just over sixty people lined up at the microphones. As you would expect, due to time just eight of the sixty people were able to ask their questions.

Below I’ve listed each question that was asked of Mohler and at the bottom of this post I’ve listed a few statements made by Mohler that I found especially noteworthy. To get Mohler’s answers to each question (and to get the full context of the quotations I’ve provided below) you’ll need to listen to the audio--Mohler’s answers were far too thorough and lengthy, and he speaks so fast, that I didn’t even attempt to record his answers.

1. What makes the Bible distinct from other religious books that claim to have divine authority (the Koran, etc.)?

2. How did the books of the Bible get selected and why were others omitted (the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, etc.)?

3. What are you thoughts about the inspiration and authority of sections of Scripture like John 7:53-8:11 and the longer ending of the book of Mark?

4. How do we as Christians interpret and apply the OT law today?

5. How do you handle the idea expressed by some that the Bible is authoritative and reliable, but not “inerrant”?

6. Should we be wary of postmodern ideas and their impact on the church?

7. How do I share the doctrines of grace and handle fellowship with my friends who are semi-Pelagian in their theology?

8. For the Christian, what role should the Word of God play in our artistic and creative endeavors? And, for the Christian, what role should our artistic and creative endeavors play in the culture at large?

Some quotes from Mohler that stuck out to me:

“When we talk about homosexuality we need to find time to say that...any human being who has gone through puberty is a sexual sinner...homosexuality isn’t dealt with in isolation in Scripture, but appears in the normal course of Scripture’s discussion of sin...”

“Inerrancy doesn’t say everything we need to say about Scripture...but if Scripture isn’t inerrant, it’s errant.”

“I commend to you what’s known as ‘formal equivalence’ translations...I commend the NASB and ESV translations...”

“Postmodernism can be very helpful if it produces an intellectual humility.”

“Postmodernism denies that there is one great story to which we are all accountable...Postmodernism has nowhere to go. But our story goes somewhere...to Revelation 5.”

“Pelagianism teaches us that we were born morally good and could keep ourselves morally good and, basically, grace is an unnecessary thing. The Semi-Pelagians came along and said, ‘no, we’re not born morally good, we’re born morally neutral.’”

“There will be people in heaven who didn’t know the doctrines of grace, but were saved by grace...Be grace-full in talking about the doctrines of grace.”

“We’ve got to learn to make art in service of the gospel.”

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