25 March
By
On
In The Bible and Scientific Issues

Genesis 1:1-2:4: a contribution towards reconciling differences From The Presbyterian Banner, March 2004 THE CREATION DAYS I offer five propositions, add some explanatory notes and draw conclusions. 1. The primary meaning of the Hebrew term yom (day) is in reference to a normal day of about 24 hours. Unless the context requires otherwise the primary meaning should be maintained. The Hebrew term yom has the same range of meanings as the English word day. It is natural to immediately think of ordinary days as we read the creation account for the first time, for we have a seven-day week as did Israel. Still, it isRead More →

12 December
By
On
In Covenant Theology

God’s Covenant Unfolded: Creation to New Creation   Rowland S. Ward   Adam was made a king or ruler of the earth under God, and placed in a central sanctuary garden reminiscent of later priestly sanctuaries in Israel. Since the moment of Adam’s disobedience restoration to God’s fellowship by our obedience is impossible; we are shut up to reliance on another, Jesus Christ. He is in fact called the Last Adam (1 Cor 15:45) as well as ‘the first born from the dead and the Ruler of the kings of the earth’ (Rev 1:5). This is as much as to say that there have beenRead More →

12 December
By
On
In Covenant Theology

Creation & Covenant: Covenant Theology in Outline   Rowland S Ward The Presbyterian Banner, October 2002. Covenant theology in outline The Bible is a covenant book, and its two parts could be better described as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. The intended contrast is between the covenant with Moses at Sinai and the covenant fulfilled in Jesus Christ 1500 years later, which the old covenant foreshadowed. However, there are other covenant arrangements in the Bible to be considered as well. Covenant theology understands that God’s relationship with humanity always involved a personal, loving, covenant bond, and that God’s intention in creation was theRead More →

10 December
By
On
In The Bible and Scientific Issues

This is a shortened slightly revised version of a fuller paper written February 2001 accessible at <http://www.spindleworks.com/library/ward/framework.htm>. This version last updated March 2008. A. INTRODUCTORY 1.1 What is the literal meaning of a text? The literal meaning is commonly taken today as the surface meaning: the ordinary sense of the words is to be understood unless an obvious contradiction or absurdity results. But we Reformed have always insisted that the nature of God’s covenant administration must be considered. The prophets promise not a literal restoration of Israel but a restoration that transcends the old kingdom and brings about the conditions that deal with the inadequaciesRead More →

10 December
By
On
In The Bible and Scientific Issues

This article is from Trowel & Sword, the magazine of the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia, May 1999. The letters of your two correspondents in the last issue of T & S suggest they have not understood, assuming they have read, the Biblical arguments I have tried to develop in Foundations in Genesis. Lord’s Day 43 in the Heidelberg Catechism reminds us that God’s will is that we never give false testimony against anyone or twist their words. We Christians must keep this in mind when we discuss our differences. My two brothers seem to have such a narrow view of what is authentically ReformedRead More →