St. Paul and Woman\u27s Status

Evidently the article has been read with much interest and at least some approval in wide areas, for no sooner had it appeared than the question was submitted to us whether or not it may be accepted also in our circles as essentially correct and Biblical. The problem, we think, deserves attention, since the question of the veiling and public speaking of women in church assemblies is still causing some pastors considerable vexation of spirit, though perhaps more than enough has been written on the topic in our church periodicals, commentaries, and other publications. As long as the earth will stand, coals, it seems, must be carried to Newcastle and theological discussions repeated in order that truth may have her way and prevail. It is in the spirit of willing, timely service of larger questioning groups that the following notes on the matter are offered here

4. Dumped Into the Drink: Discipleship

Papers given at conf \u27Discovery \u2799: festival of faith and life\u27, Erindale College, Univ of Toronto in Mississauga, June 10-13 1999

Fallenness, Sustainment, and Judgment: Analyzing Coherency in the Thematic Trajectory of Qohelet

This study has sought to establish a basis for coherency in Qohelet’s theological appeal by analyzing a thematic trajectory underpinned by the rhetoric of Qohelet’s emphasis on vanity, joy, and judgment. These emphases follow what have been labeled projectile themes, which aim at particular points, carrying the audience from one thought to another. These thoughts are deeply correlated and best recognized as the substance forming Qohelet’s framework from which Qohelet’s teaching flows. In other words, Qohelet’s thoughts, revealed by his thematic emphasis and endpoint, function as an evangelistic appeal to a theological worldview, whereby the minds and hearts of his audience are directed to a present and future reality in the fear-God concept. This present and future reality follows the premise that humanity enters a fallen world, God sustains humanity amid the fallenness, and God preserves the lives of those who fear Him on the Day of Judgment. Hence, while meaningful advances have been made in the search for coherence in the literary approach to Qohelet’s contradicting motifs, there is still an unsettled incoherency in the overlay of Qohelet’s theology. However, in taking a thematic approach, the inconsistencies of Qohelet take on a function of thematic underpinning, whereby coherence in the course followed by the projectile themes of fallenness, sustainment, and judgment forms a framework guiding a theological trajectory aiming at an appeal to righteous living and eschatological hope

The Problem of Vanity in Ecclesiastes

In this weary and distracted world, burdened down with sin and sorrow, we naturally asks “Is there anything worth seeking, worth having? anything that will still the cravings of the restless spirit within us, and bring peace and satisfaction to the troubled heart? What should be the chief object of man\u27s desire and pursuit? To what end should life be devoted? Where does man finally go, i.e., what happens to him at death? Are all things really vanity? That is the problem which Solomon undertook to solve in Ecclesiastes - he resolves all the foregoing questions under the category of vanity. In this thesis then let us see how he entered upon the task of solving the problem of vanity, what methods he pursued, what he learned to be true of vanity, of God, and the godly solution to the problem he found at long last, and upon which he basis his advice