New Answers to Old Questions

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1:39 AM

@ThaddeusB Lol. I'm reading this, thinking, who the dell is ScottS. Been a member for over a year and has over 9K rep and I've never heard of him. I'm about to ask if he changed his name recently then realize I'm on the Hermeneutics site. I'd of had to put both feet in my mouth.

ThaddeusB

@fredsbend hehe

curiousdannii

2:08 AM

@fredsbend Weird that he doesn't participate on CSE considering he is doing a PhD in systematic theology!

7 hours later…

fredsbend

9:30 AM

> There are numerous in my camp who would deem this a definite matter of separation, in which to participate with such diverse views on something related to the foundations of what we believe would be going against the teaching of the Bible itself. Source

Perhaps he feels C.SE is outside of his comfort zone.

fredsbend

9:42 AM

Overall, that's actually a great meta page. There's some good info that translates well into C.SE.

Something in this post that Scott saw that the rest of BH didn't:

I'll have you know that your post here I think was instrumental in my becoming more active in the site — ScottS Apr 3 '14 at 18:07

Ironic that user2027 is has left, but ScottS is now a power user.

I think this may have done it:

> I remain involved because , I do not have access to scholars, experts in Biblical studies who can see what I do not see and who are willing to interact with me on the text. If there is err in what I share, surely the atheist & scholar will point it out! I can exercise discernment here as well as anywhere else in the world. Disregard for popularity, Refusal to compromise on matters of faith, coupled with a healthy dose of humility on matters not regarding truth serves to make me stronger.

> On the other hand, because I care more about truth than about being right, perhaps in some small way I can be a doorkeeper of truth amongst any who do not care about truth. Joseph served in Pharaoh's court! Daniel served in Babylon!

I see why this line of thinking would appeal to someone like ScottS.

Surely, the same can be said of C.SE, right?

curiousdannii

10:42 AM

@fredsbend But academia is all about contending with new ideas. If someone wasn't comfortable with discussing the core beliefs of Christianity with people with different beliefs, there's no way they could do a PhD. But maybe ScottS doesn't see the sites with that kind of academic stance

@fredsbend I would definitely think so!

fredsbend

11:11 AM

@curiousdannii Yes, true. He's certainly done it before, so why should the site be any different?

3 hours later…

ScottS

2:07 PM

@curiousdannii @fredsbend @ThaddeusB The primary reason I have avoided even joining C.SE is the combination of time and human weakness. That is, I spend more time than I probably should when I do answer BH.SE questions and just glancing at C.SE know that I could spend hours a day there as well. But I have to be a good steward of my time. I cannot do it all. (And believe me, there are many questions on BH.SE still I would love to tackle but have resisted letting it take my time.)

Now, if someone wants to pay me to answer questions on BH.SE and C.SE day in and day out... :-)

I chose BH.SE over C.SE because: (1) There is a stricter structure of "showing your work," which I think should be done in any answer anyway, but it is monitored on BH.SE. (2) I believe all good doctrine derives from the proper interpretation of the text, so hermeneutics is the ground of theology.

(3) It has the common base of the text itself as the item of discussion, rather than "tradition" or "dogma," and so it actually allows for a better outlet to reach across to one of another (unbelieving?) persuasion by being able to convince them of truth through the interpretation of a text. (4) Related to (3), it is the word of God that works in the hearts to convert to faith, so that common ground of the text makes my job easier, as the text is already the focus.

curiousdannii

2:48 PM

@ScottS Oh sorry, those are all excellent reasons!

What's your particular research focus? If you would be interested we could occasionally give you links to a very targeted set of questions on C.SE.

2 hours later…

ScottS

4:22 PM

@curiousdannii No apology needed! I just thought I would bring a direct source answer to the question of why I was not on C.SE.

@curiousdannii HA! The Bible! Hehehe. Seriously, proper theology requires a grasp of the totality of Scripture, so I do spend time on various topics, multiple passages, etc. My dissertation was in the area of soteriology (atonement), but that hardly consists of merely a "very targeted" area! And all areas of theology intersect with it, so there is that necessity for diversity again.

curiousdannii

4:38 PM

@ScottS Yeah soteriology is definitely still very broad!

3 hours later…

ThaddeusB

7:19 PM

A: What is significant about the torn curtain? What about Jesus death impressed the centurion at the cross?

The Veil: It's meaning Most scholars are in agreement on the ultimate conclusion and meaning of the tearing of the curtain. Perhaps none are so succinct as Ezra Palmer Gould in A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Gospel According to St. Mark stating, The rending of the vail would sig...

very long new answer to an old question by James, but, IMO, worth the read

4 hours later…

Nathaniel

11:21 PM

A: How do classic Trinitarians answer the implications of Revelation 1:1?

Trinitarians deal with this text in two ways: The source of the revelation is God the Father, and Jesus is the mediator of that revelation to man. Some particularly emphasize the human nature of Jesus in this respect. That the "him" actually refers to John, the author of the book, not Jesus J...