Featured I Desire Help Developing a Theological Work I am Writing

I am currently outlining what I thought was going to be a theological book. I have the equivalent of an MTS degree and am halfway to an MDiv. In addition, I am an avid writer, though I am not yet published. To change that status and use my gifts and experiences for the Kingdom of God, I decided to write a theological book on important issues that seem to go under the radar. However, with 21 essays identified as necessary for the work, and still climbing, it looks like I will have to split the tome I was working on into several volumes.

I have been working on this project, in a sense, ever since I joined the BB over a year ago. The process of outlining the books has become a massive effort, that I am going slowly through as I do an inductive bible study of the entire NT and the Book of Proverbs.

The unifying theme, it seems to me, is finding and bringing to light what I believe are key deceptions Satan is using in the Church. Then, I examine what the biblical response should be. This is where I find my fire, my passion, and the key intellectual battleground I believe I can help in. However, I am trying to be gentle with any doctrinal correction.

I present the current titles of my essays as they give away the gist of the books:

1-1) Confirming Your Salvation: The Effects of a Living Faith
1-2) Judge Not? Correcting a Common Misunderstanding and Resurrecting Church Discipline
1-3) Interpreting the Times: The Spiritual Health of the American Church
1-4) Personal Holiness: A Foundation for Christian Faith
1-5) The Bible's Teachings Trump Our Life Experiences: What Being the Word of God Means to Our Reality
1-6) The Doctrine of Hell: The Need to Embrace the Day of Judgment in Tears

2-7) Reason is Not Equal To Scripture: A Warning About Having a Rational Faith
2-8) A Segue: Belief in a Creator God is in Fact Very Reasonable
2-9) Christian Tradition is Not Equal to Scripture: A Warning About "High Church" Christianity
2-10) The Supernatural Deception of Our Time: A Warning About the Charismatic Movement
2-11) The Lie of the Enemy Called the Scientific Worldview
2-12) What is Biblical Womanhood? Countering Modern Feminism
2-13) Our Sexual Activity is Judged by God: Combating the Sexual Revolution
2-14) Should Children be Rationed? Exposing the Real Problem with Birth Control

3-15) Offerings: A Call for Radical Generosity in the Face of Lazarus
3-16) Solving the Problem of Evil Using the Bible: Accepting a Fool's Wager
3-17) What is a Fool, a Simple Person, and a Scoffer According to the Bible?
3-18) A New and Much Darker Perspective on the Historical Church in Light of a Timeless Gospel
3-19) Some Thoughts on Politics, Nationalism, and a Kingdom Not of this World
3-20) Warnings to the Pharisees and Scribes: Convicting Words and the Need to Study, Understand, Apply, and Quote the Whole Bible
3-21) A Sampling of C.S. Lewis' Apologetical Arguments Against other Religions: Christianity on the Offensive

What are your thoughts that could help this project?

The problem I have run into is that a word by word inductive study of the bible has produced in me, a far, far more conservative faith that, to me, seems against the grain of the evangelical movement. I am not turning mainline or charismatic or high church, instead I am discovering that my reading of the bible for two years has put me at odds with most evangelical pastors as a matter of course. I am simply hyper-conservative compared to the average churchgoer and pastor.

I guess I wonder if it is possible to be a Non-Evangelical, non-Charismatic, non-Mainline Protestant Christian due to a very literal reading of the bible? Or am I simply misreading things and lacking an understanding of how these 21 viewpoints I am writing mesh with the Church?

Any insights that can help me?

 

My primary goal is to serve in and pursue His Kingdom in relationship to 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.

2 Corinthians 10:3-6
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 6 And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.

I also want to help people discover the truths and treasures of the bible that I have found since coming to saving faith two years ago.

 

I believe that is a fair assessment.

I am not currently in seminary, as I am in the process of getting a job to pay for it. I am also very much trying to live my faith currently, as a man with two severe disabilities.

I agree with you off the bat on one thing: I should master the NT more before ever publishing the books I am writing. I should probably keep my essays outlined, when I'm done doing so, and see if my theology changes as I master the NT. When I complete the first phase of my project to do an inductive bible study of the whole NT and the Book of Proverbs, then I can then think about fleshing out my essays and publishing my books. That way I don't do work that will need to be redone later if my theology changes as I gain biblical mastery.

This just seems like being careful with the Word of God. When I do offer teaching to others, for now, I should preface it with an acknowledgment that I have a very long way to go in mastering the Word, because I am a young Christian.

 

Thank you, I will work on my thesis, explaining it, and then determine how I can prove it.

 

Post #6 explains that I realized this. I am still outlining my essays because it helps me understand what I believe and will stand for as being consistent with the Word of God. Its kind of like getting a term paper or essay test where you are forced to make up your mind on on the issues at hand.

 

That is an idea I have thought about, the reason I do not is that an essay is so long. Even an outline of concepts, structure, and bible verses is pretty long. When I post a wall of text on this board, I usually get no responses or I get few responses and no robust discussion. I may have to take my most condensed findings and post them in order to see what happens. That may be wise.

 

I believe they are a dangerous group of people in the church lost in untruth. I view them as much an enemy of sound doctrine as the RCC.

Their power gift ministers are both supernatural deceivers who themselves are deceived by Satan, as well as those who will cry "Lord! Lord!" at the Judgment. I believe when they work anything supernatural that advances the Kingdom, it is in spite of their status in heaven. I believe that when they work anything supernatural that does not advance the Kingdom, it is by the power of Satan. When you add the Charismatic charlatans, who prophesy of their own minds, you have a brood of vipers leading that movement.