A dominant Roman cultural influence that shaped ancient Corinth was the pater familias: the power exerted by the oldest living male in the household. His control was not only legally sanctioned but often autocratic and even violent. In such a family, one did not question authority, one did not haveContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste, pastor of RCSS Embodiment is central to salvation, so is suffering in the body. Without the incarnation, passion, and ongoing enfleshed intercession of Christ, there is no redemption. This was the heartbeat of the apostle Paul’s preaching in ancient Corinth, a city pulsing with ideas and illicitContinue Reading
Was there a more un-sanctified and immature congregation of which we have an apostolic record than the Corinthian congregation? From a reading of Paul’s two canonical letters to them, they were beset by power struggles and schisms within, tolerant of gross immorality, besotted with flowery rhetoric, and unimpressed by theContinue Reading
By Simon Jooste The overriding witness of Scripture is God’s salvation of sinners (Gen. 3:15; John 3:16; Luke 24:27). Natural man remains dead in his sins unless God acts (Rom. 3:9-20; Psalm 53). If God did not extend his grace, there would be no hope for this fallen world (Gal.Continue Reading
Christianity is a dogmatic religion, on that much the greatest theologians across the Christian spectrum agree, from Martin Luther to John Henry Newman. There is a famous saying of Dorothy L. Sayers with which I begin my class on the Doctrine of God at Grove City College each year: “TheContinue Reading
Dear Beloved in the Lord Jesus, The elders and I would like to take this opportunity to explain why we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper in public worship at the 2nd Rondebosch Scout Hall this coming Sunday. And, also, why we will not be allowing for participation inContinue Reading
The wisdom of the church is unlike the wisdom of this world. Why? Because the wisdom of the church turns on the wisdom of the cross, which is folly to this world. Paul explains: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to usContinue Reading