Check out FF Bruce’s “The Canonization of Scripture” and Neil Lightfoot’s “How We Got The Bible” for helpful information on your response to Chris’s concerns. If you are going to be on that side of the fence about Paul’s writings, you better be sure you belong there. Many NT scholars would disagree with you about 2 Tim. 3:16, myself included.

So Revelation 21:14, refers to the city being built upon the 12 apostles, which includes their teachings. From Revelation 21:9, 10 it can be seen that this city John’s referring to is the church. So if Jesus is giving His stamp of approval on the apostle’s teachings, doesn’t that imply that they’re inerrant?

If Paul wrote in that one single verse, “I am speaking, not the Lord,” doesn’t this prove that he believed everything else he said was God speaking?

Also, I think the very early church did in fact deem Paul’s writings to be scripture, even while he was still alive. His letters are referred to as scripture by Peter in 2 Peter 3:15. So they knew (and he knew!) the divine authority with which he wrote.

The bottom line (and I think you’d agree with this) is that the Bible says exactly what God wants it to say, no more, no less. How exactly this happened is a mystery that thankfully 2 Tim 3:16 only asks me to believe, not explain.

Sam, I agree with you about the implications of the word passion. It does seem to refer to this sudden, outburst of emotion that moves one to action for a particular reason or cause. However, I think that you and Will have similar ideas of passion. I hope to show that by providing a second, possibly wider, definition of “passion” that I think matches really well with what I would characterize as a quiet intensity that should mark the Christian life. To begin this definition, I would like to point out that the root of the word passion is the the Latin word “passus” which means “suffer” or “having suffered.” This is root is important because it explains why we call the week before Jesus’s death the “Passion of the Christ.” It is the suffering of Jesus leading up to his death. When we look at the word Passion in light of the Christian tradition, I would argue that we find at its core definition the example given by Jesus the last week of his life. The cursing of the tree, the Triumphal Entry, the Last Supper, and Jesus time in the Garden of Gethsemane (not to mention the trials and cross) are obviously marked by intense outpourings of emotion. This is seen in Jesus’s actions and words, but even more physically when he sweats drops of blood in the garden. The emotion seen in Jesus suffering is passion, in its traditional sense. He was emotionally fired up by love to free those who were slaves to sin. As both of you know, this is crucial to our understanding of the gospel. However, to stop here would be to only see half of passion. Jesus shows and an incredible amount of perseverance. His passion was not a loud and attention drawing emotion, but a quiet, intense emotion marked by perseverance. Jesus was alone to pray in the garden, he stood silent before Pontius Pilate. This is emotion fused with humility and perseverance. That is the Passion of the Christ. The suffering of Jesus on our behalf done out of love, yet suffering so intense that perseverance cannot help but be noticed. The model here for the Christian is that we love others as Jesus loved us and out of our appreciation for the gospel and because we have indeed tasted that the Lord is good, we as Christians are to go out into the world and serve others as Christ loved the Church. We are to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with [our] God.”

I think it against this definition of “passion” that the Passion Conference must be analyzed. The Passion Conference really does present Jesus and the gospel. It presents the fact that in a broken and sinful world, we simply cannot earn our own salvation through works. We must turn to Jesus as the only way to salvation and a right relationship with God. We must turn from sin and see that Jesus more than deserves to be “supremely valuable” in our lives. He offers to free us from sin (yes, to free us from slavery to sin and the law) and to doubly own us as our creator and Savior. This is the gospel that all three of us believe and that Passion teaches. Some might argue that the people who turn to Jesus at Passion are simply experiencing an emotional high. But I would argue that we are not to judge the hearts of men. Let God judge the heart for only He knows it. I do believe that people at Passion found salvation and that I will worship with them once again in Heaven for eternity.

I am convinced that the Christian life should be marked by the fruit of the Spirit. The natural outpouring of faith into our lives is that our actions become more and more Christ-like. That is sanctification, which is a two-way street. God does his part and we must try to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling.” Sometimes it can be hard though to find ways to serve others. We certainly can on an individual basis with people we come in contact with daily and we should. But we as the Church body should also be united in attacking the deep injustices of our world. Passion creates a way for students to do that through pursuing a movement to end slavery in our world. The fact that the Passion conference has raised some $5 million in the past two years towards this end is not insignificant. Some people go home and save during the year to be able to give more at Passion the next year. There is continuing enthusiasm. With anything in life, our participation in it wanes as it becomes “out of sight, out of mind,” but that in no way diminishes the impact it may have had on our lives. For instance, I have traveled to Haiti twice. I learned so much in those trips about what it means to love others and to love sacrificially. It truly changed my perspective on life. I don’t think about Haiti everyday, nor do I talk about my experiences with everyone I meet. However, that in no way diminishes the impact it has had on my life and the ways that God taught me on those trips. Even if some person’s enthusiasm towards pursuing an end to slavery wanes as time passes after the Conference, what they may learn about the value of service, the role of the Church in uniting for a cause of justice, or some other aspect of the Christian life that I may not know is still valuable. Yes, it would be great to live in a world where no one forgets, where enthusiasm does not fade, but that simply is not the case.

Sam, I understand your concern about how the primary thing people may take away is “Lets free the slaves.” I wholeheartedly agree that the focus should be on Jesus and out of what Jesus has done in our lives should pour the work of social justice. But, always with the focus on Jesus. I would just caution not to immediately place the blame of a misplaced focus on the Passion Conference instead of the individual. I think the Passion Conference has two main focuses: Jesus and ending slavery, in that order. I don’t think that Passion can take all the blame for a misplaced focus…maybe some, but not all.

Will, I would challenge that as Christians we may need to be critical sometimes of what the Church does, even where it appears that God is working. There is always something that can be changed and improved. Nothing is perfect. That said, I agree that an analysis should be based on knowledge and experience, which is not always possible.

Also, as a general note, social justice is definitely biblical, and I would be happy to talk about that with anyone. Social Justice must pour out of our relationship with Christ. Also, as Christians, we definitely should be motivating each other to humbly serve each other and the world as Christ did.

I hope that my words here are helpful, respectful, and clearly presented. Again, I don’t claim expertise, but possibly a different perspective that will provide insight for you all as your opinions have provided for me.