Jealous for the Name of Christ

I do not know if you are aware of this, but a few weeks ago DTS professor, Dr. Daniel Wallace debated UNC professor, Dr. Bart Ehrman on the campus of Southern Methodist University. The topic of the debate was, Can We Trust the Text of the New Testament? Here is a link to Dr. Wallace's faculty page: http://www.dts.edu/about/faculty/dwallace/. Here is a link to Dr. Ehrman's page: http://www.bartdehrman.com/biography.htm.

For those who know Dr. Wallace, he does not enjoy speaking in front of people... in fact he he sweats just thinking about teaching one of his classes! This latest debate with Dr. Ehrman happened to be only his fourth debate ever! In contrast, Dr. Ehrman conducts numerous debates every year and is a very polished communicator. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend the debate (work!), but I was able to hear Dr. Wallace's thoughts on the debate. There are two thoughts in particular that I would like to share with you.

First, when debating individuals, our concern should be for the individual. Dr. Ehrman's issue with the trustworthiness New Testament is not a lack of evidence, but his is with his own struggles with morality. This should lead us to love him and pray for him.

The most profound thing that Dr. Wallace said was in relation to his own thoughts and feelings leading up to the debate. He was obviously nervous about the thought of debating such a prominent scholar in front of a couple thousand of people. This nervousness was only compounded when he considered how just a few weeks earlier, Dr. Ehrman had virtually destroyed another prominent Christian in a debate over the reliability of the Bible. Dr. Wallace was concerned about whether or not he would be able to avoid having his own name destroyed in the upcoming debate. About a half-hour before the debate, the realization hit him that even if he was defeated in the debate, God would take care of His own Name and Word. What a wondrous peace this thought affords, that God is jealous of His own name and glory. Indeed, may I set my concern and affections on the advancement of the glory of God, His name, and His Word.

Walk with Him today,
JE