Roger Severino

How do Christians Explain Jesus’ Two Natures in One Person?

August 5, 2015

Here’s a short quiz about what all Christian traditions—Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox—believe about Jesus. Are the following statements true or false?

  • Jesus appeared as if he were human but he actually was not.
  • Jesus was created before the creation of the world.
  • Jesus is half God and half man.
  • Jesus did not actually take on human flesh because humanity is sinful and Jesus did not sin.
  • The second member of the Trinity (Jesus, the Son) came into existence at his birth.
  • The baby Jesus who was birthed by Mary is not the same as the One who created Mary.

The historic Christian creeds (i.e. Nicaea...more

Countercultural Leadership: What Jesus Taught Us before Jim Collins

July 30, 2015
Reflections on John 13: 1-17 In his best-selling book Good to Great, Jim Collins and his research team discovered something perhaps surprising about the CEO’s who led companies to beat out their industry competitors over a given period of time. They tended not to be the bombastic, charismatic types that were larger than life, and had egos to match. They were “Level 5” leaders (his terminology) that had a...more

What We Learn from Jesus’ Example of Confronting Evil

July 22, 2015
Reflections on Luke 4 1 John 3:8b says: “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works.” The cosmic battle of good and evil is not one that is in doubt. As followers of Jesus, we can be confident that no matter how dark the night, Jesus will prevail and the light of day will dawn. Let us consider one chapter from Scripture to...more

Reasons Church People May Love Jesus Much or Little

July 16, 2015
Reflections on Luke 7:36-50: Religion vs. the Gospel Religious people tend to observe certain rituals (i.e. church attendance) and follow a code of morality that makes them feel they are good, or at least better than others. Often, they see themselves (subconsciously) in a contract with God, and that God is fortunate to have them on His team. When circumstances go south, however, religious people can feel betrayed because,...more

What Does it Mean that Jesus is the Son of God?

July 7, 2015
When you look at the titles of Jesus in the Gospels, you see several that are attributed to Him: Messiah, Lord, Son of Man, Son of God, etc. What do these different titles tell us and what light do they shed on what the Gospel writers were trying to communicate? In John 1:14-18, let us consider the title that is used, which is Son of God, or more accurately...more

Jesus’ Resurrection: Myth, Metaphor, or History?

July 2, 2015
Reflections on 1 Corinthians 15:1-14 A myth is generally thought of as something that is untrue (or not entirely true), that develops as a legend over time. A spiritual metaphor is something that takes something we know—like light or bread—and attempts to teach a spiritual truth or practice, correlating the literal to the symbolic truth. Is this how we should think about the resurrection of Jesus? Even if you...more

The Deity of Christ

June 24, 2015
Reflections on Hebrews 1:1-4 When I was in high school, I was fairly vocal about my faith, and perhaps my zeal at times exceeded my wisdom or tact. Nevertheless, I recall one of my Jewish friends marveling about how some of us Christians spoke so often about Jesus. He commented something like: “I don’t go around talking about Moses.” So, is Jesus for the Christian equivalent to Moses (or...more

Christ-like Character: Courage

June 17, 2015
I remember watching the opening scene of “Saving Private Ryan” several years ago when it first came out. I recall the horror of seeing these young men getting out of their seaborne crafts and thrown onto the beaches under fire of flying bullets. I put myself in the boots of those soldiers’ and felt the fear I imagine they experienced. I remember wondering if I could muster the courage...more

Jesus’ Miracles and Healings

June 10, 2015
If you are looking through the Gospels to glean what you see Jesus doing, it is hard not to notice all the incidences where he is performing some type of miracle or healing. In our modernist mindset, we might be a little embarrassed by this and play it down. But the Gospels do not shy away from telling these stories. Why? One clue may be found in the incident...more

Jesus Proclaimed the Kingdom of God

June 3, 2015
What is it? What are the implications for us? After a brief introduction of John the Baptist, the forerunner to Jesus, the Gospel of Mark goes straight to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee: “Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of God: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!’” If you spend any...more
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