Thursday, February 04, 2010

Random Theological Questions

Some questions bouncing around my head lately:

Do believers have one nature or two?

Why was James the half brother of Jesus an Apostle? I understand the significance of the 12 representing the 12 tribes, but 12 - 1 + Matthias + Paul + James = 14.

Can Satan place thoughts in the minds of believers? Are believers morally responsible for these thoughts?


2 comments:

Matt Privett said...

Regarding the apostleship of James, I believe the answer is found in 1 Corinthians 15:7, where Paul mentions that Jesus specifically and specially appeared to James (and himself) post-resurrection. In this sense James was commissioned by the Lord in much the same way Paul was, albeit not revealed in Scripture. So you've got the Twelve (with Matthias), then James (kind of a special apostle) and Paul (an apostle to the Gentiles - Rom 11:13). Maybe since James took on leadership of the Jerusalem church one could consider him an apostle to the Jews of sorts.

michael said...

Thanks Matt, that is really helpful.