Walsh and Middleton make a good point
about the Creation-Fall-Redemption story of Scripture: Christians may tend to think of the Bible as all about sin (fall) and salvation (redemption). But without creation, neither of these concepts makes sense. What is sin but the violation of the way God created things to be? And what is salvation but the restoration of God’s creation to its (our) original purposes? (pp. 43-44)
Quick Answer to a Question about Complementarianism
A dear friend of mine recently asked me if complementarianism is used to justify sin. I gave this quick answer: Yes. Just as I think egalitarianism can be used to justify sin, including sexual sin. For example, the guy who really thinks his secretary is hot and knows...
People with a lot more experience than me talking with Chinese people about Christianity say one of the most common complaints is: “The Bible doesn’t make sense. I can’t understand it.” When that complaint is made, the solution, much to the average Westerner’s surprise, is not to go over the purpose behind genealogies or pontificate on systematic theological explanations of things like justification. Rather, the need is to spend a lot of time going over every phrase in Genesis 1:1. After that, the Bible suddenly makes sense.
Western Christians (and even Western atheists who have never set foot in a church) are so familiar with Genesis 1:1 concepts that it doesn’t occur to us what it might be like not to know them.