The writer to the Hebrews, however, views Jesus with bifocal vision, seeing Jesus in depth. We are introduced to the Son's divinity at the very outset in chapter 1 and verse 3, 'The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.' That is who the Son was and is and ever will be- God.

Sadly, the testimony that reaches my ears on a regular basis tells me that we often do not manage our own culture and systems well. We are not very good at managing the operations of power and authority. And I am aware how I personally have contributed to and benefitted from this culture. I know that I have mishandled my power. Are we really committed to own ongoing [edit:] repentance as individuals as as a result, reformation as an institution?

The major problem with this objection, however, is that it smuggles in the idea that the earliest Christians believed private property morally belonged to whoever held legal right to it. While the texts of the New Testament do not have strong, explicit claims about private property, the witness of Christian leaders writing in the few hundred years following the first generation of the apostles is incredibly clear: God has a different idea of what belongs to whom than modern Americans do.

Ever since my conversion in 1988, a verse of the Bible has been very precious to me: 'Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels' (Mark 8:38). This was one of the many verses which guided my stand against Mermaids. Why did I feel the need to take a stand? I was convinced that what they were promoting was harming, and would harm, the children in the school.