2008-11-21

Some statistics that demonstrate the mainstream media's campaign of misinformation and bias that helped Obama get elected. http://www.howobamagotelected.com/

Muslim apologetics at their finest. http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2983

Hays comments on Francis Beckwith's Return to Rome. Hays points out that Beckwith seems unfamiliar with Protestant or Catholic scholarship and unaware that much of what he brings up is simply stock objections to Protestantism (he seems to think they're remarkable insights), he begs the question regarding the church fathers (what defines a 'Church Father'? Someone who seems more Romanist - so there is consent among the church fathers!). "For Catholicism, God treats us as if we were righteous partly on account of our good deeds. But, of course, we are not actually righteous. We are still sinners. Due to regeneration and sanctification, we’re not wholly evil. We can do good works. But we remain fallen creatures. To treat sinners as if they were righteous partly on account of their good deeds is a legal fiction. Worse: it’s a lie. A sinner merits condemnation. That’s simple justice. " "Sinners have a twofold problem: we are guilty and corrupt. Guilt is an objective condition while corruption is a subjective condition. As a result, saving grace remedies both conditions, but in ways appropriate to each. The grace of justification is objective because our guilt is objective. The grace of renewal (regeneration, sanctification, and glorification) is subjective because our corruption is subjective." Beckwith thinks Reformed theology was based on nominalism, but Gabriel Biel was a nominalist and a Catholic theologian in good standing. So Beckwith's church is complicit if he makes this charge." "Ironically, the net-effect of his book is to undermine the claims of Rome. He makes his best case for Catholicism. But when the best case of a bright, sophisticated, and well-educated guy like Beckwith is so appallingly bad, it simply reinforces the fact that there are no good arguments for Catholicism. It comes down to which bad argument, or set of bad arguments, you find more appealing." http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/mommas-boy.html

Hays responds to Beckwith's response to his comments. Beckwith shut down comments on his blog, apparently after Gene Bridges posted a correction by citing how McGrath didn't say what Beckwith claimed (that is telling). Beckwith accuses Hays of confusion, but it was Beckwith who generalized anti-creedal protestantism and used to to tar Protestantism in general. Hays distinguished between the two! Read the rest. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/beckwith-in-retreat.html

Mathis writes that loving your wife is essential since, from 1 Peter 3:7, God 'interrupts' His relation with a husband if he is not living rightly with his wife. So loving your wife is a very productive activity because you can't do anything apart from prayer and to not do so hinders your prayers. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/460446604/

Here's some chilling commentary on Obama's interview with Falsani. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/460056859/obama-bell-mclaren-and-covenant-college-profs-some-people-are-being-fangoriously-devoured-by-gelatin.html

Bayly: Haleigh Poutre, a girl beaten into a coma and nearly condemned to death by medical officials who wanted to pull the plug, saying she was hopelessly vegetative, is now feeding herself, writing her name, etc. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/460102886/haleigh-poutre-escapes-judicial-murder.html

Patton: Simply put, teaching and studying preterism in the Theology Program is a waste of time. It has no historical or contemporary viability. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ParchmentAndPen/~3/460352831/

This is a sickening testimony to the commercialization in the 'church.' http://solapanel.org/article/its_nearly_christmas/#When:22:00:00Z

Thabiti: Here are some good points about technology and the life of the church. 1. Tech can't be used to build community for those who don't have it. And the elderly, poor, etc. can't always or don't always want to obtain the latest tech... 2. we should avoid thinking of technology as in any way essential to being the church. 3. Don't use technology in any way that actually undermines community or contradicts the nature of the body. (e.g. virtual communion) http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/matt-schmucker.html

Land o' the free, home o' the brave? A private business is sued and coerced into accommodating sexual perversion. Not a happy nor a proud moment in our nation's history. Michelle Malkin adds some observations about this latest incident of "gay" bullying, judicial insanity, and tyranny by lawsuit. (And, to anticipate any catcalls: I'm fairly libertarian on the matter of business. If a business doesn't want to serve wordy middle-aged white guys who like Chicago, that's their affair.) http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/hither-and-thither-112108.html

Excellent quote from Chesterton: "What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed...." http://www.joshharris.com/2008/11/gk_chesterton_humility_in_the_1.php