2009-12-19

Phillips posts pastor Chris Brauns' hypothetical Inaugeration Day prayer. Basically, it is a prayer for guidance and provision, and a confession of going astray. Inauguration Day Prayer #3- Pastor Chris Brauns

Hays comments on another apostate's writings, and the meaning of life. 1) He has some interesting comments on how the meaning of life, and how a meaningful life is much more than simply a never-ending life, and how our perception of the past and future affect our perception of the meaning of our lives (e.g. nostalgia and feeling like the best is behind us; or looking forward to nothingness or suffering). "This goes beyond the question of mere mortality. It goes to the question of why we’re here. A question of purpose. In other words, it goes to the question of morality as well as mortality. If we weren’t designed to be or think or feel or do anything in particular, then nothing is right or wrong. Nothing is supposed to be any particular way." Indeed, nothing is really good, just pleasurable. Everything just is. 2) On a secular view, it is begging the question to look for meaning in beauty, love, good, and truth in the midst of meaningless, since beauty is a projective/subjective property (by contrast Christians can truly discover beauty; e.g. fine art, as corrupt and sinful as it is, reveals true things that God has put there), there is no such thing as good, love is mere illusion - the product of random arrangements of atoms - and while a source of pleasure, it is also a source of great misery (whereas, Christians were designed to love, and finding love is a genuine discovery of something that God has made). Indeed, in a secular view, nothing ought to matter. 3) What if the atheist doesn't want "God's wonderful plan?" Well, atheists are just the deterministic and unplanned product of what came before. They don't choose their own destiny in their view. 4) Atheists continually borrow teleological language, as if things were designed by nature. Nothing was designed.  "In naturalistic evolution, various creatures were never “fitted to function well in their particular niches.” They have no natural function. That’s an ends/means concept. That smuggles directionality or intentionality into a secular framework which denies teleological categories." Life is a game of cards

Hays comments on Dawkin's idea that it is abusive to scare and teach children about hell, etc. 1) "People can have different reasons for fearing death. Some fear death because they fear damnation. But others fear death because they fear oblivion." Hays points out that we treat children for sickness - but why? Because the death of a child is bad. Why is it bad? Isn't teaching them the horrid truth of oblivion and hopelessness and sure death at some point bad? Would this atheist lie to his own dying child? 2) "Would it be wrong to terrify a child merely because we “feel” it’s wrong? Wrong because it violates a set of values which we “invented”? If that’s the criterion, why not invent a set of values in which it’s virtuous to terrify a child?" The idea suffers from the naturalistic fallacy. What makes a secular person think that a child is a bearer of human rights? God is no respecter of Parsons

Hays replies briefly to an atheist who finds thousands of pink flamingos dying a compelling argument from evil against God. "What’s ironic about this objection is that it’s a stupid objection even from the standpoint of an atheist. According to naturalistic evolution, redundancy is useful." While the atheist is projecting sentiment onto the flamingos, he seems to forget his own worldview. "It may look cruel to the outside observer, but there’s nothing absurd about it. In fact, it’s ruthlessly efficient. A way of balancing the ecosystem." Why pink flamingos disprove God!

Hays and Manata have a joint comment on the morality of using vaccines in light of the fact that certain ones came from material from a few aborted fetuses. Now, it doesn't appear this is ongoing. Often in a fallen world we are the beneficiaries of evil. "it confuses being a party to the wrongful act with being an incidental beneficiary of the effect of the wrongful act." One can’t reject a vaccination simply because the process by which it was produced was morally tainted at some point along the way. Intention also factors in. A parent isn't intending any evil in vaccinating his child. Should we throw out our textbook data on hypothermia? Most of this comes from Nazi experiments on Jews. Even if it was an ongoing evil, should the vaccine be rejected? "Don't patients receive organs from murder victims sometimes? Should patients reject them?" Vaccination & abortion

Piper quotes Mark Noll on what sort of explanation or vision is necessary: "To explain the simultaneous manifestation of superlative good and pervasive malevolence in the history of race and religion, neither simple trust in human nature nor simple cynicism about American hypocrisy is adequate.... [a real explanation] must evoke both the goodness of the human creation and the persistence of evil in all branches of humanity.... It must show how the best human creatures are sabotaged by their own hubris and the worst human depredations are enlightened by unexpected shafts of light.... It must be able to hold these contradictions, antinomies, and paradoxes in one cohesive vision." The answer he gives is historic Christianity. Interesting thought. Christianity Is the Best Explanation

Challies reviews a book which appears like a walking contradiction from the cover, given its title and the MacArthur endorsement: "In Take Charge of Your Life, Ganz deliberately takes the words, the look, the feel of a self-help book and permeates it all with Christian meaning. His constant exhortation is to live a take-charge life--or, to use the words of Scripture, to work out your salvation. It is a book about sanctification, about living a life for God's glory, about living a life that is distinctly Christian in its emphases and in its characteristics." Challies, along with others, endorse this book as a solid biblically-oriented work. Take Charge of Your Life

Carolyn Mahaney writes that in all the seasons of life, "“The way we should go and the thing we should do” (Jer 42:3) is found only by prayerful study of God’s Word. In Scripture alone are the signs marking the true bargains for each season of our lives." She promises to answer the question, "So what are they? What are the best deals for teenage girls, single women, moms with young kids, the empty nester?" in the coming weeks. Best Deals of the Season

Here's an interesting post from Michael Haykin on tea and the glory of God. It begins with this striking note: "I was in a Barnes and Noble tonight and dipped into a book by Rebecca St. James—Sister freaks: Stories of Women who gave up everything for God (New York: Warner Faith, 2005). I didn’t get beyond the first page, where I read this quote from Watchman Nee: “Everywhere Jesus went, there was revolution. Everywhere I go, they serve tea” (p.xi). She didn’t footnote it, so I am not sure where she got this from. But two thoughts immediately came to mind. First, what a way to express the difference between us and our Lord: even as committed a disciple as Watchman Nee (though I would dissent from some of his views about discipleship) knew well the difference." Tea and the Glory of God

Now, I don't find this to be the most intense research project ever, but here's some comments on the notion that the Puritans banned Christmas pudding as a lewd tradition. Did the Puritans dislike Christmas pudding-

Here's an interesting definition from Jay Adams: "Nouthetic counseling is the wise application of biblical truth to persons who have experienced a breakdown of the normal, sanctification process, in order to remove the various causes of the breakdown while, at the same time, endeavoring to help them seize upon the breakdown as an opportunity to achieve greater spiritual growth.... Nouthetic counseling is the wise application of biblical truth to persons whose lives dishonor God through the cessation (or slowing) of the progress of sanctification... it functions so as to reinstitute the normal process of Christian sanctification in the counselee.. and it seeks, in addition, to capitalize upon overcoming hindrances to spiritual growth by using the opportunity to promote greater ongoing growth." What is Christian Counseling-

Donn Arms (nouthetic guy) writes, "Let’s get it clear, depression is allowing how one feels, what one thinks, or one’s circumstances to become one’s reason to cease functioning in some aspect of life that God expects of us otherwise. It is a form of unbelief which says God is not sufficient for my situation." Book Review- Depression, A Stubborn Darkness

Patton points out what should be the obvious - Christianity is not validated on the character of its adherents. Many use this as an excuse for avoiding Christianity. Even some Christians use this reasoning! Christianity is based solely on the person and work of Christ. John 13:35 tells us that the validity of our profession depends on our character, not the validity of the truth of Christianity. Patton always tells people to look to Christ rather than him for validation of the truth. Even if he left the faith, that would have no bearing on its truthfulness. "The incarnation demands that we be historical with regard to the faith and follow the true where the historic evidence guides. Paul tells the Corinthians,”If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). Notice he did not say “If you Corinthians don’t promote peace and justice and be nice to one another, then our faith is in vain.” Its about what Christ did, not what you do. It is about the incarnation. It is about history first, the rest will follow." Christianity Does not Depend on your Character Witness

Swan responds to a Romanist by pointing out the gross double standard among Romanists. Roman Catholics chastise Protestants continually for using "private interpretation" and having disagreements... saying that they, "can't just assume we have the correct understanding of Scripture." "The small print tells us Roman Catholics have a wide range of freedom to interpret things however they want to, as long as it does not contradict official teaching. The small print tell us very little of the Bible has an infallible interpretation, thus giving Roman Catholics the freedom of interpretation on 99.9% of the Bible. The small print tell us even with infallibly defined dogma, those dogmas are open to interpretation. Even verses allegedly infallibly defined can still be open to interpretation." (title unknown)