JT quotes Gundry on an interesting observation about the temple in the OT: "What was in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle? First of all, there was no image or statue there because God is spirit and cannot be properly represented by man-made images. All there is in the Holy of Holies is just a little box. And what is in that box? The Ten Commandments. Thus, what God is saying to the Israelites is that he cannot be manipulated by magic. If they want the good life, they must conform their lifestyle to his revealed standards of right and wrong. Ethics guarantees the good life, not manipulation of the powers that be by magic. The meaning is clear when one both compares and contrasts the biblical text with the ancient Near Eastern cultural setting." http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-makes-biblical-temple-unique.html
Doug Wilson argues from Obama's statement, "There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know." that this is tantamount to saying (in light of abortion) that there is no god. http://dougwils.com/index.asp?Action=Anchor&CategoryID=1&BlogID=6284
Here's a cool post by Hays - it's a short story on Abel's heaven, so give it a read. Abel's Paradise
Turk recommends the book, How to Argue Like Jesus, with this note: "This is not a theology book. So when you read it, don't come to it to find theology. If you approach it as a book about communication, and about approaches to persuasion, you will not do what I had to do -- which was read it a second time with a different set of expectations in order to receive what Joe & John Coleman intended to deliver." His one beef is with the title, and notes that this isn't a book about Jesus. How to Argue like Jesus
When many can't even be on time for church, this kid makes it to an interview on time after being stabbed in the leg (while still bleeding). http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1422078
Uggh: "Edinburgh City Council may face an inquiry over the decision to place two small children for adoption with a gay couple against their family’s wishes." http://www.christian.org.uk/news/20090130/edinburgh-council-may-be-probed-over-gay-adoption/?e300109
Mohler points to the latest Gallup poll, which shows that there really is a 'bible belt', showing avid religiosity ranging from Texas to the Atlantic coast. Every state in this region is included in the pattern of highest responses, with the exception of Florida. (Now, many of these are simply 'raised right') This comment is worth noting: "the radical difference between the 85% marked by Mississippi and the 42% of Vermont point to real and challenging distinctions in how we should conceive our Great Commission challenge in those states. In Mississippi, the challenge is to reach persons who think they are Christians with the reality of the genuine Gospel. In Vermont, reaching a secular population is the main challenge. Both represent important and vital Great Commission challenges." http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3226
Piper says it is the 172nd birthday of Dwight Moody, and points out that he, "without higher education, founded three schools; without theological training, reshaped Victorian Christianity; without radio or television reached 100 million people." Dwight L. Moody Turns 172
Here's a great Owen quote: "The duties that God, in an ordinary way, requires at our hands are not proportioned to what strength we have in ourselves, but to what help and relief is laid up for us in Christ; and we are to address ourselves to the greatest performances with a settled persuasion that we have not ability for the least." Thanks, Conference Volunteers!
Josh Harris points to this quote by Packer: "...gospel study enables us both to keep our Lord in clear view and to hold before our minds the relational frame of discipleship to him. The doctrines on which our discipleship rests are clearest in the epistles, but the nature of discipleship itself is most vividly portrayed in the gosples. Some Christians seem to prefer the epistles to the gospels and talk of graduating from the gospels to the epistles as if this were a mark of growing up spiritually; but really this attitude is a very band sign, suggesting that we are more interested in theological notions than in fellowship with the Lord Jesus in person. We should think, rather, of the theology of the epistles as preparing us to understand better the disciple relationship with Christ that is set forth in the gospels, and we should never let ourselves forget that the four gospels are, as has often and rightly been said, the most wonderful books on earth."—(J.I. Packer, Keep in Step with the Spirit
After discussing the biblical teaching of simultaneous determinism and human responsibility, this post reads, "I do believe there is a way to logically bring together God’s exhaustive sovereignty and authentic human freedom (see here). It’s a longer story than I will recount here, but Edwards’ Freedom of the Will is magisterial, as is Augustine’s On Grace and Free Will and On Rebuke and Grace. Frankly, I don’t find Calvin and Luther nearly as effective at this point, and I’m inclined to think that Luther’s Bondage of the Will is in some measure responsible for giving post-Reformation determinism a bad rap (see here and here). At the end of the day, all four theologians are arguing for the same basic position, but Luther and Calvin, given their rhetorical jousting with their Pelagian/semi-pelagian opponents, adopted some unfortunate semantics." God and Suffering- Is He Responsible- Part 2
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