2009-02-23

This post uses an example from Matthew 24 as an illustration of the author's contention that restoring the original Greek isn't enough. "1. In the Gospels sometimes restoring what was originally said (in Aramaic) is more important than restoring what was originally written (in Greek). 2. Modern translations often pay insufficient attention to early translations of the Greek New Testament." The original spoken Aramaic or written Greek-

Bird likes Eugene Peterson's summary of the 'goal of our instruction': “we learn to think accurately, behave morally, preach passionately, sing joyfully, pray honestly, obey faithfully” The Goal of our Instruction-

DeYoung has some interesting concerns coming from the perspective of a confessional Reformed paedobaptist, when looking at the fact that non-confessional baptists seem to the be catalyst for much of the Reformed resurgence. 1) There is a danger, particularly within those raised confessionally, that they will get bored with the doctrines of grace. It's no surprise that we see a huge emergenty church in Grand Rapids! The lure of novelty is dangerous. 2) There's a danger in calling people to confessions rather than Christ. 3) There is a danger that we focus most on what makes us Reformed or Presbyterian instead of what makes us Evangelical... be centred on the Gospel and the cross, not more peripheral or finer matters of theology. 4) There is a danger in not 'being ourselves' in preaching. Calvin Conference and Confessional Calvinists.

Naturally, R. Scott Clark doesn't like this: "As I understand the Reformed faith, we confess what we do because we believe it to be biblical... it encompasses a theology that is more than the five points, a Word and sacrament piety, and a churchly practice that includes the administration of baptism to covenant children." http://heidelblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/dont-stand-there-in-the-entry-come-on-in [but then, I completely agree that baptism is only and always to be administered to covenant children... ]

Here's a good quote to J. Gresham Machen from his mother to the effect that it is not merely that we can rest in faith, but that we can rest in the doubts that plague us - that it, that we can paradoxically trust Christ even when assaulted by every doubt - here the doctrines of grace, the truth of God's preserving of His saints, is most comforting. A Crucial Word from Machen's Mother

Turretinfan discusses and explains a few accidental errors of transcription, likely resulting from homoeoteleuton owing to (or occasioned by) parablepsis, in James White's citation of Augustine at a few points, which are really trivial and formal, and not substantive. The Romanist apologist who pointed this out has missed the point: "Augustine believed that Christ's bodily presence was removed to heaven. Thus, although Augustine agreed that Christ's divine presence continued to be with his disciples, Augustine believed that the ascension of Jesus into heaven "deprived" the disciples of Jesus' presence "in the flesh."" This shows that Augustine did not hold to the later medieval innovation of transubstantiation, which is unsurprising if you permit the church fathers to be themselves. It may be surprising to those who imagine that the church fathers believed everything that the Vatican teaches today." Dr. White's Humanity and Augustine on the Bodily Presence of Christ

Since the early church clearly excluded from the apostolic canon any pseudonymous works (i.e. pious frauds, such as The Acts of Paul), as lying about authorship is a significant ethical problem, we must reject the notion that Paul's letters were not written by Paul, especially since pseudonymous writing was not common with personal letters. Pseudonymity and the NT

You can preach on a topic and breed silliness, or you can preach on the same topic and communicate holiness. Here's Matt Chandler on how this applies to money: How to Preach, and How Not to Preach, about Recession

Carl Trueman has this great statement on 'authenticity': "It is, after all, the postmodern cliche most beloved of trendy Christians. But it is, ultimately, an existential, or even better, aesthetic category, not an ethical one. Indeed, it is devoid of moral content in any biblical sense. If honesty and consistency between belief and action, even at personal risk, are the criteria for judging that somebody is worthy of emulation, then what is to stop a spoiled eight year old screaming for the latest toy, or Adolf Hitler, or even serial killers from being such? All offer examples of sincerely held beliefs in action. I well remember hearing perhaps the most consistent postmodern Nietzschean I ever came across opining on how serial killers were the most honest and authentic people in the world -- because they acted on their impulses. Good point -- if existential `authenticity' is the be all and end all. But sometimes it is not acting on impulses, not conforming public behaviour to inner drives and instincts which is appropriate -- particularly, for Christians (at least one would hope), when those drives and instincts are opposed to the teaching of scripture. Being sold out to the wrong set of beliefs, be those beliefs white supremacy, exploitation of the poor, in-your-face gay lifestyle, or wife-beating, is not admirable." http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2009/02/is-milk-really-that-good-for-y.php

Mohler gives some thoughts on whether God is a megalomaniac, arrogant, and/or selfish to seek His own glory in all things. I think the argument distills to basically this: 1) The only frame of reference we have is our own experience, so when we hear this, we think about a human seeking his glory. But this is the essence of sin - for a man to seek his own glory and to exchange God's glory. The upholding of God's glory is right - it is man exchanging or doing otherwise that is wrong; 2) God is perfect; and His pursuit of His own honour is consistent with - even required by - this because of His perfection: He perfectly seeks to display His perfection. 3) God's glory means joy for the creature. "Ultimately, creation serves as the theater of the glory of God's redeeming love. The drama of God's redemption accomplished in Christ is the great story on display. In the consummation of history, the revelation of a new heaven and a new earth will become the platform for the manifestation of the glory of the triune God throughout eternity." Our greatest joy is found in beholding his glory and in glorifying the triune God for all eternity. To not seek the glory of God would mean our misery. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3335

Challies puts forward that God does not look at His children with some level of disgust, but that He loves them - He truly, actually, lavishly loves them. Like Love

Challies heartily endorses Finally Alive by John Piper, calling it his best book yet. Piper begins his examination by asking simply "What is the new birth?" From there he turns to the question of "Why must we be born again?." He then asks "How does the new birth come about?" and "What are the effects of the new birth?" before concluding with asking "How can we help others be born again?" Book Review - Finally Alive by John Piper

Mounce points out the importance of understanding that words have a semantic range (rarely one fixed meaning). The reader "sees a word, recognizes its bundle of meanings, and chooses the stick that best fits the context. As always, let context be your guide. No word has exactly the same meaning in every context except perhaps very technical terms. (Of course, even technical terms can have bundles.)" "apollumi has a range of meanings, extending from losing (such as the woman losing one of her ten coins, Luke 15:8) to death (such as dying by the sword, Matt 26:52)." There is nothing in the word that necessitates apollumi means a permanent and total destruction - context determines whether it has this connotation or not. apollumi, destroy, and Annihilationism (Monday with Mounce 26)

Jay Adams tries to clear up some myths about Nouthetic Counseling: 1) They do not believe everything bad that happens in a person’s life is due to his personal sin. 2) to say that they don’t believe in doing good to unbelievers is equally false. 3) To the suggestion that they think the counselor can't be wrong, they have said so much about how a counselor can go wrong that there is hardly anything left to say. Disagreement

Genderblog has good words about the Gospel in the film Fireproof. Fireproof Spotlights Gospel as Cure for Bad People, Bad Marriages

White quotes two Hadith and concludes, "Both of these quotes once again force us to consider the fundamental contrast between the NT and the Qur'an: controlled, edited redaction. Once Uthman struck the match to the materials he used to created his redacted copy of the Qur'an, he set it on a completely different path of transmission than that of the New Testament, and that, I argue, to its detriment." Two Important Hadith

Janelle of Girltalk writes that we need friends to sharpen us. "We need to have at least one-and preferably many-friends who inspire us to serve, provoke us to love, help us to grow in godliness, correct us, strengthen our faith, and spur us on to passion for the Savior." Take current friendships in that direction, or seek friends who can do this. Friends that Sharpen