DeYoung writes that the clarity of Scripture does not mean that everything may be known equally, but it does mean that everyone can learn the way of salvation from the Bible, and even the hard parts can be understood correctly with skill and the Holy Spirit. The doctrine also holds that God is generous, willing and able to make Himself known. Quoting Luther, “If Scripture is obscure or ambiguous, what point is there in God giving it to us? Are we not obscure and ambiguous enough without having our [own] obscurity, ambiguity, and darkness augmented to us from heaven?” So before we gobble up the rhetoric of chastened epistemology and hermeneutical humility let’s remember that we have God. A Clear and Present Word (5)
Turk draws from Titus 1 the lesson that the focal point for discernment is the local church, not watchbloggers. Establish Elders [3]
Here’s a reflection on the fact that Jesus refused the pain-numbing drink offering to Him on the cross (the "wine...mixed with gall" (27:34)). He must suffer to the utmost. He must feel the full "sting" of his death. No anaesthetic was permissible. The Cross He Bore - Satan's Cup Refused
Bird quotes Sumney, who argues that Christians required a competing metanarrative (that which makes sense of the world) to Rome, which claimed that the gods had placed the Romans over the world for the good of the world. Christ’s death and resurrection serve this purpose, also accounting for why Christians would be marginalized and yet could be the people of God. In Colossians, the household code enabled readers to make sense of Christ’s sovereignty because in the ancient world ethical exhortation in the ancient setting strove to give its hearers a conceptual framework that made sense of the thought behind the instructions. Empire Tension
Challies has a brief discussion on the postures of prayer, including bowing, kneeling, standing, lying prostrate, and hands raised. “Nowhere does the Bible command us that we must set our bodies in one position or another during prayer. Yet it does describe a variety of positions that each have their own significance.” The Posture of Prayer
The late Greg Bahsen wrotes that presuppositional apologetics urges the Christian to argue with unbelievers in an “indirect” fashion, doing an internal analysis of the unbeliever’s worldview (his fundamental assumptions about reality, knowledge, and ethics) and comparing it to the worldview revealed in the Bible. It involves internally examining “the worldview” which is offered by whatever religious devotee is having the dialog with him. This methodology is concrete, arguing from the particular Christian worldview, not merely theism. How does this play out against other theists? It must be observed that the overwhelming and vast majority of world religions cannot even offer epistemological competition to the Christian worldview. Do an internal analysis of the metaphysical and epistemological presuppositions of these different religions. They simply have no basis for ‘knowing’ what they ‘know’. A religion that denies a personal God metaphysically cannot claim to have any personal revelation, and other religious books, on their own presuppositions, give no reason to submit to them as true or normative For example. “Sophisticated theologies offered by Muslim scholars interpret the theology of the Koran (cf. 42:11) as teaching the transcendence (tanzih) of unchanging Allah in such an extreme fashion that no human language (derived from changing experience) can positively and appropriate describe Allah—in which case the Koran rules out what the Koran claims to be.” http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/04/08/presuppositional-reasoning-false-faiths
Carolyn Mahaney exhorts women to encourage their teenage children. “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul” (16:24); “A good word makes him glad” (12:25) and “a gentle tongue is a tree of life” (15:4). She also encourages making memories. Tips for Loving Teens, Pt. 2
Turretinfan aptly summarizes the problem with the double standards of Romanist e-pologists like Steve Ray. “When a single "Protestant" does something bad (and I in no way endorse Rick Warren's flip-flop), it is proof of the failure of Sola Scriptura, but when 16 Roman Catholic senators do something bad (and only 9 do the right thing) it is because they are individually wicked and/or stupid.” There is a larger propaganda campaign within Catholicism to suggest that the two choices are their magisterium or moral relativism. Steve Ray and Magisterial Double Standards
White follows this up by asking how it is that Tony Blair, a Roman Catholic, not be in perfect harmony with Rome's teachings? “Is it possible that despite the clarity of Rome's position on the topic, he still chooses to disagree? But wait, that would render Rome's entire magisterium invalid on Ray's own principles, for he has said it is sola scriptura that is to blame for all those differences amongst Protestants!” Steve Ray on Tony Blair
Phil Johnsons posts a comment by Frank Turk to the effect that, while one may wish to complain and lament his church leaving its first love, odds are, he wasn’t really able or willing to be at the plow with the workmen when it happened. He chides people for taking less than commendable steps (e.g. starting a blog) to reach those in the church when a person has done nothing in the first place, contributing to the mess the church is in already. While this individual may discover that many in the church are on a different path suddenly, odds are they didn’t get on that path suddenly, and rather the former individual is shamefully out of touch and disconnected from his church. Here’s some advice: “people who know me, and live with me, and talk to me find out quickly that I love God and the Bible in more than just a theoretical and theological way. The Bible makes sense to them when they see how I live.” Because Someone Asked
Here’s a chilling letter to Iowa from Gender Blog. Having approved homosexual marriage, it is indicative that the wrath of God is upon them, and that they are being handed over to their sins for exchanging the glory of God for lesser things. While God forbears now, they are storing up wrath for themselves. Distorting marriage not only erodes society, since marriage is fundamentally the building block of society, and the Gospel message is confused. Marriage is established by God to be a living picture of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the husband representing Christ and the wife representing his church. Legalized Same-Sex Marriage in Iowa- Worse than a 500-year Flood, Part I
This paper argues that granite pluton formation the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, Yosemite, California is consistent with the timescale of a young earth, and accelerated radioisotope decay renders the absolute ages for these granite plutons grossly in error. “The biotite flakes must have formed and cooled below 150ºC before the polonium supply was exhausted and the radiohalos could be preserved, so the U decay had to be grossly accelerated and the formation of the plutons had to be within 6–10 days. Furthermore, rapid cooling of the plutons was facilitated by the hydrothermal fluid convection that rapidly generated the Po radiohalos, challenging conventional thinking that cooling is a slow process by conduction.” This is because Polonium radiohalos found in biotite flakes of granites place severe time constraints on the formation and cooling of the granite plutons due to the short half-lives of the polonium isotopes. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/arj/v2/n1/radiohalos-in-yosemite-granites
White points out that Francis Beckwith, as evidenced by his own account, never believed that sola scriptura was true (5:40). Fundamentally Beckwith has always held a Romanist view of authority, of man, of God, and so on. He rejected sola scriptura all along. Frank Beckwith- Wading in the Tiber on Sola Scriptura
DeYoung observes that the newness of the new commandment, given on “Maundy Thursday”, in John 13:34, is not that love hadn’t been commanded, but rather that there had never been a pattern like the dying love of Jesus that was to operate as the basis for our loving. Maundy Thursday
The Cross He Bore observes that Jesus was willingly numbered with the transgressors, he was willing to be crucified with the thieves. They were appropriate company for the Son at that time. The Cross He Bore - The King Among Bandits
Challies quotes Wilberforce, who writes that persecution is the environ in which the church thrives, as it weeds out false professors and causes her to look to heaven. “The Christian is then reminded that his Master's kingdom is not of this world. When all on earth looks black, he looks up to heaven for consolation.” He also wrote, way back then, that "The time fast approaches when Christianity will be almost as disavowed in the language as it is already nonexistent in the people's conduct. Then unbelief will be rated the necessary accessory of a man of fashion, and to believe will be considered an indication of a feeble mind and a limited intelligence." Reading the Classics - Real Christianity (VI)
Carolyn Mahaney, quoting MacArthur, says that discipline is “enforced conformity to the heart and the life to God and His truth,” and that parents should do whatever is necessary to prevent their children from sinning and to direct them on paths of righteousness (i.e. i will throw my body in front of you to keep you from sinning). Bring Up Our Teenagers
This article articulates three forms of information. Constructional/creative information: This includes all information that is used for the purpose of producing something. Operational information: All concepts having the purpose of maintaining some “industry” in the widest sense of the word are included under this kind of information. Communication information: This is composed of all other kinds of information. “The amount of information streaming through the deliberate as well as all involuntary activities of the human body is about 3 x 1024 bits per day. When this is compared with the total quantity of information stored in all the libraries of the world—1018 bits—we make an astounding discovery: The quantity of information processed in our bodies during the course of one day is one million times greater then all the knowledge represented in the books of the world.” http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/itbwi/three-forms-information-appears
Walter Kaiser shows that it is not necessary to push the crucifixion back to Thursday or Wednesday. In 1 Sam. 30:12-13 (and other places), “three days and three nights” is shown not to be three FULL days and nights (i.e. 72 hours). In accordance with this example and several others in Scripture, a part of a day, night, or year could be counted as a full day or night or year. Good Friday...or was it Wednesday or Thursday- by Walter C. Kaiser Jr
Here’s a reminder from Solapanel that in the death of Jesus, the judgment of God against sin has come and gone, and that those of us who are in Jesus, while still in an unrighteous and death bound world, are in the most fundamental sense a new creation in Christ. “So now we cling to Christ and keep looking back to the end of the world.” Now we look forward to the physical revelation of the reality already achieved in Jesus’ death and resurrection. The end of the world as we know it
In response to the Supreme Court ruling in Iowa deeming it was unconstitutional to limit marriage to a man and a woman, this article makes a few points: i) We must in response honour marriage even when it isn’t. This means not ignoring or passing over fornication, adultery, etc. in the churches, while targeting out homosexuality. That’s hypocritical. We must honour marriage in the churches, in our lives and teaching. Churches that have done this must repent of it. ii) We must patiently and kindly preach the Gospel. It is through the Gospel that God washes, sanctifies and justifies sinners, including homosexuals. We do this not with shouting, arrogant quarreling and picket-signs proclaiming that "God hates fags." Rather, we must be kind, patient and gentle, praying that "God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will" (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Legalized Same-Sex Marriage in Iowa- Worse than a 500-year Flood, Part II
Phillips really liked Star Trek. Star Trek- spoiler-free impressions
The Christians in India's east coast region of Orissa, largely the Dalit, are still struggling to recover from the devastating anti-Christian violence that occurred in 2008. Indian Christians in Orissa Still Struggling
Bird quotes Calvin: “… to share with us what he has received from the Father, he had to become ours and to dwell within us. For this reason, he is called "our Head" [Eph. 4:15], and "the first-born among many brethren" [Rom. 8:29]. We also, in turn, are said to be "engrafted into him" [Rom. 11:17], and to "put on Christ" [Gal. 3:27]; for, as I have said, all that he possesses is nothing to us until we grow into one body with him. It is true that we obtain this by faith. Yet since we see that not all indiscriminately embrace that communion with Christ, which is offered through the gospel, reason itself teaches us to climb higher and to examine into the secret energy of the Spirit, by which we come to enjoy Christ and all his benefits."” [emphasis mine] Today with Calvin
Phillips writes, “Obama-voters, this blood's for you. Yes, I'm afraid it's another Bloody Hands Update. Your president, with your help, is going to force more taxpayers to be complicit in the slaughter of the innocent in Washington, DC. Worse? Pro-aborts aren't happy, because he's not making enough taxpayers complicit in enough innocent deaths. Romans 1:18 and following, in overabundance.” 09
Hays comments on the atheist taunt against Christians who fear death, that if a Christian doesn’t want to die it is inconsistent with his belief in heaven since heaven is better. Now the atheist also seeks medical care, yet what does he have to fear from death? So the objection cuts both ways. He addresses the symmetry argument, which claims analogy between prenatal oblivion and postmortem oblivion: with the former, being denied the greater good of an experience is a real deprivation. With the latter, in physicalism, all the experiences are wiped away in a single stroke. It all comes to nothing. Both the believer and unbeliever can view death as a relief, though from different perspectives. The Christian sees that the world is fallen, a mixture of good and bad, and a better world awaits. The unbeliever may just get tired of the nihilistic existence. Rage, rage against the dying light
Hays points to the irony in that Roger Ebert, in pondering his own impending demise, defers to Lucretius, using the standard secular view that death is a relief, even though a few years ago he heaped scorn on precisely that superficial view of mortality and oblivion in a movie review. Oblivion- thumbs up or thumbs down-
From the Canons of Dordt: “Just as the almighty work of God by which he brings forth and sustains our natural life does not rule out but requires the use of means, by which God, according to his infinite wisdom and goodness, has wished to exercise his power, so also the aforementioned supernatural work of God by which he regenerates us in no way rules out or cancels the use of the gospel, which God in his great wisdom has appointed to be the seed of regeneration and the food of the soul.” Fourth Head of Doctrine, Article Seventeen
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