2009-07-28

Josh Harris wrote a book on the Church. Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck also wrote a book on the church. He likes their book better: Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion and says, read it. Kevin DeYoung's Book on the Church is Better Than Mine

Packer on the Apostle’s Creed. "Each worshiper . . . has come into the hands of the Christian God where he is glad to be, and when he says, 'I beleive,' it is an act of praise and thanksgiving on his part.  It is in truth a great thing to be able to say the Creed." Apostle's Creed, A Great Thing To Say (Stephen Nichols)

Phillips reviews and likes Paul Blart, Mall Cop [I think it was a decent movie as well]. Fun movie- Paul Blart, Mall Cop

Koinonia has a quote from Phil Long that makes some points about polygamy/polygyny. I) Monogamy is God’s design for marriage (Gen. 2:24; one man, one woman, forsake all others). ii) Polygyny was far more common among the rich. iii) It had more to do with having offspring to continue the family line and having enough kids to do the work needed. It also had to do with status, not romance. iv) Marriage had a very different purpose than today as clan alliances rather than a relation built around love, etc. v) The OT’s treatment of marriage is comparatively ad hoc (wrt. other literature), and one shouldn’t seek to infer God’s standards of marital conduct from the (mis)adventures of OT characters any more than one should infer traffic laws from individual drivers. Polygamy by V. Phillips Long

Turk notes that Obama is a natural born citizen. Apparently the accusation that he wasn’t wa started on a blog from a supporter of Clinton. News Flash. Here’s JT with a caution against conspiracy theories. He quotes, “The hallmark of a conspiracy theory is that a lack of evidence for the theory is taken as yet more evidence for the theory.” Born in the U.S.A

Kevin DeYoung gives his basic defense of infant baptism. It’s predicated on the continuity of circumcision and baptism, the idea that one can be in the ‘covenant’ and not receive the covenant blessings, and he writes that the spiritual sign of circumcision was not just for those who already embraced the spiritual reality. He notes that Ishmael was circumcised, and argues that the children of believers are part of the same covenant with Abraham (i.e. God’s children would be blessed, etc.), and so should be baptized. In sum, “Because sons were part of the Abrahamic covenant in the Old Testament and were circumcised, we see no reason why children should be excluded in the New Testament sign of baptism.” He also declares that the burden of proof is on the non-paedobaptists. He says “we come to administer the sacrament of baptism to this child today with the weight of church history to encourage us and the example of redemptive history to confirm our practice.” Why I Baptize Babies

Phillips writes, “A female police officer was interviewed about Obama damning the Cambridge police as having acted stupidly. She said she'd supported and voted for Obama, but would never do so again. She further said that Obama should have said that he supports his friend Professor Gates, but "I don't have all the facts. So I'm not going to comment."” Now, that requires humility, and if Obama had that, he would have said 2 years ago, "I have no qualifications and no achievements to prepare me to be President of the United States. Find someone who does." The wisdom of humility, the mouth, Obama- study in contrasts

Rhology notes more Romanist argumentation, which makes people the standard of truth (apparently oblivious to the discord both within and outside the RCC with her doctrines, such as Papal Infallibility, male-only priesthood, etc).  I got myself banned

This blog notes that Christ endured great shame on the cross, in line with the Messianic expectations of the OT (which are briefly explored). Yet those who trust in Christ are not put to shame. [this blog is in the context of Islam]. Here’s the conclusion: “Those who put their hope in Jesus the Messiah will not be put to shame. Our shame is removed and we are given the honor of being sons and daughters of God. This comes through the loving bearing of our shame by Jesus Christ. He endured the worst kind of shame on the cross. Yet the worth of his death and resurrection show us just how honorable he truly is.” Honor and Shame in the Psalter (Zabur), Part 8 – Honor through the Shame of the Messiah

White points to Harold Camping and Family Radio as an example of how far from orthodoxy one drifts once he is cut loose from the foundation of Scripture (ie.. he now teaches that Jesus, as the Christ, died before the foundation of the earth, and then became the Son of God upon His resurrection: the cross then is just a "representation" of what He did in eternity past! The cross does not pay for sin, as that was done prior to the Incarnation!). This theology then results in modalism (confusion of the divine persons, a unitarian presentation of one Person being manifested in different modes.). It has the odd effect of also meaning that the Son rose before He was incarnated, as he died in the past. Harold Camping- Modern Day Cult Leader

Mathis at DG briefly sketches some more of Calvin’s life, and how he was expelled from the council of Geneva, which probably served to break him down into a more realistic pastor than idealistic theologian. He went to Strasburg, and pastored there, and wrote to help Geneva answer a Romanist Cardinal’s attempts to win her back. He married Idelette in 1540, who died eight years later. On September 13, 1541, Calvin's "golden years" came to an end. Geneva asked for him to return. He wasn’t eager, but felt it was God’s will. The Golden Years- Life of Calvin, Part 6

Burk notes a survey by Barna on the spiritual lives of gay and lesbian adults. Of interest, apparently most are interested in faith, but not the local church, they reject orthodoxy, view their faith as private rather than communal, and don’t prioritize it. Burk notes that it’s remarkably unsurprising to observe that homosexuals consider themselves religious, or even Christian – most Americans think they’re Christians, and aren’t, in any biblical sense. “The problem is that large segments of the population simply don’t understand what Christianity is. In fact, this study says that both gay and straight people believe in similar proportion that “good people can earn their way into Heaven through their goodness.”” It doesn’t make the homosexual population more Christian than previously thought, but rather reveals that the population is more confused about Christianity than we’d like to admit. Spiritual Profile of Homosexual Adults

Trueman has a speech which shatters the illusions of those wanting a [theological] PhD. He concludes with this: “Too many theological students come unstuck not because they do not master the sophisticated intricacies of their chosen fields of specialization but rather because they failed their apprenticeships in the basics, the corporate disciplines of church attendance, submission to elders, hard work for the local body, and the individual disciplines which flow from these: private prayer and Bible reading, a crying out to God for his mercy, and a burning desire to be mastered by the Word of God. Successful theological students are never the subjects in theological study; rather they are always the objects of God’s grace. And the church is the place where they will be held accountable for these things.” Trueman's Speech to Those Thinking about a PhD

Carson notes that while polemical theology is unavoidable in any serious theological stance, which the Bible makes clear itself, and unsurprising in a world of self-absorbed people in rebellion to God, the serious danger is that one can make polemical theology the focus of one’s theological identity, becoming known more for what he stands against than what he stands for, or his generosity to the needy or even for affirmation of historically confessed truth. e.g. “To make the refutation of error into a specialized “ministry,” however, is likely to diminish the joyful affirmation of truth and make every affirmation of truth sound angry, supercilious, self-righteous—in a word, polemical.” Polemical theology should not be skirted, but should also not be made a specialism. He also notes the wide range of tones in Galatians. Carson on Polemical Theology

Here’s John Newton on how it is Christ who has distributed the gifts among His people as He wills, so that there is no perfect pastor. Why There Are No Perfect Pastors