2010-08-22

AiG: This post argues that dinosaurs were alive in Noah’s day, since the Scriptures imply that they would have gone onto the ark (Gen. 6:20). Many biblical and extrabiblical clues indicate humans had first-hand knowledge of dinosaurs after the flood: i) They hold the behemoth (the meaning of which has been lost) to refer to a dinosaur, perhaps the sauropod. ii) Dinosaur death is attributed to environmental change and human destruction. iii) Outside of the Bible, ancient peoples around the world told of heroes who killed large, reptilian creatures. These accounts are almost as numerous as flood legends (e.g. ancient European dragon legends). iv) The oldest stories are generally the last far-fetched/magical, and the most sober reports. The later legends haved spiced up mythology. v) There are the stories of Gilgamesh, from the ancient Sumer, killing a massive beast; an apocryphal story of Daniel has him kill a live dragon kept in the temple of the babylonian king, who would have Daniel worship it because it lives/breathes (as opposed to an idol). Daniel declined and was able to kill the animal, proving that it was not a god. vi) It is highly unlikely that so many different people groups all over the world could dream up similar stories of beasts that closely match the animals now known as dinosaurs.  Dinosaurs—Alive After Babel-

Haykin writes that true Christianity is thoroughly political. By becoming Christians we declare that the kingdoms of this world aren’t ultimate and cannot be the focus of worship, despite the desires of politicians. We declare that Jesus it the true King, and he will one day return, and the kingdoms of the world will become the Kingdom of the Lord’s Messiah. What Baptists reject is the confusion of church and state as in the days following Constantine. But make no mistake about it: to say Jesus is Lord is to make a political statement. The martyrs who died under Hitler cannot be understood without recognizing this. True Christianity thoroughly political

Reclaimingthemind: Lisa Robinson has some insightful words on word/faith theology. She notes how she used to use Prov. 18:21; Mark 11:23-24; Heb. 11:1; James 1:6-7, etc. as the basis for a verbal declaration of desired outcomes or an expectation that God would move according to the level of faith. But the formula of faith put forward by word/faith theology doesn’t match Scripture: “that faith is the conduit through which God moves on behalf of his people and words must align accordingly is a syncretistic philosophy that attempts to blend metaphysical principles of positive confession and the idea that such confessions can yield corresponding results.” And it is used to promote the idea that blessings come as material gain as a sign of favour from God. The association of confession with belief does not yield a formula of faith that gets results but rather aligns the heart towards an appropriate response towards God, his plan and purpose that is recognized in prayer.  Faith is no abstract concept to be placed in whatever hope we want; rather, it rests on what has been revealed. A huge issue with Word/Faith theology is that it promotes an elevated anthropology that consequently undermines the sovereignty of God. It thinks humans have access to divine attributes that can transform the ability to believe into the power to make reality that which is professed. There are also massive hermeneutical issues. But even bigger, the problem wtih Word/Faith theology is the impact it has on people, and particularly precious brothers and sisters in Christ who lack discernment of proper teaching of the biblical expression of faith. It puts the onus of outcomes on the individual but fails to consider how divinely orchestrated circumstances will not always work out in the way we suppose, regardless desire or a confident affirmation that such events will occur simply because they are believed and professed. It is greatly discouraging when their prayers are not answered and they haven’t achieved a certain level of blessings. Christians are to exhort one another in Christ, and word/faith shipwrecks this. We also must understand that pain, suffering, loss and disappointing circumstances cannot be escaped for the faithful follower of Christ. And godliness is not about material gain but the  pursuit of righteousness and the richness that abides in that (1 Timothy 6:3-11) Faith Theology

Haykin writes about the deficiency in the North American churches, wherein the extend of fellowship is Sunday morning and evening. “What kind of Christianity is it that does not create communities of friends?” Jesus is the only One who has a plan for community that is truly liberating and ultimately sweetly satisfying. True Christianity thoroughly communal

Patton review Logos Bible Software 4 here. Review- Logos 4, Bible Study Software

Sola Panel has ten tips on how to pray when you’re sleep deprived. i) Stop feeling guilty. ii) Thank God for things. iii) Don’t stop being interested in godliness. iv) Be realistic about attention spans and expect to pray short prayers. v) Pray for your friends, family, church, and government. vi) Be disciplined and realistic in setting aside a time to pray. vii) Keep asking God to help you to trust Him. viii) Read/memorize the Bible, and don’t be overly ambitious. ix) Pray with someone, as it keeps you awake. x) Pray, whenever you remember. Top 10 Tips for Sleep Deprived Prayer

This is fantastic. Bauckham begins by saying, “New Testament research is a field which has much to learn from comparative study  from observing the trends and results of research in parallel fields of study.  So I begin my lecture this evening with an excursion into just such a parallel field - an excursion from which we may be able to return to recent trends in research on the Gospel of John with a fresh angle of vision. ” He then isolates the sectarian community of the Pooh books, a community with a strong sense of distinctive identity, closed, and even priding itself on insider knowledge. Reconstructing the Pooh Community

Hays responds further to a theistic evolutionist who rejects penal substitutionary atonement, who claims that Jesus got himself ‘infected’ so his ‘immune system’ could develop the ‘antidote’, saying “Jesus suffered death so that he could destroy it and infect us with life. He is truly the Great Physician.” i) The Scriptures don’t depict Jesus as the one who is sick in medical metaphors – He’s the physician, so this subverts the metaphor. To conceive of Jesus as both the sick and the healer subverts the biblical image, since Jesus is the one who heals the sick [i.e. the ‘healing of the sick’ would encapsulate his whole work, and serves to communicate an aspect of His atoning work, the beneficiaries of which are the patients]  ii) If all the patients receive the same transfusion from Jesus, why are so many so deathly sick? iii) This position is reducing salvation to sanctification and glorification. To the merely subjective and manward aspects of salvation. Heresies tend to be half-truths. iv) This excises the whole forensic dimension of sin and salvation. Gone are guilt, righteousness, justice, and justification. There is no room for good and evil. The Twinkie defense

Powlison has a guest post at JT’s blog. 1. The Bible gives a vision for lifelong transformation and mutual aid. 2. The Bible recognizes that we can’t change on our own. We have a living Savior, who died to give us mercy and lives to give us grace in times of need. We can’t even ‘just say no’ to self-destructive behaviour, which will merely manifest itself in another expression of self-absorption. 3. Wisdom isn’t boilerplate. 4. Human responsibility is always relational, never to oneself and by oneself. 5. Aside from the unruly, to bluntly confront a frightened stranger violates biblical wisdom: “comfort the faint-hearted, hold on to the weak, be patient with them all.” 6.  To counsel biblically is to fundamentally identify with the people with whom you converse. “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man”. Biblical counseling is not just cognitive behavioural therapy spiced with some Bible verses. JT? adds that symptom alleviation is never a proof of something being right and true. Noting that any purposeful lifestyle ‘works’ better, responding to claims of success with CBT, “any and all therapies can teach you to manage your emotions and make better choices. They all tend to be “ascetic”—calling you to step back from the morass of experience and instinctive reactions…” CBT’s particular practical theology alleviates symptoms by teaching people Stoic philosophy. “The Stoic world view disciples you to be less upset by what’s happening to you. How? You become more internally centered on self-reliance, and retain a certain detachment from what happens to you. You become more “philosophical,” rather than becoming swallowed up in the disappointment, angst, anger, and fear caused by disappointed desires. That’s one kind of discipleship.” Christianity disciples in a different way, to be engaged with what is going on. We don’t quell our desires, but redeem them to how they are supposed to function, not by a dynamic of self-reliance, but of faith and love. CBT does ‘enter the causes’, but in a way contrary to the Christianfaith. But a biblical gaze helps us see how Stoicism misdisciples the human heart into a false trust. False trust in a false message is why CBT “works.” Biblical counseling is also comprehensive wisdom. “If something really deals with causes, it will also deal with symptoms, by definition. Morphine eases the pain of cancer; removing the tumor also eases the pain of cancer. If our worst cancers are operable by the means of mere words communicated in a relationship of trust, then why not skillfully employ the words of Christian faith rather than the words of Stoic faith?” Bob Newhart’s Counseling Method- A Terrific Spoof . . . and a Serious Comment