2008-12-05

Phil Johnson continues his series on new age belief. They hold that astrology marks the ages of religious belief (e.g. the backdrop of the equinox moves to different constellations). "Add a distinctly postmodern brand of subjectivity to this eclectic blend of astrological, metaphysical, psychological, and gnostic influences, and you can begin to get a sense of the milieu in which New Age spirituality has flourished. It would probably be fair to characterize the rise of the New Age movement as the spiritual side of the postmodern paradigm shift." The Background of the New Age

Johnson continues to write about common features of new age belief: Pantheism, or panentheism. The New Age concept of deity is rooted in monism (claims that God and the universe are all of one essence (or one substance, or energy, or principle), not biblical monotheism. Either notion denies the transcendence of the Triune God with respect to creation. They also hold to holism: "Holism, in popular terminology, is the view that the whole of any complex system is greater than the sum of its parts." Since they think that everything has the same fundamental essence it can all be harmonized. Harmony unleashes divine energy into the New Ager's experience. It is fundamentally anti-Christian. "the centerpiece of New Age spirituality is individual self-fulfillment and empowerment. It is actually a kind of anti-soteriology. As a matter of fact, it is the very quintessence of every kind of works-religion, because if New Age spirituality is correct, I'm the one I have to please. I'm the only one who can chart my own spiritual journey. I'm the one whose standards I have to live up to. And I'm the one I ultimately have to turn to for help." It embraces the first lie (Gen. 3:5). Typical Beliefs and Practices of New Age Spirituality

There's a conference on John Calvin coming up: ""Loved, hated, misrepresented, misunderstood, blindly-followed by some, rejected out-of-hand by others, but nevertheless relevant even in the modern world, John Calvin is in a singular class of men."Calvin Conference

"interestingly enough, it is the non-Reformed Baptists who maintain three very Catholic dogmas (contra their Reformed ‘brothers’): free will, belief/conversion before regeneration, and unlimited/general atonement" It-takes-one-to-know-one Dept

Here are some comments on 1 Cor. 15:29 (i.e. baptism of the dead). Baptism for the dead

Here's a parable to illustrate the stupidity of thinking that it is good to just roll over and let evil have its way. The Parable of the Dying Do-Gooder

Here's a total depravity verse list: http://www.traviscarden.com/archive/2007/01/08/total-depravity-verse-list

"TheResurgence has posted a review of The Shack. "I believe that those who are well-grounded in the Word won't be harmed by the weaknesses and deficiencies of the book. Unfortunately, few people these days are well-grounded in the Word."" The Shack Reviewed (HT Challies: 5))

Turk: "This is the third year in a row where the average temp is down. And the differences we are talking about globally are inside 0.5 degrees." Here's the thing