2009-04-12

An apostate actually thinks that the apostles seem to have lacked certainty about Easter, and that conservative Christians have made certainty the standard of orthodoxy [despite this]. He then says that this doubt leads to letting go which is like rebirth. Hays responds that the narratives were written to remove doubt, not turn doubt into a paradigm of faith. Moreover, this apostate poses himself as an honest doubter when he’s really a doctrinaire unbeliever, rejecting the historicity of the NT. Faith, doubt, and disbelief

White asks, ‘why aren’t you a Roman Catholic?’ Is it for the right reason, namely, that it is a false religion, headed by an imposter, guilty of Gal. 1 style additions to the Gospel (way beyond what the Judaizers would be imagined), having unbiblical offices and elevation people like Mary to near divinity? White is not RC by positive conviction that the gospel of grace found in Scripture is not the gospel of Rome, which would “require me to abandon all I believe about Scripture (its inspiration, its preservation, its supremacy, its sufficiency), all I believe about the gospel (the sovereign decree of God, the perfection of the atonement, the power of the Spirit in bringing the elect to salvation), all I believe about the church (its form, function, and purpose).” He is concerned that many Protestants are so, not because they love the Gospel, but because it feels nice to them. People don’t like Paul because for him the Gospel was central, not merely important, but definitional. Modern protestants are more likely to be embarrassed by the truth. Trueman points out that Roman Catholicism is the default historical position for the west – and why aren’t these protestants RC? A true protestant is one who has positively embraced the truth of the Gospel, salvation by grace alone, opposed to works. Many today, though, frown strongly on thinking that anything could be known clearly enough to identify something as false and unsaving. With regard to conversion to Rome, we should not be surprised when people change their tastes, and this has no impact on the truth or falsehood of any position, except in the mind of the post-modern. Can the one who loves the Gospel and hates falsehood remain balanced in not tipping over to the side of those who confuse their own traditions, their own narrow personal preferences with the gospel? Yes, because the Scriptures provide it, and such balance comes from humility before God’s word. On Really Believing the Gospel

Karsten Piper provides a discussion of an interesting poem, if any are interested. The Stone Fist of His Heart Began to Bang

Neat quote from Habermas and Moreland: “When the early eyewitnesses saw the risen Jesus, what did they actually observe? We might say that they saw walking, talking eternal life. In short, to witness the resurrected Jesus was to witness the reality of the afterlife: For forty days, the light of heaven focused on the land of Israel. It is no wonder this experience changed their lives forever!...Every ounce of evidence for Jesus' resurrection is also evidence for the believer's resurrection."” Jesus Risen From The Dead For His People

Hays points out that biblical piety always fosters spiritual self-examination, but that a person need not be a philosopher to have good reasons for believing Christianity, not is it necessary to consciously register all the evidence. He responds to an apostate who is an incorrigible bigot, who stereotypes unbelievers as those who have a monopoly on reason while Christians exist in blissful ignorance, thus playing to his sympathetic audience. This apostate dresses himself as a valiant soldier for the truth, examining the Bible critically, a rather pitiful exercise given that in his worldview, all is pointless, and the deceived and undeceived end up the same – dead and rotting. Why do questions even matter? “He’s been brainwashed by natural selection into valuing the happiness others.” On the quest for Shell Beach

Manata responds to Reppert, who thinks that God lied, 'a divine noble lie’ about Christ coming back soon, ‘possibly’ for a good reason (to lead people to believe?), and yet makes a moral argument (not an actual argument) with vague references to “arminian” passages (that God loves every single person, and wants every single person to be saved), stretching “God is love” is its utmost, while not affording Christ the same courtesy when He says, “I am the truth.” Manata points out that perhaps, in Reppert’s view, God wanted people to believe the gospel and evangelize so he lied about loving all men and dying for all men. How does one adjudicate between these kinds of things? For one to claim that inerrancy might be denied and then appeal to biblical authority as his number one argument strikes is incoherent. Some notes in response to Victor

Accountability is a lot like financial planning. It's not rocket science, but it just doesn't come naturally to most of us. Asking clear, simple questions in a transparent, humble, disciplined manner is difficult with our money and with our sin. So, hopefully, this accountability form attached below will be useful to some in asking these questions. Confess your sins- the blessings of accountability by Ryan Townsend

Very brief description of the Noahic and Abrahamic covenants. Covenant Theology Part 3

This post states that the Mosaic Covenant was a further administration of the Covenant of Grace and a re-admin of the Covenant of Works to the nation of Israel. “During this epoch of redemptive history the individual Israelite was saved by believing the Covenant promise that was given to their forefather Abraham.” Covenant Theology Part 4

“it is not uniquely the church's mission to save men socially, economically, politically. But above all else, it is the church that must save men's souls. If the church does not accomplish this task, nothing else will. A church that does not evangelize is useless on earth. If the Church does not go to the front, with zeal and faith, the world will die, however it might be magnificently equipped technologically, monstrously rich and developed, endowed with superior social legislation and possessed of the best possible material conditions for living comfortably--this world will die because it has no soul.” Better to Light a Candle --Pierre-Charles Toureille (1900 – 1976)

Here’s a site with lots of commentaries listed. http://www.bestcommentaries.com/forthcoming.aspx

Libertarianism is the theory about freedom that despite what has happened in the past, and given the present state of affairs and ourselves just as they are, we can choose or decide differently than we do – act so as to make the future different. Libertarianism asserts the freedom of the will or origination, and is contrasted with determinism. Philosophy Word of the Day – Libertarianism

Paul Tripp is interviews on marriage. “Why do so many people lack a Gospel-centered view of marriage? Paul Tripp: The problem begins with unrealistic expectations in two areas: First, people don’t take seriously the fact that we live in a terribly broken world where things just don’t operate the way they were meant to. That means somehow, someway, everyday we greet some kind of difficulty – small or great. It’s just impossible to protect your marriage from the fallenness of the world. The second thing is we don’t take seriously what the Bible has to say about the fallenness of people – our own struggle with sin. I carry into my marriage something inside of me that is destructive to relationships. Sin makes me want to live for myself. Sin is self-focused, self-serving, self-absorbed, and, in that way, is anti-social. So couples not taking the Fall seriously and not taking the fallenness of people seriously, are unprepared for the kinds of things they are going to face as they get married.” http://www.onenewsnow.com/Journal/editorial.aspx?id=401588

From the Heidelberg Catechism: What benefit do we receive from the “resurrection” of Christ? First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us partakers of the righteousness which He has obtained for us by His death.[1] Second, by His power we are also now raised up to a new life.[2] Third, the resurrection of Christ is to us a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.[3] [1] Rom 4:25; 1 Cor 15:15-20, 54-55; 1 Pt 1:3-5, 21; [2] Rom 6:5-11; Eph 2:4-6; Col 3:1-4; [3] Rom 8:11; 1 Cor 15:12-23; Php 3:20-21 He Is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!