2009-04-13

China has killed 32 million men’s future wives, as researchers observe, “Sex-selective abortion accounts for almost all the excess males.” China killed about 32 million men's future wives

Professor Pullum--who is head of linguistics and English language at the University of Edinburgh—has some harsh words for the book, The Elements of Style: “The Elements of Style does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students' grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it… English syntax is a deep and interesting subject. It is much too important to be reduced to a bunch of trivial don't-do-this prescriptions by a pair of idiosyncratic bumblers who can't even tell when they've broken their own misbegotten rules.”  50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice

Lot didn’t appear to take Abraham that seriously, or the sin where he was that seriously. He was a compromising, as indicated by Zoar (i.e. is it not small compromises). Nothing in Lot’s life led others to take him seriously either, when he tried to tell people to flee God’s judgment. They thought he was jesting. Today preachers are told to lighten up, to be funny. But it’s time to be serious. Not a Serious Lot

Helm writes that hermeneutics is “the study of the interpretation of a document or documents, including the study of the interpretation of the Bible. It has to do with language, context, genre, the situation, purpose and intention of the writer, and so on.” He then discusses meta-hermeneutics briefly – which has to do with the relationship of the OT to the NT; and whether emphasis is to be placed on the continuity or the discontinuity of OT in the NT. Generally, those of the credobaptist inclination stress the discontinuity, while paedobaptists stress the continuity. The difference isn’t about a verse here or there, but a whole orientation of how one views the Bible. It’s about the whole OT and NT. In the emphasis, though, neither denies what the other affirms, but the emphasis result in different practice at points (e.g. baptism, sabbatarianism, etc). Anyone for Meta-hermeneutics-

"Facebook users may feel socially successful in cyberspace but they are more likely to perform poorly in exams, according to new research into the academic impact of the social networking website. The majority of students who use Facebook every day are underachieving by as much as an entire grade compared with those who shun the site." 13)

Derek Thomas, who is surprised that justification is under fire as a fundamental, basic truth, even in Reformed circles, points out that Romans 3:21-23 is not polemic (unlike Galatians), and shows the apostle’s genuine, deep reflections on justification. It is the climax of an argument showing that Jew and Gentile, having rejected God’s revelation, are sinners and have failed to reflect the glory of God. Justification restores us to communion with God. God made provision for man, as God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). This is good news, that Christ died for the sins of His people – the Lordship of Christ is not good news for unbelievers! Propitiation describes not only how our problem of sin is dealt with, but how the wrath of God on that sin is dealt with. In the OT, righteousness is the integrity of God's being, that He will not budge, in being consistent with Himself – that righteousness is counted to us. We are not saved by believing in justification by faith alone, but we are justified by faith alone and saved by believing in Christ and His atonement. Second Address- Justification through Faith Alone, Derek Thomas (PCRT 2009 Sacramento)

Continuing with his review of Why Johnny Can’t Preach, DeYoung looks at the chapter on the content of preaching, where the point is that the content of Christian preaching should be the person, character, and work of Christ. “Even when the faithful exposition of particular texts require some explanation of aspects of our behavior, it is always to be done in a manner that the hearer perceives such commended behavior to be itself a matter of being rescued from the power of sin through the grace of Christ.” The alternative to this are Moralism, How-To, Introspection, and Social Gospel/Culture War. These things do not flow from the content of the Person of Christ. Connect the dots for people – show them that application is rooted in Him and His gracious work. “The moribund churches I’ve seen have been malpreached to death” Johnny, get reviews of your preaching, cultivate reading closely and composing well. Why Johnny Can't Preach (2)

From 1 Corinthians 8:2-3, Piper comments on the saying ‘all truth is God’s truth’ which is used by some to justify saying that dealing in any sphere of knowledge is worship. The problem is that the devil does this. Until we know in such a way that we love God more for it, it’s not good. “All truth exists to make God known and loved and shown. If it does not have those three effects it is not known rightly and should not be celebrated as a virtue.” Thus an unbeliever’s knowing God’s truth is not ultimately a virtue, though, believers may learn from them for God’s sake, even though the former does not see the one thing needed. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2009/3718_All_Truth_Is_Gods_Truth_Admits_the_Devil/

Lawson points to six things that justification tells us about God. 1) The holiness of God (we have fallen short of His glory and need justification); 2) The wrath of God (we are justified by way of Christ’s propitiation, and God is the just judge who punishes sin); the righteousness of God (for this is counted to us, and we need it to be saved, showing us God’s standard); God’s grace (justification is a gift); the immutability of God (the verdict is never undone – once justified, always justified); the sovereignty of God (the sinner becomes what God says – He has declared it, who can undo it?). This should cause us to worship, to walk worthily, and to proclaim and witness to it. Third Address- God the Just and the Justifier, Steven Lawson (PCRT 2009 Sacramento)

Phillips summarizes the Q&A with Lawson, Thomas, and Bridges. Some points: i) Either Jesus atoned equally for all persons, but not effectually for all (Arminian); or He atoned fully for the sins of the elect (Reformed). Atonement is only for the elect, though benefits are conferred to all. ii) Jesus’ divine nature could not die; He took on human nature so that He could die for sinners. iii) While Piper gave Wright a manuscript of his book, Wright did not return the favour – a dialogue has not started. “Wright's weakness has been in failing to answer the question of why Jesus had to die, and why the death of the Cross. If the essential meaning is to assure that Jews and Gentiles belong to the Kingdom of God, then it is not necessary that Jesus die that death to bring it about.” Question and Answer session, Saturday (PCRT 2009 Sacramento)

Imputation is the transfer of alien righteousness to us. Christ’s righteousness counted to us. Cranmer called imputation the strong rock and foundation of Christian religion; anyone who denies that truth is an adversary of Christ. Christ’s question to Paul, “Why do you persecute me?” teaches the union of believers with Christ. Whatever is ours of spiritual blessing is ours in Christ, and we have nothing apart from Him. cf. Phil. 3, ‘that we may be found in Him.’ Justification happens in union with Christ. The attempted shift to view Paul as asking, ‘who belongs to the kingdom’ as opposed to ‘how is one saved’ is partly motivated by ecumenical impulses, the desire to move the question so as to make rapprochement possible. Union with Christ is inseparable from justification, thus preventing a provisional justification now where works will serve as the basis for it later. Justification brings us into existential union with Christ. Fourth Address- Justification in Union with Christ, Derek Thomas (PCRT 2009 Sacramento)

Bridges points to two elements of faith; 1) a renunciation of all self-reliance; and 2) reliance on Christ alone for all. Bridges says that Paul’s "faith in the Son of God" speaks of justification, not sanctification, and Paul never uses the phrase in another sense. In Gal. 2:20, Paul shows us that justification is not only a past event to look back to, but also a present event having an impact on every day of life. Confess your sins daily, preach the Gospel to yourself, and live for Christ. Fifth Address- The Present Reality of Justification, Jerry Bridges (PCRT 2009 Sacramento)

White points to a piece by Tom Krattenmaker for USA Today titled, "Fightin' words." It mentions White, calling his criticisms of Ehrman personal, and making the bold and unbalanced opinionated claim that there is ‘no denying the inconsistencies he surfaces between the various Gospels and letters that form the New Testament.’ “There is always trouble afoot when secular media types try to report on such topics. The number of those in the media with sufficient background to even accurately report on the field, let alone do so even handedly, is small indeed. Such is the case here. Rather than reporting the fact that someone such as myself is asserting that Ehrman is only presenting certain facts, and always presenting them with the worst possible spin, Krattenmaker ignores this.” What’s more, the writer can’t even represent Ehrman properly, as he seems to think that Ehrman is presenting some "new" viewpoint when Ehrman says otherwise! He even says that Ehrman’s ideas need “not be regarded as insults against God or bids to prove the Bible false.” And Now from USA Today (Updated)

Challies has some follow-up thoughts on his blog on cautioning against Watchblogs. He says that Phil Johnson’s article helped him see the lack of clarity in his own article/ "I think what Tim Challies is saying is that it's unhealthy to fix one's attention on error full time rather than spending most of our time dwelling on things that edify. If that's all he is saying, I say (as heartily as possible) AMEN! (Philippians 4:8). But if someone wants to seize that point in order to suggest that it's always better to be an encourager than a critic, my reply is: That very attitude is largely responsible for getting us into this mess in the first place." Challies agrees: “There is a time and place for calling error error; there is a time and place for humor and sarcasm and all the rest. But a fixation on evil is dangerous!” Blogs that post the seedy underbelly of decontextualized problems in other churches are not good. Would it be good for a site warning of the dangers of porn to put up pictures of women engaging in sex acts to ensure that people can combat porn? Heresy isn’t nudity, as there is a time to clearly demarcate it, but there is overlap. He cautions about the dangers of fighting fire with fire (he uses an analogy of such an effort gone wrong) – fighting heresy with heresy, lack of love with lack of love, etc. He asks, are you being entertained by evil? Are the sites truly helping you to grow in love, or be hardened against your brothers? Are the fruits of the Spirit increasing in your life? “For the good of your own soul, think about why you visit the blogs you do.” Fighting Fire with Fire

Reductionism is a philosophical strategy by which one set of facts or events is thought unnecessary because of the existence of another, more fundamental, set of facts or events. Philosophy Word of the Day – Reductionism