2008-12-13

Manata points out that while many evangelicals are quite anti-intellectual, the New Atheists are simply the other side of that coin. "I think this is because most of them are former fundies and have taken their confused view of Christianity - marketing Jesus for mass consumption in order to make it palpable to American consumerism - right on over to their atheism. They still read the Bible like their former fundie selves, and they still "preach" the good news of atheism, making it "culturally relevant," just as they preached (or were preached to) as fundies." He goes on to demonstrate the intellectual vacuity of the New Atheists based on a sign that was placed by the Freedom From Religious Foundation. Culture Warrior Atheists

Piper: "It is good news that we will never be thanked by God. Not thanking us is a form of love. We need to adjust our expectations of what it feels like to be loved by God compared to what it feels like to be loved by men." God Isn't Grateful

Mohler: A 70 year old woman is pregnant, via IVF, from a donor egg and a donor sperm (not her husband's). Yet how is a mother of this age to raise a child? And the whole thing is very artificial. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2901

Mohler writes how a tragedy facing pulpits is that preachers are ones without authority - unlike Jesus. They have little sense of absolutes, always being concerned about committing the heresy of premature finality. "The preacher's authority is a delegated authority, but a real authority. We are assigned the task of feeding the flock of God, of teaching the church, of preaching the Word. We do not speak as one who possesses authority, but as one who is called to serve the church by proclaiming, expounding, applying, and declaring the Word of God." http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2912

Here's an interesting comment to Newsweek: "you also need to know that many of your readers would have welcomed a journalistic cover story that provided a lively discussion of this issue, featuring the views of liberal Christian scholars (a variety of them, since their views are not always the same) and traditional Christian scholars from a variety of viewpoints — mainline Protestant, evangelical, Orthodox, Catholic and the like. The views of traditional Jews, Muslims and others would have made a wonderful sidebar." Think about that in terms of journalism. Hey Newsweek- It's the Journalism, Stupid

Sproul: "Every generation has its abundance of Scrooges. The church is full of them. We hear endless complaints of commercialism. We are constantly told to put Christ back into Christmas. We hear that the tradition of Santa Claus is a sacrilege. We listen to those acquainted with history murmur that Christmas isn't biblical. The Church invented Christmas to compete with the ancient Roman festival honoring the bull-god Mithras, the nay-sayers complain. Christmas? A mere capitulation to paganism." Bah! Humbug!

Good question: Are people of ill-repute drawn to the churches the way they were drawn to our Lord? Ray Boltz's Hunger for Community

Russell Moore argues that parenting isn't about behaviour modification but Christian eschatology. When you fail to discipline your children, you communicate that hell doesn't exist. We teach them authority hierarchies. We teach them that there are consequences. "Discipline should be swift and fair with quick reconciliation between parent and child. Long periods of “time out” do not communicate the discipline of God; they communicate the isolation and exile of hell." The Eschatology of Parenting

Mark Dever points to five reasons we don't evangelize: "1. Fear - of rejection, of offending 2. Ignorance - don’t know what to say, don’t know how to say it 3. Inexperience - haven’t seen it done, haven’t done it 4. Attitude - that’s just not me, leave it to the experts 5. Lack of true love - we don't really care about the lost and their eternal destiny." He then offers twelve ways to mitigate these barriers. Then five alternatives to these are given. Barriers to Sharing the Gospel by lduncan

Here's a review by Phillips of The Day the Earth Stood Still. He basically says what I expected it to be. The Day the Earth Stood Still remake — a movie review (spoilerific)

[Other than what I consider to be a rather short-sighted, culturally motivated, and overstated comment relating to universal health care and global warming, etc. as being something every evangelical in the world except North Americans is for - and how this relates to the Gospel I'm still not sure] Bird has an interesting and useful post on drawing lines between evangelicals and being reformed, and how we should be defined by the Gospel and embrace our brothers and sisters. "Michael Horton gave a paper at one of the sessions and he made a useful analogy of how evangelicals relate to each other. If I understand him correctly, he said evangelicalism is kinda like the hallway where people leave their dormitory rooms (denominations) and go out and mix and mingle with others. This makes a useful distinction between one's denominational setting and one's willingness to mix and engage a wider theological and ecclesial context. In other words, you can retain your denominational distictives and still intersect with a wider Christian community." "That gospel is summarized for us in the articles of our Christian faith---a creed beyond doubt and confessed throughout the world. This is why I am convinced unto the point of death that what should be the defining characteristic of evangelicalism is one's theological articulation of the evangel and (practically put) what one does with it. To be Reformed, then, is to be an evangelical and to proudly and graciously stand shoulder to shoulder with our evangelical brothers and sisters throughout the world. There endeth the lesson: solum evangelium!" Evangelicals and the Reformed

Here's a fascinating post on early heretics by Michael Bird. "... Basilides operated principally in Alexandria and taught from 132-138 CE. His teachings reflect an Alexandrian milieu as they reflect the influence of Philo, Alexandrian Jewish Gnosticism, and Greco-Roman philosophy." Friday is for 'Heretics'- # 1, Basilides

Following proposition 8, there is significant persecution coming from the pro-homosexuals (hatred, if you will). "Paul Bishop, a Los Angeles Police Department supervisor told Meridian, a Mormon magazine, that, while both supporters and opponents of the measure honked their horns at rallies in favor of Prop 8, he wrote, "the way to tell the difference is the ‘No On 8' supporters usually accompanied their horn honking with an obscene gesture or a string of obscenities. They also liked to swerve their cars toward the children on the curb."" They are literally attacking those who supported it. Prop 8 Stirs Rage Against Its Supporters

Gilbert decided to give his thoughts on how small groups are useful in an upside-down/backwards post. "˙ɥɔɹnɥɔ ǝɥʇ uı dıɥsǝldıɔsıp ɹoɟ looʇ pooƃ ɐ ǝq uɐɔ ʎǝɥʇ ʞuıɥʇ ı 'llǝʍ pǝsn puɐ 'llɐ uı llɐ  ˙ɯǝɥʇ ǝsn ʇ’uplnoɥs noʎ ʎɐs oʇ sı ʇɐɥʇ ɟo ǝuou ʇnq" sdnoɹƃ llɐɯs -ǝɹ by Greg Gilbert. He has confessed to shameless gimmickry in the hopes of not appearing boring. True Reason for Upside Down Post- by Greg Gilbert

Turretinfan draws a quote to show that Edwards did indeed hold to limited atonement. The chart distributed at John 3:16 conference put Baxter and Amyraut in the moderate/classical Calvinism column! Phillip Johnson and Amyraldianism

Mounce argues that the articles present in 1 Timothy 4:13 are significant, which are dropped in translation: "Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to the exhortation, to the teaching." "I argue that Paul is referring to explicit parts of the first century worship service, that there was a time specifically for the public reading of Scripture, an explicit time for encouraging people to follow it, and a specific time for the people to be taught not only the content of Scripture but its theology." The Definite Article and 1 Timothy 4-13 (Monday with Mounce 15) by Bill Mounce

2008-12-12

Michael Bird writes that he still thinks the best reason for why the Gospels were written was to preserve an account of the life of Jesus for those who were not eyewitnesses in a later generation. He quotes Gundry, "... A high estimate of historical authenticity deriving from the literary distinctives of the Gospels leads to a further, old answer. The spread of the church far from its place of origin and the dying off of Jesus’ original disciples created a felt need for records. Since Christians had not divorced theology from history, those records turned out to be both theological and historical..." The Gospels stepped into the role of eyewitnesses. Why Were the Gospels Written-

Hays makes some observations regarding the methodological assumptions in the book The Bible, Rocks and Time. 1) The authors go after outdated presentations of flood geology. If flood geology is legit science, we would expect it to change. 2) they don’t address the old, ongoing debate between temporal metrical objectivism and temporal metrical conventionalism. 3) Admitting creation ex nihilo poses a problem because it means that you probably cannot generally distinguish between providential artifacts and ex nihilo artifacts. 4) Hays points out that to point to rates for ages, you need to know the rates. And there are a lot of assumptions over millions of years. 5) Geologists don't necessarily accept the 'rock age' they get, unless it fits their preconceptions about the age. Which is rather circular. The Bible, Rocks and Time

Phil Johnson writes how ''The devil made me do it' is not an excuse, that disobedience to God, even brought on by demonic temptation, demonstrates complicity in the heart for the devil's wickedness, that the way to deal with sin is to resist the devil, and if you sin, own the sin, confess it, and repent of it. The devil works with what he's got. And it is man's own wickedness that makes him so compliant. The Devil Made me Do It

Peter Pike comments on the story of a young man who committed suicide after reading the God Delusion. Although poorly argued, the logic of the book leads to nihilism. Anything, whether religion or universal brotherhood is therefore a delusion - i.e. Dawkin's worldview is just as delusional. Dawkin's may be effective against a poorly formed Christianity: "Christians need to have a strong understanding of Christian beliefs. One of the aspects I’ve found (and it is obvious from such folks as the Debunkers) is that most former Christians have no concept at all of Christian theism." Unfortunately many don't know how lousy Dawkin's arguments really are. And public education isn't helping. Delusions that Kill

2008-12-11

Robert Gagnon rips into the Newsweek article on the religious case for homosexuality with a 23 page paper. "To arrive at her ideological objective Miller makes a number of bad moves. She overemphasizes discontinuity and underemphasizes continuity between marriage values in Scripture and our own values. She engages in a distorted form of analogical reasoning that elevates distant analogies over close analogies. She shows little or no understanding of the historical and literary contexts of the texts that she treats. She ignores just about every major argument against the positions that she espouses. And she extrapolates, from certain “universal truths” in Scripture, conclusions that the scriptural authors would have found appalling and that bear little logical connection to the agenda that she seeks to promote." Gagnon Responds to Newsweek Cover Story

Discovery Channel takes the time to reinforce the sensibility of creationism by way of contrast yet again. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/12/08/asteroid-life.html

Phillips writes about different preaching preparation styles. Interestingly, as one man said, his sermon prep amounted to the equivalent of two college term papers per week. Phillips relates to this experiences [me too]. Spurgeon, on the other hand, prepped on the way to church, or perhaps the day before. But he feasted on it - not to professionally analyze it. But to know it. Basically, I would say this post highlights the value of being profoundly affected by your text. I very much agree with this. Sermon preparation of lesser and greater luminaries

Hays points out that in the OT, homosexual practice was condemned as a capital offence, and in the NT, Paul identifies homosexual desire as a sin. Hays then deals with the idea that homosexual relations form the same way heterosexual relationships form, and in response to being asked why such bonding between homosexuals is problematic for adoption, "A higher incidence of disease, domestic violence, suicide, rampant promiscuity, as well as unnatural role-modeling. They are also at higher risk of sexual molestation when they hit adolescence." Loving and committed pederasty

Manata examines and refutes Damer's illustration of a logical fallacy, which employs a pro-life argument as its target. A brief, correct statement of the prolife argument is given in this post. Damer's example either proves too much or too little, and it relies upon a particular disanalogy wherein a temperature is regarded as being hot is considered to be analogous to a fetus being regarded as human, when the former is a subjective assessment, while the latter is put forward as an ontological reality. Fallacious Fallacies

Challies continues with his reading of the classics, in looking briefly at CS Lewis' defence of natural law in Mere Christianity. There isn't too much here. Reading Classics - Mere Christianity (II)

Solapanel: Grimmond writes that a postmodern observation is that there is no neutral observer. Now, as Jesus told us, our reception of truth is never neutral. Sin is the ultimate bias. Now, it seems that in the absence of a 'neutral observer' some think that we must just put everything out there in the open. "It seems that as long as every competing voice is heard equally and I am free to choose which voices to listen to, then I will arrive at the truth." Grimmond defends his review of the Shack, and why he won't just list the good points and the bad points. "My answer is no, and it is no because of the nature of truth. It is here that the limitations of the grab bag approach to truth begin to be felt. There are times when our decision about the positive or negative nature of something is not just a tallying of the pros and cons; you can't evaluate something by simply summing up the positive and negative points about something, and seeing if you get more than 50 per cent." The unity of truth means that a denial of an element of truth amounts to a denial of truth. Evaluating truth

Solapanel: This post argues that in the Proverbs and NT 'balance' as we know it today is not a virtue. In our character (being), we should seek virtues, not balance. In our actions (doing), our character may demand that we act in a balanced way. "we should be extreme in our virtuous character, but sometimes that may force us to be balanced in our actions." The ethics of a balanced life

Are small groups biblical? Apparently some (R)eformed folk argue otherwise, that the sacraments are the way this fellowship should be built. Are Small Groups 'Biblical'- by Thabiti Anyabwile

Turk writes that atheism doesn't have the philosophical clout to deny God on the basis of suffering, for without God in the picture, "We discover that even atheism will admit that it turns out that for us some things are worth suffering for -- and that somehow, one can self-determine to suffer for the benefit of something other than himself." He concludes the post by setting the stage like this: "if Joseph had never been sold into slavery, he would have never been in a position to become what he became.And in order to do that, Joseph had to get framed for rape and go to prison." You meant it for evil (1)

Turk makes some good points about government and marriage here. E.g. "Government benefits from the consequences of this kind [Christian] of marriage. Stable, moral family units require less government and produce more economic benefits than bands of loosely-confederated clans in it for self-interest (among other social arrangements)." Govn't didn't invent marriage, it has the opportunity to encourage it, etc. HT- Rhology

Phillips tears into Rick Warren's blunders on Hannity and Colmes. What-! (Rick Warren on Hannity & Colmes)

JT: Here's an interesting end to an editorial response by Christianity Today to the article for gay marriage put forward by Newsweek. "while they both claim they are arguing against exclusiveness and for inclusivity, they have managed to exclude from this crucial national conversation a significant proportion of the American population who happen to believe there is a strong biblical case for traditional marriage." CT on Newsweek

Here's some interesting quotes from AT Robinson on seminaries and preaching.

"Does the college and seminary training tend to make better preachers? If not, it is a failure. The German idea is to make scholars first and preachers incidentally. But ours is to make preachers, and scholars only as a means to that end. We have small need in the pulpit for men that can talk learnedly and obscurely about the tendencies of thought and the trend of philosophy, but do not know how to preach Christ and him crucified. The most essential thing to-day is not to know what German scholars think of the Bible, but to be able to tell men what the Bible says about themselves. And if our system of theological training fails to make preachers, it falls short of the object for which it was established. But if it does meet the object of its creation, it calls for hearty sympathy and support." A.T. Robertson- Preaching and Scholarship

"In 1 Corinthians 15:19 Paul states that without the resurrection, we Christians are to be the most pitied of all men. Why? Because Paul assumes that we Christians are laying down our present lives for the sake of a future one with Christ. He assumes that our faith is presently costing us worldly wealth, status, pleasures and ease. He assumes that we are no longer living in the patterns of this world and that our lives have taken a radical turn toward an unseen reality. Does he assume too much of us?" Our lives should look foolish to an unbelieving world. Do they? On Sensible Christianity

Somewhat interesting post on Koinonia. I mention it here because it makes this interesting point: That Jesus required faith of those people who sought health. Knowing When to Quit - and Five Other Values of Jesus by Ronald T. Habermas

Here's a reading list of books for boys. Reading is for Boys, Part II

Paul Copan has an informative post on some misconceptions around the infancy narratives. He concludes, "Keep on reading and examining the Scriptures (cp. the Bereans in Acts 17). Let us make sure that we don’t let tradition prevent us from gaining fresh insights from Scripture or from adjusting our theology when this is called for. We must be careful not to Gnosticize/Docetize Jesus—as though he didn’t or can’t really identify with us. On the other hand, we should make not Jesus’ birth more pitiful or lowly than it actually was. We can still celebrate the condescension of Immanuel—God with us—even with these adjustments in our understanding of the first Christmas story." The First Christmas- Myths and Reality

Gender Blog comments on the argument put forward by McCall and Yendell against role-subordinationism: That basically "it strictly entails that the Father has an essential property that the Son lacks, and the Son has an essential property that Father lacks" implying that they do not have the same nature. "This argument only works in a Platonic understanding of God where the divine must be the ultimate of every property - the totality of all being. But this does not lead to a personal or a Trinitarian understanding of God, so essential to Christianity. Rather, their view leads dangerously close to an impersonal monad - a flat sum of all matter. The Christian tradition should not follow Greek philosophy in this respect. Debating the Trinity, Part II "God of the Bible is not defined as a sum of all properties equally attributed to every Person. Rather, there are good reasons to hold to the distinct, personal, and relative properties of authority and submission in the Triune God. " (1) We should be instructed by the biblical names of Father and Son. 2) The kingship of Christ instructs us on how the Son and the Father relate. The title King is peculiar to the Son, not the Father. Yet, the title is bestowed by the Father. (3) If you deny the meaning and implications of the words Father and Son, then you have, as Grudem points out, only Person A, Person A, and Person A. Debating the Trinity, Part III

Gender Blog argues that in Philippians 2, the text means that Jesus refused to "grasp for" a functional equality with the Father that would have usurped the Father's role as Father. In contrast to grasping for that kind of equality, the Son "emptied himself" and took the form of a servant (v. 7). So the passage affirms the deity of Christ ("in the form of") and the functional distinction. The Son's Submission to the Father

2008-12-10

Turk gives a post related to the Newsweek article against a biblical understanding of marriage. First, Turk rails against conservatives and the church for failing to clearly define marriage. The other side has. "this is why Ms. Miller can say exegetically- and theologically- ludicrous things about what “Christian” religious conservatives want. Religious conservatives don’t really know what they want, or how to get it. And frankly, they have effaced their own position so badly in this case, it is no wonder we can see the head of the hideous monster about to be born cresting behind what they say they want." If marriage were primarily needed just as a social contract to ensure rights, whatever. Let everyone have that. Christians understand the Bible to teach that "marriage is a surrendering of rights first to God and then to another person for manifold theological purposes – that is, a wide variety of purposes which, when acted out, give glory to God." Marriage is about God. [This is what I've been saying too...] Not only this, but celibate, single Jesus endorsed marriage: God's very own words explaining that marriage is between a man and a woman and that God made it this way so they should never separate. Marriage is a glorification of God in our obedience. Not only this, but Paul's description of marriage in Ephesians is devastating to the thesis of the article. #1: "if the church was serious about this kind of love – which is Christ’s kind of love, first and foremost demonstrated on the Cross for a specific bride in order to make her holy and spotless before God – it wouldn’t abide a social Gospel of nondescript good will or idiotic exhortations about “your best life now”." If you think its about self-satisfaction rather than sanctifying another, you're in trouble. And since divorce is viewed in the same way in the church it follows that the church views marriage the same way as the world. We are to blame for what the world thinks of marriage. And it is ironic that the article misses God's own condemnation of things, and pretends to appeal to God's way while wanting the opposite of it. Turk says to the homosexual advocates: "if what you want is the church to bless your social-contract view of marriage, and you admit that this view is about what you want and not about what God has prescribed for you ... you are asking for what you abhor in others, what "of course" we should abhor in the patriarchs described by Moses and the Prophets" "Stop asking for “marriage”. You don’t want marriage but a way to make other people put their blessing on your life and choices; you want them to call your values "holy" when you can't even say where they came from. I say you should have what you want here – because frankly you deserve what you are asking for, and that is not a compliment." Of Course, she says

Kurschner at aomin.org argues that 1 Timothy 2:4 teaches that "Paul uses “all people” in verse 4 to refer to all social classes (in this case, inclusion of kings and those in authority); then in his second use of “all” in verse 6 he refers to all ethnic classes (in this case, inclusion of Gentiles). With these contextual and historical dimensions of the text, we can value why it is essential that we are careful not to import our 21st century modern American cultural assumptions back into a 2,000-year-old Jewish letter." He disagrees explicitly with John Piper here. He also demonstrates that universally equating "all" to "every single person" is biblically untenable. 1 Timothy 2-4 - An Exegesis

Jesus taught that prostitutes and tax collectors - cheaters - would enter the kingdom of God before Pharisees. Why? Because they had believed the testimony of John the Baptist, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Prostitutes Go in Before Priests

Irish Calvinist sadly points out that George W. Bush appears to believe in Moralanity, not Christianity. http://www.irishcalvinist.com/?p=2073

Challies gives a list of his top eight books of 2008. My Top 8 Books of 2008

Mohler writes that secularization is the process whereby a society becomes increasingly distant from its Christian roots. He goes on to point out the secularization of the church - the Church of England, in particular. "No longer the assembly of believers, the church is now defined merely as a public utility.  What does this public utility do?  It exists, he argues, in order to provide service such as education, funerals, and a context for important national events -- such as, he suggests, the funeral of Princess Diana." It seems that "church is now to be more or less on-call for a population that sees no need to attend these churches but nonetheless is assumed to appreciate the fact that they exist. " - "vicarious religion" is "the notion of religion performed by an active minority but on behalf of a much larger number who (implicitly at least) not only understand, but quite clearly approve of what the minority is doing." "This is ultimately where liberal theology leads, and where the church meets its end.  The gates of hell will easily prevail over anything reduced to the status of a "public utility."" http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2894

A great reality of the cross at work is that even though many will persecute for righteousness, many will see it and give glory to God. So there are two responses. Optimism, pessimism and the Christian life

Patton gives a brief overview of the charismatic position and the cessationist position. It's very important to recognize that both believe in supernatural events, healings, etc. Cessationists believe generally that the extraordinary gifts were signs, to establish the Gospel, and have ceased being normative. “charismatic” refers to those who believe that certain “spiritual gifts” such as tongues, prophecy, and gifts of healings, are normative for the church. He has a good discussion here, and distinguishes between confirmatory and revelatory extraordinary gifts. Why I am Not Charismatic (Part 1)

Turk: Here's a bluntly honest quote from atheist Camille Paglia on how marriage is a religious concept. This principled atheist is seeing what the church often misses. Name that writer

Ligon Duncan affirms that his "so that" in the definition of evangelism aims at defining it according to purpose, not necessary results. Feedback on What is Evangelism- by lduncan

Apparently American interrogators use loud pop music to break their subjects - something the artists don't like. Loud Music as Torture- How About Trying Some CCM-

Girltalk: Are you a distracted woman, like Martha, while Mary listens? "as Charles Spurgeon suggests, “We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service, and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune.”" The Distracted Woman

JT's question for Obama: "Would you consider rescinding your promise to sign the Freedom of Choice Acts, given your desire to reduce abortions and to seek common ground, and in light of the fact that it would invalidate every measure and law intended to reduce abortions?" Ask Obama about the Freedom of Choice Act

Here's an interesting codex, to say the least: Codex Gigas (The Devil's Bible) on Air

Spurgeon is amazing: "In another part of the country, I was preaching once to people who kept continually looking round, and I adopted the expedient of saying, “Now, friends, as it is so very interesting to you to know who comes in, and it disturbs me so very much for you to look round, I will, if you like, describe each one as he comes in, so that you may sit and look at me, and keep up at least a show of decency.” I described one gentleman who came in, who happened to be a friend whom I could depict without offence, as “a very respectable gentleman who had just taken his hat off,” and so on; and after that one attempt I found it was not necessary to describe any more, because they felt shocked at what I was doing, and I assured them that I was much more shocked that they should render it necessary for me to reduce their conduct to such an absurdity. It cured them for the time being, and I hope for ever, much to their Pastor’s joy." Spurgeon's pithy pastoral pounding

AiG: This post points out that God never endorses polygamy, that there are commands against it in Scripture, and that generally it was tolerated in the Old Testament. That doesn't mean it wasn't sinful. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/12/01/contradictions-a-man-of-many-wives

Genderblog: This post discusses the value of reading books for boys, and how it will contribute to their development of men - in contrast to the video game generation. Reading is for Boys, Part I

Kauflin briefly comments on the idea that it is deliberate practice, not hard work or talent, that makes one great at a particular thing. Is Talent Overrated-

Twenty questions for church planters. http://theresurgence.com/20-characteristics-of-a-church-planter

2008-12-09

Phillips defines a nomicophobe: "people who have an irrational (or, at any rate, unbiblical) fear of any sort of external authority or law." This is contrary to the repeated teaching of Christ and His apostles. "here's my test of apostolic soundness: if I can't preach and write what the apostles preached and wrote, I'm almost surely doing it wrong." The need to explain or demand explanations of God's right to command is not an indicator of spiritual health on any level. The soporific scourge of Nomicophobia

Blomberg gives an argument that the resurrection was widely accepted within a couple years of Christ's death. "for Paul to have been given an already established creed including resurrection witnesses, known not just in Jerusalem but also in Damascus, some time must have already elapsed for this foundational information to have been crystallized in this form and become widely known in the various locations believers lived and become widely agreed on as the kind of information to be passed on to each new convert." http://blog.bible.org/primetimejesus/content/resurrection-probably-reported-same-year-it-happened

Challies briefly reviews Don't Stop Believing by Michael Wittmer. Basically, he seeks to craft a third way between believing in love and loving only belief - "Wittmer seeks to craft a third way, a way that avoids the extremes on either side while finding that sweet spot that allows a Christian to hold fast to what is true while retaining a love for others and a desire to serve them." Don't Stop Believing. For interests sake, here is an interview with Wittmer by Taylor: An Interview with Michael Wittmer. [I will point out that I found the categorization of "What you must believe/must not reject/should believe" interesting, although I'm not endorsing his arrangement.]

Challies observes that we all know that noise prevents us from focusing or is distracting. Moreover, our current lifestyles bombard us with noise. Christians need to be vigilant to turn down the noise. To not be mastered by the distraction of technology. Surely many spend time with shallow online relationships while ignoring church; using tech. for escapism. Maybe we hate our own thoughts - we need the noise because the silence is horrid. Maybe we need to feel accomplished. Maybe it is the safety and allure of anonymity. Don't be enslaved. A Great Servant; An Evil Master

Challies draws some brief thoughts from John Frame, on how doubt is largely framed negatively in Scripture, that it is always wrong to doubt God's word, or to fail to pursue assurance in God's gift of salvation. Doubt isn't always sinful, in that we should admit our ignorance. "The faith we are to pursue is one that has absolute certainty about God's revelation." Doubt as Virtue, Assurance as Arrogance

Challies is starting his reading the classics on Mere Christianity. "mere Christianity is the essence of the Christian faith--those beliefs that have been held in common by all true Christians through all of the church's history." Reading Classics - Mere Christianity (I)

Solapanel: Paul Grimmond asks if we don't drown God's glory in hyper-caveating every mercy and good thing of God's. Can we not just present it without the caveats, he asks? And why not focus on good caveats, that highlight God's glory in His grace, rather than bury it in endless "but's"? Getting rid of the killer but

Solapanel. Images are deficient in worship because they always misrepresent. But are all concrete images wrong? It couldn't appear so (serpent in the desert, etc). So what do we make of the second commandment? Here's four principles. God has revealed Himself in His word, so His written word must be absolutely central. Second, look at how an image is used in our lives - e.g. golden calf versus children's picture Bible. Third, look at the context of the images. e.g. bronze snake had to be destroyed because it became an idol. Fourth, the principle of love and seeking others interests must govern this - if an image causes a brother to stumble, don't use it, etc. Getting rid of the killer but

Solapanel: What is mission? If everything is mission, its a meaningless term. "Missio Dei" sees everything that God does as fundamentally mission, but ends up seeing social reconstruction as the plan of salvation rather than to redeem sinners. "Cultural mandate" sees all of what Christians do as the mission. This equates mission with the Christian life, thus resulting in a loss of distinction and precision when it comes to talking about mission. ‘social action’ can be described as activity that leads to the alleviation of human suffering and the elimination of injustice, exploitation and deprivation. The danger here is to do that which the world thinks is fine, without any real propositional truth to go with it. "Making disciples of all nations" is the most fitting definition. Excuse me, but what’s ‘mission’-

Solapanel: When we preach the OT we must not reduce it to moralism, or drown it in allegory, but we need a biblical theology of response (to God) from what we read. "To just preach God and his promises fulfilled in Christ without also calling for and explaining repentance and faith is to leave out half the message." A biblical theology of response

Solapanel: This post discusses good powerful preaching, dull boring preaching, springboard anecdotal preaching, and so on. It's worth a read for a preacher. There is everything from lifeless textual analysis to sermons which have nothing to do with the text, popularized by online preachers. Surely preaching can be biblical and cut to the heart of our day. "The best preaching I hear is biblical, profoundly theological and thoroughly engaging. It is suffused with a sense of urgency and importance—not the self-importance of the preacher, but the importance of the living God and the word he wants us to hear. The worst preaching I hear might as well be the rehearsal of tomorrow’s shopping list—almost as coherent and every bit as memorable." Now what was that text again-

Here's a list of 101 gospel jobs. At the top is 'mother.' 101 gospel jobs

This post relating Zane Hodges should be read, I think, in light of Hays previous post (see yesterday). She says, "it struck me that this is indeed the ultimate task of theology, to know Christ better." [As Hays points out, this was a man who taught something profoundly opposed to Christ's own teaching - see: Not once saved, never saved]. The Ultimate Task of Theology- An Observation from Final Farewells

Patton on Santa: "Moral of the story: To truly celebrate Christmas presupposes that we are living an incarnational life 365 days a year. Don’t be so hard on poor Santa." Should Christians Play Santa-

A Roman Catholic is actually interested in the primary, contextual, source material for Luther! (title unknown)

Yep. Dave Armstrong is threatening to sue commentators. Recent Silly Stuff

Turk: "Now that the election is over, Obama faces the tough questions. And apparent he isn't giving "straight" answers." A Straight Answer [Kill the babies, stop the smoking. Gotta have your priorities straight, right?]

9Marks: Here's some good advice for pastor's struggling with despair. 1) Meditate on Scripture, particularly on the Gospel, and pray. 2)Talk with mature Christian brothers who will both comfort and correct you. 3) Share your struggles with the church. 4) Read Ed Welch. 5) Sing. 6) Walk outside. 7) Enjoy activities outside the church. Any Discouraged Pastors Out There- by Matt Schmucker

Eek. Extensive corruption in Chicago politics. Clouds- What Clouds-

Here's Al Mohler's chapel addresses on the Apostles' Creed. Mohler on the Apostle's Creed

Sinclair Ferguson's messages on how angels view Christmas: Sinclair Ferguson- An Angel's View of Christmas

Phillips has some really good thoughts and a slight chiding for parents on their small children and noise in church. Tots in the Tabernacle. This is a followup to his things that he can think of that a pastor wishes the congregation would know. Pithy Pre-pastorate Pastoral Pointers

Bayly defends calling sin a sin and using biblical language - even if it shows the shame and evil of deeds committed. Euphemisms and circumlocutions- marking or being marked

Bayly: "Planned Parenthood here in Bloomington just announced they've suspended the film's villain pending their own internal investigation. Child-murderer is suspended pending investigation of allegations she covered up statutory rape. What a precious piece of hypocrisy..." Right here in Kinsey City

Here's a paper on the definition of hypercalvinism. "Simply stated, it consists of two fundamental errors: a denial of duty-faith and a resultant denial of the universal call of the gospel. These fundamental errors are a departure from the teaching of Scripture as well as historic Calvinism. These errors were responsible for unbiblical teaching on evangelism and the proclamation of the gospel among 18th century English Baptists. However, as we have seen, the sad effect on evangelism is not the defining error, but a symptom. On the other hand, in my understanding, historic Calvinism has always maintained that it is the duty of unregenerate men to repent and believe. Calvinism also acknowledges that the gospel is to be preached to all men indiscriminately and that we are to beseech all to individually trust in Jesus Christ and Him alone for salvation. " What is Hyper-Calvinism-

Hays gives some thoughts on Dante's and Milton's ideas of heaven and hell and their influence, as well as disconnection from Scripture. Better to reign in hell

"We need to be known in our deepest secrets, our darkest fears and our most desperate hopes. In Christ we are known. Do not withdraw into a solitary world of your own making. Share your lives with others as you are able. But when others cannot enter into your world, do not carry your burdens alone. God is ever-present." On Being Known

Sproul's advice on time management: I realize that all of my time is God’s time and all of my time is my time by His delegation. Second, time can be redeemed by concentration and focus. Third, the mind can redeem valuable time taken up by ordinary or mechanical functions. Fourth, use your leisure time for pursuits that are life enriching. Fifth, find ways to cheat the “Sand Man.” Sixth, use drive-time for learning. Finally, in most cases a schedule is more liberating than restricting. R.C. Sproul on Time Well Spent

Haykin: "There is a charge that is making the rounds on the web that Jonathan Edwards (1703 - 1758) believed that Satan was initially a superior being to Jesus and that Jesus was an exalted man." "A close and careful reading of the text reveals simply this: Edwards is arguing that the unfallen Lucifer is a type of glorified humanity of Christ—the chief responsibilities of Lucifer before his fall have now been given to the glorified humanity of Jesus Christ. There is nothing heretical in this, though, in true Edwards style, this is something I had never thought of before." Jonathan Edwards on Christ and Lucifer- a misunderstanding making the rounds

Solapanel: MP3 sermons are great - but there is a significant danger. They come with no strings attached. No real community. To MP3 or not to MP3-

JT: Mark Hemingway on the Newsweek article: "So should I be surprised that Lisa Miller, Newsweek's religion reporter natch, can't even get through the first paragraph of her story without evincing an understanding of Christianity and its basic texts that is grossly oversimplified and distorted, filtered through an almost exclusively liberal political lens, not to mention catty and downright insulting?" Sadly, Newsweek knows they have young people on their side - even young evangelicals. This is a sad statement on the state of evangelicalism and the rampant rejection of Scripture. Newsweek's Revisionist, Religious Case for Gay Marriage

JT links to Sinclair Ferguson, who warns of the idea of "Santa Christ" who might be Pelagian, semi-Pelagian, or mystical. This is not the biblical Christ. Santa Christ-

Fred Sanders exhorts us to be more alert to the Trinity. "You can outline the first half of Romans this way: From chapter one up to chapter three, we have God the lawgiver, whose wrath is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness, who justifies both Jew and Gentile so he can be Father of both. Then from the middle of chapter 3 to the end of chapter 5 we see the Son of God as our propitiation, who takes our situation on himself and restores us to a right relationship with God. Then from chapter five to chapter eight the Holy Spirit comes to the front in applying the work of Christ and delivering us from sin." Know That You Know the Trinity

Here's some thoughts on a Christian philosophy of technology. Toward a Christian Philosophy of Technology

Ligon Duncan exhort's us to have a Gospel Culture in the local church. The Gospel and the Local Congregation by lduncan Here's JT's summary (e.g: "that your whole congregation would be able to articulate the Gospel, personally, in a compelling and understandable way;") A Gospel Culture in the Local Church

Here's a helpful definition of evangelism: Evangelism is – To bear witness to Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that [1] people may come to put their trust in God, through Christ; [2] to acknowledge Him as their Savior; and [3] to serve Him as their King, [4] in the fellowship of His Church. ... The Gospel is a message. "When people say: "Preach the Gospel daily - Use words if necessary," Tim provocatively but rightly says: they may not understand the Gospel. The Gospel must be shared with words. It is a message. We can't tell it with our deeds (though our lives must reveal it effects). There is no such thing as wordless evangelism." What is Evangelism and What is the Gospel- by lduncan

Michael Bird gives some thoughts on the provenance of Philippians. "How does this pan out for Pauline chronology? If Philippians was written from Ephesus after Galatians and 1 Corinthians, then Paul probably composed it during ca. 55-56 not long after Timothy had returned from the visit to Corinth that Paul describes in 1 Cor. 4.17, 16.10-11 and after the tearful letter of 2 Cor. 2.1-4. Paul intends to send Timothy to Philippi (Phil. 2.19 = Acts 19.22) and to eventually visit himself (Phil. 2.24; 2 Cor. 2.12-13; = Acts 20.1)." Provenance of Philippians

Turretinfan argues that the seer in twilight is an example of a worldview containing the notion of libertarian free will. Seers, Choice, Open Theism, Molinism, and Calvinism

Bayly points out that there is nothing loving about Newsweek's article - that they really hate homosexuals. "Because the church has traded love for lust, the world is blind to the distinction. Because the church has turned her back on God's story and now uses the pulpit to narrate her own, truth is dead and the world is lost in narcissism. Because the church hates her sons, she doesn't discipline them and the world concludes the man who disciplines is a monster motivated by hatred." Newsweek hates homosexuals, actually

Yes, apparently someone actually thinks this is a 'contradiction' in the Scriptures. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/12/08/contradictions-counting-offspring

2008-12-08

Clint asks if his sermon illustration "Four bare legs in a bed" perhaps distracted from the sufficiency of the vine. [My personal thought is no, if you bothered to keep listening!] Four Bare Legs in a Bed and Sermon Illustrations

Noel Piper says of Advent, "here we stand in the middle. Advent is a season of looking back, thinking how it must have been for those awaiting the promised salvation of God, not knowing what to expect. And at the same time, it is a season of looking ahead, preparing ourselves to meet Jesus at his Second Coming." A Season to Look Back and Ahead

Mohler point to an LA Times editorial that is a sympathetic lament for those women who can't break through the 'stained glass ceiling,' which goes after conservatives who 'attack' the gains of women in ministry. This editorial has the audacity to pretend to read the minds and hearts of people who oppose female ordination, and moreover, implies that the writers read the NT. Do these editors believe the Bible to be merely human, or just without any authority? http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2833

Mohler: "The gift certificates from Planned Parenthood represent a brazen and ill-disguised effort to package abortion as a gift. " http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2849

Mohler quotes a report: "Researchers have done individual studies for years to learn how media affect children. A review released today, which analyzed 173 of the strongest papers over 28 years, finds that 80% agree that heavy media exposure increases the risk of harm, including obesity, smoking, sex, drug and alcohol use, attention problems and poor grades." Mohler comments on some trends in media, and then gives some parental advice: 1.  Limit the total media exposure experienced by your children. 2.  Do not allow children and teenagers to have televisions and Internet-connected computers in the bedroom. 3.  Make entertainment media a family experience. 4.  Parents have to do the hard work of actually knowing what their children and teenagers are watching, playing, hearing, and experiencing through media exposure. 5.  Realize that a revolution has taken place in the lives of children and adolescents.6.  Take a regular look at what your child is posting and what others are posting on his or her social media sites. 7.  Remember that saying "no" is a legitimate option. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2861

Mohler: While the formation of a new Anglican denomination is being accused of threatening a fragile unity, it is a profound disunity that spurred it, as those appalled by the disregard for biblical authority demonstrated by the ordination of openly-practicing homosexuals are working desperately to hold fast to the authority of God's word. "the fact that the establishment of the Anglican Church of North America was motivated by explicitly theological concerns and commitments is a sign of hope." http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2866

Mohler comments on the vacuity of the argumentation in the Newsweek article that is attempting to suggest that the Bible doesn't oppose homosexuality or uphold the traditional definition of marriage. At the heart of this is the issue of biblical authority, once again. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2881

Hays argues that Piper and Dabney don't escape the dilemma posed regarding God's desire to save everyone. Dabney is very anthropomorphic - but we sympathize with evildoers because it could happen to us. "When God shows mercy to a sinner, it’s not because he identifies with the plight of the sinner in the way that you and I might identify with our fellow man." As for Piper, his "position on the bifurcated will of God is a hermeneutical harmonistic device." In other words, he grants the tension in the will of God and, as Hays puts it, we really don't need to frame the issue in terms of God's self-restraint. Is God's will bifurcated-

Phil Johnson writes that Shirley MacLaine probably did more than anyone else to popularize new age thinking. Indeed, she believed she was God, since "all energy is plugged in to the same source. We are each aspects of that source..." But her willingness to believe any superstition may have hurt its credibility. Christian apologists also took new age to task, in varying levels of soberness, some assuming massive conspiracies. It seems that various non-polemical best-sellers and fads, as well as emergent thinking, are the focus in the evangelial movement. But new age is hardly gone, with stats showing it is gaining much ground. And emergent teaching paves the way for it through its epistemic deconstruction. "the contemporary evangelical movement has become more susceptible to mysticism, relativism, and subjectivity. Evangelicals are more likely than ever to regard intuition as divine guidance, and less certain than ever that Scripture is authoritative and objectively true." The Rise and Decline of New Ageism

This is a compelling story of the sovereign hand of God in two lives. http://www.boundlessline.org/2008/12/gods-sovereignt.html

Hays writes about Zane Hodges death. In contrast to JT, Wallace, he says: "He should not be honored in death. He was a heretic. And it wasn’t some abstruse point of heresy, but a very practical heresy. Hodges was a high priest of nominal Christianity and false assurance. Hodges was to Protestant theology what Tetzel was to Catholic theology." ... "Hodges nailed the sign of Heaven to the gates of Hell—thereby misdirecting many unsuspecting souls from the pilgrim path to perdition’s path." Not once saved, never saved

Challies reference Michael Wittmer's Don't Stop Believing to provide insight into the relation of the wrath and love of God. Indeed, Calvinists are often accused of misconstruing God as unloving and full of only wrath. Now, the conclusion drawn in this blog is basically, God is love, God has wrath. God exists in the relation of love in the Godhead, but wrath is His response to sin. "There has never been a time that God has not been expressing love; nor will there ever be. But God's wrath is far different. God has not always been wrathful." At the cross, God's love met God's wrath. Wittmer says, "Jesus endured God's wrath when he bore the curse of sin, but he also experienced God's love, for the cross was a necessary step in crowning Jesus as Redeemer and Ruler..." God would not have wrath if it were not for His love. God's Gag Reflex

2008-12-07

Spurgeon laments the abandonment of the truth and Scriptures among Christians. He talks about how they preach doubt, not faith, how there is no doctrine left unquestioned. Once again, post-modernism isn't "post" at all. Spurgeon's Lament

Manata reviews Clark's book, Recovering the Reformed Confessions. It is an 'in-house' cleaning book aimed at recovering the theology, piety and practice in the Reformed churches, primarily; by recovering the Reformed Confessions. Basically, he thinks that the loss of these confessions has caused the Reformed churches to drift from their moorings. "Clark’s aim, then, is to present a way back to home base and to provide some kind of corrective for the “inkling” that some of us have that there’s “something just not right” in Reformed churches." With respect to tradition, "there’s “the single exegetical tradition” which is more apropos as a characterization of the Reformed view that “controlled tradition with the Scriptures but did not reject tradition as such”" We read and understand Scripture in community, and this was understood in the confessions. "Clark finds that a cause for either the rejection of Reformed confessional teachings, or an elevation of non-confessional teaching to the status “Reformed,” is due to a kind of narcissism - all to characteristic of our contemporary, rugged individualistic American society of consumers. Clark says this reasoning goes something like this: “I am Reformed. I think p, and therefore p must be Reformed”". Clark goes after 'biblicism,' using Frame as his fodder - although Manata thinks Clark has misunderstood Frame. "One problem, though, is that Clark gives the impression that Frame claims that there is no extra biblical knowledge, period. But it seems Frame admits to extra biblical knowledge." It would appear that generally Clark actually agrees with Frame, but doesn't know it! "It’s hard not to think that Clark couldn’t resist using this book to take some shots from the trees at those positions and persons he disagrees with most. The problem is that when he does this, that’s when he overreaches." "Clark finds that “Some Reformed people seem to be reacting to the uncertainty of the age by grasping for this illegitimate sort of certainty” (p.39). This “reacting” is a reaction to the “‘liquidity’ or prevailing sense that nothing is fixed, certain, or reliable any longer” (p.42). Rather than turn “to the Reformed confession, however, many Reformed folk have turned to a kind of rationalism in an attempt to find certainty by elevating a particular interpretation, application, or use of Scripture above the Reformed faith itself. These folk then use their interpretation of Scripture as a mark of orthodoxy and/or sort of prophylaxis against enemies foreign and domestic, real and perceived”" ... "Clark argues that part of what gives rise to a particular 'Quest for Illegitimate Religious Certainty (QIRC)' is a desire to “flatten out tensions and difficulties” that seem to arise in Scripture." Manata points out that the contrary approach can result in QITH (quest for illegitimate tension holding)! Moreover, he points out that things like a framework view seek to remove tension in themselves, ironically. Clark basically argues that the Reformed identity is something inherited, and we have to recover this identity by recovering the confessions. Recovering The Reformed Confession- Reviewed

Hays takes further issue with the notion in Clark's writing that you can't change the confession from the inside (that is, you can't 'subscribe' to it AND critique part of it). As to Clark's desire to fix a reformed identity in history, Hays points out that history is fluid. "In the end, there’s no substitute for truth. Truth is the only criterion that counts. If our identity is at variance with the truth, then so much the worse for our identity. Our fidelity to sola scriptura must be a living commitment, not a perfunctory buzzword. " With respect to 6/24 creation, "I think that, at this point, Clark is guilty of special pleading. He wants to treat the Reformed confessions as definitive for Reformed identity where they happen to coincide with his own views." "I’d like to see more honesty on their part. Clark is too much like the guy who, as soon as he squeezes through the entrance, slams the door behind the next guy in line." Semper reformanda

Hays discusses the usefulness of time travel as a hypothetical for thinking things through, and whether its acceptable for a Calvinist to use the genre. "I think that’s one reason God endowed human beings with an imagination. It’s a precondition of moral deliberation." Some stories are not so much about the possibility of time-travel itself, but about the possibilities which time-travel creates. So they don’t focus on the mechanics of time-travel, beyond a perfunctory explanation to make it seem a bit more realistic." He also says about prophecy: "The potential problem is this: if a prophecy is too detailed, it generates a dilemma. For it thereby invites its own failure." Time-travel in Calvinism

Hays comments on some of the objections against Engwer's historical material in support of Christ's life, etc. Now, this is all that the objectors have. For this reason, it is worth a read. Christmas evidence

Hays points out the circularity intrinsic to Orthodox argumentation for what identifies an ecumenical council: They claim it is that upon which all Christians agree - which severely begs the question. Who's a heretic-

Manata review Boyd's  book Myth. "And it is statements like this that make Boyd’s book dangerous. The subtitle of the book is, “How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church.” But it is Boyd’s teaching that will destroy the church far more efficiently than misguided Christians exhibiting a zeal without knowledge. As should have been self-evident from the above, Boyd is teaching a works-based gospel. Confusing law and gospel. The kingdom expands and people are transformed by what we do, not by what they believe Christ did for them." "Lastly, Boyd makes self-refuting claims. Given that it is obvious that he’s “judging” a certain segment of the church, and given the plausible assumption that Boyd is a sinner, then he removes the foundations upon which he seeks to judge these Christians: “If you want to judge someone else, you first have to be sinless.” Boyd says that “Jesus never judged Gentile sinners,” and Paul never did either." Ironically, Boyd has just changed one form of moralism for another. The Myth of a Christian Nation- Book Review

Hays comments on the use of 'hypercalvinist' as a pejorative by non-Calvinists, and points out that the Reformed confessions have no well-meant-offer required in them. Moreover, "The logical objection is illogical. The only thing that makes an offer genuine is if it’s true. The offer of the gospel is a conditional offer. If you do what it says (repent and believe), you will get what God promised." He also points out that the objection cuts those who put it forward, for the only thing consistent with the notion that God loves the reprobate and wants to save them is universalism - or to reject the presupposition. "On a final note, I find it odd when some Christians think it’s absolutely essential that God suffer from frustrated desires. They act as though we’re in mortal peril of losing some fundamental feature of Christian theism unless we insist on the fact that God is schizophrenic." Why doesn't God save everyone? The only logical objectives are that God is not omnipotent or not omnibenevolant. The free offer of the gospel

Engwer responds to a news article. If you're looking for an example of what I think borders on illiteracy, this one is good. As Engwer replies: "Miller's reasoning could also be applied, in part or in whole, to polygamy, incestuous marriage, marriage between adults and children, marriage between humans and animals, etc. As I said above, though, I don't want to analyze all of Miller's arguments or respond to her line-by-line. These issues have already been addressed in the archives of this blog and elsewhere." Engwer then points to historical evidence Aristides and Justin Martyr as a starting point to showing the bankruptcy of this article's claims. Newsweek Misrepresents Homosexuality And Polygamy In Judaism And Christianity

Hays has some fascinating comments and quotes about time and our perception of it. For example, the distinction between our precision clocked time, versus a time marked by sunrise, sunset, harvest, etc. Time, like an ever-rolling stream

White points to more examples of the continuing nonsense of the 'hypercalvinist' thing. Being A Calvinist Does Not Make You Think Logically

Mathis quotes Carson to the effect that although in a non-fallen world there would be no suffering, it does not follow that there is no innocent suffering. Innocent Suffering

Piper prays that a glimpse of a pain-free life in the presence of God will have a transforming effect upon us in the here and now to be the most anxiety-free, regret-free, grumbling-free, selfishness-free witnesses to the greatness of Christ the world has ever known. A Glimpse of a Pain-Free Life

Brutal. Rick Warren says, Give Jesus a 60 day trial, or your money back. Give Jesus a 60-Day Trial-

This is hilarious. Seriously. http://www.challies.com/archives/general-news/ramblings/the-silence-at-the-t4g-blog.php

Challies gives a quick review on Signs of the Spirit, Sam Storms' interpretation of Jonathan Edwards' The Religious Affections. Book Review - Signs of the Spirit

From Justin Taylor: "Rob Bowman gives us a good example of that, responding to the bad reasoning of Tony Jones on same-sex marriage. Bowman identifies in Jones's arguments invalid euphemisms, equivocations, non sequiturs, straw-men, appeals to modernity and appeals to antiquity, chronological snobbery, and misplace of the burden of proof." Fallacies of Same-Sex Marriage Polemics

This is just plain weird. Do You Believe in Santa Claus-

Beale's logic of inerrancy: "God is true and trustworthy, and he never lies, deceives, or makes mistakes. The Bible is God’s revelation of himself. Therefore the Bible never lies, deceives, or makes mistakes." Beale on the Biblical Logic of Inerrancy

JT links to Bullmore's message on what we should do with our money. Cf. C. S. Lewis: “I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusement, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say it is too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot because our commitment to giving excludes them.” Mike Bullmore- What We Should Do with Our Money

Twenty books to read in your twenties. http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/12/20-books-to-rea.html

Bayly continues with his critique of Keller and his advocacy of female deacons: "Keller suggests the trajectory of the RPCES immediately prior to her union with the PCA was towards lifting her own restrictions against woman deacons, and therefore this same trajectory should lead the PCA now, thirty years later, to change our polity... For Keller's argument to work, though, his version of history has to be right. Its not." Critique of Pastor Keller's promotion of woman deacons, part 6- RPCES decisively rejected woman

Ten reasons to advance musical opinions with humility. 1. Being a self-appointed music critic can reveal pride. 2. Music doesn’t define us. 3. Great songs don’t always sound great the first time through. 4. The introduction to a song isn’t the same thing as the song. 5. Listening to music the masses have never heard of doesn’t make us better. 6. Listening to music that is massively popular doesn’t make us better. 7. Learning to appreciate unfamiliar music is one way to prefer others. 8. Learning to like other kinds of music can open my eyes to God’s creativity. 9. We may have to eat our words. 10. We might be missing an opportunity to be grateful for God’s gifts.  Ten Reasons to Share Musical Opinions Humbly

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

2008-12-04

Hays gives some thoughts on why it isn't good to let men or women who practice homosexuality adopt children. First, he discusses ways in which it is an inherently unstable situation.  "One of the problems with homosexuality is an inability to distinguish between sexual affection and asexual affection. Since both forms of affection are directed at members of the same sex, that’s catastrophic for child-rearing." "Homosexuals are bound to hate Christian values. You’re placing a child in an environment that’s bound to be militantly anti-Christian." Homosexual adoption

Phillips recalls Athanasius contra mundum (against the world), which may well be fictional, but then points to Noah - how he stood against the world and condemned it in constructing the ark. And it Noah's case, it did not go well for the majority. "Sometimes we feel (and are made to feel) that we're odd, that we stick out, that we're not trendy. Well: we are, we do, and we aren't. What's odd is that it is professing Christians who make those accusations — as if they're bad things, rather than par for the course" Pyromaniacs (and you-) contra mundum

Hays gives some good practical advice and thoughts on how to deal with feelings of being slighted, or being hurt. Making light of a slight

Hays writes that a common objection to sola scriptura is, how can it be true unless Scripture alone is used to identify Scripture? It's easy to construct a parallel dilemma for the Catholic rule of faith. Take 'patristic unanimous consent.' i.e. In sum, where do the church fathers unanimously consent to where the church fathers unanimously consent? If we have to go outside the church fathers to identify their consensual core, then we aren’t really relying on the unanimem consensum Patrum. Moreover, how do we know that the church whose authority he invokes is the true church to which Scripture or the church fathers refer? And how does he know what the Bible or the church fathers truly refer to apart from the unanimem consensum Patrum? What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. The unanimous consent of the fathers

2008-12-03

Hays gives his thoughts on Prince Caspian. The review is mostly negative [and I tend to agree with him]. "Indeed, the character of Aslan is a central problem. For Lewis, he represents Christ. But in this movie, I’m struck by how un-Christlike he is. In what respect does he correspond, even symbolically, to the Christ of the Gospels? He’s more like Yoda in a lion suit. A big stuffed animal with a fund of fortune-cookie platitudes. Just pull the string." Tubs & tortoise-shells!

Clint cautions against investing our best efforts and voice in non-Gospel matters, . Clarifying the Christian Voice

Clint reminds us that, while we have certain rights as citizens in a democracy that may be exercised, the experience of Christians in our nations is relatively modern, as most have been oppressed, and while exercising our democratic rights is good and fine, we must not lose our distinctive voice for the Gospel call. The Season For Cynicism

In case we needed yet another reason why the Roman Catholic church isn't exactly the One True Church (TM) she would like to be, leaders are calling for Muslim prayer rooms in Catholic schools. http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/article-1091218/Muslim-prayer-rooms-opened-Catholic-schools-say-church-leaders.html

Phillips reviews Unpacking Forgiveness: The book reckons with the complex biblical data on the subject, in a very engaging way. The author, Brauns, points out that God's forgiveness is conditioned somehow on ours, and that this is an eternal issue. He also highlights that forgiveness doesn't eradicate horizontal consequences. Our forgiveness for other should be patterned on God's and therefore conditioned on repentance. The offer is unconditional, but the granting is not. Forgiveness is defines as a commitment by the offended to graciously pardon the repentant from moral liability and be reconciled, although not all consequences are necessarily eliminated. Book review — Unpacking Forgiveness, by Chris Brauns

Hays has some interesting comments on film and in particular Clint Eastwood. One of note: "I think libertarianism is the default setting of fallen men. Do your own thing, as long as you don’t impose your values on someone else. (Of course, that’s impossible in practice.)" He writes about the secular/atheistic outlook intrinsic in Eastwood's films. Do you feel lucky-

While the cult of Bart Ehrman may think that he does well enough in debate, it should be noted that Evangelicals keeps setting up these debates and publishing the materials and recordings. Perhaps the critics would do well to understand why we do that. The Cult Of Saint Bart

"There is both growing public reluctance to make personal sacrifices and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the major international efforts now underway to battle climate change, according to findings of a poll of 12,000 citizens in 11 countries." Sacrificing for the Environment (HT:1))

Turns out senator Clinton is going to be secretary of state. Why this is good for Obama

David VanDrunen and Tom Schreiner debated paedo/credobaptism. The audio is here: Paedo-Credo Baptism Debate

A roundup of the posts done for SBL 2008. There is some really interesting stuff in the area of textual criticism here. SBL 2008 BOSTON ROUND UP

As it turns out, atheists think that "Why doesn't God heal amputees?" passes as good argumentation against the faith. Why Won’t God Heal Amputees-

Phillips writes a parable about gay marriage advocacy, illustrating some of its absurdities by comparing it to calling someone 'fat' being turned into a hate crime. Gay marriage - a parable

Here's two good questions Phillips would like to see someone ask Barrack Obama: Two questions I'd like to see President-elect Obama asked

John Ensor writes about how there are better things to do with your life than retirement. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2008/3443_Kissing_Retirement_Goodbye/

Mathis has an interview with Burk Parsons on The Heart of John Calvin. It sounds like a great read. The Heart of John Calvin

Piper: Mephibosheth gives a remarkable example in demonstrating joy in the return of his king alone, even though his inheritance was being divided to go to a scoundrel. We should feel this way about Christ: "Would not this all-satisfying love for Christ silence many disputes over inheritances? "Oh, let them take it all, since my lord the king has come safely home."" How to Avoid Inheritance Disputes

The new Capitol Visitor Center in Washington DC has revised history to be politically correct by writing religion out of it. Writing Religion Out of Our History

Piper: Daniel saw a horrible vision. He was appalled by the destruction. Nevertheless, he was productive, though he didn't understand what he saw. So too, we must be appalled at the world, but productive in it. Appalled but Productive

Feminists erupt over Michelle Obama opting to be a stay-at-home mom in the White House. "To use a phrase provided by feminist author Linda Hirshman, Michelle Obama is now accused of "letting down the team" by choosing motherhood over career at this point in her life.  Hirshman famously argues that women who choose motherhood at the expense of career and professional development are robbing themselves and, by extension, all women of status and progress.  Childrearing, Hirshman was bold to write, should be considered as demeaning to any educated adult." [I find it ironic that feminists were accusing Palin of not being able to take care of her family if she took office!] http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2839

White comments on a timeline on the John 3:16 conference and a comment by Tony Byrne on how he provided a chart to help people at the conference understand the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. A Timeline on the J316C Discussion

JT recommends The Writings of John Calvin. The Writings of John Calvin

Kostenberger has provided a list of the best book in Biblical/Theological studies for this past year (2008) Kostenberger- The Best Books in Biblical and Theological Studies in 2008