2008-11-17

Phil Johnson goes after the post-modern redefinition of 'honesty' [authenticity]. 'doubt is the new "humility"; free-thinking is the new "tolerance"; moral apathy is the new "charity"; and now querulousness is the new "honesty."' Basically, people just spout whatever dark, emotive, slanderous bile they want, and others call it 'beautiful.' (that, and many of these are done through the anonymity of the internet). The Wisdom Writer begs to differ: "A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back" http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/honesty-without-truth.html

White points out some rather applicable verses he found in the non-american version of his church's hymnal. http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2975

John Piper exhorts people not to merely approach God and tell him of their rottenness, for that is of little worth, but to allow their sense of rottenness to compel them to specific action and repentance. He then gives a list of sins that he frequently commits, connecting the feeling of rottenness to specific confession. And in specific confession peace arises. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/456132395/

James Swan recalls the White-Michuta debate over the Apocrypha a few years ago, and how upon White challenging Michuta on the inerrancy of Judith, Michuta [and he has written this elsewhere] basically said that to answer that presupposes a non-christian worldview, and that to ask it comes from a spiritual pride of wanting to judge God's word rather than in humility accepting the canon given by the romanist church. Ironically, other Romanist apologists have tried to provide various answers. e.g. Tim Staples was asked directly about the historical errors in the book of Judith. Tim answers by stating Judith is not strict history, but is rather an extended parable, and he reluctantly uses the phrase "didactic fiction." http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2969

John the Baptist proclaimed this shocking message: "Jesus, the Messiah, will be slaughtered like a lamb and he will open up the way of salvation not to Jews only but to the whole world. Regardless of race, nationality, ethnicity, or status, those who embrace Jesus as their Lamb and their Lord will be sheltered from the otherwise inescapable wrath to come." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/456284357/

Carolyn Mahaney will be talking about dealing with the fear that mothers experience as their children approach the teenage years. http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/11/a-mothers-fear.html

Dan Phillips brings up a video of an 'ingenious' design.  (evolutionists can't help but use teleological language). http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/isnt-evolution-wonderful-5.html

Some suggestions on thinking biblically about Facebook (HT: JT). http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/11/thinking-biblic.html

The same elder board - for twenty years! http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=850

Here's some info on renewed discussions on the inadequacy of ETS's minimalistic sentence. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/455964813/amend-ets-doctrinal-basis.html

"The Telegraph UK reports that NASA/GISS can't get its reporting straight and dumps tons of ammo into the discussion as to whether or not Global Warming is, in fact, a crisis. The article also speaks to arctic ice recovery in passing, so you can sleep better for not worrying about the polar bears." http://centuri0n.blogspot.com/2008/11/ht-alert-reader-will-s.html

Challies a la carte: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/455884398/a_la_carte_1117_2.php WOW: Hitler falls into the housing crisis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM. Visual guide to the housing crisis. Read the quotes. THEN LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS! http://blog.mint.com/blog/finance-core/a-visual-guide-to-the-financial-crisis/

More quotations from Romanists on Luther. This one is a quote to the effect that Luther often doubted his position on mass, that he could be the only one who was right. But as Swan points out (despite the ironic preemtive dismissal by the quoter about charged with taking it out of context), is that Luther provides the solution in the next sentence, regarding how Christ in His clear word had confirmed and stengthened Luther. Moreover, the source actually explains that Luther is writing this in what I would sum up as a pastoral sense, in that he wanted to encourage those who appeared to turn against the teachings of many by following Scripture. "Kittleson goes on to explain that Luther wrote On the Misuse of the Mass (from which the Luther quote in question comes from) for this very purpose. It was to give his colleagues "solid arguments so that they might be confident in their actions." That is, Luther considered that those who attempted to institute changes in the Mass would likewise feel the weight of peer and public pressure as to the validity of their actions." Luther says, "Finally, Christ with his clear, unmistakable Word strengthened and confirmed me, so that my heart no longer quails, but resists the arguments of the papists, as a stony shore resists the waves, and laughs at their threats and storms! Because I felt and considered these things within me, I wanted to write this letter to you for the comfort and strengthening of the weak, those who cannot bear the storm and violence of the opponent and of their own despairing consciences." http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2008/11/luther-are-you-alone-wise.html

Ligon Duncan gives six good reasons why the complementarian structure in Scripture is vital in the churches. It affords answers to vital spiritual questions about unique sexuality, it allows us to read the Scriptures faithfully without twisting, it is the only way to hold and defend a biblical vision of marriage in the midst of our culture, it provides an antidote to many sexual sins, it enables us to preserve the authority of the Bible (e.g. 1 Tim 2), and it alone reveals to the world the Gospel in marriage.  http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/456498531/Duncan-Addresses-True-Woman-Pre-Conference-Attendees

Engwer writes, "There was a wide diversity of theological beliefs among professing Christians between the time of the apostles and the Reformation." ... "Even in the last years leading up to the Reformation and in the earliest years after its start, there was significant sympathy for Protestant beliefs in Roman Catholic circles. People who believed in doctrines like the papacy and transubstantiation would affirm justification through faith alone as well, for example." One such example is Thomas Bilney. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/diversity-of-roman-catholicism-at-time.html

Gene Bridges challenges Beckwith's response to Hays' review of his book, in that Beckwith should interact with responses, not react to them. Basically, Beckwith is unfamiliar with Protestant (or Catholic) scholarship, and isn't even aware that what he wrote in places consists in stock objections, as demonstrated by his response to Hays. For example, Beckwith cites McGrath to the effect that sola fide is totally novel, and Gene pulls these interesting McGrath quotes: ""The pre-Augustinian theological tradition, however, may be regarded as having taken a highly questionable path in its articulation of the doctrine of justification in the face of pagan opposition"" and adds, "McGrath writes the polar opposite [of Beckwith's assertion thattthe whole idea that the Protestant conception of justification has no ecclesiastical predecessors], even telling us that a good case can be made that Augustine misunderstood the Bible itself because, " "The term iustificare is, or course, post-classical, having been introduced through the Latin translation of the bible, and thus restricted to Christian writers of the Latin west. Augustine was thus unable to turn to classical authors in an effort to clarrify its meraning, and was thus obliged to interpret the term himself. His establishment of a relationship between iustificare and iustitia is of enormous significance, as will become clear.""  http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/acting-like-grown-up.html

Hays writes a good article that reminds us of the goodness of the truth of God, as well as the truth of it. "Because we spend so much time defending the truth for the simple reason that it’s true, we can underemphasize the linkage between the good and the true." e.g. the doctrines of grace, the holiness of God, the justice of God, the compassion of God - all these things are not just true but also good, and good together, for isolated they would be unrespectable or terrifying (e.g. a strict disciplinarian father, or a softy father worthy of no respect). These attributes are a tension for the sinner, because in themselves they are not always 'good' for the sinner - or rather, it can be too much of a good thing. "Apart from the atonement, there is no solution to this dilemma. But the cross is, at one and the same time, an emblem of divine justice and mercy. It allows us to draw near to the only God who is worthy of our worship. A righteous God, but a gracious God as well. " Atheism has the opposite dilemma, for if true, there is nothing there bud despair and pointlessness. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/sinners-in-hands-of-angry-god.html

2008-11-16

The remarkable story of the moments before the execution of John Rogers, a martyr for the sake of the truth under Bloody Mary. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/454308891/that-shall-be-known.php

JT provides links to all five posts in the series on verbal aspect. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/454341003/basics-of-verbal-aspect-in-biblical.html

Phillips points to Doug Wilson and his comment on evangelicals and abortion, and how it was formerly a given among evangelicals that you simply do not defend abortion, which isn't the case anymore - once you can't see the big E on the chart, you're blind. http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/nicely-put-doug-wilson-on-evangelical.html

Paul Helm briefly looks at the concept a post-modern critique of science as another power struggle (a post-modern criticism is that knowledge claims are power claims). Global warming is brought up as an example. He then meanders over to apply this to the use of Christian knowledge to gain power or controlfreakery. The antidote is servanthood - not just recognizing the difference between the results and the efforts - the sowing and watering and the giving of increase, but really believing it, and adopting, in one sense, an indifference to the outcome. "Controlfreakery sticks like tar." http://paulhelmsdeep.blogspot.com/2008/11/taking-line-iii-state-of-fear.html

Schreiner continues his review of The Blue Parakeet. While warning against traditionalism and exhorting people to the Scriptures as final authority, McKnight neglects to mention that the burden of evidence is strongly on someone wishing to diverge from 2000 years of near- unanimous interpretation. While reminding us to read things in light of the Bible's story, he doesn't emphasize the Christocentricity of the Scriptures. The appeal to story runs the risk of being reductionistic, and seems to leave a fog with regard to moral principles in Scripture, and about how law and moral rules fit in. While cautioning against making the pieces 'all fit' which apparently leads to 'arrogance,' he goes too far. "Systematic theology, historically, is an attempt to capture what scripture as a whole teaches. It should be informed by biblical theology, and it has sometimes ignored the storyline of scripture, but such abuses do not rule out the task of systematic theology as a whole. " McKnight doesn't think people should talk about the Bible as authority or need to speak in terms of submission to it because it should be a delight. The problem is the NT treats the texts authoritatively (it is written) and we are duty bound to obey whether we want to or not. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/451080296/A-Review-of-Scot-McKnight-s-The-Blue-Parakeet-Part-III

Apparently McKnight doesn't actually use his hermeneutic (that was then, this was now) to justify women in pastorship, oddly enough, and rather uses 'it was always this way so it should be now.' He appeals to various ministries of women in the NT, but "McKnight's examples do not establish that all ministry positions are open for women." Complementarians must be careful not to overreact, of course, to egalitarian claims. Schreiner produces various short answers regarding the key complementarian/egalitarian texts, and points out the speculative nature of 'background reconstructions' of 1 Timothy 2:9-13, and observes that there are numerous appeals to creation order in the NT.  http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/453061154/A-Review-of-Scot-McKnight-s-The-Blue-Parakeet-Part-V

Scheiner concludes his review of the Blue Parakeet: "One of the things McKnight does well is to remind us of hard cases in scripture-issues where there isn't a simple answer, whether it is divorce, capital punishment, or the sabbath. At the same time, his own hermeneutical method is not very helpful. To say "that was then and this is now," and that we need a pattern of discernment as we are led by the Spirit in community is insufficient. " ... "it is surprising that McKnight, who stresses the storyline of the Bible, says virtually nothing about the flow of redemptive history in assessing how the Bible applies today" ... "He seems to treat every command of the Bible with the same kind of flat-earth hermeneutic, without considering where the command is found in the story-without considering how the different epochs of the scripture relate to one another." Schreiner points to some oversimplifications and unhelpful 'that was then, this is now' interpretations of texts, and then says, "My point is that the hermeneutical process is much more complex and rich than McKnight suggests. We must do biblical theology (and systematic theology as well!) before applying scripture to our contemporary context." It also appears that he is unaware that complementarians base their arguments on created order, not the fall. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/452160333/A-Review-of-Scot-McKnight-s-The-Blue-Parakeet-Part-IV

Engwer points to a very worthwhile excerpt of Cyprian to some suffering Christians. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/lest-we-forget.html

Here's an interesting discussion on the nature of the Mosaic Law. Of note: Ancient laws didn't function like modern laws. They "were paradigmatic, giving models of behaviors and models of prohibitions/punishments relative to those behaviors, but they made no attempt to be exhaustive. Ancient laws gave guiding principles, or samples, rather than complete descriptions of all things regulated. Ancient people were expected to be able to extrapolate from what the sampling of laws did say to the *general* behavior the laws in their totality pointed toward. Ancient judges were expected to extrapolate from the wording provided in the laws that did exist to *all other* circumstances and not to be foiled in their jurisprudence by any such concepts as ‘technicalities’ or ‘loopholes.’" http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/genre-of-mosaic-law.html

Campbell continues his series on verbal aspect, picking up with the present indicative, and he argues that "Verbal aspect provides a more powerful way of understanding the present indicative than simple tense does" on account of anomalies like the historical present, which is a present tense verb referring to the past.

Campbell concludes his series with some tips for exegesis based on verbal aspect. "How does all this fit in with other Greek tools that we use, such as Mounce and Wallace, for instance? It’s an important question, especially for teachers. Maybe one way to approach it is that each book helps at different stages. Mounce offers a "gloss" for verbs; a way to translate and get going, which is appropriate for beginning students. Wallace offers a range of Aktionsart descriptions; a more nuanced approach to what verbs are doing, which takes students to the next level. My book offers an analysis of what’s going on beneath the surface, and shows how this works out on the surface (and is somewhat parallel to Wallace on the Aktionsart descriptions). So, different tools do different things. " http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/453122492/basics-of-verbal-aspect-5-of-5-by-constantine-campbell.html

Walton argues that there isn't any basis for - and much against based on the Hebrew term used - the idea that Cain's sacrifice wasn't acceptable because it wasn't a blood sacrifice. For example, we might look to the grain offering in Leviticus, which is described using the same term as that used for Cain and Abel's offerings. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/453358178/hebrew-corner-12-cains-sacrifice-by-john-h-walton.html

Here is JT's summary of some reviews of the Blue Parakeet. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/453109433/reviews-of-scot-mcknights-blue-parakeet.html

2008-11-15

Challies draws on observation by Edwards from Marsden's biography [I remember Gerstner saying the same]. Edwards believed that preaching should stir the mind and affections. "Marsden points out an application of this. "Critics of the awakenings alleged that when people heard many sermons in one week they would not be able to remember much of what they had heard. Edwards countered, 'The main benefit that is obtained by preaching is by impression made upon the mind in the time of it, and not by the effect that arises afterwards by a remembrance of what was delivered.'" Marsden concludes, "Preaching, in other words, must first of all touch the affections."" http://www.challies.com/archives/christian-living/the-first-and-primary-object.php

Swan continues to examine the alleged Luther statement put forward by Catholics to the effect that the reprobate should rejoice in damnation. "By linking the two quotes together, the caricature is created. We saw previously that rather than Luther teaching the damned should have "ineffable joy" about going to Hell, Luther actually meant that God's eternal election serves as a comfort to his chosen people: "Those who have the wisdom of the Spirit become ineffably happy through the doctrine." We see with the first Catholic citation the additional quote accentuates Luther's alleged teaching that the "ineffably joyful damned" won't have any problem or anger about being damned, but have happily resigned themselves to the will of God." http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2008/11/ineffable-joy-of-predestination-to-hell_14.html

Dr. David Murray points out that the young, restless, and reformed today really stop with Reformed soteriology - and don't typically adopt the Reformed teaching on worship, government, morality, life, etc. The Reformation principle was prescription - we can only do what is commanded in worship. http://www.puritanseminary.org/2008/11/reformation-worship.php

It would seem that more and more non-Christians are recognizing that environmentalism has all the characteristics of a new religion. http://fora.tv/2008/08/19/Environmentalism_is_the_New_Religion

Kauflin offers six principles for what music to listen to and how to listen to music for the glory of God. Music is a gift that is often abused so as to pad the wallets of many. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogs/worshipmatters/~3/451830987/

Manspeak on 'sex is not the problem - lust is.' Piper defines lust as sexual desire minus honour and holiness. Here's a list of things to remember: "- It’s not lust to be attracted to someone  - It’s not lust to have a strong desire to have sex. - It’s not lust to anticipate and be excited about having sex within marriage. - It’s not lust to experience sexual temptation" http://manspeak.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/sex-isnt-the-problem-chapter-2/

Bird has a new book coming out: "Whether Jesus claimed to be a messianic figure is arguably one of the most important questions for a NT Theology and the history of early Christianity." His objective is "to show that the messianism of Jesus is the best way to account for the messianic dimension of the eary church (esp. as reported by Paul) and the messianic testimony embedded in our sources (i.e. the Gospels)." http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/jesus-messiah.html

Bayly again challenged Keller and Ryken to own up to the mistaken use of sources (like Warfield) in support of female deacons. So far, they haven't. http://www.baylyblog.com/2008/11/misleading-or-simply-mistaken.html See also here for further corroboration. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/454262218/an-rpces-father-confirms-there-was-no-vote-on-women-deacons-let-alone-such-a-motion-being-narrowly-defeated.html

Spurgeon writes how (in the 19th century) people were using the term 'bigot' to describe those with convictions of doctrine. "I should like to ask the divines of the broad school whether any doctrine is worth a man's dying for it. They would have to reply, "Well, of course, if a man had to go to the stake or change his opinions, the proper way would be to state them with much diffidence, and to be extremely respectful to the opposite school."" [post-modern is pre-modern - nothing new under the sun.] http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/danger-of-perpetual-uncertainty.html

Here's some info on the difference between the ESV and NKJV. http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/reformation-study-bible/

Don't entertain any form of spiritual depression over the election results. God put Obama there - and we need to remember that God works all things for the good of His people. Maybe Obama will be used to put the church in the fire to scorch off the unspiritual edges. http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/therapy-for-post-election-blues/

JT provides a video that answers objections about homosexuality and the Bible. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/452398941/robert-gagnon-on-homosexuality-and.html

Turretinfan: Here's a discussion on how James White is by definition not a hypercalvinist. Moreover, hypercalvinism is characterized by fatalism. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/james-white-is-not-hyper-calvinist.html

Gospel poetry in freestyle rap. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/gospel-poetry.html

Challies concludes the reading through Religious Affections. "Edwards says, "Christian practice is the most proper evidence of the gracious sincerity of professors, to themselves and others; and the chief of all the marks of grace, the sign of signs, and evidence of evidences, that which seals and crowns all other signs."" He provides some good quotes from Edwards. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/451837190/reading-classics---the-religious-affections-xv.php

There is no biological problem with the first of men marrying siblings, since genetic defects accumulate over time, so there would be no deformation at first. [I'm not satisfied with the answer of whether Abraham sinned in marrying his sister as par the Mosaic law - on account that we don't need to make the patriarchs look good when so many of their sins are already catalogued. They are justified by faith.] http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/6098/

AiG takes the 120 years as the time before the judgment of the flood. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/11/14/feedback-a-life-sentence

More on the experience in the liberal indoctrination machines that are modern universities. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/foow/survive-and-thrive

AiG: "we don’t believe legislators should require Bible-based, young-earth creationism as part of public school curricula; what we want is honest, open discussion about the origins controversy and the problems in evolutionary theory." http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/11/07/feedback-other-views

Well, at least the church of england is disciplining someone for something other than holding orthodox views of Christ, etc. http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/the-latest-post/2008/11/15/the-attack-of-the-arminian-baptists-and-other-interesting-st.html

Here is more increasing hatred towards Christians by those who proclaim tolerance. http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2966

2008-11-14

More documentation for general liberal hypocrisy (eighth graders saying a girl should be burned and 'crucifixed' for wearing a 'McCain' girl shirt; liberal media bias on proposition 8; etc). http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/hither-and-thither-111408.html

Here's a link to a sermon that Dan Phillips preached the Sunday after the election [I don't know what kind of sermon it is because I haven't listened to it yet] http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-i-preached-sunday-after-election.html

Pyro: God frequently dispenses sufficient grace without dispensing a surplus of grace. And hardship is perhaps often the jar into which God pours this grace. Suffering is the pathway to glory. http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/sufficient.html

Hays evaluates the Tipton' two kingdom response to Greg Bahsen's theonomy. Tipton seems to relegate the Mosaic law to practical irrelevance by subsuming it as typology. "“The civil sanctions are subservient to typology.” Why should we accept that claim? Why not take the common sense view that the civil sanctions were practical. That Israel had a civil and criminal law code because Israel was a nation-state, and every nation state must have a civil and criminal law code?" http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/lane-tipton-on-theonomy.html

Hays provides quotes showing the dissent and debates that went on under the hood of Trent and Vatican in the Romanist church over papal infallibility, etc. and the efforts of the church to conceal it. If the church hadn't simply told us that it is the source of divine teaching and infallible, one might think that it is just another self-contradictory hodgepodge organization. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/keeping-up-appearances.html

Hays continues to respond to VanDrunen's two kingdom theology. VanDrunen argues based on typology/allegory (hard to tell?) that the Babylonian exile is the type for the church today, and Hays asks, given all the phases that Israel went through, why the arbitrary choice to use the Babylonian exile as the super-type? ... "to treat the Mosaic Law as totally unique and unrepeatable merely begs the question. True, the Mosaic Law is not our constitution. This doesn’t mean it contains no transcultural norms. The Mosaic Law is not an arbitrary fiat. It commends some conduct because some conduct is inherently commendable; it condemns some conduct because some conduct is inherently condemnable. It assigns certain penalties because they are inherently just. There’s more to the Mosaic law than ritual purities or impurities." http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/vandrunen-on-natural-law-pt-2.html

Here's a lengthy debate between Hays and two-kingdom proponents. Here are some interesting or noteworthy quotes. "Israel had laws regarding sex crimes, property crimes, and crimes of violence, not because they “typified” anything, but because every nation-state needs laws to regulate certain forms of social behavior. Otherwise, social life is impossible." ... "The Reformed tradition developed a theology of revolution. That was necessary because Catholic monarchs, at the instigation of the papacy, were attempting to extirpate the Protestant movement." ... "If mere disagreement entails subjectivity, then that relativizes your own alternative as well." ... "it’s a reductio ad absurdum for you to say that a law against rape or murder or sodomy or bestiality prefigures heaven. Your typology makes the most fanciful allegorist look sober-minded by comparison." ... "It’s an inspired law code. It gives you a window into God’s moral evaluation of social conduct. Rape, theft, murder, sodomy, bestiality were wrong then, and they’re wrong now." ... "The fact that they’re bundled into a covenant doesn’t mean they have no validity apart from the covenant. To the contrary, if they had no intrinsic merit, they wouldn’t be codified in the first place." ... "The covenant is not what makes something moral or immoral. Rather, the covenant codifies (to some extent) the moral law. Sodomy is not immoral because it’s illegal; rather, sodomy is illegal because it’s immoral (“illegal” according to Mosaic Law)." ... "Unless you think the Mosaic penalties were unjust, then what was just then is just now. A just penalty is a moral norm. A universal. Justice is transcultural. If you deny that, then your denial commits you to moral relativism." ... "It means that capital punishment is a just penalty for sodomy. So it wouldn’t be wrong to execute sodomites." ... " Not all sins are crimes. The Mosaic law criminalized some sins, but not others. That’s because it’s a legal code for a nation-state, and not all sins are the proper subject matter of a civil or criminal law code. Rather, the Mosaic law singles out a number of sins which are most germane to social ethics." Hays gives a three-step process for producing laws from natural law that must be fulfilled. "i) Show, from natural law theory, what forms of social conduct are wrong  ii) Show, from natural law theory, what wrongful forms of social conduct should be outlawed. iii) Show, from natural law theory, what just penalty should be assigned to unlawful forms of social conduct." Ditto for NT. "In real world situations, we’re often confronted with apparent ethical dilemmas. Appeal to conscience is useless to resolve these quandaries since the problem is generating by conflicting intuitions. When intuition is divided against itself, intuition can’t be its arbiter. You need more tools in your ethical toolkit." ... "And it’s silly to say that every Mosaic law typifies the final state. That turns the Mosaic law into an elaborate allegory of heaven—which results in any number of fanciful, arbitrary, and mutually exclusive allegorical interpretations of what a given law typifies. " http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/hart-to-hart.html

Piper: there is no hope for God's people unless He causes them to return from their backslidings and pursuit of sin (Lam. 5:21). And he will do this. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1495_He_Will_Cause_Us_to_Return/

Solapanel: Grimmond contrasts Paul's looking-forward-to-heaven forgetting-the-past living for heaven perspective in Philippians with his [our?] own enamoured-with-the-present nostalgic-loving living for the weekend perspective. "God's word has left me with the uncomfortable feeling that this life feels a little too much like home. This world is becoming more like my comfy chair than the transit lounge it really is" http://solapanel.org/article/its_too_much_like_home/#When:22:00:00Z

Solapanel: "[Ray Ewers] saw church as a place where Christians go to work. Church is a gathering of God's people to hear his word and respond in faith and obedience. In this gathering, we are in fellowship with each other, through the blood of Jesus, and, because of our fellowship, we seek to serve each other. We use our gifts and abilities to strengthen one another and build Christ's Church—‘edification’ is the word often used to describe what goes on in church." So pray for where you sit because that is quite important to your work. Stop going to church as the helpee and start going as the helper. http://solapanel.org/article/factotum_1/#When:22:00:00Z

Patton asks - can you marry the wrong person? Here's a reminder that God works through sin [is this sort of a 'don't cry over spilled milk sense?']. Patton met his wife - who was a bar waitress - while approaching a drunken stupour and hitting on her. He says, "Are you supposed to meet your wife in a bar? No, not ideal. Are you supposed to love her primarily because of looks? No, not ideal. Can you make wrong decisions that lead to an important decision such as marriage? Absolutely. So, was it God’s will that I marry Kristie. You bet." Read this, and the second to last paragraph especially: "God has a purpose for Kristie and I to be together. We did not marry the wrong person. Sometimes we cannot see what is really going on and our passions are clouded by the pain, but we must keep our eyes on the sovereignty of God and find a much deeper level of satisfaction in each other knowing that God—the all-knowing God—has put us together for a reason. In this we swallow our thoughts of mistake and we let go of the humanistic “soul-mate” theory. " http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2008/11/can-you-marry-the-wrong-person/

Dan Phillips writes the conclusion to his post-election thoughts series [read it, its good]. Some points. 1) We need to repent as a nation (cf. Daniel 9). 2) We need to disabuse ourselves of unreasonable govn't and legislative reliance. 3) Prepare for the worst. Israel, in Josiah's day, had passed the point of no return, even though he was a good king. (cf. 2 Kings 23). 4) Nevertheless, hope. Phillips then exhorts people to thoughtful applications of Romans 13 rather than baseless 'I, for one, accept our new ant overloads' interpretations. He points out that the people are the source of authority in the USA (citations provided), and then says: "I'm not Obama's serf, I'm not his subject, I'm not his slave. I have no king but Jesus, nor any Messiah but He. I'm an American citizen, and our ruling document guarantees and assures methe right to express my thoughts — including my dissent" ... "This is my right. It not only is not a violation of Romans 13:1-7 but, you could plausibly argue, it is required by Romans 13:1-7. How "required"? Because, in our system of government, I am part of the governing authority. I would see a failure to voice my views, and exert such influence as I have, as poor citizenship." 5) He then exhorts people to use their electoral power to resist evil, and 6) Gives some suggestions on how to pray for Obama. http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-2008-theologizing-and_14.html

Al Mohler provides his comments post-election on the same-sex marriage issue and abortion. It's a worthwhile read. He says at one point. "Count me among those who believe that we cannot now step back and negotiate how many abortions we are willing to settle for in order for this issue to just go away. I reject the argument put forth by those who say we should now just step back and accept legal abortion on demand as a permanent reality and move on. Myfriend Mark Dever put that argument in its place in his comments included in the article: "It's like saying, 'Let's work to make sure they kill fewer Jews in the concentration camps this year,"' said the Rev. Mark Dever, a pastor in Washington D.C." http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2748

Spurgeon: Roll your burdens onto the Lord. http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/11/roll-your-burde.html

2008-11-13

CJ Mahaney: 'the realization that I could be simultaneously busy and lazy, that I could be a hectic sluggard, that my busyness was no immunity from laziness, became a life-altering and work-altering insight.' Basically, it's easy to fill your schedule with worthless things and feel like you're doing something when you're really getting nowhere. http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/11/hectic-sluggard.html

Bayly: ""How on earth can they argue we'd be better off without religion when they themselves are religious?" --Ian Plimer. Plimer, an Australian professor who has debated creationists, argues in this debate video that self-professed atheist environmentalists are actually practitioners of a new religion." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/451309963/environmentalist-religion.html

Bayly draws attention to an opinion editorial about how the legal efforts of homosexuals following Proposition 8 will 'harm those religions that insisted that their beliefs be in the constitution.' He says "Look, the religion of Christ will not be harmed by fallout from this battle. The gates of hell shall not prevail against her. But the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights is most certainly in the sodomite crosshairs." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/451317231/the-collision-between-sodomites-and-the-bill-of-rights.html

Bayly: Rick Warren says that he just can't redefine marriage after thousands of years, but he doesn't mention that Authority by which that marriage is defined. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/451346697/rick-warren-just-couldnt-help-himself.html

Does compatibilism rule out Cartesian dualism? Here's a paper that says 'no.' http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/cartesian-compatibilism.html

Manspeak asks for resolutions to "Euthyphro’s Dilemma": “Is the pious loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is loved by the gods?” ... As it relates to Christians, the question is: Is something good commanded by God because it is good, or is something good because it is commanded by God? http://manspeak.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/euthyphros-dilemma-a-defeater-of-christian-ethics/

Pyromaniacs: Some have thought that given the recent emphasis of Dan Phillips, Phil Johnson, and Frank Turk, that perhaps the pyros disagree on Christians and politics. Here's a list of things they do agree upon, and it is also a good summary of the place of politics in the Christian life. http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/christians-priority-and-presence-things.html

Hays points to the cultural meaning of a snake for the Egyptions, and how it was a symbol for a numinous reality for them, an occultic being. "it would be a visible emblem or omen of an invisible evil force. It moves within the aegis of witchcraft and black magic." As to the curse, given Egyptian lore as a factor, there is the concept of trampling underfoot your enemies -"Added to that is the irony of cursing a creature which is, itself, emblematic of evil spells. An agent of black magic becomes an accursed object. The hex redounds on itself."  http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/far-as-curse-is-found.html

Four sermons by Jerry Bridges on the beatitudes. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/451939743/jerry-bridges-beatitudes-humility-in.html

Turretinfan demonstrates from quotes of the last two popes that they hold that Muslims worship the one true God. While it seems to be a very confusing point for Catholics, the bottom line is that this is false, for Muslims reject the Son of God, and therefore they reject the one true God. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/what-has-rome-to-do-with-mecca.html

So the existence of minerals depends on life, and life depends on minerals, and oxygen depends on life... here's how to read that from a evolutionary bias: http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/13/minerals-evolution.html

Hays provides common-sense rebuttals to common-sense argumentation, provided by a two-kingdom advocate on the basis of natural law. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/vandrunen-on-natural-law-pt-1.html

Turk on Carl Truman's essay: "this is why a 22-yr-old seminary graduate is not suited to be an elder or pastor. Pardon me for saying so, but we have an immature church because we let it be run by immature males who have been trapped into their roles as mostly-immature and faddishly young. If instead we looked to men who were first spiritually mature who are also successful fathers and husbands -- which it would be hard to do in our society before the age of 30 -- I think we'd find ourselves a church and not a fraternal order of, well, whatever." http://centuri0n.blogspot.com/2008/11/jt-already-linked-it.html

Phillips on the sequence of the next election. http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/random-thought-on-making-next-election.html

9Marks: McKinley on why Obama may not be the antichrist. America-centric view of church, eschatology, etc. His suggestion is to put down your copy of Left Behind and pray for the president elect instead. http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/why-obama-pro-1.html

Dan Phillips continues with a radical indictment of America. America had every advantage, having the Scriptures and more access to them than anyone ever. But America is neither more biblically knowledgable nor more holy, and certainly not more fruitful. Many who call themselves evangelicals sell their birthright to fit in with the Christ-hating world - the kin of Tony Campolo and Brian Maclaren and the like. Professes Christians with an unclear, edgeless gospel, and little idea on how to apply the Scriptures. And then there is abortion - a black and white moral issue that shows the extent of the ethical blindness, resulting in the election of the most pro-abortion candidate ever. There has been those who have cried out in warning, to no avail. In times like this, God judges by abandonment. The people have lost the Gospel, they are Christless, and God is handing them over to their sin - judgment by sin. http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-2008-theologizing-and_13.html

Jon Bloom: Judah, under king Jehoshaphat, faced a mighty army - way too much. They would be done for. So the king set his eyes on God and looked to Him. Our trials are cause for rejoicing because they are designed for our freedom: "real freedom is not the liberty to do what we want, or even the absence of distress. Real freedom is the deep-seated confidence that God really will provide everything we need. The person who believes this is the freest of all persons on earth, because no matter what situation they find themselves in, they have nothing to fear. " And the only real way that we learn this, as sinners, is through repeated experience. God delivered Judah then - and it is in Him that we find freedom from fear. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/DGBlog/~3/451736458/

Piper: Te apostle John captures for us how Jesus was concerned for believers in the 21st century. "How do we see Jesus as compellingly, self-authenticatingly, beautifully, divinely glorious and true? We read or hear the story of his incarnation and life and death and resurrection and what it means. In that hearing, we watch him speak and act. We consider the purpose and plan of God in this story." And by the grace of God revealed in Christ and applied by the Spirit our eyes are opened to this glory. http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2008/3405_Listen_to_the_Story_of_Jesus_and_See_the_Glory_of_God/

Carl Trueman: "If the poverty and hard work of my grandfather's era left men middle-aged at thirty, the ease and trivia of today's society seems to leave us trapped in a permanent Neverland where we all, like so many Peter (and Patty) Pans, live lives of eternal youth.  Where my grandfather spent his day hard at work, trying - sometimes desperately - to make enough money to put bread on the table and shoes on his children's feet, today many have time to play X-Box and video games, or warble on and on incessantly in that narcissistic echo-chamber that is the blogosphere.  The world of my grandfather was evil because it made him grow up too fast; the world of today is evil because it prevents many from ever growing up at all." ... "The answer, then, is not a naïve, nostalgic hankering for a return to an era of poverty and cruel hardship.  Rather it is surely obvious: we need to put aside childish things and start acting like adults." ... "You are, of course, what you worship, as Psalm 115 reminds us, and thus, as long as we idolize our children and the culture of youth, we can expect to - well, be just like them: pouting, irresponsible, hormonal, unpleasant and, frankly, as creepy as those sixteenth century portraits of little children with adult faces.  Trapped in Neverland with no hope of escape." http://www.reformation21.org/counterpoints/understanding-the-times/trapped-in-neverland.php

Bayly continues looking at Tim Keller and the PCA issue over female deacons. "Again, contrary to what Tim Keller reported above, the 156th Synod of the RPCES never adopted the statement, "We affirm the right of a local church to have a separate body of unordained women who may be called deaconesses." It was the 155th Synod that adopted this statement, and they adopted it in the immediate context of another statement mandating across the denomination that "this office (of deacon) be limited to qualified men."" http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/452347858/critique-of-pastor-kellers-promotion-of-woman-deacons-part-2.html

Janelle Bradshaw has a battle over jelly toast with her child. Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/11/battle-at-the-b.html

2008-11-12

Triablogue: Don't waste your life. Here's another mention of Brit Hume, who is apparently retiring to spend more time knowing Christ. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-not-waste-retirement.html

Apparently liberal radicals displayed their open-mindeed tolerance by assaulting a church in Michigan. http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2963

9Marks: Reju recommends Instruments in the Redeemer's hands. http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/counseling-book.html

StraightUp: The author recounts an experience of a surgery that was much more intensive than he was expecting, and compares this to sin. "Deeply entrenched sin can only be taken care of with a full surgical team. Dignity must be laid aside; others must be allowed into your shame. There can be no self-surgery with such sin—no way around the humiliation of exposing yourself to others in a less than flattering way. We cannot have both dignity and repentance; both self-respect and freedom. " http://blog.harvestbiblefellowship.org/?p=830

Gender Blog: As it turns out, Scot McKnight's 'that was then, this is now' hermeneutic in The Blue Parakeet is aimed at removing a 'law-book' mentality - which, of course, he then moves on to promote an extremely egalitarian view of women in ministry, complete with grammatically suspect conclusions like "Junia was an apostle." Apparently the Bible is quite influenced and limited by the patriarchal culture: "In reading the scriptures we need to recognize, says McKnight, that it was written in a patriarchal world by men, and their perspective shaped what was written, even though it was God's will at that time for men to write the scriptures." McKnight's hermeneutic is to have us take what people did, and use that as the normative grounds for dismissing what is said. For him, "the key texts for discerning whether women should have all ministry roles open to them are those which describe what women actually did in the OT and the NT." [Like I've said before said - egalitarians will argue on the one hand that the ministry of Jesus is a massive leap forward for women in ministry, that culture is being subverted, but on the other hand, that the Bible is a work limited by culture and in need of updating to fit the massive leap forward that is really in the ministry of Jesus but somehow didn't make it into the apostles writings. Right. Apparently he also thinks that "The Bible teaches an earth-centered cosmology, but we now realize through our growth in scientific knowledge that the sun is the center of the solar system" which makes me wonder how culturally influenced he is, since he can't seem to step outside of his post-enlightenment physicalism and recognize that the primary language is cultic and has no interest in physical descriptions. Liberals and radical fundamentalists both read the Bible the same way - rigid literalism. Moreover, I wonder if he would accept that the key texts for how to interpret the command not to hate your enemy is to see what people in the Bible actually did, and go and plunder and pillage our enemies?]  http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/449970823/A-Review-of-Scot-McKnight-s-The-Blue-Parakeet-Part-II

Turk picks up in Malachi. God loves Israel. But the image of a refiner's fire is that of burning up corrupt metal, and the image of a fuller's soap is a rather violent and caustic cleansing of wool. Basically, you're useless and disgusting unless cleaned up by the Messiah. And this isn't talking to America - but to Israel, and therefore to the church. http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/fullers-soap_12.html

Challies reviews Three Cups of Tea (secular book, apparently). http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/450713135/three-cups-of-tea.php

Turk on what really happened in the election: "Obama was more charismatic, and it turns our that's who he is in person when he's with his wife in private as well as when he stands before throngs. McCain was a mediocre, milquetoast, uninspiring, undistinctive non-conservative." http://centuri0n.blogspot.com/2008/11/you-have-to-ask-yourself.html

JT summarizes Piper's aims in education. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/450846162/piper-on-aims-of-education.html

SolaPanel: Cheng looks at a new volume on Karl Barth. There is some rather crazy stuff in this post. Here's the conclusion: "The various evangelical contributors to this volume (and I haven't quoted all of them) have between them managed to cover an awful lot of ground. Casting further afield, I picked up a random quote from one reader who was hoping that this book would put an end to the occasional trench warfare between Bible-believing theologians and Karl Barth. But when you actually read this collection of essays, it seems far more likely that this book will inflame evangelical anxieties rather than quieten things down. And if the theologians who have contributed have done their job accurately and well, this is as it should be. For if they are right, Barth is a far greater danger to Christians wanting to know and trust God than other, more obviously false teachers." http://solapanel.org/article/engaging_with_barth/#When:22:00:00Z

[For those into word-faith Gospel-denying heresy] Kenneth Copeland has a study bible! http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/the-latest-post/2008/11/12/a-kenneth-copeland-study-bible.html

Turretinfan: A Romanist cardinal erroneously cites another Romanist scholar - "Josse Clichtove, unable to find a copy of Books V to VII of Cyril's works, inserted instead the works of other ancient writers, without informing the reader" in providing a supposed quote that Cyril affirmed the immaculate conception of Mary. "the supposed sinlessness of Mary was not the universal consent of the ancient fathers. From everything I have seen, the universal consent of the ancient fathers that addressed the issue was that Jesus was the only human not to sin, and this was because he was no mere man, but God incarnate." http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/imaginary-patristic-quotation-regarding.html

Phillips gives a worthwhile read with post-election thoughts. Of note: "In all those situations, in every situation, God is sovereign, wise, and good, and in full control. Ah, but we? What is our part? Passive, trusting resignation to the inevitable? Is that a godly, wise, Biblical response? Well, Paul believed all those things. When he heard about the incursion of false doctrine in Galatia, did he say "Oh well, we must simply pray and trust God"? Did he tell Titus and Timothy, "False teachers will try to infest your churches like termites — but oh well! God is sovereign! Just pray and trust and wait on God!"?" http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/election-2008-theologizing-and.html

Al Mohler gives an answer for whether it is legitimate to question God. His answer is yes and no, depending on the sense. Effectively, questions that do not impugn or assault God's character are ok, and those that do are rooted in disbelief. Bad things happen. 'Why?' is a good and acceptable question in itself if disbelief in the revealed character of God is not under it. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2742

As I have written about elsewhere, here is a tragic irony: while blacks have risen from the indignities and injustice of slavery in which their bodies were sold and consumed as property ... Barack Obama will increase the death toll among black human beings if he fulfills his promise to enact a Freedom of Choice Act. To those who say that this thinking about abortion is 'racist, the real problem is that we’ve forgotten the value of human skin in the first place. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/450860643/irony-of-electing-our-first-black.html

Here's a chart on three views of the OT use in the NT. http://andynaselli.com/theology/three-views-on-the-nt-use-of-the-ot

A 700 billion dollar bailout to save banks is huge - but consider the infinite cost required to save a man from his sins. http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/11/more-than-a-bai.html

Patton gives ten arguments for the existence of God. Some are better than others. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ParchmentAndPen/~3/450933085/

A continued discussion of the difference between aktionsart, aspect, and tense in Greek verbs. Three concluding points are given by the author: 1. Verbal aspect is viewpoint. Perfective aspect conveys an external view of an action. Imperfective aspect conveys an internal view of an action. Aspect is built into Greek verbs. 2. Time (or temporal reference) is not necessarily built into Greek verbs (though this is debated). However, each verb has a characteristic temporal ‘tendency’. 3. Aktionsart refers to what ‘actually happened’. It is not built into the verb, but is a product of the verb in context. " http://zondervan.typepad.com/koinonia/2008/11/basics-of-verbal-aspect-2-of-5-by-constantine-campbell.html

Continuing with Greek verbal aspect, the author wishes to "dispel an old myth about the aorist. The term “punctiliar aorist” is a common one, and refers to one legitimate use of the aorist. Unfortunately some scholars have mistakenly concluded that the term “punctiliar” describes the aorist tense-form in general. They think that the aorist always depicts a punctiliar, once-off, instantaneous action." ... "By understanding that the key meaning of the aorist is to express perfective aspect, we will avoid certain exegetical mistakes, like thinking that all aorists are punctiliar. I would argue that the perfective aspect of the aorist is also more important than the signalling of time."  http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/450844025/3-of-5.html

Bayly chides pastors who back down from proclaiming God's word under the pressure of losing the tax status of the church. After all, John the Baptist was beheaded. "First, confessing Christians must play hardball to protect our nation's First Amendment rights. We'll lose, but we must go down fighting. We don't live in the Roman Empire; it's our Constitution and we are its stewards... It's been a textbook fulfillment of C. S. Lewis' adage, "They'll tell you that you can have your religion in private, and then they'll make sure you're never alone."" He also commends the Roman Catholic organization of bishops for the sake of the unborn. [doesn't this commendation diminish the fact that the Romanists don't have the true Gospel and thus diminish the point of this post? ] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/451058135/tim-wthanks-to-brian-yesterday-reading-this-update-from-the-christian-law-association-i-was-disappointed-at-how-much-cl.html

Turns out that LCD manufacturers have plead guilty to price fixing. http://www.digitalhome.ca/content/view/3088/283/

JT: There is a myth circulating that abortion rates rose under Bush. Once again, pro-abortionists don't even agree with it. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/451107179/abortion-rates-under-clinton-and-bush.html

People are comparing Obama to Lincoln, and patting themselves on the back for electing a black man. "Such comparisons are great theater, but sheer hypocrisy. Barack Obama is the leader of the bloodshed consuming our land and we all pat ourselves on our backs congratulating one another over our nation's great strides against racism? What is the injustice of racism compared to the slaughter of tens of millions of little babies?" Bayly gives a hypothetical speech for Obama here that is modeled after Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/451156090/two-lanky-lawyers-from-illinois.html

An animal suffering is not a man suffering. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/inept-mental-moves.html

2008-11-11

Justin Taylor: "I've repeated before a dictum I learned from John Piper: much of being a good theologian is about learning to make good distinctions." HT summarizes an essay by Paul Helm (I've summarized the same essay in these notes before). 1. The first important distinction is between consistency, inconsistency, and entailment. 2. The second distinction Helm wants us to see is that, when interpreting theologians and their theology, we must distinguish between what the theologian's words imply, and what he intended by those words. 3. The third important distinction Helm insists on is the difference between a theologian being being committed to a doctrine and committing himself to it. http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/11/paul-helm-on-necessity-of-making-good.html

Similar structure must mean common descent - [except, of course, when it doesn't] http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/11/11/hair-claw-protein.html

Pyro: Phillips draws attention the statements that we don't take to be anything more than formal contradictions on account that it is plain that the author knew what he was saying due to the proximity and content. He then points out that for God, all thoughts are eternal and all thoughts are immediate and simultanoues in His mind [my words]. So given the doctrine of verbal, plenary inspiration, we must note that God knew when the first word was written in Scripture what the last word would be. "And while we mustn't interpret the writers as moved to say something that meant the opposite of what they were meaning to say as led by God, we must interpret what they wrote in light of everything else that God moved all the other writers to write." http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/biblical-contradictions-and-our-big-god.html

In Colossians 1:5-6, Bird's default is to go to the creation mandate. But then he writes, "in reading over Isaiah just this morning, what I also find fascinating the same image being applied to the redeemed Israel: "In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit" (Isa 27:6) . Taken up from Genesis 1, the progeny of Jesus, the new Adam, are growing and bearing fruit, and obedience to God’s gospel-word is the means by which the old world is colonized by the new humanity of the new creation. In light of Isaiah 27 we could say that the great redemption of Israel that Isaiah predicted with its replanting of Israel produces an abundance of fruit that grows into the entire world." http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/fruit-of-israels-redemption.html

Turretinfan wonders if a recent admission by a bishop that the practice of celibate clergy is based on discipline, not doctrine, will throw a kink in the Catholic-lay-apologists thinking, as they probably don't like to think that it is really a rather arbitrary thing. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/married-priest-movement-on-rise.html

Anti-democratic opposition to proposition 8, endorsed by the officials in power and pressed on in courts using specious claims, mounts following the victory. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2735

Challies meditates on the death of Christ and its effect on the centurion who came to see who He is. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/449565569/the-son-of-god.php

9Marks: Things that annoy a 17th century pastor: "It seems that he was frustrated by Christians who made life decisions (like, for instance, where they should live) based on superficial criteria rather than the most important thing: the ability to hear God's Word preached. " http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/things-that-ann.html

Piper remembers to service and sacrifice of 24.5 million veterans. He looks at John the Baptist's response to soldiers wondering how they should respond to the call to repent. It wasn't to stop being a soldier. The tension there is the same as the tension in any other authority structure in the fallen world. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1490_Thankful_They_Embraced_the_Risk/

Dan Wallace recommends a monograph that deals extensively with the Granville Sharp construction, among other things. http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2008/11/granville-sharp%e2%80%99s-canon-and-its-kin/

JT points to an interview with Max McLean regarding his dramatic adaptation of the Screwtape Letters. Those interested in the relation of art of Christianity might find it interesting. [I haven't read it yet] http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/11/interview-with-max-mclean.html

"And we wonder why the Church of England is dying? When the current Archbishop of Canterbury--who was in New York, not far from ground zero during the chaos of September 11, 2001--tells a frightened New Yorker that "God is useless in times like this" we start to get a sense of why the C of E is in such a sad and rapid state of decline. Click here: Rowan Williams: September 11, where the hell was God? -Times Online" ... from the article: "The pilot said to him, “Where the hell was God?” Rowan's answer was that God is useless at times like this. Now that's pretty shocking, but actually what he then went on to unpack is that God didn't cause this and God [was not] going to stop it, because God has granted us free will, and therefore God has to suffer the consequences of this like we do. So in a sense he exonerated God...” [There you go - libertarian free will at work. So much for Amos 3:6]. http://kimriddlebarger.squarespace.com/the-latest-post/2008/11/11/obama-billy-graham-and-other-interesting-stuff-from-around-t.html

Girltalk: Charles Bridges: ""It is faith that enlivens our work with perpetual cheerfulness. It commits every part of it to God, in the hope, that even mistakes shall be overruled for his glory; and thus relieves us from an oppressive anxiety, often attendant upon a deep sense of our responsibility. The shortest way to peace will be found in casting ourselves upon God for daily pardon of deficiencies and supplies of grace, without looking too eagerly for present fruit."" http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/2008/11/the-shortest--1.html

Josh Harris: Memorizing ten great Christian hymns: http://www.joshharris.com/2008/11/memorizing_great_hymns_of_fait_1.php

AiG: 1. Mice frozen at -20 C for 16 years have been successfully cloned. Now, DNA decays when frozen - even at extremely low temperatures. Unfortunately, this also applies to human embryos frozen for extended periods of time. 2. Also, hydrocarbon producing fungi have been found. "First, it’s incredible to read about these hydrocarbon-producing fungi, whose biochemistry must be quite unique and which no doubt is another design feature that will be chalked up to evolution. Second, any news of fossil fuel material being produced in front of our eyes is a reminder that such old-age conjecture (e.g., fossil fuels are proof of an old earth) is just that: conjecture based on presuppositions, and certainly not supported by actual scientific observation." 3. Crocodiles live alongside villagers. "there’s quite little other than nomenclature that prevents us from considering them living dinosaurs—remember that when anyone laughs at the prospect of dinosaurs living today! " 4. Read the last part for the latest attempt in abiogenesis - that life may have formed in an ice film from a mixture of ordered and disordered ice structures! http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/11/08/news-to-note-11082008

Bird comments on the idea of a wedge between systematic and biblical theology, in that both are methods that must remain in conversation with Scripture and be constantly reforming. http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/desmond-alexander-on-biblical-theology.html

2008-11-10

Dan Phillips writes about the toil and joy of preaching, followed by the post-sermon let-down [his paradoxical struggle is much like my own in the studies]. Only, with him, he won't have a chance to preach again for a while. And he needs to do it. "I just did the vocational activity in the category that uses me the most and gives me the most joy... and I've got nothing to look forward to." [Dan - move to Calgary!] http://bibchr.blogspot.com/2008/11/unnngh-post-contio-depression.html

Phil Johnson's point about politics and the church is what the church corporately should be doing with her time, not what individuals involved in politics may vocationally and avocationally do with their time. e.g. "I object to pastors who use their pulpits to organize voters rather than teach the Bible and proclaim the gospel."  The ultimate long-term answer to moral problems isn't law, but Gospel. The Gospel is what ministers ought to be known for. "It's really pretty hard to think of evangelical organizations or church leaders who are deeply involved in political causes and who are also known for being clear and uncompromising heralds of gospel truth." It is always good to tell people to do what is right (e.g. fundamental morals under the laws). But once pursuaded, the obligation is to tell these people the Good News of Christ, not focus our efforst on legislative remedies. http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2008/11/evangelical-politics-few-more-thoughts.html

Triablogue: This post examines the foundation of conservative thought. We might be tempted to think human rights, but "at its root, Conservativism is based not in human rights but upon theistic principals. And lest someone quibble, this is the actual reason given by the Fathers themselves." "So we see that our rights come, not from the whim of any man, but because we are endowed with them by our Creator. Furthermore, we see that Government is established “to secure these rights.” That is its primary purpose." He then goes on to argue that atheism cannot provide this foundation, that is, for human rights. 1. Intellect isn't a basis for human rights, since we know dumber people don't intrinsically have less rights. 2. Majority or consent of the people doesn't work (e.g. Nazi Germany and the Jews). "Human rights require a transcendent truth. They require objective truth that all men are, as part of their very being, deserving of specific rights. These rights cannot arise from nature alone. Evolution cannot explain how these rights got there, for man is but one evolutionary branch of billions. " Human rights come on account of our being, our ontology. "With this in mind, we can sum up the basic Conservative ideology. Man has been endowed with the rights of Life, Liberty, and property (understood as the pursuit of happiness). These rights are God-given rights, not Government-granted rights. As such, any Government that would deprive anyone of those rights without proper justification is an unjust Government." Read on if you're interested. http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/foundation-of-conservative-thought.html

Turk: Perspective on race in America. http://centuri0n.blogspot.com/2008/11/good-fight.html

Turk: Here's a PDF of the timeline of the OT (with caveats). http://centuri0n.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-case-you-ever-need-it.html

Challies recommends "A good article from WSJ. "Our failure to stand by the one person who continued to stand by us has not gone unnoticed by our enemies. It has shown to the world how disloyal we can be when our president needed loyalty -- a shameful display of arrogance and weakness that will haunt this nation long after Mr. Bush has left the White House."" Also "The Washington Post basically admits to what we already knew--they leaned heavily towards Obama. Sometimes, I guess, it's easiest to sin now and ask forgiveness later... "
http://www.challies.com/sideblog/archives/2008/11/a_la_carte_119_2.php

Challies lists the things he misses about cable TV: "<empty space here>" http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/447522048/things-i-miss-about-cable-tv.php

Challies reviews Mahaney et. al. book on worldliness. "He biblically defines worldliness saying that this world we're not supposed to love is "the organized system of human civilization that is actively hostile to God and alienated from God." Worldliness is a love for this fallen world and, specifically, "to gratify and exalt oneself to the exclusion of God." Mahaney is careful to point out that worldliness is not extrinsic to us but intrinsic, inhabiting our fallen hearts. Worldliness does not consist of outward actions (though such actions can certainly be evidence of worldliness) but instead is a heart attitude that rebels against God." ... "Bob Kauflin takes on the subject of music, beginning with the fact that music was God's idea long before it crossed the mind of any human. He states that "listening to music without discernment and godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world.""  Challies basically concludes, however, that the book is a bit hodge-podge and shallow, considering the contributors. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/challies/XhEt/~3/448403239/book-review---worldliness-by-cj-mahaney.php

Mathis at DG gives a timeline of Luther's life here. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1487_Thank_God_for_Martin_Luther/

Mohler on ABC World News Tonight. http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2725

Noel Piper writes about her Grandmother and a lesson she learned from her: "Though Satan is never stronger than Jesus, he may seem stronger when we become weaker. When we are weak and sick and old, we may be the most vulnerable of any other time in our lives." In light of this, hold fast to the promises of Jesus Christ. http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1486_A_Giant_In_My_Life/

We look for comfort in many places. But in Isaiah 40, the comfort for the people of God was the proven promises in His Word. Later, Paul writes to comfort the Corinthians - and this comfort was the fulfillment of the promises of God based on the suffering of the Suffering Servant. We must remember that our ultimate comfort is not in the things of the world which whither and fade. We will find joy in suffering in the promises of God even when all the worldly comforts are gone.  http://solapanel.org/article/comfort_in_good_times_and_bad/#When:22:00:00Z

Brit Hume, a Washington managing editor at Fox News is retiring, and it will translate into more Bible Study. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/448589580/brit-hume.html

Some things happening in Congo and Rwanda. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BaylyblogOutOfOurMindsToo/~3/448555185/pray-for-congo-and-rwanda.html

Tom Schreiner reviews Scot McKnight's book The Blue Parakeet on Gender Blog. This is not so much a review, as it is a summary of McKnight's 'missional living' hermeneutic. McKnight apparently argues for a 'that was then, this is now' hermeneutic, and seems to have a disdain for systematic understandings of Scripture, or at least the notion that one might 'master' the Bible in so doing. McKnight wants all passages to be read in the context of the 'story' of the Bible. He is apparently trying to answer the question, why don't we do everything the Bible says? [I'm not quite sure what to make of this from this blog alone - some is good, some is bad] http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/genderblog/~3/448820318/A-Review-of-McKnight-s-The-Blue-Parakeet-Part-I

Turns out there are literal violent fights between Eastern Orthodox monks. Seems like the 'disunity' of 'sola scriptura' isn't looking so bad now. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/eastern-orthodox-monks-again.html

Turretinfan favours a 'five kingdom' theonomy (contra 'two kingdom'): " In our church, we should look to God's Word regarding the elders, the deacons, and the brethren; In our state, we should look to God's Word regarding the king; In our workplace, we should look to God's Word regarding the masters and the servants; In our marriage, we should look to God's Word regarding the husband and the wife; and In the family, we should look to God's Word regarding the parents and the children." The Word governs in all spheres, therefore, not just those considered 'religious.' http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/five-kingdoms-theology.html

Read this for the insanity of Dawkin's like God-hater responses to good parenting. http://turretinfan.blogspot.com/2008/11/ridiculous-accusations-refuted.html

P39 is for sale. If you want to give James White a nice Christmas present, it's going for only 300000 british pounds. http://evangelicaltextualcriticism.blogspot.com/2008/11/p39-for-sale-again.html

Aside from what might be a misquoting of Luther here, this post points out that in James, "The "faith in Christ" (2:1) creates a changed person, and the primary way this plays out is in how we care for others, particularly the helpless. The two halves of the chapter unite in this concern, focusing in on the triumphal cry of 2:13 that "mercy triumphs over judgment!" James does not promote harsh legalism; he seeks our transformation into the merciful character of God." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/444368031/james-2-commentary-and-discussion-with-mariam-kamell-1.html

Craig Blomberg points to James 2, and says that it is erroneus to translate adelphoi as just 'brothers' (not brothers and sisters) just because one thinks that teachers are only supposed to men. "(1) We know that the first Christian generation did not have female teachers. (2) Including “sisters” as part of the translation of James 3:1 suggests that they did. Therefore, (3) translations such as the four mentioned above are seriously in error at this point and should be shunned." [I sincerely hope this isn't an actual attempt to represent complementarianism, or it is one of the most brutal straw men I have ever seen. Complementarians have no problem with this passage being 'brothers and sisters' since women are to teach women!] Blomberg then spends his time talking about this [mythical] position. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/445679744/james-3brothers-and-sisters-as-teachers-commentary-and-discussion-with-craig-blomberg.html

Walton argues from the Hebrew stem that the prohibition on remarriage in the Mosaic law is predicated on a husband remarrying a wife that he had divorced, not on account of immorality, but ritual uncleanliness, such as perpetual bleeding. "Though her condition would not be her fault, the divorce by her husband would make this humiliating situation public knowledge. Yet, it is not so bad that another husband was not willing to take her in—an important aspect of the legislation." ... "the first husband’s divorce action had exposed her condition. Since he was the one who had forced her to publically declare herself unclean, he is not allowed to marry her again. This has nothing to do with any moral behavior of the woman (she is not restricted), and has nothing to do with the second marriage (that was only in the legislation to demonstrate that someone else could live with it, implying the first husband’s hardheartedness)." http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/445825000/hebrew-corner-11-divorce-deut-241-4-by-john-h-walton.html

Bill Mounce talks about a difficulty in Philippians 1:6, where the promise, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" is directly at the group (i.e. it is plural), so it may be difficult to apply to individuals. But he points out that God's work is completed in the group through individuals. "I have to conclude that while God was at work in the life of the Philippian church, ultimately Paul’s confidence was in God’s ability to complete what he initiated in the lives of the individual believers who made up the Philippian church."  http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/448408196/a-good-work-among-youphilippians-16-monday-with-mounce-14-by-bill-mounce.html

First part of a discussion on Greek verbal aspect. "The simplest definition of verbal aspect is viewpoint. An author or speaker views an action from the outside or from the inside. The view from the outside is called perfective aspect, while the view from the inside is called imperfective aspect." "Verbal aspect represents a subjective choice. An author chooses which aspect to use when portraying a particular action." The author argues that this has important bearing on conclusions drawn from verbs in the NT commentaries. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/pQHu/~3/448318238/the-basics-of-verbal-aspect-1-of-5-by-constantine-campbell.html

Bird quotes FF Bruce on the bounds of evangelical scholarship. He asks, "can one accept a certain view of the gospel and a certain view of biblical criticism (e.g. dating the final form of Daniel in the second century BCE or regard 2 Peter as a post-Petrine writing) and remain an evangelical?" and then suggests that Bruce is saying that one can have sufficient confidence in the Gospel not to have the veracity of God's revelation collapse if some critical source scholarship is true. http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/ff-bruce-on-boundaries-of-evangelical.html

Bird says: "Part of me thinks that Paul and the apostles would not care less about but Nero being married to two of his male slaves, so why should we? But there again it does affect the cultural context in which marriage is described and defined and so impacts all of us in a way. What is more, religious liberty could be eroded if religious and para-religious organisations were legally penalized for not recognizing gay marriages." He offers a video. http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/proposition-8.html

9Marks: Gilbert looks for ballast in an elder (pastoral maturity and confidence). On this note, these qualities are good. 1. Has a Compelling Command of Scripture. 2. You're not overly complex in your teaching, but able to apply Scripture helpfully. 3. Has Learned to Keep Things in Good Perspective. 4. Knows Largely Where He Stands. http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/what-were-looki.html Racism is something else... http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/springtime-for-hitler.html

Bird has some interesting comments on a debate between John Lennox and Richard Dawkins. On a chilling note, "This brings me back to Lennox's genuine fear of Dawkins' atheism, that it is not simply leading us to a secular society with tolerance and libertarian ethics without religion, but it is leading us to Nietzsche's madman where might makes right in the absence of God, where weakness and vulnerability are eradicated in the name of progress." http://euangelizomai.blogspot.com/2008/11/debates-with-dawkins.html

A stunningly rude yet pointedly accurate antidote to grumbling about things in church that don't suit your tastes. "It's not about you, stupid!" "It really is the height of idiocy to think that church is about me and my needs and my family and my satisfaction." http://solapanel.org/article/the_five_word_antidote_to_grumbling/#When:22:00:00Z

Swan discusses and provides the context for a Luther citation by Romanists to the effect that the reprobate should rejoice in their damnation. It seems to be more along the lines of, (to put it crassly) if you fear yourself damned, rejoice, because the reprobate don't have such fears, and turn to Christ. http://beggarsallreformation.blogspot.com/2008/11/ineffable-joy-of-predestination-to-hell.html

Paul Manata has to repeat himself again because Moore does not follow the argument. Of note, he does add some commentary on Exodus 21. Aside from pointing out that the Law appears to have in view a live, premature birth, based on the language, he "[quotes Archer] What is required is that if there should be an injury either to the mother or to her children, the injury shall be avenged by a like injury to the assailant. If it involves the life (ne-pes’) of the premature baby, then the assailant shall pay for it with his life. There is no second-class status attached to the fetus under this rule" http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2008/11/zach-needs-moore-clothes-tale-of-pro.html

9Marks blogger Deepak Reju recommends a counseling book, How People Change, which also comes recommended by Mark Dever. http://blog.9marks.org/2008/11/weve-made-a-big.html

An interview with the author of the book of Womanly Dominion. http://reformedbaptistfellowship.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/womanly-dominion-more-than-a-gentle-and-quiet-spirit/

Challies gives some concluding thoughts on Compassion's work in the DR: "I came to Dominican Republic on something of a fact-finding mission. I do not sponsor a child. I've thought about it many times, but have never had confidence that Compassion is what they claim to be. But having seen it in action, I now have no doubts. I'm willing to stake my reputation on it. When I get home we will be visiting the web site as a family to choose at least one child to sponsor. Frankly, I'd like to have each of my kids sponsor one child (though I still need to talk this over with Aileen!). Compassion is all that they claim to be--more even. They were true to their word and allowed me to open every filing cabinet, look behind every door, and so on." http://www.challies.com/archives/dominican-republic/dominican-republic---ordinary-superheroes.php

Challies writes some random thoughts about the DR, such as the seeming dual industry of tourism and prostitution, the rampant presence of American pop culture, and this gem: "I was amazed also at the pervasiveness of the cellular telephone. Several times we were sitting with or talking with the poorest of the poor, people who barely had the means to feed themselves. And then the silence would be punctuated by the "Nokia" ring tone. I'll grant that cell phones are far cheaper here than they are in Canada (or even the US) while land lines are rare and unreliable, but it was still a surprise to be sitting in what was little more than a slum and to see a nice new cell phone in a person's hand." http://www.challies.com/archives/dominican-republic/dominican-republic---random-reflections.php

James targets the intrinsic pride in thinking that your life is under your own control, such that you can say you will do this and that - and exhorts people to instead humbly acknowledge that God is sovereign over all creation. http://zondervan.typepad.com/koinonia/2008/11/business-under-god-insights-from-jas-4--mariam-kamell--my-father-was-a-coptic-egyptian-who-immigrated-to-the-us-when-he-wa.html

CotW reflects on the Darwinian underpinnings in Russian "biologist Ilia Ivanov’s attempts to create an ape-human hybrid in the 1920s." http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/6094/

CotW offers an interview with a Christian apologist. Here's an excerpt: "How often do creation/evolution issues come up in your public speaking engagements? I am almost always asked questions about origins in open forums and debates. A sad fact is that when speaking I often find the orthodox doctrine of creation more viciously attacked in seminary contexts than in secular universities. " ... "Suggesting this is a ‘side issue’ not only reveals a lack of exposure to skeptics and seekers in our time, but a profound ignorance of the Bible and the elementary questions of philosophy. Can you imagine, Moses, Jesus, Paul, Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Pascal, Copernicus, Galileo, or even Darwin, Marx, and Freud referring to the question of origins as a ‘side issue’? " ... "When we talk about ‘allegory’ we need to consider something important. If we believe a certain passage of Scripture to be allegorical or figurative, we need to ask what earlier literal antecedent we have on which an allegorical and figurative interpretation can be based. ... Genesis is the history upon which all later figurative uses rest!" He seems to take a presuppositional approach. http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/6158/

Commenting on Matthew 13:32, the late Professor Mare wrote: "In the first place, although, the orchid seed may be the smallest, or one of the smallest plant seeds, and thus smaller than the mustard seed, it is not necessary to consider Jesus’ statement in Matthew 13:32 as containing scientific error since the class of seeds with which the mustard seed is associated is the garden herb group (lachana) which may possibly be interpreted as being the “all the seeds” category to which reference is made in the earlier part of the statement, “all” there being limited to the specific group (lachana) under consideration in the total context of the verse. Since the mustard seed probably was cultivated in Palestine in ancient times, for its oil, it may be argued that Jesus, when speaking of this type of seed, was talking about it in a comparison with all those seeds which were planted by farmers for food. Since panton is used with the lachana group in the parallel passage in Mark 4:31, it may be further argued that the panton ton spermaton group in both Matthew 13:32 and Mark 4:31 is intended to mean only the lachana species, the “all the garden herb” group. In this limited context of garden herbs then, Jesus speaks of the mustard seed as extremely small." ... "Secondly, that the expression comparing smallness with the size of mustard seed was a common Jewish saying argues for the fact that scientific literalness and preciseness need not be pressed upon it, it being able to be understood then, as men certainly understand it now, as a general and popular expression of smallness." http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2008/11/10/contradictions-seeds-of-dissent

White addresses Muslim argumentation against the deity of Christ. http://www.aomin.org/aoblog/index.php?itemid=2870