Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts for WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Sections 1-10.
WCF. II. Of God, And of the Holy Trinity - 1-2.
1. Where is the proof to be found of the true God's existence?
Hebrews 11:6 says, "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Thus, Williamson says, "The doctrine of God begins, therefore, with the assertion that God is. And to the truth of this assertion (as Scripture informs us) everything testifies" (23).
2. What do we mean when we call God a "Spirit"?
God is pure Spirit, meaning he does not have a body like men.
3. Why does Scripture speak of God as having hands, feet, etc.?
In such instances, Scripture is speaking metaphorically and/or (oftentimes) synecdochically.
4. What is meant by the term "incommunicable"?
This term is used to describe the attributes of God that are not and cannot be communicated to man (image bearer of God).
5. What is meant by the term "attributes"?
"Attribute" in reference to the Divine denotes those qualities belonging to God.
6. What are the incommunicable attributes of God?
The incommunicable attributes of God are: eternity, infinity, immutability. God alone has these attributes.
7. What is meant by the term "communicable"?
The term is used to describe the attributes of God that are and can be communicated to man (image bearer of God).
8. What are some communicable attributes of God?
God has qualities that he bestows ("in a measure") upon creatures, i.e., the sevenfold list: being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
9. Does our knowledge of a particular fact or truth (for example) have the same qualities as does God's knowledge of that fact or truth?
No. God's knowledge of a particular fact or truth is eternal, infinite, and immutable knowledge. That is to say, God's knowledge of a particular fact or truth is Divine knowledge. Our knowledge is not Divine knowledge. We are creatures. Therefore, we have creaturely knowledge. Creaturely knowledge is finite; it does not have the same qualities as does God's knowledge.
10. What does God receive?
God receives nothing because His Divine knowledge is eternal, infinite, and immutable. All that we give to God is merely a re-interpretation (reflection) of his Divine knowledge.
11. What simple truth of the doctrine of God is seldom consistently maintained in the thinking of (even Christian) men?
The simple truth of the doctrine of God that is seldom consistently maintained is that all is derivative of God, meaning, "God is the great original. Everything else is, in one way or another, a mere reflection of him" (25). Everything else is analogically related to the doctrine of the knowledge of God.
Monday, September 30, 2013
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - Q & A - Questions 1-10.
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts for WCF. I. Questions 1-10.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 10.
Prior posts for WCF. I. Questions 1-10.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 10.
Exhortation to be Faithful to the Master's Work
"Believe it, brethren, God never saved any man for being a preacher, nor because he was an able preacher; but because he was justified, sanctified man, and consequently faithful in his Master's work" (Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, 54).
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Evangelical Christian
"We must learn to know the Scriptures again, as the Reformers and our fathers knew them. We must not grudge the time and the work that it takes. We must know the Scriptures first and foremost for our salvation. . . . But one who will not learn to handle the Bible for himself is not an evangelical Christian" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 54-55).
Friday, September 27, 2013
The Psalter and Prayer, Again
"Here [in the Psalter] we learn, first, what prayer means. It means praying according to the Word of God, on the basis of promise" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 47).
An Ideal Curriculum
"God not only gives us inspired teaching in the Bible, but inspired songs too. Songs often do as much as sermons (if not more) to shape our faith. The Scriptures preached and Psalms sung provide an ideal curriculum for shaping the faith of the church" (Michael LeFebvre, Singing the Songs of Jesus: Revisiting the Psalms, 38).
Thursday, September 26, 2013
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 10. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 10.
1. What is the difference between the Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches with regard to the supreme judge in matters of religious controversy?
WCF clearly teaches that Reformed Churches regard the Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture as the "supreme judge" in all matters of religious controversy, e.g., "decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits." Roman Catholic churches do not believe this: Roman Catholics believe (a) the Roman Church can "infallibly interpret the infallible Word of God" and (b) the Pope can speak officially regarding doctrinal controversies, i.e., the doctrine of Papal infallibility.
2. Can the Church speak infallibly? If not, then how can it speak with authority or value?
No. Only God speaks infallibly (God is infallible, thus, he can speak infallibly). The Church can speak with authority and value insofar as it declares the Word of God.
3. In the Synod of Jerusalem did Peter act as pope? Who made the decision? Upon what was this decision based?
Peter was not acting as pope at the Synod of Jerusalem. The Church made a decision by appealing to the Old Testament (see verses 14-18).
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 10.
1. What is the difference between the Roman Catholic and Reformed Churches with regard to the supreme judge in matters of religious controversy?
WCF clearly teaches that Reformed Churches regard the Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture as the "supreme judge" in all matters of religious controversy, e.g., "decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits." Roman Catholic churches do not believe this: Roman Catholics believe (a) the Roman Church can "infallibly interpret the infallible Word of God" and (b) the Pope can speak officially regarding doctrinal controversies, i.e., the doctrine of Papal infallibility.
2. Can the Church speak infallibly? If not, then how can it speak with authority or value?
No. Only God speaks infallibly (God is infallible, thus, he can speak infallibly). The Church can speak with authority and value insofar as it declares the Word of God.
3. In the Synod of Jerusalem did Peter act as pope? Who made the decision? Upon what was this decision based?
Peter was not acting as pope at the Synod of Jerusalem. The Church made a decision by appealing to the Old Testament (see verses 14-18).
The Psalter and Prayer
"The Psalter is the great school of prayer" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 47).
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
1. False religions deny that the Bible is God's complete revelation. What other aspect of revelation do they deny?
False religions (and Christian viewpoints that are not fully Biblical) deny the sufficiency-and-perspicuity of Scripture, and they also deny that Scripture interprets itself (since they believe Scripture is deficient, they insist it needs an outside interpreter).
2. In such religions is the Bible important or necessary to the individual believer (according to the view of that religion)?
In such religions the Bible is not necessarily important, since it is not the ultimate standard or authority. The outside interpreter is the authorial matrix; the outside interpreter becomes the standard, thus it becomes necessarily important. (And this is over and against Scripture; it is a myth to insist that Scripture and the outside interpreter, e.g., Tradition, are parallel standards/authorities.
3. Reconcile any apparent conflict between the Reformed insistence that the Bible is self-interpreting and the Reformed teaching that there are to be ministers of the Word ordained with authority to teach the Word in the Churches.
There is no conflict. The Bible is self-interpreting, but the Bible still needs to be studied in depth and taught; there are many hard things in Scripture, but they are understandable. It takes effort and time, it takes exertion and care. Pastor's are ordained to "study" Scripture (see 2 Timothy 2:15), and after studying to preach!
4. Are all portions of the Scripture equally simple to understand? If not, does this change the fact that they are self-interpreting? Explain.
No. All portions of Scripture are not equally simple to understand. This is why we say Scripture is self-interpretive - "that difficult places are clarified by the parallel passages which speak more clearly" (18), i.e., oftentimes this is referred to as the "analogy of faith" - all of Scripture is united, "the sense of Scripture is one (not many)" (18) - and since all of Scripture is harmonious and without contradiction you are able to clarify difficult passages by the passages that are not difficult.
5. Why is creedless Christianity a perversion of this doctrine?
Creeds are evidence that the teaching of Scripture is clear and has perspicuity. If you say, "No creed but Christ!" then you are denying the clarity of Scripture.
6. Why do creeds (which are agreeable with Scripture) have authority?
Creeds, while subordinate to Scripture, are both "useful" and "authoritative", but this is only to the "degree that they are 'agreeable to and founded on the Word of God." Because Scripture is self-interpretive we are able to formulate creeds, and "creeds are evidence that the Bible is clear" (19).
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 9.
1. False religions deny that the Bible is God's complete revelation. What other aspect of revelation do they deny?
False religions (and Christian viewpoints that are not fully Biblical) deny the sufficiency-and-perspicuity of Scripture, and they also deny that Scripture interprets itself (since they believe Scripture is deficient, they insist it needs an outside interpreter).
2. In such religions is the Bible important or necessary to the individual believer (according to the view of that religion)?
In such religions the Bible is not necessarily important, since it is not the ultimate standard or authority. The outside interpreter is the authorial matrix; the outside interpreter becomes the standard, thus it becomes necessarily important. (And this is over and against Scripture; it is a myth to insist that Scripture and the outside interpreter, e.g., Tradition, are parallel standards/authorities.
3. Reconcile any apparent conflict between the Reformed insistence that the Bible is self-interpreting and the Reformed teaching that there are to be ministers of the Word ordained with authority to teach the Word in the Churches.
There is no conflict. The Bible is self-interpreting, but the Bible still needs to be studied in depth and taught; there are many hard things in Scripture, but they are understandable. It takes effort and time, it takes exertion and care. Pastor's are ordained to "study" Scripture (see 2 Timothy 2:15), and after studying to preach!
4. Are all portions of the Scripture equally simple to understand? If not, does this change the fact that they are self-interpreting? Explain.
No. All portions of Scripture are not equally simple to understand. This is why we say Scripture is self-interpretive - "that difficult places are clarified by the parallel passages which speak more clearly" (18), i.e., oftentimes this is referred to as the "analogy of faith" - all of Scripture is united, "the sense of Scripture is one (not many)" (18) - and since all of Scripture is harmonious and without contradiction you are able to clarify difficult passages by the passages that are not difficult.
5. Why is creedless Christianity a perversion of this doctrine?
Creeds are evidence that the teaching of Scripture is clear and has perspicuity. If you say, "No creed but Christ!" then you are denying the clarity of Scripture.
6. Why do creeds (which are agreeable with Scripture) have authority?
Creeds, while subordinate to Scripture, are both "useful" and "authoritative", but this is only to the "degree that they are 'agreeable to and founded on the Word of God." Because Scripture is self-interpretive we are able to formulate creeds, and "creeds are evidence that the Bible is clear" (19).
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Tuesdays with Blaster at Tree & The Seed: TMWAJ - Tracks 13, 14, and 15
*I started this weekly review last year, but now finishing it. This is one of my favorite punk rock records by the band Blaster the Rocket Man.*
**This post is technically a day late.**
Today's installment is over Tracks 13, 14, and 15 of Blaster the Rocket Man's 1999 release, The Monster Who Ate Jesus.
Go here for initial comments on album and the linear notes.
Go here for comments on Tracks 1, 2, and 3.
Go here for comments on Tracks 4, 5, and 6.
Go here for comments on Tracks 7, 8, and 9.
Go here for comments on Tracks 10, 11, and 12.
Track 13 - Frankenstein's Monster Wants a Wife
Jazzy-rhythmic guitar chord progression throughout the song. The first minute-and-a-half is an instrumental opener with an infectious double-picking lead guitar that functions as a refrain throughout the song. Musically this is one of my favorite tracks.
Lyrically this song derives its subject matter from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In that novel, Frankenstein's monster demands - threatens - that his creator make a wife for him. Frankenstein begins to, but aborts the process. I believe Blaster is allegorically using this scene from Frankenstein to illustrate how sin is a vicious monster that then demands more sin from its creator (man). Thus, Frankenstein's dilemma: "Just cut this hand off, it's offending me!"
She's much too fresh.
Where did you get her?
Now, don't confess
for I must wed her
to my abomination
son of man.
"Doc Frankenstein!"
Who said that?
"Won't you be mine?"
Now, cut that out!
I've got cuttin' to do.
I'm not finished with you.
No chit chat till this is through.
It's no easy operation
to apprehend the apparition,
to make the phantom corporeal,
substantial stuff for us to feel.
Scalpel, please. Make incision.
Scissors! Oh, these quick decisions!
It takes a steady hand...
Curse my monster's sick demands!
How does she look?
Do the scars show?
She's all sewn up
with no place to go,
save on a hellish honeymoon
that ends all too soon
in hell, well...
"Doc Frankenstein!"
Who said that?
"Won't you be mine?"
Baby, how you been?
Oh my, your hand's so cold.
But I'll be bold
and hold it anyhow.
It's all so thrilling
When you're willing
To fudge and fake
To make a killing
Still I want to tear it apart!
Stop the beating of this hideous heart!
Why do I abandon my endeavor to sever
To pick up the needle and sew it back together?
Oh, it's neverending, can't you see?
Just cut this hand off, it's offending me!
Once dead, but now...
It's alive!
It's alive!
Track 14 - I Like Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy (or Lycanthrope) = Wolfman/Werewolf. To get this song you have to know something about the reality-mythology of man-to-beast shapeshifting. Werewolves are mythological creatures, humans who shapeshift into wolves. You are probably most familiar with Werewolves from the film Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox.
In any case, while shapeshifting is truly mythological, what is not mythological is the truth (reality!) that God does curse sinners by turning them over to their sins and their minds become clouded, and, as a result, they become beast-like. As Paul says in Romans 1:21-25:
This is a classic punk rock tune. (May their tribe increase!) Distorted guitars. Power chords. Palm mutes. Pick-slides. Opens with vocal refrain overlaying drumming, "I like lycanthropy!" All of this, obviously, is tongue-in-cheek, because the point of the song is that all those given over to sin (those who are beast-like, like the Werewolf in this song) must humble themselves like the Cow-King, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; sinners must humble themselves and look to Heaven, i.e., as Blaster says, "There's no way for new life to begin, No! Unless you confess and turn away from your sin You've got to die with Jesus to know the Resurrection."
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like it!
Don't call it murder when I feed
It's just the nourishment I need
I cannot curb this appetite
or I'll disturb my natural plight
So what if' I'm a wolf on full moon nights
I'm still part man and I've got rights
I'm sniffin' out the blood and I take bites!
If you are walking by
and I transmogrify,
be prepared to run or die!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
The wolfman is back!
Don't call it a curse.
Sticker on my car
Read it and weep
for the ones you love.
Says, "Equal Rights for Werewolves!"
I'm sniffin' out the blood and I take bites!
Why do you look at me with a look of fright?
So what if I'm a wolf on full moon nights!
If you are walking by
and I transmogrify
be prepared to run or die!
Run or die!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
The wolfman in me
I like lycanthropy (He likes it! He likes it!)
The wolfman and me
I like lycanthropy (He likes it! He likes it!)
Wolf!
Claw! Bite! Sniff! Bark! Scratch! Tear! Growl!
Howl!
Like king Nebuchandezzar
You gotta' turn your eyes to Heaven
Like King Nebuchandezzar
You gotta' turn your eyes Heavenward!
There's no way for new life to begin, No!
Unless you confess and turn away from your sin
You've got to die with Jesus
to know the Resurrection
You' gotta' die, die, die with Jesus
to know the Resurrection
You gotta' die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!
with Jesus
to know Life!
I like lycanthropy!
I like it!
(The Mysteriously missing third verse:)
A chorus of Redeemed Ones shouts the truth in
unison to the werewolf:
"Your throat is an open grave!"
Our Lycanthrope Hero responds in despair:
"I know no other way to behave!"
The Redeemed Ones keep shouting in Love:
"You must repent, you Cursed Wretch!"
The werewolf snarls in defiance:
"I'll not relent. Your flesh I'll fetch!"
Despite the Lycanthrope's unrepentance,
The Crucified One Who is Lifted Up
continues to offer forgiveness to all
monstrosities who will believe on Him.
Track 15 - Tundra Time on Thulcandra
This is another song that is lyrically derived from C. S. Lewis' Sci-Fi Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. Ransom is main character throughout the trilogy. In the first book he travels from earth to Mars, in the second he travels to Venus (and fights/defeats the Unman), and in the third he is the Pendragon of Logres (i.e., the Leader of King Arthur's realm in Britain), and he and his team are instrumental in assisting in the war against the "Macrobes" (fallen angels/demons).
Down in the handramit [this is the canals on Malacandra where breathable air can be found]
I wanna' be on the harandra [the suface of Mars]
An alien on this planet
On my way back to Thulcandra [Planet Earth]
Malacandra [Planet Mars] on my mind
Perelandra [Planet Venus] all the time
Nevermind, it's tundra time
Get cozy in the cockpit
Snuggle in the turret
Grunts gotta' make the best of it
Warmth from the blast of the laser cannon
Keeps me goin'
When it won't quit snowin'
Man the console
Console the man
Malacandra on my mind
Perelandra all the time
Nevermind, it's tundra time
South wind blows
We know summer is coming soon
Lightning flashes
We know the Son is coming again
And what will the silent planet, Tellus [Latin for Earth]
tell us when they pull Deep Heaven
down on their heads?
I guess this is life during wartime
when Thulcandra is the battlefield.[Earth is the battlefield of incredible spiritual warfare in That Hideous Strength.]
Next week will be the last installment for Tracks 16, 17, and 18!
**This post is technically a day late.**
Today's installment is over Tracks 13, 14, and 15 of Blaster the Rocket Man's 1999 release, The Monster Who Ate Jesus.
Go here for initial comments on album and the linear notes.
Go here for comments on Tracks 1, 2, and 3.
Go here for comments on Tracks 4, 5, and 6.
Go here for comments on Tracks 7, 8, and 9.
Go here for comments on Tracks 10, 11, and 12.
Track 13 - Frankenstein's Monster Wants a Wife
Jazzy-rhythmic guitar chord progression throughout the song. The first minute-and-a-half is an instrumental opener with an infectious double-picking lead guitar that functions as a refrain throughout the song. Musically this is one of my favorite tracks.
Lyrically this song derives its subject matter from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In that novel, Frankenstein's monster demands - threatens - that his creator make a wife for him. Frankenstein begins to, but aborts the process. I believe Blaster is allegorically using this scene from Frankenstein to illustrate how sin is a vicious monster that then demands more sin from its creator (man). Thus, Frankenstein's dilemma: "Just cut this hand off, it's offending me!"
She's much too fresh.
Where did you get her?
Now, don't confess
for I must wed her
to my abomination
son of man.
"Doc Frankenstein!"
Who said that?
"Won't you be mine?"
Now, cut that out!
I've got cuttin' to do.
I'm not finished with you.
No chit chat till this is through.
It's no easy operation
to apprehend the apparition,
to make the phantom corporeal,
substantial stuff for us to feel.
Scalpel, please. Make incision.
Scissors! Oh, these quick decisions!
It takes a steady hand...
Curse my monster's sick demands!
How does she look?
Do the scars show?
She's all sewn up
with no place to go,
save on a hellish honeymoon
that ends all too soon
in hell, well...
"Doc Frankenstein!"
Who said that?
"Won't you be mine?"
Baby, how you been?
Oh my, your hand's so cold.
But I'll be bold
and hold it anyhow.
It's all so thrilling
When you're willing
To fudge and fake
To make a killing
Still I want to tear it apart!
Stop the beating of this hideous heart!
Why do I abandon my endeavor to sever
To pick up the needle and sew it back together?
Oh, it's neverending, can't you see?
Just cut this hand off, it's offending me!
Once dead, but now...
It's alive!
It's alive!
Track 14 - I Like Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy (or Lycanthrope) = Wolfman/Werewolf. To get this song you have to know something about the reality-mythology of man-to-beast shapeshifting. Werewolves are mythological creatures, humans who shapeshift into wolves. You are probably most familiar with Werewolves from the film Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox.
In any case, while shapeshifting is truly mythological, what is not mythological is the truth (reality!) that God does curse sinners by turning them over to their sins and their minds become clouded, and, as a result, they become beast-like. As Paul says in Romans 1:21-25:
And because they worshipped the creation (beasts of the field) in place of God, they became like the thing(s) they worshipped (as the saying goes, "You are what you worship."). In the subsequent verses (vv26-32), Paul denotes that God gave them up to "vile affections" and a "reprobate mind". When God does this, the human is given over to sin (perhaps even given over to demons), and sometimes this includes becoming beast-like, e.g., Nebuchadnezzar becomes beast-like, he becomes like a Cow/Ox (Daniel 4), and Jesus cast a Legion (many devils/demons) out of a man who had become beast-like (Matthew 8 and Luke 8) -- the text says that this man had been bound with chains and in fetters but had broken them, and was wandering naked in the wilderness; also, fornication, homosexuality, and bestiality are sins whereby God gives humans over to their sins and they become beast-like, i.e., in the same way that the animals do not exercise discipline and self-control in sexuality, so too humans who have been given over to "reprobate minds" are beast-like through promiscuous sexuality. All that to say, the Bible depicts that humans becoming beast-like is a symbol of God's judgment.Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
This is a classic punk rock tune. (May their tribe increase!) Distorted guitars. Power chords. Palm mutes. Pick-slides. Opens with vocal refrain overlaying drumming, "I like lycanthropy!" All of this, obviously, is tongue-in-cheek, because the point of the song is that all those given over to sin (those who are beast-like, like the Werewolf in this song) must humble themselves like the Cow-King, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon; sinners must humble themselves and look to Heaven, i.e., as Blaster says, "There's no way for new life to begin, No! Unless you confess and turn away from your sin You've got to die with Jesus to know the Resurrection."
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like it!
Don't call it murder when I feed
It's just the nourishment I need
I cannot curb this appetite
or I'll disturb my natural plight
So what if' I'm a wolf on full moon nights
I'm still part man and I've got rights
I'm sniffin' out the blood and I take bites!
If you are walking by
and I transmogrify,
be prepared to run or die!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
The wolfman is back!
Don't call it a curse.
Sticker on my car
Read it and weep
for the ones you love.
Says, "Equal Rights for Werewolves!"
I'm sniffin' out the blood and I take bites!
Why do you look at me with a look of fright?
So what if I'm a wolf on full moon nights!
If you are walking by
and I transmogrify
be prepared to run or die!
Run or die!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
I like lycanthropy!
The wolfman in me
I like lycanthropy (He likes it! He likes it!)
The wolfman and me
I like lycanthropy (He likes it! He likes it!)
Wolf!
Claw! Bite! Sniff! Bark! Scratch! Tear! Growl!
Howl!
Like king Nebuchandezzar
You gotta' turn your eyes to Heaven
Like King Nebuchandezzar
You gotta' turn your eyes Heavenward!
There's no way for new life to begin, No!
Unless you confess and turn away from your sin
You've got to die with Jesus
to know the Resurrection
You' gotta' die, die, die with Jesus
to know the Resurrection
You gotta' die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!
with Jesus
to know Life!
I like lycanthropy!
I like it!
(The Mysteriously missing third verse:)
A chorus of Redeemed Ones shouts the truth in
unison to the werewolf:
"Your throat is an open grave!"
Our Lycanthrope Hero responds in despair:
"I know no other way to behave!"
The Redeemed Ones keep shouting in Love:
"You must repent, you Cursed Wretch!"
The werewolf snarls in defiance:
"I'll not relent. Your flesh I'll fetch!"
Despite the Lycanthrope's unrepentance,
The Crucified One Who is Lifted Up
continues to offer forgiveness to all
monstrosities who will believe on Him.
Track 15 - Tundra Time on Thulcandra
This is another song that is lyrically derived from C. S. Lewis' Sci-Fi Trilogy, Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength. Ransom is main character throughout the trilogy. In the first book he travels from earth to Mars, in the second he travels to Venus (and fights/defeats the Unman), and in the third he is the Pendragon of Logres (i.e., the Leader of King Arthur's realm in Britain), and he and his team are instrumental in assisting in the war against the "Macrobes" (fallen angels/demons).
Down in the handramit [this is the canals on Malacandra where breathable air can be found]
I wanna' be on the harandra [the suface of Mars]
An alien on this planet
On my way back to Thulcandra [Planet Earth]
Malacandra [Planet Mars] on my mind
Perelandra [Planet Venus] all the time
Nevermind, it's tundra time
Get cozy in the cockpit
Snuggle in the turret
Grunts gotta' make the best of it
Warmth from the blast of the laser cannon
Keeps me goin'
When it won't quit snowin'
Man the console
Console the man
Malacandra on my mind
Perelandra all the time
Nevermind, it's tundra time
South wind blows
We know summer is coming soon
Lightning flashes
We know the Son is coming again
And what will the silent planet, Tellus [Latin for Earth]
tell us when they pull Deep Heaven
down on their heads?
I guess this is life during wartime
when Thulcandra is the battlefield.[Earth is the battlefield of incredible spiritual warfare in That Hideous Strength.]
Next week will be the last installment for Tracks 16, 17, and 18!
Christian Brotherhood
"Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate" (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 30).
40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally
Yellowstone Valley Christians for Life sponsors the local 40 Days for Life here in Billings. Last night was the Kickoff Rally, hosted at St. Bernard Catholic Church. I provided the opening prayer (see below), and Father John, Orthodox Priest at St. Nicholas, and Mike Rapkoch, member of YVCfL, provided a couple wonderful talks, and Dr. Bill Phillips, President Emeritus at Yellowstone Christian College, provided the closing prayer.
###
7 PM
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally
St. Bernard Catholic Church
Billings, MT
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Our Father in Heaven: You are the Master and Blessed Creator of the Universe and Jesus Christ, your only Begotten Son, is the Savior and Redeemer of man. We are your covenant people, called by your name because You, the Father and the Son, have sent us your Holy Spirit, to fill and empower and communicate to us the righteousness and victory that Jesus Christ secured for us through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
O Lord, because we have your Holy Spirit we have an unction and understanding, because now your Law has been written in our hearts, so that we might do all that Christ commands. And since we know that which Christ commands, we come before you this evening as faithful Christians; as brothers and sisters in the household of faith; as citizens in the Kingdom of God. We come before you this evening at this Kickoff Rally, O Triune Lord, as a members of the Culture-of-Life, and as a Witness against our Nation’s and the World’s Culture-of-Death.
In your Perfect Law you condemn murder: to Moses you said , “Thou shalt not kill.”
Our society, O Lord, has scoffed at your Law. Truly, our Nation is a country of sinners and scoffers. And because of this, we, your people - those who are called by your name - we come now before you in humility and prayer, interceding on the behalf of our nation.
Lord, we confess and acknowledge that we live in a society that has built prosperity and a culture, economies and our cities upon the blood of the Aborted. Blood flows from the operation tables in the abortion facilities, out doors, over sidewalks, and into the streets. This blood is mixed with the mortar that is our Nation’s progress and growth, and thus, Lord, we come before you and confess that we live in a Nation of bloody-city-builders.
Lord, we thank you that we can be witnesses against the culture of death and against the vain raging of a Nation that builds cities with the blood of the unborn: their voices have been silenced, but we will not be silenced by the power of your Spirit. So, O Lord, we ask that you would do a mighty work through the 40 Days for Life in our Valley. Protect the many who in the days to come will offer up the sacrifice of prayer to you on the behalf of the unborn; and we rejoice knowing that you have promised through your Word, which never returns void, that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.“
We ask that the hearts of fathers and mothers would be turned to their children through our witness. We ask that you would save babies here in Billings! We ask that you would prevent mother’s from committing the sin of aborting their children here in Billings! We ask that you would close the Abortion Facility that is here in Billings -- in our midst, in our city, just up the road -- and we ask that you would do all this in order that you might be Glorified! We pray these things in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
###
7 PM
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
40 Days for Life Kickoff Rally
St. Bernard Catholic Church
Billings, MT
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
Our Father in Heaven: You are the Master and Blessed Creator of the Universe and Jesus Christ, your only Begotten Son, is the Savior and Redeemer of man. We are your covenant people, called by your name because You, the Father and the Son, have sent us your Holy Spirit, to fill and empower and communicate to us the righteousness and victory that Jesus Christ secured for us through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
O Lord, because we have your Holy Spirit we have an unction and understanding, because now your Law has been written in our hearts, so that we might do all that Christ commands. And since we know that which Christ commands, we come before you this evening as faithful Christians; as brothers and sisters in the household of faith; as citizens in the Kingdom of God. We come before you this evening at this Kickoff Rally, O Triune Lord, as a members of the Culture-of-Life, and as a Witness against our Nation’s and the World’s Culture-of-Death.
In your Perfect Law you condemn murder: to Moses you said , “Thou shalt not kill.”
Our society, O Lord, has scoffed at your Law. Truly, our Nation is a country of sinners and scoffers. And because of this, we, your people - those who are called by your name - we come now before you in humility and prayer, interceding on the behalf of our nation.
Lord, we confess and acknowledge that we live in a society that has built prosperity and a culture, economies and our cities upon the blood of the Aborted. Blood flows from the operation tables in the abortion facilities, out doors, over sidewalks, and into the streets. This blood is mixed with the mortar that is our Nation’s progress and growth, and thus, Lord, we come before you and confess that we live in a Nation of bloody-city-builders.
Lord, we thank you that we can be witnesses against the culture of death and against the vain raging of a Nation that builds cities with the blood of the unborn: their voices have been silenced, but we will not be silenced by the power of your Spirit. So, O Lord, we ask that you would do a mighty work through the 40 Days for Life in our Valley. Protect the many who in the days to come will offer up the sacrifice of prayer to you on the behalf of the unborn; and we rejoice knowing that you have promised through your Word, which never returns void, that “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.“
We ask that the hearts of fathers and mothers would be turned to their children through our witness. We ask that you would save babies here in Billings! We ask that you would prevent mother’s from committing the sin of aborting their children here in Billings! We ask that you would close the Abortion Facility that is here in Billings -- in our midst, in our city, just up the road -- and we ask that you would do all this in order that you might be Glorified! We pray these things in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Monday, September 23, 2013
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
1. How many "Bibles" are there (in the ultimate sense)?
In the ultimate sense, there is only one Bible, "given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life" (WCF. I.2.).
2. Give the correct definition of "the Bible."
It is the original text [the "autographa of the inspired authors" (15)] written by authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
3. Do we actually possess the original manuscripts upon which the Word of God was originally written?
No. We only have copies (apographa) of the original text. But these copies "actually possess it [the original text] in "authentical" form" (15).
4. What does the Modernist say about the "original, infallible Word of God"?
He says, "What use . . . is an infallible Bible when no one possesses it?" (The Modernist equivocates the original manuscript, which we no longer have, with the original text, which we do have preserved in copies.)
5. Could a copy of the infallible Word of God be as infallible as the Word of which it is a copy? Explain.
Yes. A copy preserves and transmits the truth of the original.
6. Were the early copies perfect?
Some could have been, but they could not all necessarily be perfect because they were copied by uninspired persons. They were copied by hand and men make mistakes.
7. What two chief factors worked to preserve the perfect text even through imperfect copiers?
First, there is a cloud of witnesses (copies). Each copiest made his own mistakes, and the other copies stand as witnesses of both a) the entire text and b) against that copiest's mistakes.
Second, the Greek-speaking Churches that were founded outside of Palestine were familiar with the text and mistakes would have been noticed, this "helped reduce the errors of copiers to an exceedingly small amount" (17).
8. Which of these do you believe most important?
Williamson believes the former is weightier.
9. Why is it no longer necessary that preservation of the true text depend on the Greek-speaking Church?
Because we now have "mechanical means of printing" (17), i.e., printing presses, copy machines, e-publishing, photographs and digital imaging, etc.
10. What is the glorious result of God's singular care and providence so far as Scripture is concerned?
God has by his "care and providence" kept the original text pure through the ages; "We do now actually possess before our very eyes the "authentical" text of the Word of the living God" (17).
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 8.
1. How many "Bibles" are there (in the ultimate sense)?
In the ultimate sense, there is only one Bible, "given by inspiration of God, to be the rule of faith and life" (WCF. I.2.).
2. Give the correct definition of "the Bible."
It is the original text [the "autographa of the inspired authors" (15)] written by authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
3. Do we actually possess the original manuscripts upon which the Word of God was originally written?
No. We only have copies (apographa) of the original text. But these copies "actually possess it [the original text] in "authentical" form" (15).
4. What does the Modernist say about the "original, infallible Word of God"?
He says, "What use . . . is an infallible Bible when no one possesses it?" (The Modernist equivocates the original manuscript, which we no longer have, with the original text, which we do have preserved in copies.)
5. Could a copy of the infallible Word of God be as infallible as the Word of which it is a copy? Explain.
Yes. A copy preserves and transmits the truth of the original.
6. Were the early copies perfect?
Some could have been, but they could not all necessarily be perfect because they were copied by uninspired persons. They were copied by hand and men make mistakes.
7. What two chief factors worked to preserve the perfect text even through imperfect copiers?
First, there is a cloud of witnesses (copies). Each copiest made his own mistakes, and the other copies stand as witnesses of both a) the entire text and b) against that copiest's mistakes.
Second, the Greek-speaking Churches that were founded outside of Palestine were familiar with the text and mistakes would have been noticed, this "helped reduce the errors of copiers to an exceedingly small amount" (17).
8. Which of these do you believe most important?
Williamson believes the former is weightier.
9. Why is it no longer necessary that preservation of the true text depend on the Greek-speaking Church?
Because we now have "mechanical means of printing" (17), i.e., printing presses, copy machines, e-publishing, photographs and digital imaging, etc.
10. What is the glorious result of God's singular care and providence so far as Scripture is concerned?
God has by his "care and providence" kept the original text pure through the ages; "We do now actually possess before our very eyes the "authentical" text of the Word of the living God" (17).
Unifying Approach to Life: 'Is this wisdom or folly?'
"But it [Book of Proverbs] is not a portrait-album or a book of manners: it offers a key to life. The samples of behaviour which it holds up to view are all assessed by one criterion, which could be summed up in the question, 'Is this wisdom or folly?' This is a unifying approach to life, because it suits the most commonplace realms as fully as the most exalted. Wisdom leaves its signature on anything well made or well judged, from an apt remark to the universe itself, from a shrewd policy (which springs from practical insight) to a noble action (which presupposes moral and spiritual discernment). In other words, it is equally at home in the realms of nature and art, of ethics and politics, to mention no others, and forms a single basis of judgment for them all" (Derek Kidner, The Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: The Proverbs, 13).
Thursday, September 19, 2013
Roger E. Olson says, "Me No Likey Clavinistic Creep!"
For a side splitting laugh, go read Arminian-powerhouse Roger E. Olson's musings on New Calvinism.
We've heard of "Mission Creep" -- when a project expands beyond its original goals. Roger E. Olson is struggling with "Calvinistic Creep" -- "What am I going to do with all these Calvinists (that are showing up in the unlikeliest of places, i.e., in Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Holiness, and Anabaptist Churches)!!!"
My thoughts: John 3:8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
We've heard of "Mission Creep" -- when a project expands beyond its original goals. Roger E. Olson is struggling with "Calvinistic Creep" -- "What am I going to do with all these Calvinists (that are showing up in the unlikeliest of places, i.e., in Wesleyan, Pentecostal, Holiness, and Anabaptist Churches)!!!"
My thoughts: John 3:8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7. Q & A
Blogging through and answering
the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 7.
1. What does
"perspicuity" of Scriptures mean?
Perspicuity is used to describe
the clarity of what Scripture teaches: Scripture is easily understood and
lucid.
2. What is the Roman Catholic
doctrine on this same point?
Roman Catholics do not agree with
Protestants on this point. They believe "We can know the true meaning [of
Scripture] . . . from the Catholic Church which has been authorized by Jesus
Christ to explain His doctrines" (Baltimore Catechism, Q. 1328). Thus, they
are saying that Scripture is not lucid, since they insist Scripture needs the
interpretive imagination of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. Contrast Roman Catholic and
Reformed views of the creed.
For the former, creeds are the
lucid interpretations provided by the Church of the unclear Scriptures. For the
latter, the "authority of creeds is determined by Scripture, not
determinative of Scripture" (13). The Reformed view is that the creeds are always subordinate to Scripture.
4. Does the doctrine of
perspicuity of Scripture teach that there is nothing difficult to understand in
Scripture? What is the difference between this admission and the Roman Catholic
teaching?
No. The doctrine of perspicuity of Scripture does not teach there is nothing difficult to understand in Scripture. There are many profound things taught in Scripture, e.g., Doctrine of Election, Doctrine of Trinity. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter" (Proverbs 25:2). These profound things are hard to understand because of the nature of their content, but they can be understood.
5. What must the humblest as well
as the most learned Christian do to understand the Scriptures? Do you think
that those who complain of Scripture being too hard to understand have ever
really done this?
All must study the Scriptures in order to understand the Scriptures. This is a diligent work. It is not something that is accomplished with "spasmodic spurts of effort" (13). If you read Scripture diligently and cumulatively, then you cannot say it is too hard to understand.
6. How does Scripture itself
indicate that God regards his Word as clear enough for all to understand?
God tells us to search and study and read the Scriptures, and God' s Word is addressed to all men.
2 Timothy 3:15-17 "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
Acts 17:11 "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so."
John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me."
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates."
7. What would you believe are
"the ordinary means" which must be duly used?
Study the Bible in a systematic fashion with aids (pastoral help, the creeds, Bible commentaries, Christian devotional writings, etc.).
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6. Q & A
Blogging through and answering the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes for personal review and comprehension.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
1. Cite Scripture proof that God's Word is now complete.
Jesus Christ said he was the "truth" (John 14:6) and the author of Hebrews unwraps the logic of that statement, stating that "God .... at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" but now he "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" who is the "express image of his person." The former was provisional, and the latter final.
2. Cite Scripture proof that God's Word discloses all of his will for man.
Paul says in Acts 20:27 that he declared "all the counsel of God." In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul argues that Scripture is able to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness/perfection.
3. Why is guidance given in terms of general principles rather than particular directions? (Two reasons may be given.)
God's law addresses all things, it is all encompassing, and if guidance is given in terms of general principles instead of particular directions that is actually a possibility (otherwise it would merely be wooden, legalistic, and bulky/verbose). Each of us is personally responsible to "apply these principles to [our] own circumstances" (11) in order to do all to the Glory of God. This involves engaging our thoughts and imaginations. But since the principles apply to specific and personal circumstances, Christian Liberty must be engendered and practiced.
4. How can the Bible suffice for all men in all times an places?
These all-encompassing principles are universal, applying to all men, everywhere, at all times.
5. In the categories of worship and government give examples of things which are, and things which are not, circumstances of worship and government.
Regarding worship: the time of day, location (indoors, out doors, in a building owned or rented), the color of the chairs, the paint on the walls, etc. Regarding government: the rules of church order (e.g., Book of Procedures), the specifics of constituting as a local church, etc.
6. Give an example to show that the general principles of the Word of God must control circumstances, and that the circumstances must not control (or be allowed to cause violation of) principles of the Word of God.
In Exodus 23:4 we read, "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again." A wooden interpretation that would cause violation would be as follows: a man sees his enemy's sheep going astray, but since it isn't the man's ox or ass he doesn't feel compelled to return the animal to his enemy.
The proper view - the principle from this case law is this for a contemporary circumstance: even if someone is your enemy, if you come across their misplaced (gone astray) property, then you have an ethical responsibility to restore the property to them. An example: your neighbor is always agitating you, complaining about your fence, about your lawn, about where and how you place the trash out by the curb on pick-up days, etc. You find his wallet on the sidewalk. You have a moral obligation, on the basis of the principle demonstrated in Exodus 23:4, to return the wallet to your neighbor.
Prior posts:
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 6.
1. Cite Scripture proof that God's Word is now complete.
Jesus Christ said he was the "truth" (John 14:6) and the author of Hebrews unwraps the logic of that statement, stating that "God .... at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" but now he "hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son" who is the "express image of his person." The former was provisional, and the latter final.
2. Cite Scripture proof that God's Word discloses all of his will for man.
Paul says in Acts 20:27 that he declared "all the counsel of God." In 2 Timothy 3:15-17, Paul argues that Scripture is able to teach, reprove, correct, and train us in righteousness/perfection.
3. Why is guidance given in terms of general principles rather than particular directions? (Two reasons may be given.)
God's law addresses all things, it is all encompassing, and if guidance is given in terms of general principles instead of particular directions that is actually a possibility (otherwise it would merely be wooden, legalistic, and bulky/verbose). Each of us is personally responsible to "apply these principles to [our] own circumstances" (11) in order to do all to the Glory of God. This involves engaging our thoughts and imaginations. But since the principles apply to specific and personal circumstances, Christian Liberty must be engendered and practiced.
4. How can the Bible suffice for all men in all times an places?
These all-encompassing principles are universal, applying to all men, everywhere, at all times.
5. In the categories of worship and government give examples of things which are, and things which are not, circumstances of worship and government.
Regarding worship: the time of day, location (indoors, out doors, in a building owned or rented), the color of the chairs, the paint on the walls, etc. Regarding government: the rules of church order (e.g., Book of Procedures), the specifics of constituting as a local church, etc.
6. Give an example to show that the general principles of the Word of God must control circumstances, and that the circumstances must not control (or be allowed to cause violation of) principles of the Word of God.
In Exodus 23:4 we read, "If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again." A wooden interpretation that would cause violation would be as follows: a man sees his enemy's sheep going astray, but since it isn't the man's ox or ass he doesn't feel compelled to return the animal to his enemy.
The proper view - the principle from this case law is this for a contemporary circumstance: even if someone is your enemy, if you come across their misplaced (gone astray) property, then you have an ethical responsibility to restore the property to them. An example: your neighbor is always agitating you, complaining about your fence, about your lawn, about where and how you place the trash out by the curb on pick-up days, etc. You find his wallet on the sidewalk. You have a moral obligation, on the basis of the principle demonstrated in Exodus 23:4, to return the wallet to your neighbor.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Tuesdays with Blaster at Tree & The Seed: TMWAJ - Tracks 10, 11, and 12
*I started this weekly review last year -- this is one of my favorite punk rock records by the band Blaster the Rocket Man -- and circling back now to finish the review for the latter half of the album.*
Today's installment is over Tracks 10, 11, and 12 of Blaster the Rocket Man's 1999 release, The Monster Who Ate Jesus.
Go here for initial comments on album and the linear notes.
Go here for comments on Tracks 1, 2, and 3.
Go here for comments on Tracks 4, 5, and 6.
Go here for comments on Tracks 7, 8, and 9.
Track 10 - Lovebot's Revenge
I don't know if jungle-polka-punk-rock is an established music genre . . . However, if it is, this would be the poster-child song. The song opens with jungle-sounding drumming, then the songs kicks through a verse with guitar phrasing that accentuates the jungle-sounding drumming. And with the chorus the polka-ish rhythm begins. And throughout the song reverberated and layered vocals peppered with labial stops. Most excellent.
"homicide, lust hard by hate"
- Milton, "Paradise Lost"
I'm a bogie in the heart of the jungle
In a hidden lab under the vines of the tangle
I've got my sights on the lights of the city
I want a chemical reaction to something pretty
I'm programmed to fall for ya', pretty baby
You're programmed to fall for me, pretty baby
Aww...fall into my arms!
Harmful heat in my hugs hide
My lips are laced with cyanide
Never mind my medicine breath
Come hither for a kiss of Death, now
Hold me, hold me, hold me
Huggin' and a lovin'
Who put the...in the...
Who was that man?
I'd like to
cut his hands off!
Meanwhile, I'm in the jungle she calls a heart
Boilin' and a burnin' in a cauldron
Mauled by the tiger who eats my flesh
Then the monkeys swing down and devour the rest
Couldn't he tell it was a bad relationship?
Didn't he know we couldn't get a grip
on each other or anything other than ourselves
which we lost in the process as well
I'm programmed to fall for ya', pretty baby
You're programmed to fall fro me, little honey
And great was our Fall, pretty baby
We all have fallen short of the glory of God!
Oh, I'm a romantic thriller
A real lady killer!
Where there once were feely fingers
No protrude poisonous stingers
Feel I'm left with no recourse
But to kill her with no remorse, now
Hold me...huggin' and a kissin'
Who put the...in the...
Who was that man?
I'd like to cut his hands off!
('Cause he made my baby fall in love with me!)
Aw, have mercy
Somebody kill me!
Note: Let no one suppose for one moment that
Blaster promotes violence or murder in this physical,
temporal realm. This song is a satirical
thriller about the very real consequences to par-
taking in what this world celebrates as "love."
So how do we recognize true love in a world
full of destructive counterfeits? "This is how we
know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life
for us." (1 John 3:16)
The violence and mortification that Blaster
does promote, in other songs on this album, is
spiritual and part of a very real war that is, at
this moment, being waged. "Beloved, I beg you, as
aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against your soul."
(1 Peter 2:11)
Track 11 - Disasteroid
Punk rock. Tremolo picking and vocal growls accentuate this Apocalyptic-minded song. The earth is a "Disasteroid" that will burn up and be transformed into a New Heaven and New Earth.
Disasteroid!
(It's winding down! It's winding down!
It's winding down!)
Your "mechanism" can't organize life at the start
And the universe is ripping apart!
Disateroid!
(It's winding down! It's winding down!
It's winding down!)
Completely catastrophic
Entirely entropic
Nothing or none can stop it!
This world -womb will give birth
to a New Heaven and New Earth
Disasteroid!
(It's burning down! It's burning down!
It's burning down!)
Open system or closed system
Either way you've missed Him who created you
Disasteroid!
(It's burning up! It's burning up! It's burning up!)
In Christ all things consist
By His light you exist another day
You can't change the course of the curse
The transformation will occur
World !
Womb!
In the twinkling of an eye
Mortality will be swallowed up by Life
when the Earth is destroyed!
Track 12 - [Untitled]
This track is a spoken word intro to the following track, "Frankenstein's Monster Wants a Wife."
Frankenstein, Frankenstein,
Where, where have you been?
In your laboratory
making something ghastly, gory
In the church yard
digging hard
midst the tombstones
alone with bones
Did you steal the cadaver?
That your son may have her
And thus the monster
will curse his father
Frankenstein, Frankenstein
What have you seen?
Today's installment is over Tracks 10, 11, and 12 of Blaster the Rocket Man's 1999 release, The Monster Who Ate Jesus.
Go here for initial comments on album and the linear notes.
Go here for comments on Tracks 1, 2, and 3.
Go here for comments on Tracks 4, 5, and 6.
Go here for comments on Tracks 7, 8, and 9.
Track 10 - Lovebot's Revenge
I don't know if jungle-polka-punk-rock is an established music genre . . . However, if it is, this would be the poster-child song. The song opens with jungle-sounding drumming, then the songs kicks through a verse with guitar phrasing that accentuates the jungle-sounding drumming. And with the chorus the polka-ish rhythm begins. And throughout the song reverberated and layered vocals peppered with labial stops. Most excellent.
"homicide, lust hard by hate"
- Milton, "Paradise Lost"
I'm a bogie in the heart of the jungle
In a hidden lab under the vines of the tangle
I've got my sights on the lights of the city
I want a chemical reaction to something pretty
I'm programmed to fall for ya', pretty baby
You're programmed to fall for me, pretty baby
Aww...fall into my arms!
Harmful heat in my hugs hide
My lips are laced with cyanide
Never mind my medicine breath
Come hither for a kiss of Death, now
Hold me, hold me, hold me
Huggin' and a lovin'
Who put the...in the...
Who was that man?
I'd like to
cut his hands off!
Meanwhile, I'm in the jungle she calls a heart
Boilin' and a burnin' in a cauldron
Mauled by the tiger who eats my flesh
Then the monkeys swing down and devour the rest
Couldn't he tell it was a bad relationship?
Didn't he know we couldn't get a grip
on each other or anything other than ourselves
which we lost in the process as well
I'm programmed to fall for ya', pretty baby
You're programmed to fall fro me, little honey
And great was our Fall, pretty baby
We all have fallen short of the glory of God!
Oh, I'm a romantic thriller
A real lady killer!
Where there once were feely fingers
No protrude poisonous stingers
Feel I'm left with no recourse
But to kill her with no remorse, now
Hold me...huggin' and a kissin'
Who put the...in the...
Who was that man?
I'd like to cut his hands off!
('Cause he made my baby fall in love with me!)
Aw, have mercy
Somebody kill me!
Note: Let no one suppose for one moment that
Blaster promotes violence or murder in this physical,
temporal realm. This song is a satirical
thriller about the very real consequences to par-
taking in what this world celebrates as "love."
So how do we recognize true love in a world
full of destructive counterfeits? "This is how we
know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life
for us." (1 John 3:16)
The violence and mortification that Blaster
does promote, in other songs on this album, is
spiritual and part of a very real war that is, at
this moment, being waged. "Beloved, I beg you, as
aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against your soul."
(1 Peter 2:11)
Track 11 - Disasteroid
Punk rock. Tremolo picking and vocal growls accentuate this Apocalyptic-minded song. The earth is a "Disasteroid" that will burn up and be transformed into a New Heaven and New Earth.
Disasteroid!
(It's winding down! It's winding down!
It's winding down!)
Your "mechanism" can't organize life at the start
And the universe is ripping apart!
Disateroid!
(It's winding down! It's winding down!
It's winding down!)
Completely catastrophic
Entirely entropic
Nothing or none can stop it!
This world -womb will give birth
to a New Heaven and New Earth
Disasteroid!
(It's burning down! It's burning down!
It's burning down!)
Open system or closed system
Either way you've missed Him who created you
Disasteroid!
(It's burning up! It's burning up! It's burning up!)
In Christ all things consist
By His light you exist another day
You can't change the course of the curse
The transformation will occur
World !
Womb!
In the twinkling of an eye
Mortality will be swallowed up by Life
when the Earth is destroyed!
Track 12 - [Untitled]
This track is a spoken word intro to the following track, "Frankenstein's Monster Wants a Wife."
Frankenstein, Frankenstein,
Where, where have you been?
In your laboratory
making something ghastly, gory
In the church yard
digging hard
midst the tombstones
alone with bones
Did you steal the cadaver?
That your son may have her
And thus the monster
will curse his father
Frankenstein, Frankenstein
What have you seen?
Ignatius and Art of Dying
Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch in Syria. He was arrested and led to Rome to be executed around 110 A.D. During his travels from Syria to Rome he wrote several letters to Christian churches. The following excerpt is from his letter to the Roman churches.
His captors were brutal; Ignatius says they "only get worse the better you treat them." Ignatius knows they will feed him to lions/beasts when he arrives in Rome.
Reflecting on this, Ignatius says, "Now is the moment I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing seen or unseen begrudge me making my way to Jesus Christ. Come fire, cross, battling with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body, cruel tortures of the devil -- only let me get to Jesus Christ!" (Quotations from Early Christian Fathers, edited and translated by Cyril C. Richardson (Volume I: The Library of Christian Classics), pages 104-105, in William C. Placher's Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 1, 18.)
His captors were brutal; Ignatius says they "only get worse the better you treat them." Ignatius knows they will feed him to lions/beasts when he arrives in Rome.
Reflecting on this, Ignatius says, "Now is the moment I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing seen or unseen begrudge me making my way to Jesus Christ. Come fire, cross, battling with wild beasts, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body, cruel tortures of the devil -- only let me get to Jesus Christ!" (Quotations from Early Christian Fathers, edited and translated by Cyril C. Richardson (Volume I: The Library of Christian Classics), pages 104-105, in William C. Placher's Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 1, 18.)
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5. Q & A
Blogging through the questions from G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes.
Prior post: I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
1. What is the "proof" that the Bible is inspired?
Evidence both internal and external to God's Word is "proof" that the Bible is inspired. The internal evidence claims it is the Word of God, the New Testament authors believed the Old Testament was inspired, Jesus Christ promised to give his Holy Scripture to his disciples in order to write the New Testament Scriptures (see John 14:26), within the New Testament we see that the different authors treat each others writings as the inspired Word of God, the Bible contains information that could only be revealed (e.g., Creation, the future new heaven and new earth), in addition, the Bible contains many prophesies that were fulfilled. The "external evidence is subordinate, but important" (7): the Church in all ages has acknowledge Scripture as inspired, and the Scriptures have "been preserved as no other writing on earth" (7), indicating God's special care.
2. How does the Bible express the claim that it is inspired?
The Bible claims to be the word of God. The Bible claims God is its author.
3. Why cannot the authority of the Bible depend on the "testimony" of any man or Church?
The authority of the Bible cannot depend on the "testimony" of any man or Church because both can and oftentimes err. "Yet it is no small thing that the Church even in its darkest days has acknowledged that the Bible is the Word of God" (7).
4. What is Rome's audacious claim?
Rome's audacious claim is that the the Bible is the Word of God, but that this certainty depends upon the testimony of the Church. (See the Baltimore Catechism, Q. 1327: "it is only from Tradition (preserved in the Catholic Church) that we can know which of the writings of ancient times are inspired and which are not inspired.")
5. How do Protestants sometimes subordinate the authority of Scripture to men?
This occurs when Protestants foolishly grant or give credence to the unbeliever's claim that there is nothing within Scripture that warrants them to believe it is the Word of God. That is, when Protestants grant that there is a "neutral" starting point from which to dive into the complex web of data (i.e., archaeological, historical, etc.) and attempt to sift through the facts and arrive at the truth of the matter. This is foolishness because it is idolatrous, it makes the reason of man the measure of all things.
6. Where must the evidence of Scripture's divinity be sought?
The evidence must be sought in the Divine-Word; the evidence is evident in the intrinsic qualities. The Word of God is there. It is and in it are the evidences of its divinity. "As Prof. John Murray puts it: 'The authority of Scripture is an objective and permanent fact residing in the quality of inspiration'"(8).
7. If the evidence is there, why does not faith always result when men are confronted with that evidence?
There is no deficiency in the evidence, so the reasons faith does not always result when men are confronted with the evidence is because "not all men have the requisite perceptive faculty" (8). What is the state of the man's heart? If they hate God, if the grace of God is not active in their heart, then their understanding is darkened by bondage to sin. The truth (evidence) is there, but they attempt to hold it down and suppress it (see Romans 1:18).
8. When the Confession speaks of the Holy Spirit "bearing witness," does it mean that the new truth conveyed to the mind?
No. The Holy Spirit is not conveying new truth to the mind of man. The Holy Spirit "bearing witness" does so "by and with the word in our hearts." There is both the objective witness of Scripture and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, and man through the internal work of the Holy Spirit responds appropriately to the truth that is the objective witness of Scripture. The truth in the Bible is the truth conveyed to the mind of believers through the work of the Holy Spirit. "God's whole truth to man is contained in Scripture" (8). The Word of God is inherently perfect, therefore, the Holy Spirit does not convey new truth to the mind of man.
Prior post: I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 2-5.
1. What is the "proof" that the Bible is inspired?
Evidence both internal and external to God's Word is "proof" that the Bible is inspired. The internal evidence claims it is the Word of God, the New Testament authors believed the Old Testament was inspired, Jesus Christ promised to give his Holy Scripture to his disciples in order to write the New Testament Scriptures (see John 14:26), within the New Testament we see that the different authors treat each others writings as the inspired Word of God, the Bible contains information that could only be revealed (e.g., Creation, the future new heaven and new earth), in addition, the Bible contains many prophesies that were fulfilled. The "external evidence is subordinate, but important" (7): the Church in all ages has acknowledge Scripture as inspired, and the Scriptures have "been preserved as no other writing on earth" (7), indicating God's special care.
2. How does the Bible express the claim that it is inspired?
The Bible claims to be the word of God. The Bible claims God is its author.
3. Why cannot the authority of the Bible depend on the "testimony" of any man or Church?
The authority of the Bible cannot depend on the "testimony" of any man or Church because both can and oftentimes err. "Yet it is no small thing that the Church even in its darkest days has acknowledged that the Bible is the Word of God" (7).
4. What is Rome's audacious claim?
Rome's audacious claim is that the the Bible is the Word of God, but that this certainty depends upon the testimony of the Church. (See the Baltimore Catechism, Q. 1327: "it is only from Tradition (preserved in the Catholic Church) that we can know which of the writings of ancient times are inspired and which are not inspired.")
5. How do Protestants sometimes subordinate the authority of Scripture to men?
This occurs when Protestants foolishly grant or give credence to the unbeliever's claim that there is nothing within Scripture that warrants them to believe it is the Word of God. That is, when Protestants grant that there is a "neutral" starting point from which to dive into the complex web of data (i.e., archaeological, historical, etc.) and attempt to sift through the facts and arrive at the truth of the matter. This is foolishness because it is idolatrous, it makes the reason of man the measure of all things.
6. Where must the evidence of Scripture's divinity be sought?
The evidence must be sought in the Divine-Word; the evidence is evident in the intrinsic qualities. The Word of God is there. It is and in it are the evidences of its divinity. "As Prof. John Murray puts it: 'The authority of Scripture is an objective and permanent fact residing in the quality of inspiration'"(8).
7. If the evidence is there, why does not faith always result when men are confronted with that evidence?
There is no deficiency in the evidence, so the reasons faith does not always result when men are confronted with the evidence is because "not all men have the requisite perceptive faculty" (8). What is the state of the man's heart? If they hate God, if the grace of God is not active in their heart, then their understanding is darkened by bondage to sin. The truth (evidence) is there, but they attempt to hold it down and suppress it (see Romans 1:18).
8. When the Confession speaks of the Holy Spirit "bearing witness," does it mean that the new truth conveyed to the mind?
No. The Holy Spirit is not conveying new truth to the mind of man. The Holy Spirit "bearing witness" does so "by and with the word in our hearts." There is both the objective witness of Scripture and the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, and man through the internal work of the Holy Spirit responds appropriately to the truth that is the objective witness of Scripture. The truth in the Bible is the truth conveyed to the mind of believers through the work of the Holy Spirit. "God's whole truth to man is contained in Scripture" (8). The Word of God is inherently perfect, therefore, the Holy Spirit does not convey new truth to the mind of man.
Monday, September 16, 2013
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1. Q & A
G. I. Williamson's The Westminster Confession of Faith for Study Classes is a well known reference on the WCF. Williamson provides a commentary for each of the Confession's chapters with closing questions. I am going to blog through the questions for personal review and comprehension. Let's roll.
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
1. How many kinds of revelation are there? Name them.
There are two kinds of revelation: the two kinds of revelation are natural and special.
2. It has been imagined by some that natural revelation spoke clearly to Adam (some even imagined that he needed no word revelation before the fall), but that it does not speak clearly to us. Disprove.
Natural revelation certainly spoke clearly to Adam, however, it was not intended to exist in isolation from special revelation. Special (word) revelation was also present in the Garden (see Genesis 1:28-30; 2:16-17). Natural revelation speaks clearly to us today, but we suppress because of our rebellion (Romans 1:18-20).
3. Is there proof for the existence of God? Where?
Yes. Proof for the existence of God is everywhere: the general creation is proof, man himself is proof, etc.
4. What is wrong with the traditional "proofs" for the existence of God?
The traditional "proofs" for the existence of God merely make God's existence a probability. This is wrong because it makes man's perceptions the measure of all things; this is wrong because it makes man's "perceptions" the base of Epistemology.
5. What are the two aspects of man's nature as "the image of God"?
The two aspects are metaphysical (man's being) and ethical (man's will/purpose).
6. Which of these could man "lose"?
Man was created with freedom - "man is free to do as he will" (2). When Adam freely chose to rebel against God this ethical aspect was lost.
7. Which of these was produced wholly by God?
Man's being was produced wholly by God; man's being is entirely dependent upon God. However, "even in his freedom of will man cannot escape the absolute control of God because the being of man (he is only an image) is wholly dependent upon God. . . . man can only violate, but can never destroy, his dependent relationship to God" (2).
8. Which of these was partly produced by man?
Man's will/purpose is partly produced by man. Because we have been created with free will the "purpose of man is a matter of choice" (2).
9. Was natural revelation alone sufficient before the fall? Why?
Natural revelation was not "alone sufficient before the fall" because the "two forms of revelation are always coordinate" (3). There was no deficiency in God's revelation before the fall because both natural and special revelation were "related to, and designed to operate through, Adam's obedience" (3).
10. What does natural revelation now declare that it did not declare before the fall of man?
It reveals the wrath of God (see Romans 1:18).
11. Does man still exist in the image of God?
Yes. Man still exists in the image of God. In our nature (being) we are image bearers of God. Sin is merely an ethical disease that defiles our natures; sin cannot destroy our nature, it only defiles. "As long as men are men they exist in God's image" (2).
12. What prevents man from having consciousness of the true and living God who hates sin?
We prevent ourselves. The revelation is still there, but in our sin we shrink back and make up lies about reality (Romans 1:20-21).
13. Why must the remedy to man's condition come by special (word) revelation?
Natural and special (word) revelation are "always coordinate" -- this was true under the Covenant of Works made with Adam, as well as under the Covenant of Grace made with the Second Adam -- "But just as the test of man's obedience came by the way of word revelation, so the remedy for man's present need comes by way of word revelation" (3).
WCF. I. Of the Holy Scriptures - 1.
1. How many kinds of revelation are there? Name them.
There are two kinds of revelation: the two kinds of revelation are natural and special.
2. It has been imagined by some that natural revelation spoke clearly to Adam (some even imagined that he needed no word revelation before the fall), but that it does not speak clearly to us. Disprove.
Natural revelation certainly spoke clearly to Adam, however, it was not intended to exist in isolation from special revelation. Special (word) revelation was also present in the Garden (see Genesis 1:28-30; 2:16-17). Natural revelation speaks clearly to us today, but we suppress because of our rebellion (Romans 1:18-20).
3. Is there proof for the existence of God? Where?
Yes. Proof for the existence of God is everywhere: the general creation is proof, man himself is proof, etc.
4. What is wrong with the traditional "proofs" for the existence of God?
The traditional "proofs" for the existence of God merely make God's existence a probability. This is wrong because it makes man's perceptions the measure of all things; this is wrong because it makes man's "perceptions" the base of Epistemology.
5. What are the two aspects of man's nature as "the image of God"?
The two aspects are metaphysical (man's being) and ethical (man's will/purpose).
6. Which of these could man "lose"?
Man was created with freedom - "man is free to do as he will" (2). When Adam freely chose to rebel against God this ethical aspect was lost.
7. Which of these was produced wholly by God?
Man's being was produced wholly by God; man's being is entirely dependent upon God. However, "even in his freedom of will man cannot escape the absolute control of God because the being of man (he is only an image) is wholly dependent upon God. . . . man can only violate, but can never destroy, his dependent relationship to God" (2).
8. Which of these was partly produced by man?
Man's will/purpose is partly produced by man. Because we have been created with free will the "purpose of man is a matter of choice" (2).
9. Was natural revelation alone sufficient before the fall? Why?
Natural revelation was not "alone sufficient before the fall" because the "two forms of revelation are always coordinate" (3). There was no deficiency in God's revelation before the fall because both natural and special revelation were "related to, and designed to operate through, Adam's obedience" (3).
10. What does natural revelation now declare that it did not declare before the fall of man?
It reveals the wrath of God (see Romans 1:18).
11. Does man still exist in the image of God?
Yes. Man still exists in the image of God. In our nature (being) we are image bearers of God. Sin is merely an ethical disease that defiles our natures; sin cannot destroy our nature, it only defiles. "As long as men are men they exist in God's image" (2).
12. What prevents man from having consciousness of the true and living God who hates sin?
We prevent ourselves. The revelation is still there, but in our sin we shrink back and make up lies about reality (Romans 1:20-21).
13. Why must the remedy to man's condition come by special (word) revelation?
Natural and special (word) revelation are "always coordinate" -- this was true under the Covenant of Works made with Adam, as well as under the Covenant of Grace made with the Second Adam -- "But just as the test of man's obedience came by the way of word revelation, so the remedy for man's present need comes by way of word revelation" (3).
Truth
Discussing the tenet "Christianity is true and anything opposing it is false," K. Scott Oliphint says, "God's revelation describes the way things really and truly are in the world. That is, we are saying that what God says about the world is the way the world really is" (Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith, 51).
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Bible and Lordship of Christ
"The Bible is authoritative not because we accept it as such, but because it is the word of the risen Lord. It has a claim on all people. Its truth is the truth for every person in every place. Why, then, would we be reluctant to communicate that truth in our apologetics? Perhaps because we have not reckoned with the actual lordship of Christ. Perhaps we haven't really set him apart as Lord in our hearts" (K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practice in Defense of Our Faith, 37).
Christ: Our Righteousness
From John Calvin's Institutes: Our righteousness is in Christ, and it is "imputed to us as if it were our own."
You see that our righteousness is not in ourselves, but in Christ; that the only way in which we become possessed of it is by being made partakers with Christ, since with him we possess all riches. There is nothing repugnant to this in what he elsewhere says: “God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,” (Rom. 8:3, 4). Here the only fulfillment to which he refers is that which we obtain by imputation. Our Lord Jesus Christ communicates his righteousness to us, and so by some wondrous ways in so far as pertains to the justice of Gods transfuses its power into us. That this was the Apostle’s view is abundantly clear from another sentiment which he had expressed a little before: “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous,” (Rom. 5:19). To declare that we are deemed righteous, solely because the obedience of Christ is imputed to us as if it were our own, is just to place our righteousness in the obedience of Christ.
Psalmic Transformation
Following excerpt from recent CT interview with N. T. Wright regarding his new book, The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential.
How can the Psalms transform us?
Within the Jewish and Christian traditions, you get your worldview sorted out by worship. The Psalms are provided to guide that worship. When we continually pray and sing the Psalms, our worldview will actually reconfigure according to their values, theology, and modes of expression. It's not that the Psalter gives us "Five Rules for Constructing Your Worldview." But it does embody the worldview that is to shape the people of God. And somebody who is regularly exposed to certain media forms (like a sequence of films, or a radio talk show with a particular bias) will begin seeing the world through those ideas and values.
Friday, September 13, 2013
The Historic Objectivity of the Atonement
"The atonement is objective to us, performed independently of us, and the subjective effects that accrue from it presuppose its accomplishment. The subjective effects exerted in our understanding and will can follow only as we recognize by faith the meaning of the objective fact" (John Murray, Redemption - Accomplished and Applied, 52).
Thursday, September 12, 2013
God's All-Wise and Perfect Plan
"But why didn't God, when sin entered the world, simply squash Satan and his legion and finish the battle? Why does he put up with, even actively join the fight against, such rebellion when he could stop it at any time? The only answer we have to such questions is that all things are still working to and for his own glory, even though sin has ruined his creation (Rom. 11:36). Everything that happens, happens according to his all-wise and perfect plan" (K. Scott Oliphint, Covenantal Apologetics: Principles and Practices in Defense of Our Faith, 32).
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Free From Condemnation
"The word "condemned" in Romans 8:3 recalls the words from verse 1, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This is a reference to the reality of justification. ("Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?" [Romans 8:33-34, ESV].) The Son of God became flesh so that the "condemnation" of sin might be on him (who had no sin). That is, he bore our condemnation. We are now viewed as free from condemnation "in Christ" (v. 1) when we are united to him by faith" (John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness?, 79).
Caught Up in the Purposes of God
"Being saved is not some individual achievement, not the result of some flash of personal insight, nor the securing of life's sense of meaning, although all of that may happen in the process of praying this prayer. Salvation is the delightful surprise of having your little life caught up in the purposes of God for the whole world. Salvation is having your life bent toward God when all you thought you were doing was memorizing a little prayer" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 21-22).
Internal Evidence of Scripture's Divine Origin
"The Bible claims to be the word of God; it speaks in his name, it assumes his authority" (Charles Hodge, The Way of Life: A Handbook of Christian Belief and Practice, 17).
Monday, September 9, 2013
God's Plan
"[T]he essential teachings of Christianity is that God has a plan for man and the world. We are bound to believe that history is not a haphazard conglomeration of chance events which are going nowhere. We are bound to believe that there is some divine far off event to which the whole creation moves and that when that consummation comes Jesus Christ will be Judge and Lord of all. The Second Coming is not a matter for speculation and for illegitimate curiosity; it is a summons to make ourselves ready for that day when it comes" (William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles, 14).
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Friday, September 6, 2013
Preferential Listening
"Who would you rather listen to: someone who has been around the world three times on a oil freighter, or someone who never came out of his basement - even if he had really sweet bandwidth down there?" (Douglas Wilson, Wordsmithy: Hot Tips for the Writing Life, 66).
Thursday, September 5, 2013
In Praise of Habits
"We eat, sleep, make love, shake hands, hug our children out of habit. Some things in life are too important to be left up to chance. Some things in life are too difficult to be left up to spontaneous desire - things like telling people that we love them or praying to God. So we do them "out of habit." Thus, in the church we generally do the same things over and over again, week after week, telling the same stories and singing the same songs" (William H. Willimon & Stanley Hauerwas, Lord, Teach Us: The Lord's Prayer and the Christian Life, 18).
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
In Praise of the Ordinary
Thoughtful/edifying article by Michael Horton, an Ode to the "ordinary".
Even Calvinism seems to have gotten back its groove. According to TIME, the “New Calvinism” is one of the top ten trends changing the world today. Collin Hansen’s description—and title of a book explaining the phenomenon—says it pretty well: “Young, Restless, and Reformed.”[2] While it’s exciting to see many younger folks digging into the doctrines of grace, the “restless” part works against the “Reformed” bit. Like all movements, the “New Calvinists” often display a greater interest in making it up as they go rather than wrestling with the actual confessions, concerns, and convictions of churches that have forged their consensus through a long conversation. There is more to being Reformed than “five points.”
In many ways, it’s more fun to be part of movements than churches. We can express our own individuality, pick our favorite leaders, and be swept off our feet at conferences. We can be anonymous. Although encouraged by like-minded believers, we are not bound up with them so that we should feel compelled to bear their burdens or suffer their rebukes. Yet this movement-mentality keeps us restless and makes ordinary life in and submission to an actual church seem intolerably confining.
Christian Witness
"The one basic mistake in Christianity is to regard Jesus as someone who lived and died, and whose life we study and whose story we read. Jesus is not a figure in a book. He is a living presence, and the Christian is the man whose whole life is a witness to the fact that he knows and has met the Risen Lord" (William Barclay, The Acts of the Apostles, 10-11).
Romish Theology: Advocate an Imperfect Atonement
"According to Romish theology, all past sins both as respects their eternal and temporal punishment are blotted out in baptism and also the eternal punishment of the future sins of the faithful. But for the temporal punishment of post-baptismal sins the faithful must make satisfaction either in this life or in purgatory. In opposition to every such notion of human satisfaction Protestants rightly contend that the satisfaction of Christ is the only satisfaction for sin and is so perfect and final that it leaves no penal liability for any sin of the believer" (John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied, 51).
###
We live in strange times. Belief in purgatory within Protestantism is currently on the rise, see Christianity Today's guest column - "Purgatory is Hope" - by Kevin Timpe. The column begins:
###
We live in strange times. Belief in purgatory within Protestantism is currently on the rise, see Christianity Today's guest column - "Purgatory is Hope" - by Kevin Timpe. The column begins:
A recent study suggests that belief in purgatory among Catholics in the United States is on the decline. But there is also reason for thinking that belief in purgatory is on the rise among Protestants. My own attraction to the doctrine comes primarily from the work of a Wesleyan philosopher, Jerry Walls. While Walls' Hell: The Logic of Damnation (Notre Dame, 1992) is one of numerous extended philosophical treatments of hell, his Heaven: The Logic of Eternal Joy (Oxford, 2002) is a rare book-length treatment of the philosophical issues surrounding heaven. Heaven also contains a chapter providing the best philosophical defense of purgatory that I'm aware of. Walls there argues that the Christian doctrine of "salvation must involve changing us to love God as we ought [for] the aim of salvation is to make us holy, and this is what fits us for heaven." Walls completed his trilogy with Purgatory: The Logic of Total Transformation (Oxford, 2011). It is dedicated to defending the doctrine of purgatory "as a rational theological inference from other important biblical and theological commitments … for those who take seriously the role of human freedom in salvation."Wesleyan-Arminian theology and Romish theology are kissing cousins: both advocate an imperfect atonement. Since their understanding of the atonement is not fully biblical, so too inferred doctrines, e.g. purgatory, human participation in salvation, etc., are not fully biblical.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Spiritual War
"We must view sin and evil in its larger proportions as a kingdom that embraces the subtlety, craft, ingenuity, power, and unremitting activity of Satan and his legions - "the principalities, and the powers, the world-rulers of this darkness, the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenlies" (Eph. 6:12)" (John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied, 50).
Monday, September 2, 2013
Christian Teaching
"Doctrine must be taught formally in the home, but it is also caught while hearing stories and receiving instruction at the table and the bedside. Christian teaching must be a life style not an event. Diligence is paramount if any success is to be expected" (Donald W. Schanzenbach, Faithful Parents - Faithful Children: Why We Homeschool, 6).
The same could be said regarding the Lord's Service: doctrine must be formally taught by the Liturgy and through sermonizing, but it is also "caught" at the Table. Liturgy is a life style, not a bare fact or event.
The same could be said regarding the Lord's Service: doctrine must be formally taught by the Liturgy and through sermonizing, but it is also "caught" at the Table. Liturgy is a life style, not a bare fact or event.
Justification and Sanctification, Again
"I have no desire to make an idol of holiness. I do not wish to dethrone Christ, and put holiness in His place. But I must candidly say, I wish sanctification was more thought of in this day than it seems to be, and I therefore take occasion to press the subject on all believers into whose hands these pages may fall. I fear it is sometimes forgotten that God has married together justification and sanctification. They are distinct and different things, beyond question, but one is never found without the other. All justified people are sanctified, and all sanctified people are justified. What God has joined together let no man dare to put asunder. Tell me not of your justification, unless you have also some marks of sanctification. Boast not of Christ's work for you, unless you can show us the Spirit's work in you. Think not that Christ and the Spirit can be divided" (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 47).
Justification and Sanctification, Again
"Though clearly distinguished, sanctification is not separated from the new birth and justification but utterly dependent on both. Too often, we assume that the gospel of free salvation in Jesus Christ, apart from our own efforts, is good news for unbelievers but that believers no longer need it. They "got saved," after all, and now what they need are exhortations to live for Jesus. Sanctification, then, becomes unhinged from justification and the new birth, so that we easily confuse our performance in the Christian life with the gospel. Instead, sanctification must be seen as the outworking of our justification and union with Christ. Obedience is often difficult and demanding - it doesn't just happen to us but is something that we work out with fear and trembling. As essential as this new obedience is to Christian identity, if our acceptance before God were founded on it there could be absolutely no hope" (Michael Horton, A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God-Centered Worship, 71).
Justification and Sanctification
John Piper dotting the i's and crossing the t's on the doctrine of justification:
If Paul had just spent three chapters teaching that justification means God's powerful salvific activity in liberating people from the mastery of sin, why would the question arise: So shall we sin that grace may abound? . . . what gives some measure of plausibility to these rhetorical questions in Romans 6:1 and 6:15 is the doctrine of Romans 3 - 5 that justification is emphatically not liberation from the mastery of sin. It does not include sanctification. That is precisely what creates the need for Paul to write in Romans 6 - 8: to show why God's imputing his own righteousness to us by faith apart from works does not result in lawlessness, but in fact necessarily leads to righteous living. Therefore we are not at all encouraged to blur the relationship between sanctification and justification that Paul preserves in Romans 6:6-7: Justification is the necessary and prior basis of sanctification ("for," v. 7) (John Piper, Counted Righteous in Christ: Should We Abandon the Imputation of Christ's Righteousness?, 77-78).
Measuring Man
"That we make mistakes and give in to our imaginations is only human; anyone who wants to live in perfection ought to look for a desert. Every man's virtues have to be weighed alongside his vices, and we must take his measure according to which side of his character is stronger" (Petrus Canaeus, The Hebrew Republic, 180).
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