Truths by Trueman

"I have yet to read a [blog's] "comments thread" on any topic of significance that does not quickly degenerate into moronic commentary that is as notable for its vacuousness as it is for its personal abuse" (Car R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 41).

"A dialog between a complementarian, a feminist, and a patriarch..."

You can read the full article at Baylyblog.com 

Complementarian: I’m a complementarian! 

Feminist: A complementarian? What is that? 

Complementarian: A complementarian spelled with an ‘e.’ It means I believe the genders complete each other. That God made Adam and Eve to be mutually beneficial as husband and wife. Each of them were given gifts the other needs and together they are more than the sum of their parts. 

Feminist: Well of course different genders are different! Who says they’re not? But your new word gives me no indication what the difference is! 

Complementarian: Well, we can talk about that. But I want to make clear that I’m thankful for feminists’ work calling the church to repent of the oppression of women that has been characteristic of Christians and the Christian church for too, too long. I'm deeply sorry and I apologize. 

Feminist: That sounds good, but beyond that, what do you stand for? I can’t figure it out. 

Complementarian: Well, I believe that both man and woman equally bear the Image of God, and therefore both man and woman are equal. I love my wife and mother and daughters and I treat them with respect. 

Feminist: Again, that’s good. But I thought we disagreed with each other? 

Complementarian: Maybe, maybe not. Sounds like we both agree that women and men are equal, right? 

Feminist: Right. 

Complementarian: So we agree there! Isn’t that neat? 

Feminist: Maybe, but would you please get to the point! 

Complementarian: Well, I think maybe what you’re getting at is the fact that I believe that one part of the complementarian world God has created is that the husband and wife are each made to submit to each other in loving unity. That the wife is made by God to complete her husband and the husband is made by God to be a servant leader of his wife. Doesn’t that sound good? There’s no privileging there, is there? Do you like me now? 

Feminist: Ah, come on! Stop talking around the issue. Do you take me for a fool? You hold to patriarchy and I know it. You believe the husband is the head of the wife, don’t you? Come on, admit it! 

Complementarian: Well, you might put it that way but I take strong exception to that word ‘patriarchy.’ Across the centuries I believe the church has been wrong to hold to a patriarchal view of marriage and the home. It’s time for us to be the loving servants of our wives God made us to be. It’s about time for us to love our wives and treat them with respect as the equals God made them to be. Yes, I think the husband has a kind of headship in the home, but it’s not the way you think of it. It doesn’t mean the husband sits in his Lazy-Boy watching the football game and yells at his wife to go get him a beer smacking her on the bottom as she walks by. I’m quite sensitive and gentle and you can ask my children—I cry a lot. Do you see how different I am from my father and father’s father and father’s father’s father—those mean Christian men of past generations and centuries who hated and took advantage of their wives? I'm evolved! Progressive! Deeply integrated as a human being! Sensitive—very, very sensitive and engaging. 

Feminist: (pulling hair out) Look! Do you or do you not believe that the man is the head of the home—that he is the final authority in the home? Do you believe in father-rule? 

Complementarian: Wellll… Let me be very careful here because it’s so easy to be misunderstood in matters which are so very controversial. In one sense I suppose I could agree that the husband has some sort of tie-breaking authority… 

* * *
So now, do you see it? This is the complementarian. I know him well because I used to be one. He floats like a butterfly and stings like a butterfly, which is to say he dances around the issue and never says anything negative. 

Turning our backs on equivocation and misdirection and mollycoddling, let’s try another tack and see how it goes. 

* * *
Patriarch: I hold to patriarchy. 

Feminist: Patriarchy? You’ve gotta be kidding me! What cave did you just crawl out of? 

Patriarch: No, seriously; I believe in patriarchy, just like thousands of generations before me, and I’m alive today, right now standing here in front of you. Do you know what patriarchy means? 

Feminist: Of course I know what it means! It means the husband sits on his behind in the Lazy-Boy watching football, yelling at the kids to stop blocking the television, yelling at his wife to go get him a beer. And while she’s at it, to make him some guacamole. And smacking her on the bottom every time she walks by. 

Patriarch: Well, if we’re simply going to trade insults, you know how many feminists it takes to change a light bulb? 

Feminist: (silence) 

Patriarch: Hey! Did you hear me—how many feminists does it take to change a light bulb? 

Feminist: Alright, how many? 

Patriarch: THAT'S NOT FUNNY! (he chuckles) 

Feminist: (confused) What’s not funny? 

Patriarch: (cheerful) That’s the punch line—“that’s not funny!” 

Feminist: (silence) 

Patriarch: See, I told you and you didn’t laugh. 

Feminist: What’s there to laugh about? 

Patriarch: Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s not funny. 

Feminist: So why are you a patriarch? 

Patriarch: Because when God made Adam first, then Eve, He was decreeing that across all time man would reflect His Own Fatherhood, his loving rule and authority. You see, that’s what ‘patriarchy’ means. Literally, it’s the combining of the two Greek words ‘father’ and ‘rule.’ In the relations between the sexes, there are only three options: patriarchy, matriarchy, or anarchy. You hold to matriarchy and I hold to patriarchy. 

Feminist: How can you say those are the only three options? What’s wrong with mutuality? 

Patriarch: Are you going to tell me that you know couples where neither partner makes the decisions—everything is mutually agreed upon? 

Feminist: Sure, I know all kinds of couples where neither partner dominates the other. 

Patriarch: Ah, now we’re off and running. First, patriarchy never means the father dominates his wife or family. Patriarchy means the father serves his family by taking responsibility for them and leading them to understand and worship God the Father Almighty from Whom all fatherhood comes. 

Feminist: You mean to tell me you actually believe that every husband is the head of his wife? What about government—are you saying it’s wrong to have a woman president? If Hillary Clinton ran, are you saying you wouldn’t vote for her because she’s a woman and it’s wrong for a woman to hold authority over men? 

Patriarch: Good questions. The particular application of God's Order of Creation, or patriarchy, to different spheres of authority needs to be talked about carefully. Sex isn’t the only thing to take into consideration when voting for a president, as in “She’s a woman so that’s that—I won’t vote for her.” That’s not my position. If Hillary Clinton were pro-life and her opponent were male and pro-abortion, I might very well vote for Hillary Clinton. But back to the underlying principle: yes, since God made Adam (the man) first, and Eve (the woman) second, all sexual intimacy is to be heterosexual and all relations between the sexes are to start with that truth of patriarchy God wrote into mankind’s DNA flowing from the Father Almighty. As in “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
He placed his father-authority in the male of the species—not the female of the species, nor equally in the male and female of the species…

A Good Question

"Ask yourself this: if my church put on a conference about how to have a great Christian marriage and fulfilled sex life, would more or fewer people attend than if we did one on the importance of the incarnation or the Trinity?" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 37).

Those Who Kill Giants

In 2 Samuel 21:15-22 several Philistine giants are killed by warriors of the Lord (Abishai killed Ishbibenob, 21:17; Sibbechai killed Saph, 21:18; Elhanan killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, 21:19; Jonathan killed a man with six fingers per hand and six toes per foot, 21:21). All of this occurs under the leadership of King David.

When Israel was under the leadership of Saul, there was no man found within the armies of Israel, except for David the shepherd boy, who would go out to face a Philistine giant (Goliath). However, under the righteous leadership of King David, Israel has become a nation of Davids; Israel becomes a nation of giant-slayers. Under the leadership of King David, Israel kills the enemies of Yahweh.

No More Grendel

"Yet rather had I wished that thou might see him here. Grendel himself, thy foe in his array sick unto death! I purposed in hard bonds swiftly to bind him upon his deathbed, that by the grasp of my hands he should be forced to lie struggling for life, had not his body escaped me. I might not, since it was not the will of God, restrain his flight; I did not cleave fast enough for that unto my mortal foe; too overwhelming was the might of that fiend in body's movement. Nonetheless he hath left behind upon his trail his hand and arm and shoulder. Yet in no wise thus hath that unhappy one purchased himself relief; none the longer will he live, that doer of evil wrong, burdened by his sins; nay, pain hath him closely gripped in a grasp he cannot flee, in bonds of anguish -- there must he, stained with sin, await the great Day of Doom and the sentence that the bright Judge will pronounce on him" (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 40).

Preaching vs. Antiverbal Culture

"We see the impact of suspicion of words even within the Christian church. At the Reformation, preaching came to supplant the Mass as the central act of corporate Christian worship; underlying this shift was a move toward an understanding of the gospel and of salvation as being by faith in that promise. Thus, proclamation of that promise in words moved to center stage. In recent decades, however, many churches have shifted preaching from this central place. In some contexts, preaching has not been abandoned; rather, it has been relativized and now stands alongside dramatic performances, candles, incense, and small group discussion. In other contexts, preaching has been pushed completely aside for conversational discourse, where the authoritative voice of the preacher has been replaced by a more democratic dialogue. Underlying all these shifts, in practice if not always in terms of self-conscious planning, is a suspicion that proclaimed words are no longer a reliable authority, or, perhaps better, a plausible authority, given the wider antiverbal cultural dispositions" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 34).

Human Nature & Continuity

"If 'human nature' does not exist, other than as a specific, basic biological structure that means one human can only reproduce in conjunction with another, then what authority can anybody or any human document that belongs to another time or place have? If human nature is really a construct of the particulars of a specific historical, geographical, and cultural context, it is not immediately obvious that, say, a document produced in Constantinople near the end of the fourth century can have any relevance to people living in London or New York at the start of the twenty-first. For historical documents to speak beyond their own time there has to be some kind of fundamental continuity between their form and content and the present age" (Carl R. Trueman, The Creedal Imperative, 30-31).

Dependence Deep In Your Bones

"In Amos's day the most severe punishment to fall on the people of God was a "famine . . . of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). There is no calamity like the silence of God. We cannot know God himself unless God speaks to us. Every true Christian should feel deep in his bones an utter dependence on God's self-revelation in the Scriptures. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4)" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 21).

Token of the Bold Warrior

"The chief of those Geatish men had accomplished all his proud vaunt before East Danes, and had healed, moreover, all the woe and the tormenting sorrow that they had erewhile suffered and must of necessity endure, no little bitterness. Of this a clear token it was when that warrior bold had set the hand, the arm and shoulder, beneath the widespread roof -- there was all Grendel's clutching limb entire" (J.R.R. Tolkien, Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary, 36).

LOL: Worst Books

From the Intercollegiate Review's - an article titled Fifty Worst Books of the 20th Century.

John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage (1956) Should have been called, Profiles in Ghost-Writing.

That is funny.

True Word, True God - True God, True Word

"There are many texts we could use to show that the Bible is without error, but here's the simplest argument: Scripture did not come from the will of man; it came from God. And if it is God's word then it must all be true, for in him there can be no error or deceit" (Kevin DeYoung, Taking God At His Word, 39).

Economics, Career, and Calling

Gary North recently gave a lunchtime seminar on "Careers for Austrians" at Mises University 2014.

CCRC: Psalm of the Month for July, 2014

At CCRC we are endeavouring to learn/focus on a Psalm or song each month. Psalm 145:15-21 - "The Eyes of All upon Thee Wait" from the Cantus Christi hymnal is July's song of the month. Below is a mediation for this month's Psalm. 

 Meditation on Psalm 145

David's Psalm of Praise

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever.

Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

And men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness.

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.

The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.

They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;

To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.

The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.

Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works.

The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.

He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever.

This is a "Psalm of praise" composed by David, but this Psalm can be prayer-sung everywhere, always, and by all Christians. From the beginning to the end, the inclusio "bless [thy/his holy] name for ever and ever" identifies what is at the heart of Christian living: Doxology - specifically, to give God glory with our mouths/words, e.g. "I will extol thee, my God, O king; . . . Every day will I bless thee" (vv. 1-2); "men shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and I will declare thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness" (vv. 6-7); "My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever" (v. 21). 

The "song" that David sings about God's righteousness is the exact same tune sang by those with regenerate hearts. The Church has experienced the love of God, therefore, the Church "for ever and ever" sings:

The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy

The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.

Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom . . .

Let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. (vv. 7-8, 13a, 21b)

The Church while living in the Country of Man (Earth), which is being transformed into the Kingdom of God, sings Psalm 145:2, Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise thy name for ever and ever, and this song echoes and harmonizes with the song sang in the Country of God (Heaven) by the four beasts, who, before the throne of God and without ceasing, sing both day and night: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come (Revelation 4:8). Christians are in the world but not of the world, therefore, we sing heavenly songs; Christians sing eternal songs about eternal life in an eternal kingdom, where they serve an eternal King. 

Commenting on Psalm 145, Patrick Henry Reardon, a pastor in the Orthodox Church, notes that: "The Kingdom of Christ is not of this world; it is truly eternal and transcendent and belongs to heaven. Accordingly, the words and sentiments of our psalm [Psalm 145] repeatedly raise the mind above the earthly things to the realm of eternal life." God's greatness is eternal, it is unsearchable (v. 3), therefore, this means that every day is a new day for Doxology and Praise; every day is a new day to sing about the righteousness of God! 

The Holy Ghost gave David these inspired words so believers might bend their lives with word-and-song towards their heavenly home. Don't be dismayed by the fires of life or the vale of tears, but rather lift up your heart to the Lord by singing David's song, for The Lord preserveth all them that love Him (v. 20). Christians call out to the Lord when they sing David's "Psalm of praise", and the Lord has promised that "[He] is nigh unto all them that call upon him . . . and will save them" (vv. 18-19). We sing songs about the God who saves us, for Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised! 

Psalm 145 - David's "Psalm of Praise"

A hymn in acrostic form; every verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Acrostic poems usually do not develop ideas but consist rather of loosely connected statements. The singer invites all to praise God (Ps 145:1–3, 21). The “works of God” make God present and invite human praise (Ps 145:4–7); they climax in a confession (Ps 145:8–9). God’s mighty acts show forth divine kingship (Ps 145:10–20), a major theme in the literature of early Judaism and in Christianity. [Source]

Become Calvinistic . . . You Know You Got Nothing Better To Do! ;-)

"I became what is popularly known as a “Calvinist” sometime in 1988. It is a long and sordid tale, and to this day I am not quite sure what happened. There were various factors in play, as there always are with such things. The first was that I was preaching through Romans. I can recall telling one of our elders that I did not know what I was going to say when I got to “those chapters.” When I began preaching through the book, I was not Calvinistic, and when I finished, I was. So that was one factor. I got to chapter eight and decided, “Oh, well,” and just preached what it said. After all, I had nothing better to do" (Douglas Wilson, A Study Guide to Calvin's Institutes, 11).

U.S.A.

Wise words from R.C. Sproul, Jr. regarding America and Independence Day.

There are a host of shameful episodes in the history of these United States — people were bought and sold like cattle. Others were locked into government camps simply because of their racial background. Eugenics was embraced and practised. And today perverts parade in the streets. All of these, as dark as they are, however, pale in comparison to our great national ignominy — the wholesale slaughter of the unborn. For forty-one years now we have been a nation whose highest government protects over a million murders each year, and worse, whose citizens will commit over a three thousand murders of the unborn just today. Whether we consider our government, or our people, we are wicked. How then can we wave our flag, sing odes to our national patrimony, pledge our allegiance? . . . Independence Day should be for the Christian a day of mourning and repentance, a day of confessing our dependence on the finished work of Christ. It should be a day to remember that we, like our true founding father, seek a city whose builder and maker is God. It should be that day when we fly the white flag of surrender, and pray that the King of Glory would come in. A day when the blood of the babies on our hands drives us into the bloodstained hands of the Innocent One.

More People = Acceleration in Higher Standard of Living

"The more people there are, the greater the potential for innovation. Every human mouth comes not just with a pair of hands, but with a brain. That is why as the world's population has increased, the standard of living has also increased, and at an accelerating rate" (Robert Zubrin, Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism, 9).

What Are You

"Marriage simply amplifies what a person is" (Douglas Wilson, Reforming Marriage, 34).

Soccer

Defeated. :(

I haven't been following World Cup 2014 as closely as I would like, but saddened today by Belgium's victory over the USMNT.

Humor helps, however. 

Also, today over at First Things even Colin Garbarino shared his thoughts on soccer.

I’ve heard so many Americans complain about soccer being boring. I’ve also heard those people complain that soccer players flop too much. Flopping, especially in the penalty area, might be the cure for boring soccer. . . . A “flop” is when a player tries to convince the referee that he was fouled. Players have to convince him because in soccer it’s nothing until the referee says it’s something. Referees have authority to interpret both the rules and the events on the field pretty much however they wish. I know that makes some of you football-instant-replay fanatics uncomfortable, but if you just accept that there’s no objective reality in soccer, I know you’ll be much happier.

LOL!