You Gotta Fight, Fight, Fight (Sometimes), Again

And speaking of war and fighting . . . I've always enjoyed this Vonnegut quote from Hocus Pocus:

If there really had been a Mercutio, and if there really were a Paradise, Mercutio might be hanging out with teenage Vietnam draftee casualties now, talking about what it felt like to die for other people's vanity and foolishness.

Petty squabbles ought to be avoided. The collateral damage, for both petty political wars and petty theological wars, is absolutely brutal.

You Gotta Fight, Fight, Fight (Sometimes)

In a chapter titled The Fight, J. C. Ryle says, "He that would understand the true nature of true holiness must know that the Christian is 'a man of war.' If we would be holy we must fight."

J. C. Ryle is elaborating on Paul's words to Timothy, 'Fight the good fight of faith,' and methinks Ryle provides the proper balance to cultivating a fighter-mentality when he says:

With whom is the Christian soldier meant to fight? Not with other Christians. Wretched indeed is that man's idea of religion who fancies that it consists in perpetual controversy! He who is never satisfied unless he is engaged in some strife between church and church, chapel and chapel, sect and sect, faction and faction, party and party, knows nothing yet as he ought to know. No doubt it may be absolutely needful sometime to appeal to law courts, in order to ascertain the right interpretation of a Church's Articles, and rubrics, and formularies. But, as a general rule, the cause of sin is never so much helped as when Christians waste their strength in quarreling with one another, and spend their time in petty squabbles (J. C. Ryle, Holiness, 52).

There is a danger in calling someone a soldier, i.e., like the young boy who is given his first hammer and sees a world-of-nails, so a Christian when called to be a soldier must remember they are a peacemaker-soldier.

Warfare is real; doctrinal battles need to be fought. We must remember, however, petty squabbles do not constituted legitimate war.

Theology and Controversy

I remember distinctly during undergraduate studies my Theology instructor telling our class, "Theology is controversial." There were two maxims our instructor had us repeat throughout the class, the former more frequently than the latter, and they were, "I am a theologian," and "Theology is controversial."

Theology is messy business. Case in point: recently Peter Leithart critiqued theological musings from David Bentley Hart's newest book. Leithart defends the literal sense of Scripture, contra Hart, and Leithart's comments are excellent, but, additionally, the article is a good reminder that, as my undergraduate professor said, "Theology is controversial." So, here we have two learned and well respected churchmen, but they just don't see eye to eye. Thus, controversy. 

Enjoying Doctrine

Spurgeon describing how "wise men deal with the great doctrines of the gospel" -- "they will not make them the themes of angry controversy, but of profitable use. To fight over a doctrine is sorry waste of time, but to live in the quiet enjoyment of it is the truest wisdom" (Ed. David Otis Fuller, Spurgeon's Sermon Illustrations, 32).

Conflict: Van Til & Barth at Logos.com

Logos (the Bible software company) recently posted an article on Cornelius Van Til and Karl Barth; the article commemorates their birthdays and highlights the theological conflict that existed between the two of them. Also, there are coupon codes for Van Til's and Barth's works.

The following is an excerpt from the short article:

It remains an open question whether the evangelicalism of Van Til and Barth have room for friendship or will remain foes, especially within the various branches of the Reformed tradition within the United States. Despite this, we can still be diligent in our efforts to understand the thinking of each man on his own terms by going back to the sources. Finally, we should be encouraged by Barth’s gesture to Van Til in 1962. Previously, Barth had been rude toward Van Til. However, he took a step towards reconciliation when he was visiting Princeton to give a series of lectures. Van Til used the opportunity to write to Barth: “When you came to Princeton I called up the Seminary and asked whether I could see you but was discouraged from doing so. When I looked for an opportunity to shake hands with you after your Princeton lectures [the Warfield lectures] you were hurried away. When at last I did come near to you in the hallway and somebody called your attention to my presence and you graciously shook hands with me, saying: ‘You said some bad things about me but I forgive you, I forgive you,’ I was too overwhelmed to reply.”

Spoils of War and Life Outside of the Academy

There is a saying, "In war, the spoils go to the victor," and generally that is the case. However, sometimes spoils go to Lepers who by good fortune wander in to a deserted Syrian camp (2 Kings 7:3-8); and those guys sure made out well--eating, drinking, carrying off silver and gold! I feel a bit like that today. Yesterday I obtained a free copy of Black & Tan, generously provided for free (for a short time) in response to recent controversies. And sure, I know "it isn't a perfect analogy" . . . I am not a Leper, no silver, no gold, but surely you get the gist.

[I]f there is a young Christian to-day in a typical evangelical church who is thinking about joining the Marines and going to Iraq, he does not have to get a Ph.D. in American foreign policy studies first. He can make an honorable decision without that. Now this has ramifications for the study of history, but I am in no way commending it as a basic method of studying history. An infantryman doesn't need to be a historian to help make history. But historians should be competent historians as they study it, and in their study, meticulous attention to the facts matters. At the same time, “competence” cannot be defined from some neutral place. There is no detached realm of “neutral facts” where believer and unbeliever alike can go and find the pristine data. This is not a historical claim; it is a theological claim about history. We are called to live our lives in a way that realizes there is a world outside the academy. Most of the people in the economy are not economists. Most people who have made history are not historians (Douglas Wilson, Black & Tan, 6).

Nevin: Reformation Thought, Again - Theology Wars

“The notable 80^th Question proved a constant stench [Q. 80: What difference is there between the Lord's supper and the popish mass?], in many nostrils. In some cases, when it was known that the minister was to preach upon this questions, troublesome persons would slip into the Church, for the purpose of creating interruption and disorder” (J. W. Nevin, History and Genius of the Heidelberg Catechism (Chambersburg, 1847), 92).