Topical Studies from Christus Rex Study Center

Here are two Topical Studies from the Christus Rex Study Center.  I hope they are helpful for churches exploring Scripture’s teaching on Church Discipline and Church Architecture.  (These studies have both grown out of issues confronting our own local church.  They are by no means exhaustive studies, and I welcome any suggestions on how to improve them!)

Church Discipline: A Theological & Practical Primer

 Priorities in Architecture: Being the Church

Interesting Articles

Scot McKnight –  “The Gospel for iGens” – “Sometimes I think we forget that no where in the pages of the New Testament do we find what many of us heard when we were gospeled: God loves us, we are sinners, God still loves us and sent his Son to die for our sins, and if we receive God’s plan we will spend eternity with him and be empowered by grace for a new life now. I believe every line in that gospel to be true, but no one said it quite that way in the New Testament.”  (This article is very helpful for Christian teachers, as we struggle to communicate the gospel to the next generation.)

“Muslims Next Door” – An interview with Naeem Fazal

Descendents of the Magi?

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes: Cultural Studies in the Gospels by Kenneth E. Bailey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is amazing! Bailey lived for 60 years in the Middle East, and has literally lived through the Bible story. The book begins with a stunning study, which presents a convincing case that Jesus was actually born in a house (since many poor, Middle Eastern homes actually have mangers in the house!).   I won’t give away the rest of his argument, but I did want to share another tid-bit that lept out at me.

Speaking of the Magi, and who they might have been, he writes: “In the 1920s a British scholar, E.F.F. Bishop, visited a Bedouin tribe in Jordan. This Muslim tribe bore the Arabic name al-Kokabani. The word kokab means “planet” and al-Kaokabani means “Those who study/follow the planets.” Bishop asked the elders of the tribe why they called themselves by such a name. They replied that it was because their ancestors followed the planets and traveled west to Palestine to show honor to the great prophet Jesus when he was born. This supports Justin’s [Justin Martyr - ca. 165 A.D.] second-century claim that the wise men were Arabs from Arabia,” (Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, 53).

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St. Spurgeon on Theosis

The Eastern Orthodox concept of theosis is much maligned and mis-understood.  I was startled to find no less an authority than Charles Spurgeon waxing eloquent on the topic, sounding like an Orthodox church father:

“Partakers of the divine nature.”—2 Peter 1:4.

“To be a partaker of the divine nature is not, of course, to become God. That cannot be. The essence of Deity is not to be participated in by the creature. Between the creature and the Creator there must ever be a gulf fixed in respect of essence; but as the first man Adam was made in the image of God, so we, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit, are in a yet diviner sense made in the image of the Most High, and are partakers of the divine nature. We are, by grace, made like God. “God is love”; we become love—”He that loveth is born of God.” God is truth; we become true, and we love that which is true: God is good, and He makes us good by His grace, so that we become the pure in heart who shall see God. Moreover, we become partakers of the divine nature in even a higher sense than this—in fact, in as lofty a sense as can be conceived, short of our being absolutely divine. Do we not become members of the body of the divine person of Christ? Yes, the same blood which flows in the head flows in the hand: and the same life which quickens Christ quickens His people, for “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Nay, as if this were not enough, we are married unto Christ. He hath betrothed us unto Himself in righteousness and in faithfulness, and he who is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Oh! marvellous mystery! we look into it, but who shall understand it? One with Jesus—so one with Him that the branch is not more one with the vine than we are a part of the Lord, our Saviour, and our Redeemer! While we rejoice in this, let us remember that those who are made partakers of the divine nature will manifest their high and holy relationship in their intercourse with others, and make it evident by their daily walk and conversation that they have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. O for more divine holiness of life!”  (Charles Spurgeon, Morning By Morning)

A most apt way to describe what Orthodox Christians mean by theosis!

To learn more about what Orthodox Christians really believe about theosis, I would recommend Light from the Christian East (ch. 8),  Eastern Orthodoxy Through Western Eyes (ch. 6), and Eastern Orthodoxy Christianity: A Western Perspective (ch. 6).

Be Killing Sin

Although John Owen’s treatise on The Mortificaiton of Sin can be tough going at times, it is a stirring call to battle our remaining lusts. 

My favorite quote from today’s reading: “be killing sin, or it will be killing you.”

Through New Eyes

Through New Eyes by James B. Jordan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is my second time through this book. Every Christian should read it. We read the Biblical text with so many assumptions and preconceptions. Jordan helps us understand the deep symbolic flow of the Bible, showing how it all harmonizes into a glorious symphony! Symbols are not just literary decoration in the Bible–they are living metaphors that God has written into history and creation.

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The Eucharist & Ecumenism

The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let us Keep the Feast by George Hunsinger

Hunsinger is amazing. Not only is he a top-knotch theologian who finds significant common ground between the Reformed, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodoxy, but he also manages to argue for women’s and gay ordination in a logical and level-headed way. I disagree stridently with him on women’s and gay ordination, but he is still a model for peaceful discussion. There is a time for calling down the wrath of God, but we must also demonstrate that we aren’t frothing-at-the-mouth fundamentalists.

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The Primacy of Peter-Review

The Primacy of Peter: Essays in Ecclesiology and the Early Church by John Meyendorff

My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Although this book is a collection of essays by Eastern Orthodox writers, it is useful for Protestants who are rediscovering their family history, namely the history of the Church. The Orthodox churches have preserved many ancient traditions. We should seek to understand them, at the least, and not dismiss them out of hand. There is also much valuable information for countering the claims of Roman Catholics. The Orthodox claim to be “catholic,” but not Roman. There is a plethora of misinformation about Romanc Catholicism, and the authors in this volume write in an irenic and sympathetic tone. They sincerely desire unity among all Christians, and not mere platitudes about “catholicity.” For some, “catholicity” seems to mean that we can all just affirm the Apostle’s Creed, and then go our separate ways. This is not what “catholicity” meant to the Church Fathers, nor do I believe the Apostles would be pleased with our reductionism. Lastly, for those of us in the CREC, I believe this book contains gems of insight into the importance of the “local church,” and how the primacy of the local church relates to “catholicity.” Highly recommended for the stout of heart!

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St. Basil on Worship

St. Basil – “If the ocean is beautiful and worthy of praise to God, how much more beautiful is the conduct of this Christian assembly, where the voices of men, women, and children, blended and sonorous like the waves that break upon the beach, rise amidst our prayers to the very presence of God.” (Frederick Morgan Padelford, Essays on the Study and Use of Poetry by Plutarch and Basil the Great, Yale Studies in English 15 [1902] pp. 33-43.)

The Speaking in Tongues Controversy – Review

The Speaking In Tongues Controversy by Rick Walston

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Walston’s book is a basic introduction to this issue, but I respect his detailed examination of the NT evidence, especially in Acts. Walston was a pastor in Assemblies of God churches for 20 years, and so has intimate knowledge of his subject. But, he was willing to change his view, based on where the Bible led him.

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My review

The Fruit of Her Hands

The Fruit Of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson

Very helpful! I read this in college, but it went over my head. Now, after being married for a few years, it’s immensely more meaningful. We know the Wilsons personally, and Nancy practices what she preaches.

Lutheran Sanctification

Two bits from my reading diet caught my eye:

“Nevertheless we still experience sin and death within us, wrestle with them and fight against them.  You may tie a hog ever so well, but you cannot prevent it from grunting.  Thus is is with the sins in our flesh,” (Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 1, 247).

“Precisely because the totality of the gift, the new being [the one justified by faith] knows that there is nothing to do to gain heaven.  Thus the Christian is called to the tasks of daily life in this world, for the time being.  Students, for instance, are sometimes very pious and idealistic about ‘doing something,’ and so get caught up in this or that movement ‘for good.’  It never seems to dawn on them that perhaps for the time being, at least, their calling is simply to be a good student!  It is not particularly in acts of piety that we are sanctified, but in our call to live and act as Christians” (Gerald O. Forde, ”The Lutheran View” in Christian Spirituality:  Five Views of Sanctification, ed. Donald L. Alexander, 31).

The Church Fathers Knew the Bible!

The Fathers quoted Scripture constantly.  Bruce Metzger notes: “so extensive are these citations that if all other sources for our knowledge of the text of the New Testament were destroyed, they would be sufficient alone for the reconstruction of practically the entire New Testament.”[1]

We might criticize some of the father for this or that doctrinal oddity, but we should respect their deep knowledge, and reverance for, the Scriptures. 

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[1] Meztger, The Text of the New Testament, 3^rd ed., 86, qtd. in Lightfoot, How We Got the Bible, 106.

More of Luther on Communion

Commenting on 1 Cor. 10:17, Martin Luther preached: “We eat the Lord by the faith of the Word which the soul consumes and enjoys.  In this way my neighbor also eats me:  I give him my goods, body and life and all that I have, and let him consume and use it in his want.  Likewise, I also need my neighbor; I too am poor and afflicted, and suffer him to help and serve me in turn.  Thus we are woven one into the other, helping one another even as Christ helped us.  This is what it means spiritually to eat and drink one another” (Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 1, pg. 213.

Luther on the Fruit of Holy Communion

I love Luther.  He’s so practical and pastoral!  This is from a sermon entitled, “Confession and the Lord’s Supper”:

“But if you feel that you are unfit, weak and lacking in faith, where will you obtain strength but here [the Lord's Supper]?  Do you mean to wait until you have grown pure and strong, then indeed you will never come and you will never obtain benefit from the holy communion” (207).

“It is our duty to let the benefit and fruit of the Lord’s Supper become manifest, and we ought to show that we have received it with profit … Now this is the fruit, that even as we have eaten and drunk the body and blood of Christ the Lord, we in turn permit ourselves to be eaten and drunk, and say the same words to our neighbor, Take, eat and drink; and this by no means in jest, but in all seriousness, meaning to offer yourself with all your life, even as Christ did with all that he had, in the sacramental words” (208).

“Therefore, when we have received the Lord’s Supper we must not allow ourselves to become indolent, but must be diligent and attentive to increase in love, aid our neighbor in distress, and lend him a helping hand when he suffers affliction and requires assitance.  When you fail to do this you are not a Christian, or only a weak Christian, though you boast of having received the Lord and all that he is, in the Lord’s Supper” (210-11).

- all from The Complete Sermons of Martin Luther, vol. 1

Tertullian on Sleep and the Soul

Interesting theology of sleep (as a typology of death) – A Treatise on the Soul, chap. 43:

 

If you receive your instruction from God, (you will find) that the fountain of the human race, Adam, had a taste of drowsiness before having a draught of repose; slept before he laboured, or even before he ate, nay, even before he spoke; in order that men may see that sleep is a natural feature and function, and one which has actually precedence over all the natural faculties. From this primary instance also we are led to trace even then the image of death in sleep. For as Adam was a figure of Christ, Adam’s sleep shadowed out the death of Christ, who was to sleep a mortal slumber, that from the wound inflicted on His side might, in like manner (as Eve was formed), be typified the church, the true mother of the living. This is why sleep is so salutary, so rational, and is actually formed into the model of that death which is general and common to the race of man.  God, indeed, has willed (and it may be said in passing that He has, generally, in His dispensations brought nothing to pass without such types and shadows) to set before us, in a manner more fully and completely than Plato’s example, by daily recurrence the outlines of man’s state, especially concerning the beginning and the termination thereof; thus stretching out the hand to help our faith more readily by types and parables, not in words only, but also in things. He accordingly sets before your view the human body stricken by the friendly power of slumber, prostrated by the kindly necessity of repose immoveable in position, just as it lay previous to life, and just as it will lie after life is past: there it lies as an attestation of its form when first moulded, and of its condition when at last buried-awaiting the soul in both stages, in the former previous to its bestowal, in the latter after its recent withdrawal. Meanwhile the soul is circumstanced in such a manner as to seem to be elsewhere active, learning to bear future absence by a dissembling of its presence for the moment. We shall soon know the case of Hermotimus. But yet it dreams in the interval. Whence then its dreams? The fact is, it cannot rest or be idle altogether, nor does it confine to the still hours of sleep the nature of its immortality. It proves itself to possess a constant motion; it travels over land and sea, it trades, it is excited, it labours, it plays, it grieves, it rejoices, it follows pursuits lawful and unlawful; it shows what very great power it has even without the body, how well equipped it is with members of its own, although betraying at the same time the need it has of impressing on some body its activity again. Accordingly, when the body shakes off its slumber, it asserts before your eye the resurrection of the dead by its own resumption of its natural functions.  Such, therefore, must be both the natural reason and the reasonable nature of sleep. If you only regard it as the image of death, you initiate faith, you nourish hope, you learn both how to die and how to live, you learn watchfulness, even while you sleep (emphasis added).[1]

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[1] http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf03.iv.xi.xliii.html

Adoption Theology

The Orthodox Study Bible repeatedly emphasizes the theology of adoption in its explanatory notes.  This is laudable, since Protestants generally neglect this important way to understand our own salvation. 

 

We know several adoptees personally, and it is good to meditate on the fact that we are all adopted sons and daughters of the King.  In this regard, the Study Bible’s notes to Luke 3:23-38 (the geneology of Joseph and of Jesus) are particuarly moving: “Jesus was born to bring all mankind into adoption by the Father, and thus He affirms that a lineage of adoption is as binding and receives the same inheritance as a lineage of blood (Gal 4:4-7).”

 

(A good essay on this is C.N. Wilborn, “Adoption:  A Historical Perspective with Evangelical Implications” in Sanctification: Growing in Grace, eds. Joseph A. Pipa, Jr. & J. Andrew Wortman, 2001.  Wilborn quotes Robert Smith Candlish:  “The more I think of it, the more I am disposed to regret that the subject of adoption, or sonship of believers, has been so little made account of in our Reformation theology.  It seems to me to be the appropriate crown of Calvinism…”) 

Interesting Typologies

I’m reading through the Orthodox Study Bible this year.  Each year I’m trying to read through a different translation/study Bible.  After a few years of reading the KJV, I read through the ESV last year.  Now, it’s a year in Orthodoxy!  Part of the reason is a research project I’ve been working on.  The other reason is that the Orthodox consider the Septuatgint to be the inspired and authoritative version of the OT.  So, since I teach Greek, I’m trying to become more familiar with the Septuagint. 

 

Imitating Christ

“Endevor to be patient in bearing with the defects and infirmities of others, of whatever sort they be; for you have many failings yourself which must be borne with by others. If you cannot make yourself such a one as you wish, how can you expect to have someone else conform to your likings? We would willingly have others perfect, and yet we do not amend our own faults.” (Thomas á Kempis, Imitation of Christ, XVI, 2.)

Truth in Action

“Truth in action–that is wisdom, that is the Right and the Good” (John Milton Gregory, The Seven Laws of Teaching, ch. 5).

Too often, we educators simply focus on downloading information from our brains to our students’ brains.  The students then download said information onto a test, after which the information is sent to the students’ recycle bin, and the miracle of education is complete!  But, from a Christian perspective, the ultimate goal of education is to learn wisdom (Proverbs, ch. 1).  And, as John Milton Gregory writes above, wisdom is not just intellectual head-knowledge.  Wisdom is applied truth.  If Christian education doesn’t impact a student’s life, then we may question whether it is really Christian education.  Truth in action …

Is Christianity Good for the World?

You don’t want to miss this debate between Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson.  Both men are articulate and witty.  The gloves come off!

Humble Sin In An Election Year

“For both the skeptic and the Christian, the neglect of indwelling evil stems from the same source:  the very sin overlooked.  One of Satan’s strategies is to draw our attention to evils outside of us so that sin can have its grand work unhindered where it does the most damage.  Sin is like a mastermind that gets its job done without attracting attention to itself.  It is most successful when attention is not on itself.  Sin could almost be considered humble, were it not for its corrupting abuse of virtue.

The Nature of Marriage

In the latest Books & Culture, Dennis Okholm has a good review of Kathleen Norris’s recent book–Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer’s Life, “The very nature of marriage means saying yes before you know what it will cost.  You may say the ‘I do’ of the wedding ritual in all sincerity, but it is the testing of that vow over time that makes you married.”

Depression

I struggle with the sin of depression.  It’s been hard for me to recognize it as a sin, but Jay Adams was helpful in showing me how we need to get to the root of problems like depression (or mental illness, in many cases).  Sin is a destroyer, and the effects of sin take many forms.  As I’ve reflected on what causes me to be depressed, I submit the following:

Depression comes of not trusting in the Lord for the future and/ or in not resting/ rejoicing in what He has provided now.  Being anxious and being discontent produce a feeling of paralysis (even a visceral, empty feeling in my stomach) and depression.  But, when I take my eyes of myself and my problems, trusting in the Lord, the depression vaporizes.  Thanks be to God!

Peace Like a River

My wife and I just finished reading Leif Enger’s Peace Like a River.  It’s a beautiful book.  The best thing about Enger is that he’s a Christian writer who actually writes well.  The novel is Christian without being preachy.  It’s full of underhanded Biblical allusions and symbolism.  Be sure to read it when it’s cold in order to get the full atmosphere of Minnesota and N. Dakota in the winter! 

Enger has a new novel out, but I haven’t got to it yet:  So Brave, Young and Handsome.  Looks good!

Eucharistic Meditation

The Lord’s Supper is a family meal.  What would you think of a family which didn’t allow their adopted children to eat dinner with the family?  I hope we would all condemn them and probably excommunicate them if they did not repent.  But, what if, after they met with the elders, they decided to not serve the adopted children dinner until the adopted children were old enough to decide whether they really wanted to be part of the family?  Or, what if they refused to serve the adopted children dinner until they could discern whether the adopted children were really acting like good members of the family?  I think we all see the folly of this mindset. The family that eats together stays together.  If we want our adopted children to feel like part of the family, we treat them like part of the family.  We don’t wait for them to make a decision to join our family.  They are a part of our family, and they have right to join us at the family table.

God has adopted us into His family.  God feeds us at His table.  This is how he builds up his family.  He invites us to partake of His Son in faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit.  And He invites all of us, including our children.  If they are baptized, then they are also His adopted children.  If you feed your children at home, then you need to feed them here.  But, you can’t feed them here.  You need to bring them to the Lord’s Table, where God feeds all of his adopted children.

Sermon – The Good News of Adoption

Sermon (Ephesians 1:1-10)

Collect for Illumination (Calvin & Bucer)

“Almighty and gracious Father, since our whole salvation stands in our knowledge of your Holy Word, strengthen us now by your Holy Spirit that our hearts may be set free from all worldly thoughts and attachments of the flesh, so that we may hear and receive that same Word, and, recognizing your gracious will for us, may love and serve you with earnest delight, praising and glorifying you in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  We ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the power of the Spirit, Amen.

God recently blessed our family with the addition of an adopted daughter.  As I read through Scriptures, Paul’s use of the adoption-theme jumped out at me.  The doctrine of adoption is often over-looked, but it is central to the good news that Jesus brought into this world in His Incarnation.

Exhortation – 1st Sunday After Christmas

The contemporary church is tragically schizophrenic when it comes to liturgy.  Most Christians are more consistent in their weddings than in their churches.  We all know that weddings, funerals, and anniversaries call for high liturgy.  Why is it that we get all dressed up for a wedding, but not for church?  Why is it that the Marine Corps has a higher liturgy than the army of God?  The Marine Corps exalts honor and duty.  They are highly disciplined.  Is it any coincidence that they have highly developed rituals and uniforms?  We know special occasions call for special actions and special clothes.  Why is church treated differently?  Why is gathering before the Lord of the universe treated more casually than appearing before a king or president?  Does anyone waltz up to Queen Elizabeth in a Hawaiian T-shirt?  Would you go before a human judge (wearing a robe, I might add) sporting your dingiest blue jeans?  This is most definitely a special occasion.  This is why we wear liturgical vestments.  This is why you should consider what you wear to church, and why.  I won’t lay down a dress-code for you.  But, I would challenge you to think of this as a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  We dress up for human weddings—why not dress up for the marriage of Christ and his Church?  We are the army of God—the Church Militant.  Let us consider our uniforms.  We are appearing before the Judge and King of the world.  Let your clothing reflect that.  Of course, our finest clothing cannot cover our sins.  Only the righteous robes of Jesus Christ can do that.  The best-dressed member of the church can still go to Hell.  Let us confess our sins and call our God to clothe us in His perfect righteousness.

Delight in Your Children

Andrée Seu, writing in World, stresses the importance of delighting in our children.  We are made in the image of God and, as parents, we need to reflect His image rightly.  If we only reflect the justice, law, and wrath of God, then we are lying to our children.  We sometimes forget that God delights in his children (Ps. 18:19).  We should do the same. 

Pseudo-Scholarship & Opportunities to Evangelize

Darrell Bock has good observations and advice on how to deal with the all the media hype about the “latest-greatest Jesus”.  The bottom line is that all the interest in works like The Da Vinci Code and the tomb of James, “the brother of Jesus” present a wonderful opportunity to evangelize.  The problem is that most Christians don’t know enough history to combat the silliness of Hollywood or the one-sided scholarship of much Jesus research.  Tolle lege–take up those church history books and read!  The fields are ripe for a harvest!

Abide In Christ

“Would you continue holy?  Then abide in Christ.  He says Himself, ‘Abide in Me, and I in you … He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit’ (John 15:4, 5).  It pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell–a full supply for all a believer’s wants.  He is the Physician to whom you must daily go, if you would keep well.  He is the Manna which you must daily eat, and the Rock of which you must daily drink.  His arm is the arm on which you must daily lean, as you come up out of the wilderness of this world.  You must not only be rooted, you must also be built up in Him,” (J.C. Ryle, Holiness, 61).

Noah and Deucalion

Theophilus of Antioch (115-c. 181) notes an interesting connection between Noah and the mythical Greek character, Deucalion.  In his long treatise “To Autolycus,” Theophilus argues that the Bible is older than Greek mythology.  Along with other church fathers, Theophilus also contends that whatever was true or noble in Greek mythology was borrowed from Biblical truth. 

He draws this similarity bewteen Noah and Deucalion: “Noah, when he announced to the men then alive that there was a flood coming, prophesied to them, saying, Come hither, God calls you to repentence.  On this account he was fitly called Deucalion,” (Theophilus to Autolycus, III.xix ).  The editor explains that “Deucalion” derives from the Greek words, “Deute” (come) and “kaleo” (I call).  I don’t know whether this connection would hold up in a court of modern philology, but it ties in nicely with what 2 Peter 2:5 tells us about Noah, namely that he was a “herald [preacher] of righteousness” (ESV).  Perhaps the Greeks had some dim memory of this truth as they told the story of Deucalion. Theophilus also states, cryptically: “And of the ark, the remains are to this day to be seen in the Arabian mountains.” 

Amen to That!

Two good posts:

An Orthodox view of culture which Reformed folks should take to heart

 

PCA pastor on Eschatology and Diapers

Spiderman Theology

Now that the Spiderman triology is complete, I’ve noticed a common theme.  None of the villains in the Spiderman movies is really evil.  They all have evil thrust upon them, either by some potion, invention, dysfunctional relationship, or an accidental gun-shot.  Additionally, in the last two movies, the villains have good motives–Dr. Octupus is seeking the advancement of science and Sandman is trying to save his sick daughter.  The third movie introduces a black blob which causes people to become wicked, but it only magnifies their latent wickedness.  It’s hard to actually blame those overcome by the black blob. 

Since the third movie highlighted the problem of evil (in the form of the black blob), it had to deal with forgiveness.  I was hopeful when Peter’s Aunt gave a little sermon about revenge and forgiveness, but I should have known better.  Her advice culminated in: “forgive yourself.”  Um, okay …  Perhaps that’s why the movie ended with meaninful looks rather than an actual apology from Peter.  The only real apology came from the Sandman, but that was an apology for an accident. 

So, once again, Hollywood skirts around the problem of evil and teaches our children that evil isn’t really their problem.  They aren’t really to blame for their actions–they just need to put on a new suit.  Of course, that’s part of the answer–we need to put on the righteous robes of Jesus (or, rather, He needs to put them on us).  But, we won’t realize the need for a new suit unless we realize the depth of our own sin.  Nor can we take off the black suit, even if we’re in a church bell tower–God Himself is the only one who can take it off.

Jesus is a Complete Savior

J.C. Ryle anticipated a number of current controversies as he wrote in the Victorian period.  Of course, this proves that there is nothing new under the sun.  I found the following spot-on in regard to the Lordship controversy (though I’m not sure it’s actually a controversy anymore):

“Jesus is a complete Saviour.  He does not merely take away the guilt of a believer’s sin.  He does more–He breaks its power. (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:4; 2 Tim. 1:9; Heb. 12:10.)” (Holiness, 49).

We Exist for the Love of God

The medieval mystic, Julian of Norwich (circa 1373), claimed to see a series of visions, all related to the “Divine Love.”  While much of it is medieval nonsense, there are some gems: “And he showed me more, a little thing, the size of a hazelnut, on the palm of my hand, round like a ball.  I looked at it thoughtfully and wondered, ‘What is this?’  And the answer came, ‘It is all that is made.’  I marvelled that it continued to exist and did not suddenly disintegrate; it was so small.  And again my mind supplied the answer, ‘It exists, both now and forever, because God loves it.’  In short, everything owes its existence to the love of God,” (Revelations of Divine Love, chap. 5).

Calvinistic Presumption

“But as we ought to presume nothing of ourselves, so ought we to presume all things of God; nor are we stripped of vainglory for any other reason than to learn to glory in the Lord,” (John Calvin, Preface to Institutes of the Christian Religion, 13).

Academic Mission Opportunity

I came across an exciting mission opportunity for academics. This organization sends Christian teachers into other countries, finding positions for them in secular universities. A quote on their home-page says it all:

“The university is a clear-cut fulcrum with which to move the world. Change the university and you change the world,” declared Dr. Charles Malik, former president of the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council.

Convicting Words for Any Teacher

“The goal of reading is the application, in our lives, of what we read. Not to learn it by heart, but to take it to heart. Not to practice using your tongues, but to be able to receive the tongues of fire and to live the mysteries of God. If one studies a great deal in order to acquire knowledge and to teach others, without living the things he teaches, he does no more than fill his head with hot air. At most he will manage to ascend to the moon using machines. The goal of the Christian is to rise to God without machines.”

     -Elder Paisios the Athonite

HT: Mind in the Heart

Living Stones & Historical Irony

Going through my journal of my trip to Italy (5 years ago), I remembered a bit of history which is fascinating and ironic:  the evil Emperor Nero had a fantastic “Villa of Gold” built for himself but, after he died, Titus (I think) destroyed it.  Ancient Romans had a tidy custom of wiping out the monuments of evil rulers.  Titus (I think) then used the stones from Nero’s villa to build the Colosseum.  When the Church finally conquered Rome, stones were plundered from the Colosseum to build St. Peter’s Basilica.  Apparantly, Bernini even used some of the stones to build the magnificent altar.  So the stones which witnessed Christian martyrs torn to shreds eventually became part of the earthly center of the Western church. 

1 Peter 2:5, “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

(The choir I was touring with sang during a Mass in St. Peter’s.  Quite an amazing experience.  I can relate to the emissaries from Russia who saw Hagia Sophia for the first time and decided to convert to Christianity because it looked like heaven on earth.  Our architecture really does express our worldview.)

Dispensational Anti-Semitism

Hal Lindsey wrote a book (which I own as a curiosity) in which he accused Theonomic Reconstructionists of anti-semitism.  The basic argument seems to be that theonomists believe the Church has replaced ethnic Israel, and this will lead to all sorts of end-of-the-world bad things.  However, I would suggest that radical Dispensationalists have a huge anti-semitic beam in their own eye.  The problem is with two verses in Matthew (23:36 and 24:34) and with the meaning of the word “generation.”

Matthew 24:34 reads: “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.”  The Greek word for generation is “genea” (genea.n).  Charles Ryrie helpfully explains this away for us: “No one living when Jesus spoke these words lived to see ‘all these things’ come to pass.  However, the Greek word can mean ‘race’ or ‘family,’ which makes good sense here; i.e., the Jewish race will be preserved, in spite of terrible persecution, until the Lord comes” (Ryrie Study Bible, Expanded Edition).   One reason for this “terrible persecution” may be slips of logic like this.  Let’s look at some of the other things Jesus said about that “generation”:

 33 You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? 34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, 35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation(ESV, emphasis mine).

The Greek word here “genea” (genea.) is the same as in 23:36.  So, did Jesus really mean that the Jewish race would be punished forever for killing the prophets from Abel to Zechariah?  Of course, we need to add the execution of the Prophet Jesus to that list.  If this is true, then why do people complain about Christians persecuting Jews throughout history?  According to Ryrie’s logic, this is simply the will of God!  Or, did the meaning of “genea” suddenly switch between chapters?  It maketh no sense.

A more sane way to read these passages, though it may appear harsh, is to say that God did indeed judge that generation of Jews in 70 AD when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple.  That was it.  No further punishment needed.  Any mistreatment of Jews because they are Jews (whatever that means now, in the New Covenant) is wrong and sinful.  Period.  That generation did reject Jesus and they were judged for it.  Their house really was left desolate (Matt. 23:38).  And, of course, it makes more sense to read most of Matthew 24 as fulfilled in the 1st century.  But, that’s a much bigger point… At the least, Dispensational exegesis is not consistent with the plain meaning of Greek words.  At the worst, some Hitler wanna-be could read their exegesis and find himself a handy proof-text. 

Ascension and the Lord’s Supper

The Ascension of Christ is essential to our understanding of the Lord’s Supper.  Of course, most of what happens to us at this Table remains a mystery, but we can say a few things, given what we know about Christ.  We know that Christ is in heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand.  We also know that Jesus Christ still has a resurrection body.  Many Christians have never thought about this, but it is true.  John says that we don’t know what the resurrection will be like, but we know that we will be like Jesus (1 Jn. 3:2).  And we know that Jesus had a real body that Thomas could touch and feel.  Jesus ate and drank after his resurrection.  This table prepares us for heaven.  Revelation tells us that heaven will be the wedding feast of the Lamb.  We will eat and drink with Jesus in heaven.  We are eating and drinking with him now, in the Church.  But, we often assume heaven will be less than what we know now.  We think we’ll float around, playing harps.  But, what if heaven is an eternal banquet with tastes and pleasures that would make your mind explode now?  Perhaps, when Jesus turned the water into wine at the wedding at Cana, he was bringing a little bit of heaven to earth.  Whatever heaven will be, we must guard against the gnostic heresy, which says our bodies are not important to our salvation.  Christ came to save the world, including our bodies.  In the Ascension, Christ took a human body back up to heaven.  Things have changed at the center of the universe.  We can’t go back.  A grand and glorious party is coming.  Don’t be left behind.  If you’ve been baptized, and are not under church discipline, then you are already wearing the wedding garments, and you need to come to this party.

Ascension Day

Thursday was Ascension Day.  Most of American Evangelicals do not know that.  And this is quite ironic.  We just celebrated Mothers’ Day.  Woe to you if you forgot this Most Holy Day!  Memorial Day is coming up.  Most of America has some exciting plan for Memorial Day.  Maybe a few people will actually visit the graves of our fallen soldiers.  But, Ascension Day?  Isn’t that Roman Catholic?  Well, it also happens to be one of the days the Reformers celebrated.  Ascension Day celebrates the ascension of our Lord and Savior back into heaven.  Jesus Christ was the God-Man.  He was God, who became Man, in order to take mankind back into the heavenly places with him.  You see, Jesus did not ascend alone.  As the Head of the Church, our Head ascended back into heaven.  And the location of the head affects the location of the body.  If the head is under water, the body spazzes for a while, and then dies.  But if the head is above the water, the body can be totally under water.  In the same way, if our head were still submerged in this sinful world, we would soon be shark-food.  But, since our Head is at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, we are filled with life, and we kick sharks in the face.  Where our Head is makes all the difference in this world, and the next.  So, let’s reclaim this wonderful Feast Day of the Church.  Our Lord is risen, Amen!  But the glory doesn’t stop there.  Our Lord is ascended into heaven.  Glory!  Hallelujah!  Because he ascended into heaven, we, too, will ascend into heaven.  Blessed be the name of our risen and ascended Lord.  But, we are not fit for heaven while we cling to this sinful life.  So, let us confess our remaining sins to Almighty God …

Eucharistic Meditation – Rogation Sunday

Gathering around this Table every Lord’s Day reminds us over and over again that we are part of God’s household.  God adopts us as his children.  Though our earthly families may crumble apart and though death may separate us from those we love, we are never separate from God’s love.  Often God takes things away from us so that we learn to appreciate them more.  But, the only thing which can keep us from this Table is our own stubborn refusal to repent of our sin.  Though God may take our husband, wife, or our children, he will not cast us out of his house.  As long as we are his children, we have a place at this Table.  As long as we are his children, he will feed us.  Let’s enjoy the fellowship we have with each other now, while it lasts on this earth.  Our earthly fellowship will be disrupted by death.  We will all die.  But, even that is only temporary.  We will fellowship with each other again in heaven.  We will fellowship with those that God has already taken to himself.  Paul was torn between remaining with the Church in his body or being with the Lord in his spirit.  We may think of old age and of losing our spouse with fear and uncertainty.  How will we make it?  God will give us strength for the day.  And God gives us strength for each day through the ministry of the Church.  God gives us strength for each day through this Table. 

Exhortation – Rogation Sunday

Heidelberg Catechism (Q. 27) – What dost thou mean by the providence of God?Answer: The almighty and everywhere present power of God; (a) whereby, as it were by his hand, he upholds and governs (b) heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain and drought, (c) fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, (d) riches and poverty, (e) yea, and all things come, not by chance, but be his fatherly hand.

The catechism next teaches us about the nature of Providence.  From one point of view, nature is Providence.  We see God’s hand in the stars, in decomposing mulch, in the flight of a bird.  There really are no natural laws.  There is no such thing as an impersonal nature, much less a Mother Nature.  God the Father has established every so-called “law” of nature.  Nature is simply God’s law in action.  But providence means more than this: providence is God’s active care over his world.  The rain keeps falling on our heads because God makes it rain.  The lightning which tears the sky is his power.  The thunder which shakes our earth is his will shaking the earth.  Providence means that God is charge of every sparrow that smashes into your sliding glass door.  Providence means that God knows exactly how many hairs fell to the ground during your last hair-cut.  But some Christians are schizophrenic about providence.  This is often seen in what we call “natural” disasters.  As hard as it is to believe, we must believe that God was guiding the tornado which destroyed Greensberg, Kansas. 

Exhortation – 4th Sunday After Easter

Corporate Recitation (Heidelberg Catechism)

Question 26. What believest thou when thou sayest, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”? Answer: That the eternal Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who of nothing made heaven and earth, with all that is in them; (a) who likewise upholds and governs the same by his eternal counsel and providence) (b) is for the sake of Christ his Son, my God and my Father; (c) on whom I rely so entirely, that I have no doubt, but he will provide me with all things necessary for soul and body (d) and further, that he will make whatever evils he sends upon me, in this valley of tears turn out to my advantage; (e) for he is able to do it, being Almighty God, (f) and willing, being a faithful Father.

Much is included in this description of our Great God.  In contrast to some people’s version of God, (more like a big Santa-in-the-sky who’s making a list and checking it twice) our God is a powerful Creator, and a loving Preserver.  God made the world out of nothing.  He made the world without our help, and he preserves it without our help.  God did not create the world and leave it alone to keep ticking by itself like a cosmic clock.  Rather, the world keeps ticking because God guides it every second.  God upholds the world and governs it actively, through his eternal plan.  That plan in action is called providence.  Through Christ’s work of redemption, God calls us his sons and daughters.  We rely on him completely, for everything.  We need to repent of our folly in thinking that we have earned anything.  Everything we have, God has given us as a gift.  This includes everything we wish we didn’t have.  All troubles and afflictions come upon us from the hands of a wise and loving Father.  There are many reasons why we must suffer hardships, but we trust in a wisdom higher than ours.  God could preserve us from all the evils things that have happened to us.  But, he chose not to.  The only question is whether we will respond in loving trust, or whether we’ll try to figure a better way.  Loving trust leads to the peace that passes all understanding.  Trusting in our own reason leads to suicidal madness and hedonistic annihilation.  Though we walk through a valley of tears, God prepares a table for us.  If we confess our stubborn pride and folly to him, he will lead us out of the valley of the shadow of death and will make us lie down in green pastures. 

Irenaeus on Sacramental Realism

Irenaeus seems to argue from sacramental realism to Christological realism.  In other words, because the sacraments are real, Christ’s human body was real.  He argues this way against Marcion: “Moreover, how could the Lord, with any justice, if He belonged to another father, have acknowledged the bread to be His body, while He took it from that creation to which we belong, and affirmed the mixed cup to be His blood?” (Against Heresies, IV.23).

Easter Meditation

Excerpt from an Easter Sermon by Gregory Nazianzen (bishop of the Eastern church in the late 300s):

“Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us.  Let us become  God’s for His sake, since He for ours became Man.  He assumed the worse that He might give us the better; He became poor that we through His poverty might be rich; He took upon Him the form of a servant that we might receive back our liberty; He came down that we might be exalted; He was tempted that we might conquer; He was dishonoured that He might glorify us; He died that He might save us; He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were lying low in the Fall of sin.  Let us give all, offer all, to Him Who gave Himself a Ransom and a Reconciliation for us.  But one can give nothing like oneself, understanding the Mystery, and becoming for His sake all that He became for ours” (Oration I.5).

Trinitarian Salvation

I’ll be preaching from 1 Peter 1 tomorrow at Providence Reformed Church, in Greenville (NC). An excerpt:

1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

Here we see the functioning of the Economic Trinity (vs. the Ontological Trinity: God as He has been eternally). This is the Trinity acting in history. Cults like the Jehovah’s witnesses stumble here, so it’s important to understand. God doesn’t reveal himself like an actor in a Greek tragedy, putting on different masks to play different roles (modalism). God, the One Divine Being, is eternally Triune. There are three Persons in the One Godhead. These three persons are all Divine, are all eternal, and all equally powerful. However, this does not mean God is three Super Clones. There is not only Unity in God, but there is also Diversity. Allah is one boring God, all alone in heaven: the Trinity is a glorious Dance, fellowshipping eternally. God was not lonely: creation issued out of the abundance of God’s life and joy. The Trinity was having so much fun, They had to share their joy with created beings.

Thus, in history, God manifests his Unity and His Diversity. The One God saves His people throughout history, but in each stage of history, God reveals more and more of his wonderful Diversity. In the Old Covenant, God stressed his Unity. This was most important in the pagan context. Every pagan nation worshipped a pantheon of gods, a plethora of gods, a gaggle of gods. Israel was spiritually immature, and God was training them up as his sons. The fact that they continually fell into idolatry shows how hard this basic lesson of God’s Unity was.

Then, in the fullness of time, God sent forth his Son to be obedient unto death on a cross (Phil. 2:8). But the dance didn’t stop there. Jesus went away so that the Holy Comforter could come (Jn. 17) and shape a community of people into the image of the Trinity.

Van Til on Creedal Progress

Van Til did not believe in creedal fossilization. His brief treatment the relationship between systematic theology and creedal formulas challenges those of us who want to treat creeds as unchanging deposits of truth. In Van Til’s formulation, systematic theology operates within the framework of the creeds, but must go beyond creeds:

“It must be shown over and over again that the standards are based on the Scriptures. In addition to this, the systmatic theologian has to go beyond the standards to see whether he can possibly find a more specific formulation of truths already spoken of in the standards, and whether he can find a formulation of truths of Scriptures not yet spoken of in the standards. In this way he may himself help in some small way the further implication of the church into the truth of Scripture. Creeds must be revised and supplemented from time to time. But it is not until systematic theology has progressed beyond the creeds that the creeds themselves may be revised” (Introduction to Systematic Theology, 4).

Bavinck on Catholicity

Herman Bavinck, the great Dutch Reformed theologian, succeeded Abraham Kuyper at the Free University of Amsterdam. The topic of his first rectoral address was The Catholicity of Christianity and the Church. His remarks are particularly helpful as the conservative American Reformed church wrangles over the meaning of “catholicity”:

“This catholicity of the church, as the Scriptures portray it and the first congregations show it, is of a moving beauty. He who shuts himself up in his own small church or conventicle, does not know it and has never experienced its power and comfort in his own life … There is no general Christianity above religious difference, yet it is present in these differences. Just as not one single church, however pure, coincides with the universal church, so not one single confession, however much purified according to the Word of God, may identify itself with the Christian truth. Every sect that regards its own circle as the only church of Christ and believes to be the sole owner of truth, pines and dies away, as a branch severed from its trunk” (emphasis mine).

[as quoted by Klaas Runia, "Catholicity in the Reformed Confessions and in Reformed Theology," in Paul G. Shrotenboer, ed., Catholicity and Secession: A Dilemma?, 1992; 71].

Heretics – Bears of Little Brain

Jaroslav Pelikan, probably the greatest living church historian, has a key point on the heretic’s psychology: “Not the orthodox but the heretics were generally the ones who fastened upon a single idea, which may perhaps have been correct enough in itself, but which blocked the rest of the teaching of Scripture out of view” (Obedient Rebels: Catholic Substance and Protestant Principle in Luther’s Reformation, 1964).

Like dear old Pooh Bear, the heretic has honey on the brain (a very important food stuff, to be sure) but he interprets all of Scripture and reality through that gooey framework. Thus, we find the heretic doing silly things like getting stuck in the entrance to Rabbit’s house, and pretending to be a little black rain cloud.

Of course, this temptation to wear exegetical blinders exists for the orthodox as well, especially for those of us who have recently discovered the (ancient) thrilling doctrines of predestination, infant baptism, or Biblical man and womanhood. The temptation is to focus on one great truth, and forget all the others.

Semper reformanda, but semper middle-of-the-roada!

Oden Hammers Away

More from Oden on the sickness afflicting modern seminaries:

“Under these assumptions [see paragraph below], theological inquiry may pretend to proceed almost entirely without reference to the worshiping community, its laity, its historic apostolic mission, and its classical texts. The critics that mean most to chic, mod-oriented, trend-smart ministry molders are only those commentators or researchers or feminists or deconstructionists who have written in the last ten years, twenty-five at most, not during the previous nineteen hundred. The serious study of Christian thought is considered to have begun with someone like Simone de Beauvoir or Paul Tillich, or at the very earliest with Friedrich Schleirmacher or Ludwig Feuerbach. It is easy to see how this premise marginalizes the study of classical Christian texts. Its modern chauvinism promotes a vicious subliminal attack on all premodern wisdoms. The fact that theology has no grassroots support or ties with worshipping community is at long last considered a badge of honor” (40-41).

Oden on the Faddish Seminary

Thomas Oden in his Requiem: A Lament in Three Movements (Abingdon Press, 1995) has some stinging criticism of the modern seminary: “Brilliant academics with no experience whatever in the actual practice of the ministry of the Word, Sacrament, and pastoral care are often those who compete best in the race to become teachers of ministers in the trendy, fad-impaired seminary. Should an experienced, godly pastor who had a distinguished Cambridge doctorate apply for a position in that faculty, that person’s extensive parish experience might well be viewed as a negative factor by PC purists who, having no experience in ministry, prefer colleagues who have not been contaminated by any exposure to local church practice or any strong tradition of piety. This is analogous to someone teaching dermatology in a medical school and doing grand rounds weekly, but who has never removed a mole, or one teaching contracts in a law school who has never drawn up a lien for a client” (40).

Interesting support, indirectly, for the intra parish model of pastoral education being worked out in Greyfriar’s Hall. Theology cannot be separated from the Church. But this does not mean we need to have low standards for pastors: Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Beza, Zwingli were all stellar scholars and pastors. As an aside, they all (except Luther) had a classical (humanist) education. Classical Christian educators should pray and labor in the hope of training up the next generation of reformers.

Calvin and Federal Vision

I wonder if Calvin would pass a presbytery examination in our conservative Reformed denominations.

Commenting on 1 Peter 1:2, he writes: “we are not curiously to inquire about the election of our brethren, but ought on the contrary to regard their calling, so that all who are admitted by faith into the church, are to be counted as the elect; for God thus separates them from the world, which is a sign of election. It is no objection to say that many fall away, having nothing but the semblance; for it is the judgment of charity and not of faith, when we deem all those elect in whom appears the mark of God’s adoption. And that he does not fetch their election from the hidden counsel of God, but gathers it from the effect, is evident from the context; for afterwards he connects it with the sanctification of the Spirit. As far then as they proved that they were regenerated by the Spirit of God, so far did he deem them to be the elect of God, for God does not sanctify any but those whom he has previously elected,” (Calvin’s Commentaries, vol. 22, Baker, 24).

If I’m reading Calvin right, he basically says: if folks manifest the fruit of the Spirit, don’t doubt their election. If we are Truly Reformed, we should be electional optimists! An implication of this would be an argument for not banning our children from the Lord’s Table (though Calvin did). My sons both manifest the fruits of the Spirit (though they can hardly speak in complete sentences). Therefore, I don’t doubt their election, and freely give them the Body of Jesus.

Horne on Transfiguration

Mark Horne’s commentary on the gospel of Mark (The Victory According to Mark, Canon Press, 2003) is one of the few theological books that excited me as I read it (after you read too much theology, it takes something special to do that!). Although I’m sure Pastor Horne would feel uncomfortable with the notion, I put his book right up there with James Jordan, Peter Leithart, N.T. Wright, and Thomas Oden. Even though I think the latter two distinguished scholars go off the rails at points, at least they write theology that doesn’t put you to sleep. Horne (probably because he appreciates Wright as well) has a sense of aesthetic balance. No doubt this comes of attentiveness to the literary structure, typologies, and symbols of the Bible–God’s artistry. A sample:

“The Transfiguration was not a revelation of deity, but rather a revelation of true humanity. God created human beings to reflect His glory. Thus, Moses’ face shone after he beheld the glory of God (Exod. 33:18; 34:8, 29-35). Thus, Stephen’s face will become like that of an angel when the heavens open above the Sanhedrin and Stephen sees Jesus at the right hand of God (Acts 7). We were made to glow; sin has dimmed us,” (135).

Horne’s book puts to rest any notion that Mark’s gospel is simple and uninteresting. For those who attend to the rest of the Bible (as in the “Old” Testament that doesn’t apply to us any more), Mark’s gospel (or Peter’s) springs into a 3-D typological panorama. Typological interpretation helps us see Jesus in the context of the whole Bible, rather than as an effeminate pietist knocking ever so gently on the door to our hearts.

Modernist Fundamentalism?

Doug Wilson has a good review of Wright’s book on Scripture. Though I’ve not read Wright’s book, apparently he repeats a somewhat common argument that fundamentalism is part of the big modernist pie. Wilson writes: “To say that fundamentalism is blinkered makes perfect sense to me. But the claim that fundamentalism is modernist is a charge that (when I have seen any argumentation) proceeds on the assumption that their commitment to objective truth makes them modernist.”

I don’t know much about this discussion, but I think it’s obvious that defenders of the faith always inhale (knowingly or not) the dust stirred up by the current battle. But, I am troubled by some statements I find in the great Reformed thinkers. Schaff, in The Principle of Protestantism, is too friendly toward the German rationalism that formed him: “In this respect, the scientific rationalism of Germany, by bringing in a severe criticism and grammatico-historical exegesis, which form the natural ground and necessary condition of all theological knowledge of the Bible, has wrought clearly with purifying power in the church, the traces of which are not to be mistaken in the most orthodox works of the modern evangelical school,” (Wipf and Stock, 170). Now, Schaff was by no means a fundamentalist, but he is too comfortable with German thought for my post-Barthian sensibilities.

Charles Hodge has bothered me for some time. He seems far too cozy with modern thinking: “The Bible is to the theologian what nature is to the man of science,” and, “In the third place, the theologian must be guided by the same rules in the collection of facts, as govern the man of science,” (Systematic Theology, vol I.5.A, pg. 10, 11).

Trinity and Catholicity

The teaching of the church is unified, though diverse. The Spirit of truth (Jn. 14:17) unites us with Christ (the Way, the Truth, and the Life). The Spirit leads us into all truth (Jn. 16:13) and provides unity (Jn. 17:20-21). Thus, the teaching of the Church is Trinitarian, which does not mean monolithic or stultified. Within the Trinity, there is a wondrous play of unity and diversity. We should delight similarly in the unity and diversity of Christian tradition.

Federal Vision Controversy

The Federal Vision Gang is not the first to suggest the Reformed world is unbalanced:

George Eldon Ladd writes: “A Reformed scholar has pointed out that there is a danger in making justification by faith the central doctrine, namely, the danger of depriving Paul’s message of its ‘redemptive historical dynamic’ and making it into a timeless treatment of individual justification. The unifying center is rather the redemptive work of Christ as the center of redemptive history,” (A Theology of the New Testament, 412). The Reformed scholar referenced is H.N. Ridderbos.

Two more heretics for the bonfire!