Heresies and Schisms in the Second Century
Posted: September 22, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Christianity, Church history, Marcion Leave a commentKey Points During this Time
- Early Christianity was characterized by a certain variety in belief and practice
- A strategic and gifted administrator, Marcion led an effective movement that rejected Christianity’s Jewish roots, distinguished the creator god from the redeemer god, emphasized asceticism, and advocated an authoritative canon of Scripture based mainly on portions of Paul’s writings
- In the 2nd century, Gnostic movements developed systems of belief that interacted and competed with catholic Christianity, combining Jewish, Christian, and pagan beliefs
- In an attempt to achieve a philosophical-religious solution to the problem of evil, Gnostic groups taught complex cosmologies that tended to involve extreme dualism, a strong rejection of matter as evil, and redeemer myths
- In rejecting Gnosticism, “orthodox” Christianity affirmed the oneness of God, the essential goodness of creation, the full incarnation of Jesus Christ, and bodily resurrection
- Largely in response to perceived worldliness and formalization of the church, Montanism arose as an exuberant movement stressing prophecy, rigorous ethics, and eschatological enthusiasm
- Encratism describes a tendency in some Christian circles towards extreme asceticism
- The appeal to existing standards of belief and practice suggests that “orthodoxy” in some sense existed prior to Christian “heresy”
Summary
In the struggle to define boundaries of belief and practice, the early church grappled with the diversity to be found among those claiming to follow Christ. Early Christian doctrinal self-understanding took shape partly in response to these challenges. For instance, the wealthy shipbuilder Marcion rejected the Jewish roots of Christianity, teaching that the creator god and redeemer god are separate and that the savior Jesus is to be understood in a Docetic manner. He contended that Paul was the only true Apostle and put forward a canon of Scripture based on Paul that was highly selective and heavily edited. Despite the Roman church’s rejection of his teaching in 144, he effectively organized a movement of many Marcionite churches.
Gnosticism is an umbrella term that covers a number of different groups and teachings interacting with Christianity in the second and third centuries. Although our knowledge of Gnosticism was limited due to the shortage of ancient sources, modern discoveries have enriched our knowledge greatly—particularly the find in 1945 of a number of original Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi in Egypt. Gnosticism drew on pre-Christian, Jewish, and Christian ideas, synthesizing them into fully developed Gnostic systems by the second century. Different teachers promoted distinct systems, each group being defined by its favored myth of origins, its sense of group identity, and its insider language. Common features included an account of a “fall” in the spiritual realm that resulted in the creation of matter, which is evil. A “redeemer” imparts knowledge (Gnosis) to save those with a spiritual nature, so that they may escape their material prison and be reunited with the divine in the spiritual realm. Valentinus was the most influential Gnostic teacher, but there were many teachers and groups. To escape material entanglement, most followed an ascetic ethic, though some may have been libertine instead. With its streamlined dualism and elitist mentality, Gnosticism’s mythological and philosophical answer to the problem of evil proved attractive to many in the Greco-Roman culture. In response, “orthodox” Christians taught that the creator God is the one true God and that creation is good. They insisted on the full incarnation of Christ and the salvific importance of his bodily death, the significance of history in revelation, and the resurrection of the body. Out of this conflict, a number of important lessons may be found for today’s church.
Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla began a prophetic movement in the churches of Phrygia in the 150s or 170s. Believing themselves to be the voices of the Holy Spirit (the Paraclete), the Montanists of “the New Prophecy” preached judgment, seeking to convict the established church of moral laxness and compromise with the surrounding culture. The movement may be seen partly as a reaction to growing institutionalism of the church in the generations following the Apostles. Montanism did not teach different doctrines, but their ascetic rigors and disruptive tendencies prompted negative reactions. The first known synods of bishops met in order to deal with the problem. Focusing on matters of authority, the synods emphasized the importance of Scripture and the place of bishop as authoritative teacher, resulting in the Montanists being declared as schismatic.
“Encratism” describes a movement or tendency among some early Christians towards extreme asceticism. Many surviving apocryphal texts promote asceticism and the Syriac church (e.g. Tatian) was characterized by this tendency. A contemporary debate considers whether “orthodoxy” may be understood to have preceded “heresy,” or whether early Christianity was simply highly diverse at its origins. Though early diversity and a legacy of development are undeniable, the ability of the orthodox to make plausible appeals to existing standards indicates that there were inherited norms of belief and practice.
Calvin on the Evils of Roman Catholic Worship
Posted: July 15, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun 3 CommentsCalvin on the evils of Roman Catholic worship and the remedy for the idolatry of having images in worship. He writes,
But, besides the clear testimonies which are everywhere met with in Scripture, we are also supported by the authority of the ancient Church. All the writers of a purer age describe the abuse of images among the Gentiles as not differing from what is seen in the world in the present day; and their observations on the subject are not less applicable to the present age than to the persons whom they then censured.
** Taken from Calvin, The Necessity of Reforming the Church, 29.
Arminians Can Enjoy Calvin Too
Posted: July 9, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentImagine if modern day Arminianism considered Calvin(ism) as Jacobus Arminius did;
Next to the study of the Scriptures which I earnestly inculcate, I exhort my pupils to peruse Calvin’s Commentaries, which I extol in loftier terms than Helmich himself (a Dutch divine, 1551–1608); for I affirm that he excels beyond comparison (incomparabilem esse) in the interpretation of Scripture, and that his commentaries ought to be more highly valued than all that is handed down to us by the library of the fathers; so that I acknowledge him to have possessed above most others, or rather above all other men, what may be called an eminent spirit of prophecy (spiritum aliquem prophetiae eximium). His Institutes ought to be studied after the [Heidelberg] Catechism, as containing a fuller explanation, but with discrimination (cum delectu), like the writings of all men.
** Taken from James Arminius (1560–1609) in Schaft – History of the Christian Church Vol. VIII Chapter VIII
Puritan Studies Program
Posted: May 14, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a comment
By the Lord’s grace and due to the labors of several individuals, the Puritan Studies Program website is up and running. Please check it out and pass along the word to others especially anyone who might be interested in these post-graduate programs. Most importantly, please pray that these studies would be used for the extension of Christ’s kingdom. If you are interested in these studies, please feel to contact Bob McKelvey.
The Cosmic Trial and Solidarity in Adam
Posted: May 8, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: adam, Anthropology, Bible, man, sin, Theology Leave a commentWe should not pit this legal analogy for the human story against the relational, which is just as important; both are integral to a covenantal account. The Holy Spirit is the divine witness, who pronounces God’s blessing on creation and makes us true witnesses to God and his works. But there is a false witness, Satan, who in the garden first misinterprets God’s Word and then denies it (Gen. 3:1–5). He succeeds in getting Adam and Eve to doubt God’s Word and attempt to go behind it to discover something hidden about God himself. In this way, we submitted God and his ways to our sovereign judgment. God, however, arrived in the garden in true and righteous judgment, and the ensuing covenant trial, with its curses and promises, is echoed in every subplot of the Bible. And Adam’s new role as covenant transgressor and false witness bears on his relation to all humanity and the rest of creation as well as to God.
As the representative head of humanity, Adam stood in total personal righteousness, in loving fellowship with God, and with the Sabbath held out to him. After the fall, we retain a natural nostalgia for God (which we twist into idolatry) as well as a yearning to attain the consummation (twisted into self-will and oppression). In short, the human race in Adam is now the false prophet who misrepresents God’s Word, the false priest who corrupts God’s sanctuary, and the false king who exercises cruel tyranny.
Every person is now born estranged from the good Father; unwilling to be a faithful son, humanity became a slave of sin and death. The features of a covenant are clearly delineated in Genesis 1–3: a historical prologue (chaps. 1–2), stipulations (2:16–17), sanctions (2:17, over which Eve and Satan argue, 3:1–5), and judgment for transgression (3:8–19). The Tree of Life was the prize waiting for faithfulness, securing participation in God’s own Sabbath rest. Further, the terms that form the basis of an entirely new covenantal state of affairs are announced in Genesis 3:21–24. Adam’s covenantal role entailed his representation of all humanity and all creation (Gen. 3:17–18; Rom. 5:12–21; 8:20). This original covenant of creation may be defended by appeal to non-Christian as well as Christian sources. Even ancient pagan cultures grounded their laws in a narrative of original creation that was universally normative. Judaism grounds human moral solidarity in an original creational covenant with Adam. Islam affirms certain laws that are binding on all people because of a common Adamic origin. Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and our own conscience—all testify to an indelible conviction of moral accountability before a holy God for how we treat each other.
The Christian notion of a creational covenant did not arise because of a Western emphasis on legal categories; Irenaeus and John of Damascus in the East affirm an Adamic covenant, as Augustine did in the West. The beginnings of developed Reformed covenant or federal theology can easily be seen among the Reformers. All of these advocates of a creational covenant with Adam appealed to its biblical basis, not only the obvious covenantal elements in Genesis and the strong parallels between Adam and Christ but also specific passages that refer to Adam’s covenant-breaking (e.g., Hos. 6:7; Job 31:33). Israel’s national existence is in many ways a recapitulation of the creational covenant of the law of love for God and neighbor and is also crucial to understanding the biblical testimony to this covenant of works (and its distinction from the new covenant of grace, e.g., Galatians 3–4).
The creational covenant is rooted in law and love, not in grace. Again, grace presupposes fault and sin, and creation’s original integrity included neither. Against Roman Catholicism, the Reformers taught that before the fall humanity had no need of any “superadded grace” (do-num super-add-i-tum) that would keep an inherent bent toward sin and corruption from erupting beyond control. We did not fall because God removed his grace and we followed our original propensity toward sin; we fell because, against the integrity of original righteousness, we freely rebelled against God’s love. The terms of the covenant of creation cannot be, and were not, simply set aside. But owing to God’s amazing grace, they have been fulfilled in place of the elect by his incarnate Son.
The doctrine of original sin describes our collective human guilt and corruption in Adam. No doctrine is more significant for biblical anthropology, yet none has been more relentlessly criticized. The doctrine arises from two principle biblical sources: (1) the covenantal shape of all God’s dealings with humanity and (2) the specific narrative of the fall from original integrity. The concept of solidarity or representative headship—human solidarity in Adam, Israel’s solidarity in Abraham and Moses, the elect’s solidarity in Christ—is basic to the biblical worldview. It is crucial for Christian theology to affirm the historical veracity of Adam and his representative sin. While there are metaphysical or ontological consequences to Adam’s transgression of the covenant (corruption and death), the basis of these and the essence of sin itself is legal and ethical (1 Cor. 15:56)—that is, just like our commission in the image of God, original sin is to be understood in covenantal terms. In highly developed nations today, amid Pelagian and individualistic presuppositions, it is incomprehensible that each and every person could be held responsible for participation in collective guilt (not just its consequences) on the basis of one person’s own transgression. But it is basic to biblical faith that we are guilty not only for Adam’s sin but as sinners in Adam.
Fundamentalism tends to reduce sin to evil personal behaviors; liberalism tends to reduce it to evil social structures. But sin is far deeper than either account. It is a condition—we sin because we are sinners, not vice versa. We are victims and perpetrators of sin; every sinner is also sinned against, both in interpersonal and broader social contexts. Scripture will not let us contrast “us” with “them” when it comes to sin but declares that all are under sin (Rom. 3:9–12). When reduced to the merely interpersonal dimension, sin becomes negative behaviors or failure to live up to personal or cultural expectations. When the divine-human dimension is considered primary, sin becomes guilt and condemnation before a holy and righteous Lord with whom we have broken covenant. Such divergent definitions of sin thus lead to radically different views of redemption.
Two helpful distinctions are necessary to account for both humanity’s universal sinfulness and corruption and its remaining goodness and abilities. The distinction between righteousness before God and before others—While Scripture (and experience) credits unbelievers with a certain goodness, justice, and wisdom in human affairs, it is the righteousness of God’s own character that is the standard by which all will be judged. The distinction between natural and moral ability—Humans possess a natural ability to obey God’s commands but lack the moral ability to love God and neighbor in accord with God’s righteous character; our human capacities and abilities were not lost in the fall but twisted and deformed in unrighteousness.
“Total depravity” does not mean that we are incapable of any justice or good before others; rather, it means that there is no aspect of our humanity that is left unfallen, from which we might make a beginning of justice and goodness before God. The soul, mind, and heart, as much as the body, are corrupt. Yet the fact that we can turn to God but will not manifests and reinforces our guilt (John 8:44; Rom. 1:18–2:16).
Key Points to Keep in Mind When Dealing with the Fall of Humanity
Posted: May 8, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: adam, Anthropology, humanity, sin, the fall, Theology Leave a comment- Adam’s representative headship accounts for the grandeur and the tragedy of human existence; it sets in motion the great trial that sets the stage for the fulfillment of all things in Jesus, the faithful last Adam.
- The covenant of creation is implicitly and explicitly taught in Scripture, integrating both the legal and the familial aspects of humanity’s natural relationship to God and illuminating the character of Christ’s gracious work.
- No doctrine is more significant for a biblical anthropology than original sin, although none has been subject to more criticism.
- Human image-bearing was not lost in the fall (we retain our human personhood and dignity), but the exercise and purposes of the image have been spurned and perverted.
- God delayed the deadly consequences of Adam’s rebellion, making space for the outworking of the covenant of grace through its promise and fulfillment in Christ.
The Security of Believers
Posted: May 2, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentThis was too good not to post; Joel Beeke (or Mark Jones) writing on the believers hope in the doctrine of perseverance,
The security of believers grounded in the covenant of grace is ultimately grounded in God’s promise of Himself to be our God. Thus, this fourth ground of perseverance ties together the previous grounds of the Father’s election, the Son’s purchase, and the Spirit’s sealing. True believers may be assured that they will have heaven because they already have the Lord as their covenant God, and that is the essence of heaven on earth. Richard Alleine (c. 1610–1681) said that when the Lord gives Himself in the covenant, all that He is in His glory, omnipotence, omniscience, wisdom, righteousness, holiness, all-sufficiency, and faithfulness becomes ours as our friend, portion, sun, and shield forever.63 Coles said “all the attributes of God do stand engaged” to guarantee that the saints will persevere to the end.64 So Puritan logic presses the application home: Is anything too hard for the Lord? The divine grounds of assurance are very important for the peace of the soul, for perseverance is no easy matter for mere men.
Excerpt From: Joel R. Beeke. “A Puritan Theology.” iBooks.
Biblical Theology and Special Revelation
Posted: May 2, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentBiblical theology is one of the newer, up and coming, broadening branches of theology. The term itself has been used to indicate three different aspects of the discipline; firstly it can simply refer theology that is biblical; secondly, biblical theology became attached to a movement that arose in the 1940’s, flourished in the 1950’s, declined in the 60’s, and buried in the 70s’; Brevard Childs documented this movement in his book Biblical Theology in Crisis. Thirdly, biblical theology refers to a distinct movement that grew from German soil as part of the Enlightenment in reaction to the alleged failure of orthodox dogmatics to do justice to the historical character of the Bible. J.P. Gabler is customarily viewed as defining the principle of this movement, but the real pioneer from the Reformed perspective was Geerhardus Vos at Princeton in 1893. My discussion will focus on the third kind of biblical theology.
John Murray parroted Vos’s definition as “that branch of exegetical theology which deals with the process of the self-revelation of God deposited in the Bible.” The focus is on the process of the historically progressive redemptive character of special revelation. Biblical theology underscores historical diversity, while systematics tries to bring everything together. Both Vos and Murray insist on the organic character of the revelation process; they therefore prefer the title, “History of Special Revelation.”
The real question that these men pose is that of the interrelationship between special revelation of Scripture and systematic theology. All three of them are on the same page: although both disciplines are exegetically based and of a coordinating nature, they are distinct from each other in terms of method and structuring principles. The approach of biblical theology is primarily historical and that of systematic theology is primarily logical. Biblical theology deals with process of revelation while systematics deals with revelation as a finished product. J.J. Davis makes the distinction between what revelation means (systematics) and what it meant (biblical).
The weakness of biblical theology is that there might be a tendency to dwell on what it meant to the original audience. Systematic theology, the circle, can never ignore the line, biblical theology. When we root systematic theology in biblical theology, we achieve its true function and purpose. Biblical theology serves to guide exegesis. This is important because the Bible is not an encyclopedia of doctrine; rather, the Bible itself is revelation and a record of that revelation and leads to a culmination of redemptive history. It is fundamental then for systematic theology to keep in view the historic progressive character of revelation. A biblical theology emphasis will help to restrain systematic theology from surrendering to abstraction, from de-historicizing Scripture, and from ripping truths from their historical context. Systematic theology at the same time helps biblical theology to keep a sense of unity in the midst of historical diversity.
**This post was first seen at Place for Truth, A Voice of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals.
What is the Image of God?
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: creation, God, images of god, mankind, Theology Leave a commentCreation’s origin cannot be appropriately understood apart from its eschatological aim. Creation was “very good” but in a real sense unfinished; it had before it the promise of a consummation in everlasting Sabbath blessedness. Humans were created in covenant relationship with God and one another for the purpose of securing this blessedness. Every nonbiblical anthropology begins with an assumption of the autonomous individual—intrinsically independent from God and creation and standing in sovereign judgment over God and creation.
I take the “days” of creation as analogical (though not mythological). They are God’s accommodation to his ordained pattern and commandment of six days of labor and one of rest. Eschatology is the principal motive: we were created and called to imitate God’s pattern of work (Adam’s trial of obedience) and rest (the Sabbath enjoyment held out to him). This original, creational covenant relationship is intrinsic to the meaning of being created in God’s image. All people retain some sense of God as their Lawgiver and Judge and of their obligation to love him and one another. This status as a commissioned servant of God, created in his image, renders every person both dignified and accountable. The fall did not obliterate humanity’s covenant relationship with God but divided humanity between the rebellious children of Cain and those of Seth, who called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 4).
To be created in God’s image is to be called persons in communion. Human existence and identity is not lodged in self-consciousness or in the ability to reason or to will; it is the result of being spoken by God and spoken to by God. And though all are determined as persons by the mere fact of our creation and calling in God’s image, our realization of the purpose of our personhood depends on whether we correspond to God’s intentions. Throughout Scripture, the faithful servant of God is the one who responds to the Great King’s commission, “Here I am.” Such an answer opens us up to the call of our neighbors as well as to God. The image’s relational character is undermined if it is identified with any faculty or capacity within the individual. The image is chiefly the law of love for God and neighbor written on the conscience.
Humans certainly differ from other creatures in their natural capacities for rational reflection, language, and deliberative action. By themselves, however, these distinguish us merely as more complex forms of biological life in certain respects. It is God’s command and promise and the role we have been given in his unfolding drama that marks our uniqueness. In short, the significance of the image of God is our moral likeness to our Creator and our covenantal commission in Adam to usher all creation into God’s everlasting Sabbath. The image is constituted by the following four characteristics.
- Sonship/royal dominion—As children and servant-kings of God, we are meant to exercise righteous, respectful, responsible dominion over the rest of creation.
- Representation—Like priests, we are meant to be analogues of God, official embassies of his character, will, and actions; this places the image in the realm of judicial commission (ethical relationship) rather than being a mirror of the divine essence (ontology).
- Glory—We were created as temples indwelled by the Holy Spirit, filled with the Father’s glory in his Son.
- Prophetic witness—We were created to hear God’s Word and then respond faithfully, to him in praise and to others in witness to God’s character and works.
The commission of imaging God, which Adam and his children have twisted and spurned, is truly fulfilled in all its kingly, priestly, and prophetic aspects in the eternal Son who became man, Jesus Christ, the very Image of his Father.
A Lucky Animal or know as Materialist Anthropologies
Posted: April 6, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Anthropology, Christians, Materialist, Platonism, Platonist, Protestant, Theology Leave a commentWhat Makes Us Human? A state of the theological debate, and a question that must be answered when studying anthropology. A fundamental shift is currently occurring in the West from a view of the self as a semidivine entity that transcends body, time, and change to a view of the self as a physical, malleable social construction of chemical interactions. Neither account is willing to receive identity from another—supremely God—as both a gift and a responsibility. Platonist or idealist ontology, with its spirit-matter dualism, has played a dominant role in philosophical and theological views of personhood. The real or “higher” self, which distinguishes humans from the nonhuman creation, is the immortal spirit (or soul or mind). This is also where the imago Dei (image of God) is centered. The body is something we inhabit and use for now but is not who we really are, certainly not forever. The closely related Neoplatonist distinction of persons into three aspects—spirit, soul, and body—a position known as trichotomy, has been a perennial temptation among a small minority of Christians.
If for Platonism all that is truly real is spiritual, then the opposite form of reductionism is materialism: there is no such thing as the soul or continued existence after bodily death. All we are and do as humans has a physical explanation. Modern science seems to support some form of materialism. Many liberal Protestant and Jewish scholars also suggest that the Old Testament is at best silent on the question of the soul and does not teach life after death. Reacting against Platonist dualism, some Christians advocate a modified monism, arguing that humans are such a unity of physical and spiritual that neither aspect may be separated or conceived distinctly from the other.
Scripture presupposes and directly affirms a distinction between the body and the soul or spirit (the dichotomy position), seen pointedly in the living soul’s presence with God after death, apart from the body. Dichotomy is not dualism; human nature is not to be identified exclusively or even primarily with the soul. The real self is the whole self, body and soul. Scripture addresses persons in their wholeness; we should not deny the (temporary) separability of body and soul in the intermediate state. While Platonism sees embodiment as a curse, biblical faith understands disembodiment as a curse.
Understanding the Doctrine of Providence
Posted: March 21, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Doctrine, God, Providence, Theology Leave a commentThough God reigns and his purposes are sure, the apparent randomness of nature (discussed in the previous chapter) also characterizes history. We must avoid the twin dangers of hypersupernatural fatalism and antisupernatural materialism.
Direct/Indirect Cause: The Doctrine of Concursus
Concursus, or “concurrence,” in theology refers to the simultaneity of divine and human agency in actions or events. A biblical view of concursus requires more than God’s general oversight of history. Scripture testifies both to his predestination of all that comes to pass (primary or direct causation) and to the reality and responsibility of the decisions and actions of humans (secondary or indirect causation). In permitting evil, God not only lets it happen; he determines how far it will go and how he will work it out for good. Yet God’s work in hardening hearts is not the same as in softening them: God gives the redeemed a new heart, while he gives the wicked over to their own desires. God is neither the author of evil, nor a mere spectator of it. Fatalism and materialism share a common assumption of univocity between God’s willing and acting and human willing and acting; either our activity must give way to God’s or vice versa. But God’s activity and our activity do not need to get out of each others’ way; God causes all history to serve his sovereign purposes without canceling the ordinary liberty, contingency, and reality of creaturely causation.
The Revealed/Hidden Distinction
Scripture distinguishes between matters hidden from us and those revealed to us (Deut. 29:29). God’s hidden will is distinguished from his revealed will. We must not attempt to figure out God’s secret providence; we must attend to the means he has provided for our salvation (Word and sacrament) and to earthly welfare (family, friendships, vocation, and so on). Though God has not promised to reveal to us everything we might want to know about his will for our lives and about our trials, we should trust his promises as sufficient for faith and life in Christ. After all, the time and place where evil seemed most triumphant was the cross, where it was forever defeated.
Common Grace/Special Grace|
Providence belongs to God’s common rather than special (or saving) grace, although the former ultimately serves the latter (e.g., Eph. 1:10; 3:9–12). Common grace is responsible for God’s kindness and benefits to all people indiscriminately.
- It restrains personal and corporate human sin.
- It restrains God’s wrath and delays his judgment.
- It bestows goodness and kindness upon unbelievers.
To affirm God’s common grace is to recognize the God-given truth, goodness, and beauty in the world, not simply its sinfulness and corruption. When we disparage these, we are holding the providential work of the Holy Spirit in contempt.
Providence/Miracle
Unlike ordinary providence, miracles are God’s extraordinary suspension or alteration of natural laws and processes. The difference does not concern whether God is involved in every aspect of our lives, but how. The question is not whether causes are exclusively natural or supernatural, but whether God’s involvement in every moment is providential or miraculous.
Cultural Challenges to the Doctrine of Providence
Posted: March 20, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Doctrine, God, Providence, Theology Leave a commentSome notion of divine providence is one of the most universally attested religious assumptions throughout history, yet it is one of the most contested in the modern world, for two main reasons:
- It is difficult to acknowledge gifts, much less a transcendent Giver, in a world of supposed givens; contemporary technologically advanced cultures are often far removed from the actual, personal sources behind the goods and services we enjoy.
- A secularized, romantic notion of providence was employed to give divine sanction to imperialist cultures, nations, and ideologies, with devastating consequences; the terrors of the twentieth century disillusioned many regarding a “benevolent Providence” undergirding unending historical progress.
Christians must realize that, while God’s saving will in Christ has been clearly revealed in the gospel, the precise activity of God’s providential governance remains largely hidden (even from believers).
Trinity & Predestination
Posted: March 16, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Predestination Leave a commentThe doctrines of the Trinity and predestination (or God’s decree) come together in the eternal covenant of redemption: before the world existed, the triune God is already turned toward us, with a purpose to create all things and redeem a people for everlasting fellowship.
I. Drama to Doctrine to Doxology
Predestination is clearly taught in Scripture, but its meaning has been debated throughout the history of the church. The Bible clearly teaches that God is sovereign over all that comes to pass. There is also a close connection between God’s foreknowledge and foreordination: God knows all things exhaustively because he has decreed them from eternity. Therefore, even the sinful acts of humans are included in God’s plans, though they remain freely willed by us. Predestination typically refers to God’s sovereign determination of all events, while election and reprobation refer to his decree with regard to salvation or condemnation. There are four key conclusions to draw from the biblical testimony on these themes:
- Predestination is an exercise of God’s that freely expresses his character; because he is holy, righteous, loving, and good, God cannot will any ultimate
- Reformed theology distinguishes between God’s permission and positive determination; God neither sins nor causes people to sin, though in his goodness and wisdom he remains Lord over sinners and sinful acts.
- God’s decree in eternity and its execution in time must be carefully distinguished; purposes are different from their fulfillment, and determinations are different from their accomplishment—both must be affirmed.
- God’s sovereignty is not only demonstrated in narratives and described in doctrines; it is celebrated in praise, such that only when we are led to doxology have we really understood the revelation of the mystery of God’s decree.
II. Historical Interpretations of God’s Decree
Divergent historical positions on predestination have often reflected deep theological disagreements about the God-world relation and the meaning of salvation.
- Pelagianism—God elects to salvation on the basis of foreseen faith and obedience accomplished from our own free will, even apart from gracious assistance.
- Semi-Pelagianism—Though human salvation begins in our free movement toward God, growth and ultimate salvation require God’s gracious assistance (and our subsequent cooperation).
- Augustinianism—Against Pelagianism: God unconditionally elects to gracious salvation (including the faith and obedience of the redeemed will) and reprobates to just condemnation because of sin.
- Arminianism—Against the Reformed: God’s grace is not only necessary for perfecting faith and obedience but is a precondition for both, yet this preceding grace is universally available to all, God electing those he foresees will exercise their free will toward faith and good works.
- Socinianism—Denies both God’s predestination and foreknowledge of the free acts of creatures.
- Eastern Orthodoxy—Often understands the Augustinian-Pelagian controversy as a Western problem because of the focus on legal categories but nevertheless affirms synergism—that is, salvation is a process of grace-assisted cooperation with God.
- Lutheranism—Does not fit into any of the preceding categories; denies the Augustinian-Reformed understanding of reprobation and the irresistibility of grace but is just as committed to monergism (salvation is the work of God alone).
The notion that predestination is the “central dogma,” or all-controlling idea from which the whole Reformed theological system is deduced, has been refuted by recent historical scholarship. It is of immense benefit to consider our election in Christ as he is freely offered in the gospel, but it is a dangerous labyrinth if we presume to speculate about God’s secret counsels.
III. The Logical Order of God’s Decree
There is no temporal before and after in God’s eternal decision making; “succession” in God’s decree is a logical rather than chronological consideration. The main question is whether God’s decision to elect some and reprobate others came before or after his decision to permit humanity’s fall. The supralapsarian answer is that election comes before the decree to permit the fall. The fall—as well as creation itself—serve to carry out God’s free purposes in election and reprobation. The infralapsarian answer is that election comes after the decree to permit the fall. Election and reprobation are God’s free, gracious, and just response to the fall of his human creatures.
A.Traditional Reformed Interpretations
Both infralapsarianism and supralapsarianism (but not necessarily their terminology) have a long history in Western theology. It is difficult to classify the Reformers on this issue, except Zwingli, who was consistently supralapsarian. The Reformed orthodox tolerated supralapsarianism but favored infralapsarianism. Supralapsarianism seems to make God the author of evil and suggests election to salvation and reprobation to condemnation are virtually parallel “positive” purposes of God. While election is the cause of salvation, reprobation should never be seen as the cause of condemnation.
B. Barth’s Revised Supralapsarianism
Barth brought this internal Reformed debate to the forefront of theology by strongly endorsing a thoroughly reworked supralapsarian position: Jesus Christ the one Son of God is also the one eternally Elect Man, and all humanity is already eternally elected, justified, and sanctified in him. Such a position collapses time into eternity and law into gospel, undermining the historical reality and diverse characteristics of God’s activities in creation and redemption. Yet in his radical supralapsarianism and affirmation of universal election, Barth stopped short of advocating the final universal salvation of all humanity.
(HT: A summary of Michael Horton’s, The Christian Faith, Chapter Nine)
Considering the Justice of God
Posted: February 9, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentR.C. Sproul writes,
People get confused, however, when considering this alongside of God’s mercy and grace, because grace is not justice. Grace and mercy are outside the category of justice, but they are not inside the cate- gory of injustice. There is nothing wrong with God’s being merciful; there is nothing evil in His being gracious. In fact, in one sense, we have to extend this. Even though justice and mercy are not the same thing, justice is linked to righteousness, and righteousness may at times include mercy and grace. The reason we need to distinguish between them is that justice is necessary to righteousness, but mercy and grace are actions God takes freely. God is never required to be merciful or gracious. The moment we think that God owes us grace or mercy, we are no longer thinking about grace or mercy. Our minds tend to trip there so that we confuse mercy and grace with justice. Justice may be owed, but mercy and grace are always voluntary.
(HT: Everyone’s a Theologian)
Times for Special Meditation
Posted: February 4, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentThe puritans used special times for meditation, and there were five different times they commonly would refer too.
- When God does revive your spirit, spiritual vitality, when the mind is fertile use it to continue its growth.
- When you are cast into perplexities of mind and affliction, on the goodness of the Lord, he will be faithful to those that seek after him.
- When you’re ready to die, looking back on your life, spend the time in the Scriptures keeping constant reminder of the promises God has give to the Christian.
- When the heart is touched by a sermon or sacrament; as the puritans taught it is “best striking when the iron is hot” so that you continue to shape and mold ones mind around the truths of Scripture.
- Before solemn duties, the Lords’ supper, the Sabbath, or after humiliation.
Meditate until you’ve had some sensible communion with God, a sensible benefit conveyed to your soul. The Puritans would commonly use such an analogy; trying to make a fire with wet wood, only the persevering soul will win, first some sparks, and some smoke, but at the last a flame. What if the flame does not ascend? This might discourage if prolonged; if failed today, then try again tomorrow, keeping in mind that it should not become a burden and a bondage to the Christian. (HT: William Bates)
The Necessity of Meditation
Posted: February 2, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Meditation, Puritan Theology, Puritans, Scripture Leave a commentThe Puritans stressed the need for christian meditation, what we commonly refer to as devotions. These reasons can be summarized easily in six points.
- Our God who commands us to believe the Scriptures, and it also commands us also to meditate on it, in that the Scripture is sufficient for doing it. Often the puritans would use biblical characters as examples to compel their church members to do this; Isaac, Moses, Paul, Timothy, Joshua, David, Mary. For example; Psalm 19:14 reads, Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
- Meditate on the word, because it is God’s letter to us. Christian do not run over God’s letter in haste, but meditate on his love in sending it to us.
- One cannot be a mature Christian without meditation. Thomas Manton once said, “faith is lean and ready to starve without meditation.”
- Without meditation the preached word will fail to benefit us. Baxter said, “reading without meditation is like swallowing raw and undigested food, a man may eat too much, but cannot digest too well.” The sermon is not enough for the Christian’s weekly living, he must constantly be reading, and applying the truths of Scripture to his life.
- Without meditation our prayers will not be effective; this serves as a middle sort of duty between word and prayer. The Scripture feeds meditation, and meditation feeds prayer.
- Christians who fail to meditate are unable to defend the truth. Without proper meditation on the Scriptures, the Christian has no backbone, and no self-knowledge. Manton would teach, “man who is a stranger to meditation does not know himself. ”
As Thomas Watson preached, and we may need to ponder “tis meditation that makes a Christian.”
I Now Need Formal Theological Education
Posted: January 26, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Covenant Life Church, Education, Joshua Harris, Pastors, Theology Leave a commentMany by now have heard of Joshua Harris’s Sunday Remarks at Covenant Life Church yesterday,
“My big news is that later this spring I’m going to step down from my role as lead pastor so that I can go to seminary.”
Three thoughts come to my mind, that I wish others, not only Joshua Harris, would begin to consider when pursuing full time ministry, the pastorate, and or theological education;
1. If such formal theological education is needed for the pastorate, and it is I strongly believe, why was it not prior to your pastoral calling? Not only for Joshua, but pastor’s in general, stop taking the easy route into a so called calling, and properly prepare yourselves for what you believe to be called to. I certainly would not seek a triple bypass surgery on my heart from a called doctor who has practically practiced such operation under his own care. No, I would rather seek medical attention from a doctor who has been formally trained, certified, with such knowledge that I can entrust my physical life to. How much more should we as laity consider our spiritual life, to consider who we entrust our own soul’s well being.
2. If such formal theological education is desired, why would you (let alone many) choose Regent College? I have learned these lessons, attending a college that you later regret in life can always create problems, especially on the resume. Why not Kings College, maybe Wheaton, or Boyce, Grove City, Hillsdale, or even Liberty online? Or better yet, any bachelor degree program within America. Perhaps when The Curious Case of Benjamin Button plays a role in how you came to such decision, then yes, by all means who cares where you study, when it is only “a year with a good possibility that I [he] will stay a second year to pursue a masters degree.” How much formal theological education can one possibly fix and finish in a year, maybe two? Seems a slap in the face to those who have went and studied seven plus years formal theological education before they would even consider applying for the pastorate.
3. If such formal theological education is planned, why can it not be planned to be completed while one continues to work? If already in the pastorate, and given the numerous opportunities in todays educational programs that one could obtain formal education while still in full time or part time employment, why step down, and why leave? I deal with similar situations on a semester basis at seminary. Pastor walks in, asks to speak with me, and realizes he should have completed his M.Div. before preaching through his tenth book with his congregation, and has what he believes made a number of errors will in the pastorate. My advice to them is this: one, I am glad you have noticed this, two, repent of any sin you have caused in this failure, and three, do not quit on them as you make this transition. Just because a pastor may have mistaken here does not mean that they can go fix themselves, without walking through such fixes with his congregation.
These concerns brought about by Joshua Harris’s recent decision, go to show us the state of apperception for formal theological education in the evangelical church today. I cannot count the Facebook friends that have recently made the switch after eight to ten years in an occupation, having come to Jesus Christ, that feel compelled to start a church, pastor a church, and or start a para-church ministry. Two, I cannot count the continual conversations with Baltimore pastors over the past four-years on how they wish they had went to seminary before taken up the call of a pastor. Three, I cannot count the number of pastors who have quiet their formal education, or put it on hold because they found (or was handed) a job in minstry that they were not formally prepared to obtain. I understand there are CH Spurgeon’s in this world, but I have yet to meet 20 year-olds like him, having already mastered the biblical languages, and as well read within Puritan thought and theology as he.
Stop Asking Theological Questions
Posted: January 23, 2015 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Francis A. Schaeffer, Theology, Theology Proper 3 CommentsYesterday I was able to give introductions to two courses I am instructing this 2105 spring semester; Theology Proper and Anthropology and Historical Books for the B.Th. students at Faith Theological Seminary. After giving two hours plus of introductory material to these courses, and hearing a number of moans and groans on why such material needed addressed I was reminded of one of FTS’s own M.Div. graduates, Francis A. Schaeffer’s who wrote on theological study,
It is naive to discuss the theological questions as theological questions until one has considered what truth means to the one who is making the theological statements.
After spending time explaining how God is describe within theology three ways; The via negationis: A via is a “road” or “way.” The word negationis simply means “negation,” which is a primary way we speak about God. In other words, we describe God by saying what He is not. The via eminentiae, “the way of eminence,” in which we take known human concepts or references to the ultimate degree, such as the terms omnipotence and omniscience. The via affirmationis, or “way of affirmation,” whereby we make specific statements about the character of God, such as “God is one,” “God is holy,” and “God is sovereign.” (HT: Summary Taken from Everyone’s a Theologian). I find it common within Baltimore that most of my students rather discuss what they think about theology then actually taking the time to learn what the Scriptures declare for them to know about theology. Maybe, if they, like most evangelical churches today took the time to study what they claim to believe than discussing unnecessary questions, they would have actually come to asking the right questions that they need to be addressing? Then again, why not waste your time and thoughts, for there is far worse things that you could be doing, or not. Maybe, just maybe presuppositionalism does has a place in theology.
Sola Scriptura: The Reformation Debate
Posted: December 3, 2014 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: Gospel, Reformation, Roman Catholicism, Scripture Leave a comment
Roman Catholicism has traditionally affirmed Scripture’s inspiration and inerrancy; arguments with Protestants during the Reformation developed around the relationship between Scripture and tradition. Roman Catholic teaching considers Sacred Scripture (the Bible, with the apocryphal books) and Sacred Tradition (originally unwritten traditions passed down by the apostles and their successors) to be two integral aspects of the one Word of God. While Roman Catholicism treats tradition as magisterial (tradition possesses normative authority together with Scripture), classical Protestantism treats tradition as ministerial (tradition, reason, experience, and culture are all under the authority of Scripture). Historically, Protestants have admitted that written Scripture and oral tradition were two aspects of God’s special revelation, but that time came to an end with the close of the apostolic era. While Roman Catholics believe the apostolic office still continues today in the church’s hierarchy, Protestants argue that the church’s preaching and teaching ministry no longer lays the foundation built once and for all by the prophets and apostles (Eph. 2:20). There is a qualitative difference between binding apostolic tradition (see, e.g., 1 Cor. 11:2; 2 Thess. 2:15) and the fallible traditions of the covenant community—even its leadership (Mark 7:1–13).
Faithful tradition belongs to the Spirit’s illumination, not to inspiration. Thus, creeds and confessions carry a subordinate authority to Scripture, as faithful summaries of Scripture’s overarching scope (its testimony to the triune God and his ways, centering in the gospel of Christ). The witness of the church serves Scripture’s authority rather than establishes it. This includes the nature of the canon’s formation. The church did not create the canon through ecclesiastical power; it recognized these particular writings as the authoritative Word of God.
The sufficiency of Scripture is inseparable from its clarity. This does not mean that all parts of Scripture are equally plain or lack depth of meaning, nor does it deny past and present controversy over biblical interpretation within the church. Scripture is clear on its most important matters, when interpreted according to its own witness, within the broader community of faith, and in light of its scope. If such weighty matters of Scripture are not clear in their purity and simplicity, the teacher rather than the text is at fault. Sola Scriptura is not simply an affirmation of the unique authority of the Bible but a confession of the sovereignty of God’s grace—because God alone saves, God alone teaches and rules our faith and practice.
In modern and contemporary theology, Protestantism has had difficulty retaining its classical emphasis on the unique authority and sufficiency of Scripture, often folding God’s voice into that of the Christian community or the individual believer. Even those who hold a high view of biblical authority may inadvertently subordinate God’s Word by assimilating contemporary culture’s assumptions about reality, then attempting to address this reality with the Bible. We should rather interpret all of reality in light of God’s Word, allowing Scripture to address us as well as the world.
Definitions are particularly important here: The gospel is properly understood as the specific announcement of redemption from sin and death through the death and resurrection of Jesus in fulfillment of all God’s promises, while“culture” may be defined in this context as the common realm of social practices, vocations, beliefs, and assumptions shared by Christians and non-Christians in a given time and place. Like tradition, reason, and experience, culture is not inherently evil or opposed to faith, but none of these testify to God’s gracious and saving action in Christ. The church’s primary “cultural location” is in Christ, under the normative authority of Scripture. When culture is given an authoritative or normative role alongside Scripture in the church, the world cannot be judged or redeemed by the living voice of God from outside itself.
HT: Summary taken from chapter five of Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith.
Summarizing Verbal-Plenary Inspiration
Posted: November 11, 2014 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentThe classical (and ecumenical) Christian view of verbal-plenary inspiration means that Scripture is inspired in its form as well as its content—in its words as well as its meaning, Scripture is the Word of God written. There are several misconceptions of this account of inspiration that need to be corrected.
- Verbal-plenary inspiration does not mean that everything the prophets and apostles personally believed, said, or did is inspired, but only their canonical writings.
- The biblical authors were not merely passive in the process of inspiration but active in and with the Spirit according to his purposes.
- Inspiration does not pertain simply to the intentions of the authors, who prophesied more than they themselves knew.
- This view of inspiration does not attempt to collapse the character of all inspiration into the prophetic mold.
While the original words of Scripture were given by God’s direct or indirect action in inspiration, the compiling, editing, and preserving of the text was superintended by his providence as well.
HT: Summary taken from chapter four in Dr. Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith.
Trinitarian Cooperation in Redemption
Posted: November 10, 2014 Filed under: Just for Fun | Tags: michael horton, Redemption, Reformed Theology, Scripture, Theology, trinity Leave a commentSomething to consider; Because of its authoritative source and saving content, Scripture is the very Word of the triune God.
- Scripture is from the Father’s utterance as its source.
- Scripture declares Christ’s person and work as its content and center.
- The source and content of Scripture attain their ends in the perfecting agency of the Spirit.
The unified work of the persons of the Trinity in Scripture’s inspired content and form may not be divided; accounts of inspiration are skewed or insufficient whenever the manner of one person’s working is given precedence over that of the other two.
HT: Dr. Michael Horton, Chapter Four in the The Christian Faith.
Human Enslavement, Oppression, and Liberation
Posted: November 5, 2014 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentFaith Theological Seminary Fall Christ and Culture Seminar
Saturday, November 22, 2014, 9:00am-4:45pm (free and open to all)
A serious consideration of ancient, modern, and contemporary slavery the trafficking, buying, and selling of humans as it exists pervasively in our world.
Some highlights:
- Ancient slavery and the Bible
- Stories from the Atlantic Slave trade and the Baltimore Harbor
- Inspiring stories of Christian efforts to outlaw the Atlantic slave trade
- Contemporary slavery today and the efforts to end human slavery
- Personal accounts, solutions, successes, and roadblocks will be discussed
Some questions that will be asked:
- What does the Bible have to say about human slavery? What have Christians done to contribute to, as well to abolish the slave trade?
- What were the conditions for slaves in the past and today in the USA?
- What are the means of obtaining and harboring slaves today?
- What is the US policy on trafficking and enslaving humans?
- What is now being done to prevent trafficking and enslavement?
- What aspects of faith-convictions have a bearing on this issue?
Location: 7308 York Road, Baltimore, MD 21204 (Central Presbyterian Church)
Food: coffee and light refreshment available (and many restaurants nearby)
More information: 410-323-6211
Human Oppression, Enslavement, & Liberation Seminar Posters for printing
Save the Date, January 22, 2015, for
Posted: November 5, 2014 Filed under: Just for Fun Leave a commentSusan Wise Bauer coming to the Baltimore area on January 22, 2015, 7:30 pm at Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Annapolis, 710 Ridgley Road, Annapolis, MD 21401. She will be speaking on the “Joy of Classical Education” and you can find more information here.
Gospel-Centered Musings 