Thursday, October 18, 2012
A christmas wish
My christmas wish is that yoderians, liberation theologians and post-structuralists would all perish from the face of the earth. "May sinners vanish from the earth, and the wicked be no more!" (ps.104:35)
God's financial impartiality: A few heads of covenant.
"King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth....Year after year, everyone who came [to speak with him] brought a gift-articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules." (1 Kgs.10:23-25)
Solomon is a fantastic scriptural example of a man (born in wealth, actually literally the benchmark of wealth by any standard) whose riches did not impede or counter God's purposes. Actually, before Solomon was even born God spoke of him to David: "I will raise your offspring up to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son....my love will never be taken away from him." (2 Sam.7:12-14) And the scriptures go on to say: "The LORD loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah." (12:25)
To the LORD's choice of Solomon we owe the temple, the perpetuity of David's royal line, the golden age of Israel, and in equal importance WISDOM. "Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and search out and set in order many proverbs." (Ecc.12:9)
These scriptural evidences speak for themselves.
Solomon is a fantastic scriptural example of a man (born in wealth, actually literally the benchmark of wealth by any standard) whose riches did not impede or counter God's purposes. Actually, before Solomon was even born God spoke of him to David: "I will raise your offspring up to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son....my love will never be taken away from him." (2 Sam.7:12-14) And the scriptures go on to say: "The LORD loved him; and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah." (12:25)
To the LORD's choice of Solomon we owe the temple, the perpetuity of David's royal line, the golden age of Israel, and in equal importance WISDOM. "Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and search out and set in order many proverbs." (Ecc.12:9)
These scriptural evidences speak for themselves.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Against the Lofty assumption that God has a "Preferential Option for the Poor"
This slogan, which seems to have first come from the lips of liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, encapsulates a heretical dogma that has preferentially infected the recent church. The basic cluster of ideas:
1. God favors the poor over the rich or the suburban.
2. The poor are a modicum of God's saving revelation.
3. The poor are indeed the incarnation of God.
4. In order to be saved, you must help the poor.
5. In order to be saved, you must become poor.
And many more. It is quite obvious that where one of these tenets is present, the other do not naturally follow. I lump them together merely to show the basic conduits of what we are dealing with in the so-called theologies of the poor.
My solid conviction is that these concepts are not only utterly false and silly, they are poisonous to the gospel of God's grace. They have as little to do with scripture as arianism or pelagianism, although like arianism and pelagianism they claim scripture as their presupposition.
Hopefully my own interest in this stupidity will carry out long enough for me to post a series of arguments against God having a preferential option for the poor. If this happens, and if God grants me strength and wisdom, I should like to defend the scriptural truth that "there is no favoritism" with Christ (Col. 3:25). This is neither an isolated proposition nor a proof text, but the very life blood of God's dealings with mankind. I believe that its message can be found all across the pages of scripture.
1. God favors the poor over the rich or the suburban.
2. The poor are a modicum of God's saving revelation.
3. The poor are indeed the incarnation of God.
4. In order to be saved, you must help the poor.
5. In order to be saved, you must become poor.
And many more. It is quite obvious that where one of these tenets is present, the other do not naturally follow. I lump them together merely to show the basic conduits of what we are dealing with in the so-called theologies of the poor.
My solid conviction is that these concepts are not only utterly false and silly, they are poisonous to the gospel of God's grace. They have as little to do with scripture as arianism or pelagianism, although like arianism and pelagianism they claim scripture as their presupposition.
Hopefully my own interest in this stupidity will carry out long enough for me to post a series of arguments against God having a preferential option for the poor. If this happens, and if God grants me strength and wisdom, I should like to defend the scriptural truth that "there is no favoritism" with Christ (Col. 3:25). This is neither an isolated proposition nor a proof text, but the very life blood of God's dealings with mankind. I believe that its message can be found all across the pages of scripture.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
The Word of God in Ecclesiastes, for the church?
"As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? All his days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger." (Ecc.5:16)
There can be little doubt that Ecclesiastes is indeed the eternal Word of God. It comes from the mouth of God just as Deuteronomy comes from the mouth of God, just as Romans and John 3:16 and Galatians 3:28 comes from the mouth of God.
Therefore, we have here, in the solid declaration of the meaninglessness, worthlessness, absurdity, and vacuity of everything which makes up life not first the results of one ancient near eastern philosopher's study but The Revelation of God. That life is meaningless is not something we can subject to debate or denial, for we are immediately thrust in this matter towards confesson or denial of the Word of God. To say that life has meaning is to deny God.
There can be little doubt that Ecclesiastes is indeed the eternal Word of God. It comes from the mouth of God just as Deuteronomy comes from the mouth of God, just as Romans and John 3:16 and Galatians 3:28 comes from the mouth of God.
Therefore, we have here, in the solid declaration of the meaninglessness, worthlessness, absurdity, and vacuity of everything which makes up life not first the results of one ancient near eastern philosopher's study but The Revelation of God. That life is meaningless is not something we can subject to debate or denial, for we are immediately thrust in this matter towards confesson or denial of the Word of God. To say that life has meaning is to deny God.
Back to Blogging.
I've been away for awhile yada yada boom shalakalak. Gained new experience, new wisdom, and with it new pessimism. Nonetheless, charity would have me continue to blog to my audience in the heavenlies, because talking to oneself is only interesting part of the time.
A New prayer of consecration for this summer:
Dear Father,
When we said that we were rogues, we had no idea just how roguish we really were. Please continue to have mercy on us, and hear us for the sake of Jesus' worth. Amen.
A New prayer of consecration for this summer:
Dear Father,
When we said that we were rogues, we had no idea just how roguish we really were. Please continue to have mercy on us, and hear us for the sake of Jesus' worth. Amen.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Is the person of Christ a moral example to humanity?
Who knows....
First we would have to define morality. And then we would have to ask how far we have succeeded in evading the charge of imposing a secular definition of said concept onto the Divine perogative.
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. (Matthew 19:17)
Such was the question that Jesus posed to a man who kept the law quite flawlessly from his childhood up. I believe that its appearance in the gospel signifies that we are to put the question to ourselves as well. Why do we ask Jesus about what is good? Do we have a clue what we mean by such a term? And if we did, would we not immediately ascribe glory to God alone, as Jesus did, rather than placing humans on the footing that was never claimed for them?
First we would have to define morality. And then we would have to ask how far we have succeeded in evading the charge of imposing a secular definition of said concept onto the Divine perogative.
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. (Matthew 19:17)
Such was the question that Jesus posed to a man who kept the law quite flawlessly from his childhood up. I believe that its appearance in the gospel signifies that we are to put the question to ourselves as well. Why do we ask Jesus about what is good? Do we have a clue what we mean by such a term? And if we did, would we not immediately ascribe glory to God alone, as Jesus did, rather than placing humans on the footing that was never claimed for them?
Faith in propositions.
It has often been said that Christians do not believe in any one proposition in order to be saved. They believe rather in a person (the heresy of so-called Christian monotheism suggests belief in God through Jesus). Some imply belief in a narrative; God's narrative of His saving deeds in Israel and Christ.
The sacred scripture of John speaks otherwise. It says: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (20:31; cf. 1 Jn.5:1).
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe in a proposition about said person. Propositions are declarative or textually stated facts about an entity. Actually, the saying "Jesus is the Christ" meets the criterion of any definition one may propose for the word proposition. And we are told by the scriptures to set our faith in this fact.
The sacred scripture of John speaks otherwise. It says: "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (20:31; cf. 1 Jn.5:1).
To believe that Jesus is the Christ is to believe in a proposition about said person. Propositions are declarative or textually stated facts about an entity. Actually, the saying "Jesus is the Christ" meets the criterion of any definition one may propose for the word proposition. And we are told by the scriptures to set our faith in this fact.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)