On the Scriptures

This material is excerpted from a series of lessons I taught at my church last summer and includes information from other sources that I have not referenced here. I will post those references as soon as I track down my main notes. This is by no means a comprehensive treatment of the issues but I believe it to be fairly thorough for its brevity.

ON THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

The doctrines regarding the nature and origin of the Scriptures are very controversial these days. What is the importance of it? Many would say that the Bible of today is merely a moral guide for how we should live our lives and that its precepts are not hard and fast rules for us to live by today. Others claim that in its pages are written the very words of God. So who is right and why does it matter? It is critical for Christians to know not only the truth of the inspiration of the Scriptures but the importance this doctrine has in the life of every believer. An examination will be made of the view of the early Church as well as the philosophical ideology that began to undermine this original view. To start with, let us take a look at why we even need Scripture.

The Need for Scripture
Prior to the Fall man had complete, unhindered access to God. The Lord spoke to Adam face to face and the creature had perfect fellowship with his Creator. But with the sin of Adam came a change in that relationship. Adam was cast from the Garden and no longer had direct access to God. The glory of God was concealed from mankind (otherwise man, being in a state of sin, would have been consumed [Exodus 33:20]) and therefore God had to make a way to reveal Himself and His will to His special creatures. This revealing, or “revelation”, takes two forms: general revelation and special revelation.
General revelation (sometimes called “natural” revelation) is that evidence given by God through what He has created as well as through the conscience of men. Psalm 19 states:
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4; NKJV)

What this passage states is that every person on the face of the earth is given, through the wonders of the creation, clear evidence of the existence of God. Yet this type of revelation is not sufficient to inform man of God’s will nor to give a saving knowledge of God to those who heed it. It is possible to see God in the created order and not be saved. This is demonstrated in the book of Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
(Romans 1:18-23, NKJV)

So, it is seen here that general revelation is not sufficient to save, it is only sufficient to condemn. For this reason God gave a special revelation of Himself that clearly demonstrates His will for mankind as well as the way of salvation. This special revelation is found in the pages of Scripture. One children’s catechism asks, “Where do we learn to love and obey God?” and the answer is, “In the Bible alone.”
The importance of the doctrine has been evidenced throughout the history of the Church in that nearly every book on systematic theology has this doctrine either first or second in the order of doctrines addressed (second only to the doctrine of God). The reason for this is that all other doctrines rest on this one. There must be a high view of the Bible in order to have an objective basis for any other teaching. God has condescended to reveal Himself to mankind in the pages of Scripture and so any teaching regarding God must begin there. There are many other books men have written since the beginning of time but only the Bible has the very words of God given to man so that he would know how to be saved from judgment. In the same way that a person would not use a Kansas roadmap to find out how to get from St. Louis to Chicago, one cannot use any book but the Bible to find the way of the Lord.

The Origin of the Modern Bible
A common argument against the Bible is that it is merely a book written by imperfect men and that the Bible did not even reach its present form until the A.D. 400’s. On the surface this may seem like a valid argument. But one must look at the process of putting the Bible together in order to truly evaluate this argument. A brief mention will be made here of the rules used to determine if a writing was to be considered the inspired word of God.
In the early Church, what we call the Old Testament was immediately accepted as Holy Scripture simply due to the fact that it had been recognized as such by the Jews for centuries. It was written from the time of Moses up to about 400BC. This was the same Scripture used by Christ when He preached during His earthly ministry and He did not refute it’s validity as the word of God (and would have been in a unique position to do so, Himself being God!) As the apostles began preaching and teaching, they and their immediate companions wrote gospels and letters to be shared among the churches of the ancient world. There were probably hundreds of such letters circulating, so how did the Church determine what was inspired? The basic rules for canonicity were:
1) The writing had to bear apostolic authority. That is, it had to be written by or under the guidance of an apostle who had witnessed the risen Christ;

2) The writing had to conform to the “rule of faith.” That is to say it could not contradict what had already been recognized as Scripture; and

3) The writing had to be accepted as inspired by the Church at-large.

These were the basic guidelines that the various Church Fathers and Councils used in order to determine if a particular writing was to be authoritative in the lives of Christians. All this having been said, when Church leaders gathered in Carthage in 397A.D. it was not to decide what would be in the canon of Scripture, but to codify what had already been generally accepted as Scripture for centuries.
The next issue that tends to come up is in the arena of transmission. Of course the exact original documents of the New Testament have long ago rotted away and are no longer in existence. Because of this, the current translations in use today have been developed using copies of copies of copies. So how can it be determined that these copies are accurate representations of the originals? This question can actually be answered very simply. During Old Testament times the Scriptures were kept in the tabernacle or the temple near the Ark of the Covenant. When these copies began to wear out, a new copy would be made. Since this was ages before the printing press these copies had to be made by hand and there was a special class of men whose job it was to copy the Scriptures and they were the Scribes. Scribes took their job very seriously because they recognized that they were dealing with the very word of God. It would be a very grave matter to misrepresent Yahweh by adulterating His word with error so the Scribes made every effort to avoid this. When a copy of a particular book (scroll) was completed the scribes would count the number of letters in the copy and compare it with the number of letters known to be in the book being copied. If the number did not match, the copy would be destroyed and the scribe would have to begin anew. Then the letter in the exact center of the copy would be located by counting. If the center letter of the copy did not match the center letter of the original, again the copy would be destroyed. Measures such as these show the great care taken by the scribes in copying the Old Testament manuscripts in order to faithfully preserve God’s word for future generations. And example of the accuracy of this is seen is the sect of the Massoretes. This was a scribal group who copied Scriptures up to the 900’s. When the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1930’s there was found a complete copy of the book of Isaiah dating to the 100’s BC. When this was compared to the Massoretic copy of Isaiah it was found to be an exact representation even after 1000 years of copying by hand. Needless to say, there can be no real argument that the Old Testament is today what it was at least in the time of Christ.
But what about the New Testament? A different route was taken in copying the gospels and the letters found in the New Testament, yet accuracy was maintained. Before looking at the New Testament manuscripts, writings of various secular authors will be considered. For instance, Julius Caesar’s work The Gallic Wars is undisputed even by liberal scholars as far as its historical accuracy goes, yet there are only ten surviving copies with a 1000 year lapse between the original writing and the oldest available copy. Homer’s Illiad is much better by comparison with 643 copies and only 500 years between the original and the oldest available copy. Yet the New Testament has over 24,000 copies (over 5,000 in Greek alone) and less than 100 years between the actual events and the oldest existing fragment! Through the science of statistical analysis it has been determined that the Bible we have today is a 99.5% accurate representation of the actual original documents.
Now on to the question of what the early Church believed regarding what we have today as our Bible. In the “first generation” of Christianity the apostles merely taught what had been handed to them by Christ. The second generation, who had learned from the apostles themselves, included Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome. It could be said that these men merely passed on what they learned from their mentors, the apostles. It was not until around A.D. 200 that the question arose as to the authenticity and/or inspiration of the apostles’ writings. The Mauratorian canon (A canon being a collection of writings considered to be authoritative. The Bible we have today is our modern canon.) consisted of all the books we have in our current Bible with the exceptions of: 1 John, 1&2 Peter, Hebrews & James (note none of Paul’s writings were in doubt). The Church father Irenaeus made mention of all but Jude, 2 Peter, James, Philemon, 2&3 John & Revelation. The Syriac Canon dating from the 3rd century named all but John’s Revelation. Athanasius of Alexandria called the current 27-book New Testament canon the “only source of salvation and of the authentic teaching of the religion of the Gospel.” and Jerome (who wrote the Latin Vulgate) referenced the current listing of books in his writings. Lastly the current listing of 27 book of the New Testament was confirmed to be Holy Scripture at the Synods of Carthage in A.D. 397 and 418. Please note that the canon was confirmed, not decided. The distinct difference, as recognized by those at the Synods, is that the canon is determined by God and discovered by man; the canon is not determined by man.

Development Over Time of Doctrines Regarding Scripture
Over time the Church got away from the idea that the Scriptures were the final authority in the matters of man. The Roman Catholic church taught that the Scriptures do not represent the full revelation of God and that there are other traditions that were passed down from the apostles and that these teachings were also authoritative in the lives of Christians. As stated in the Baltimore Catechism, the church “does not derive her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honored….” (C 82). They also held that the canon was an infallible collection of infallible books produced by the Church. The position of the reformers of the 1500’s was diametrically opposed to this position. They stated that the canon was a fallible collection of infallible books discovered by the Church. The reformers also held that the preservation of God’s word was insured by God Himself and not by the Church and that Christians needed only the witness of the Holy Spirit in order to understand the Scriptures and not the authorities of the Church. John Calvin stated in his Institutes of the Christian Religion:
“Let it therefore be held as fixed, that those that are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture, carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit. Enlightened by Him, we no longer believe, either on our own judgment or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human judgment, feel perfectly assured as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God.”

One of the more current assaults on the Scriptures began in the Enlightenment of the 17th Century. Philosophers like Descartes and Hobbs began teaching that the only things that can be known are known through sense perception. Immanuel Kant expanded this idea from the fields of science and philosophy into the religious arena by dividing the physical, or knowable, realm from the spiritual, or unknowable, realm. He believed that in order to have any knowledge of the spiritual, one must make a “leap of faith” because the spiritual realm, being unseen, could provide no real evidence for the truth claims made. This trend culminated in the teachings of David Strauss, who outright denied the existence of the supernatural and, thus, the possibility that God may have intervened in this world either through verbal revelation through the Scriptures, miracles or the Incarnation and resurrection of Christ.
The theological beliefs that sprang from this period became very man-centered, or anthropocentric, as opposed to being God-centered, or theocentric. Doctrine and theology became very much about how man can benefit from God rather than what man’s responsibilities are before God. The doctrine of original sin was either significantly weakened or eliminated altogether. Man was viewed as essentially good on his own rather than being tainted with sin in every part of his being. Because of this, the traditional (and biblical) views regarding redemption were replaced with the idea that man didn’t really need to be “saved” from anything and that Jesus was just an example and a great teacher who died either as an example of self-sacrificial love or as a political revolutionary. In either case, the critics say, Jesus was not divine and He was not raised from the dead (some even say His body was thrown in a shallow grave to be dug up and eaten by wild dogs.)

The Orthodox Christian View of the Bible
So what do Christians believe about the Bible? How do we know the Scriptures were inspired by God? It has already been shown that the historical position of the Church has been that the Scriptures are the word of God. In this treatment of the topic an examination will be made of the belief in the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture. First, what is meant by inspiration is that God, through the agency of the Holy Spirit, acted upon the authors of the books of the Bible in such a way so as to insure His message was accurately conveyed and recorded for future generations. This can be shown in passages such as 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (in this passage the word translated as “inspiration of God” actually means “God-breathed.”) and also in 2 Peter 1:20-21: “…knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
A belief in verbal inspiration means that one holds that the very words of Scripture were given by God (though not through a dictation-type of process). Evidence of this is seen in the gospel of Matthew where Christ states that “…assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18) In this passage, Jesus is specifically referring to the Old Testament; but, in regards to the New Testament, Christ also promised the coming Holy Spirit in verses such as:
Luke 12:12 – “For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

John 14:6 – “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

John 16:13 – “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

Plenary inspiration simply means that the Bible is inspired in all of its parts. The Old Testament is constantly confirmed by Christ in His teachings and none of it is called into question. Again we have the references above regarding Christ’s promise to the Apostles regarding what they would go on to write and there are also passages where the writers of the New Testament refer to one-another’s works (as well as their own) as Scripture such as:
I Thessalonians 4:8 – “Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.”

I Corinthians 2:13 – “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

II Peter 3:15-16 – “and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (emphasis added)

So the verbal, plenary inspiration of Scripture can be seen clearly from those passages cited. Much better arguments have been made elsewhere by much better authors but the argument presented here should be more than sufficient to indicate that this doctrine is quite biblical in its foundation and, hopefully, it can also be seen that verbal, plenary inspiration is what the Bible teaches about itself.

Summary
As was stated in the opening, the doctrines regarding the nature and origin of the Scriptures are very controversial. But when evaluating the various views one must answer certain questions: 1) Has God revealed any kind of knowledge to man? (2) How? (3) What is the nature of that revelation?
The orthodox position can confidently state that God has revealed Himself to man in the pages of the Scriptures and that those Scriptures are the infallible word of God Himself and are inspired equally in all parts down to the very words used. One must then ask if any of the opposing views can give such a confident answer. If only parts of the Bible are inspired, how are we to know which parts? If the Bible is not inspired at all, how are we to know God properly? The answer is, there is no way to know God in any satisfying way apart from a belief in the inspired, inerrant word of God given to us in the pages of Scripture.

Critique of Blaker, pt. 4

Once he turns the corner to the twentieth century, Mr. Kagin introduces the modern-day Fundamentalists. He cites the series of pamphlets titled The Fundamentals which stressed the ideas of: the verbal inspiration of the Bible, the virgin birth, substitutionary atonement, the bodily resurrection and the second coming. I would agree that these issues have been correctly identified as fundamentals of Christianity. If any of these particular doctrines are taken away or diminished then the faith that is based on that new understanding is not rightly Christian. In fact, these fundamentals can be traced back to the very beginning of Christianity. The early Christians believed with all their heart that the Bible was the very word of God. They also believed (obviously according to the Gospel accounts) that Jesus of Nazareth was born of a virgin. The letters of Paul (written no later than 66A.D.) abound with the doctrine that Christ’s death was a substitutionary atonement. There were over 500 eye-witnesses of the physically resurrected Christ, and Jesus promised (as shown in the Scriptures) that He would return again to gather His Church and judge the world.
Next, Mr. Kagin quotes Don Lattin where he states that Fundamentalists “believe that the Bible is literally true and without error, stress evangelism, emphasize the approaching ‘end times’ and the second coming of Christ and practice separation from nonbelievers.” I agree with most of what Mr. Lattin is quoted here as saying. It is fair to characterize true Christianity in these terms with the exception of the last phrase. This may stem from a misunderstanding of what it means to be separated from “the world.” What Biblical Christianity teaches is that we are not to participate in and become acclimated to the way of life found in this world. It would be the same as an American traveling in, say, Zambia. He is going to behave as an American even though those around him are behaving as Zambians. So, the Christian is to behave as a citizen of God’s Kingdom rather than as a citizen of this world. Also, if the Christian is to emphasize evangelism, how can this be done if he is separated from nonbelievers? This is a logical impossibility. You cannot win someone to your point of view by avoiding them. Christians are to engage the unbelieving world around them and share their faith in a gentle and respectful way.
Once the historical foundation is laid, Mr. Kagin begins to analyze and critique what he believes to be representative of Christian fundamentalism. He begins by attacking the doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture. Right from the start, he reveals his total disdain for the Bible. He contrasts the evolutionistic view of an earth that is billions of years old with the “creation myth” presented in Scripture, totally disregarding the many scientists in every field of study he mentions (physics, geology, astronomy, biology, etc.) that at least question the truth of the evolutionary theory or hold to the biblical account of the origin of all things. He states that “when the facts don’t fit the dogma, the literalists discard the facts.” In actuality, it is the dogmatic evolutionist that, while they may not discard the facts, certainly distort the facts or manufacture “facts” in order to support their increasingly untenable position. Mr. Kagin then makes the mistake of taking a particular verse of Scripture out of context in order to support his point of view. He states that fundamentalists want prayer in schools and other public settings, while Jesus condemns public prayer in the Sermon on the Mount as shown in Matthew 6:6. The problem with the application of this verse to the situation in question is that of context. In Matthew 6:6, Jesus was commanding His followers not to pray “as the hypocrites do.” The idea presented in this passage, as taken in its larger context, is to avoid practicing “religiosity” in order to be noticed by men. Of course the Scriptures are packed with instances where great men of God pray publicly; so Jesus is not contradicting the practice in general, He is condemning the motive.
The first issue that I have in regards to the description given for evangelism is that the author implies that the evangelist is the one that is doing the “saving” where true Christianity teaches that the evangelist only points the individual to the one who actually does the saving, that being Jesus Christ. Next, Mr. Kagin claims that evangelism is based on the idea of an eminent apocalypse. While this may be true in some minority circles within Christendom, true evangelism is predicated on the command given in Scripture by Jesus when he gave what is called the “Great Commission”:
“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-19, NKJV)

Another motive for evangelism would be the Christian’s concern for the eternal destiny of those with whom they associate. Again, if one were convinced that another person were in impending danger it would be inhuman not to warn them of the danger and show them the way of escape.
It is at this point that Mr. Kagin gets to what I believe to be the source of his disdain for “fundamentalist Christians.” He claims that fundamentalist Christians hold to a kind of authoritarianism that demands “blind obedience” and that they exercise “aggression”, “mean-spiritedness” and “vindictiveness” against any who would oppose them. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Granted, the biblical model of the authority structure for mankind does not mesh well with Mr. Kagin’s secular or humanist ideas of authority structures, it is a solid structure nonetheless. While the structure may seem rigid, any structure of lasting value should be. Who would build a suspension bridge from marshmallows? Secondly, no one on earth is called to “blindly” follow any other person. While man is given authority, that authority is a conditional authority. No one is required to obey a command that is in contradiction to what has been revealed previously. Therefore, when the young Hebrew boys were commanded by the God-ordained ruler of Babylon to bow to a golden statue, they disobeyed upon pain of death, because God had already commanded not to bow down before a graven image. Lastly, Mr. Kagin ignores the fact that, though God gives men the authority on the earth He also holds them responsible for what they do with that authority. There is great responsibility in being a man in a Christian home. He is God’s representative in the home and will be judged for every thought, word and deed that departs from the picture God gives of Himself in the Bible. Every idle word will be called into account. It’s no wonder that Mr. Kagin would like to see women in charge; he likely couldn’t handle the responsibility.
Lastly, the author gets into an “analysis” of eschatological views, completely ignoring the fact that this very issue is a source of contention throughout all Christendom. The only reason that it is even brought up is because of the fact that one of the common characteristic beliefs of the “fundamentalists” is the second-coming of Christ. Again, while Christians do hold to the second coming, there are many different views on the details of the events surrounding the event itself. Once all of the most popular eschatological views have been critiqued, the author goes on to point out that the very idea of the second coming drives Christians to be “socially irresponsible” as they just do for themselves while waiting for Christ to return. It eludes me how Mr. Kagin can, on the one hand, decry the Christian lack of social concern (nevermind all the Christian charities, food kitchens, homeless shelters, orphanages, hospitals, etc.) and on the other hand, criticize them for being involved in the political process. Does Mr. Kagin not consider voting to be a “social responsibility”? I will not delve into all the various issues that Mr. Kagin brings up at the end of his article, but will just leave the previous statement as it is to simmer for a while.
In conclusion I will return to my statement in the opening paragraph. In this article, from the opening quote by Randall Terry to the closing implication that Christian fundamentalists could bring about a crisis “such as what was seen on September 11, 2001,” a massive straw-man has been erected and Edwin Kagin has hung the name-tag of “Christian Fundamentalist” on it. He then takes his own limited observations of what he believes Christianity to be and burns the effigy. Dishonest tactics are used in order to paint Christians in the most negative light possible. History and science are distorted and the logical implications of a totally secular society are not even mentioned. Far from being a fair-minded critique of Christianity, this article represents nothing but a hit-piece against those who do not conform to Mr. Kagin’s vision of what Christianity should be.

Blaker update

Finished reading chapter 3: an article by feminist Bobbie Kirkhart entitled Little Ones to Him Belong. Very disturbing reading to be sure. I will post the rest of my response to Edwin Kagin's article soon and will begin developing my response to Ms. Kirkhart this week. Keep watching for it!

Examining our election

Two days in a row, now, I’ve heard on the radio references to the biblical exhortation to “make your calling and election sure.” Today, Alastair Begg tied this with the admonition Christ gives in the Sermon on the Mount to enter through the “narrow gate” and how making your calling and election sure is a process of making sure you have entered through the narrow gate. All this brought to mind the analogy of a road-trip. Just as a driver utilizes a road map or atlas, checking for signs, towns and intersections for reference, in order to make sure they are on the right path to reach their desired destination; so the Christian utilizes the Bible, checking their lives against the clear definitions and pictures of what a true Christian lives like, to make sure they truly have been converted and are on the path to that Celestial City they long to reach.

New Testament Worship

I've been listening to John Piper on the radio and he is talking about the idea of Worship in the New Testament. He talked about the word used in the Old Testament and in Revelation carries the idea of falling down before someone/something. But this idea is strangely absent from the epistles. He explained from Scripture that Jesus changed the nature of worship when He came in the Incarnation. As pointed out in John 4 (the Samaritan woman at the well) Jesus says, "...a time is coming and has now come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks." (emphasis added)
Piper went on to explain that, with the advent of Christ, worship is no longer a matter of where or by what ritual. It is now a matter of the heart and mind being bowed before Him and His will.
While Piper was going through all this, my mind kept going to the passages in the epistles where Paul states in 1 Cor 3:16 that we as believers are the "temple of God", and in 1 Peter 2:5 where Peter writes that we, "as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood." What an amazing thought. The central focus of Jewish worship until 70AD was the temple in Jerusalem (prior to that, it was the tabernacle). Yet, with the coming of Christ, all of the outward manifestations of worship were done away with. Now, mankind is to worship God through their submissive spirit, following His word as truth, and offering themselves as a "living sacrifice" (Rom. 12:1) to the Almighty and Holy Lord.

Critique of Blaker, pt. 3

The One Who Rules the Wind and the Waves:
A Response to The Perils of Fundamentalism and the Imperilment of Democracy

In his contribution to the book, Edwin F. Kagin opens with a quote from Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue:

I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good…Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty; we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don’t’ want equal time. We don’t want pluralism.

In sharing this quote, Mr. Kagin, an attorney in northern Kentucky and a humanist, erects quite the massive straw-man. It is becoming quite evident that such straw-men are the primary source of fuel for the fire burning in this book.
Mr. Kagin begins by mentioning the growth of fundamentalist groups in various world religions around the globe. He cites polls and articles indicating that about half of the Christians in America claim to be fundamentalists. Yet what does that label mean? What is a fundamentalist? A fundamentalist is one who holds to the fundamentals of their belief system. Fundamentalists keep a tight hold on those things which make their belief system distinctive and without which their system would be something entirely different. For example, would a dog still be a dog if it had retractable claws, meowed and chased mice? Would Buddhism be the same if the adherents to that system denied that Buddha ever existed and that his writings are a sham? In the same way, Christians must hold to certain ideas in order to remain Christian. It’s a matter of definition. I believe that Mr. Kagin’s problem with fundamentalist Christians lies in how Christianity is defined. Personally, I believe Mr. Kagin should leave that definition up to the Christians. According to the Law of Excluded Middle, Christianity is either defined by A or Not A. Either the Fundamentalists are right or they are wrong, there’s no middle ground. Obviously they believe they are right. Again, with the Law of Identity, if Christianity is defined by A, then it is defined by A. If the Fundamentalists are right, then they are right. One cannot argue that the Fundamentalist definition is right for them and that some other definition of Christianity is alright for others. Logic and reason don’t work like that.
Mr. Kagin goes on to define Christian Fundamentalism as “an inflexible, absolutist worldview.” Actually, I have absolutely no problem with that statement. When truth is at stake, one cannot afford to be flexible or wishy-washy about it. If it is true that a child will die by playing on the freeway during rush hour, a parent must be “inflexible and absolutist” about keeping them away from that traffic. So it is with spiritual truth of the sort dealt with in Christianity. If it is true that a person will be punished in hellfire for eternity unless they turn from their godless ways and follow Christ, then it is the duty of the Christian to inform them of this and not to flex on this issue. Anything else would be callous and unloving.
I’m not quite sure why Mr. Kagin went off on his King James Version tangent but I will address it here briefly. The idea that King James was a homosexual had very little to do with the decreased use of the translation he commissioned. Many Christians use more modern translations for many reasons, among which are ease of reading (King James English can be difficult to wade through) and the fact that the more modern translations come from older, more reliable Greek and Hebrew manuscripts that were yet to be discovered at the time of King James.
Also, the way in which Gary Bauer is attacked is of questionable character and smacks of courtroom tactics. The technique is called “poisoning the well.” The passage
in question reads as follows:

"Gary Bauer from northern Kentucky is former president of the Family Research Council (FRC) a Christian fundamentalist “pro family” organization, a former domestic policy advisor to President Ronald Reagan, and a Republican candidate for the 2002 Presidential campaign. It has been widely circulated that Bauer concluded that nothing touched by a homosexual could be good for good Christians:

I feel uncomfortable that good Christians all over America, and indeed the world, are using a document commissioned by a homosexual. Anything that has been commissioned by a homosexual has obviously been tainted in some way.

This originated as parody, but so accurately fits Bauer’s views, that it has been frequently cited by fundamentalists."

Mr. Kagin has now done a masterful job of making his readers believe that the quote given has actually come from the mouth of Gary Bauer. Even though he comes back right afterward and states that the comment “originated as parody” the damage has already been done to Mr. Bauer’s character. It is the same tactic used in the courtroom when an attorney wants the jury to hear his point of view, he states it (or words a question in such a way that his implied view is clear). Although the attorney knows he will get an objection from his opponent, the jury has already heard the statement and the seed the attorney wanted to plant has been sown.
In addressing the interplay between the fundamentalist mindset and the law, it is interesting to note that a man who has studied law for his livelihood has failed to recognize the importance of Christian ideals in the creation of the laws of this land. If Mr. Kagin were to actually study the Bible, he would find the ideas of justice, mercy, fair trial and other sacred areas of our legal system described quite clearly. Fundamentalist Christians do believe that the laws of our land should conform to the Law of God because that is the only way to insure that they are moral and just. If there is not a consistent standard of measure used throughout the construction of an edifice, then the structure will eventually collapse. So it is with the legal system. While he is right in identifying the Christian belief that the Bible is the final authority, Mr. Kagin is incorrect in his assertion that Fundamentalists determine what the word of God is and that sinners are only those who disagree with the Fundamentalists. All mankind, not just Christians, have been given the word of God in the Bible so that they will know the truth for themselves; and sinners are those who have rejected God and His Son Jesus and have decided to live their lives as they see fit.
The Bible is not “invented histories framed in legend and allegory.” It is historical fact framed in the redemptive story of a God who loves His people. Archaeology has confirmed biblical claims time and again. Not once has the Bible been proven wrong in its accounting of history. Mr. Kagin claims that there is no essential difference between Christian fundamentalism and Islamic fundamentalism. If we go back to the definition of fundamentalism given above, then Mr. Kagin is correct. Christianity holds that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant word of God, that Jesus Christ was God and man in one body that was born of a virgin. That this same Jesus was crucified as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind and that he was raised from the dead and will return again. Islam, on the other hand, believes that there is one god, Allah, and his chief prophet was Mohammed and that by abiding by the teachings of the Q’uran and the five pillars of Islam one may someday dwell in Paradise. So, yes, fundamentalist Christianity holds to the foundational doctrines of Christianity in the same way that fundamentalist Muslims hold to the foundational doctrines of Islam. The difference, and it is a major difference, lies in what the foundational doctrines of these two systems teach. In Christianity, followers are exhorted to love one another, care for the needy and to spread the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ to all the earth. In Islam, followers are commanded to follow the teachings of Mohammed, including the killing of infidels.
Nowhere in the New Testament do you see a command for Christians to kill non-Christians. Yet in the Q’uran you see commands to kill the infidels (those who do not submit to Islam).
From here, Mr. Kagin launches into an historical progression of fundamentalism in religion from antiquity to the present, focusing on Christianity. Before he begins on the American leg of this historical journey, there is the odd statement that Fundamentalist approaches to social problems sometimes exacerbate them because the Fundamentalists approach the issue in a “backwards, unlawful” or “ineffective” way, such as with teen pregnancy and child abuse. I’m curious what study this came from? Or is it just opinion being thrown out in such a way that the reader is supposed to assume that it’s true? Until he cites a study showing a direct correlation between teen pregnancy rates or child abuse with fundamentalist ideas I’m going to have to doubt Mr. Kagin’s claim here.
The flow of thought picks back up with the history of the Puritans in the colonial days of America. Mr. Kagin tells the story of how the Puritans and Pilgrims came from England to escape religious persecution and to establish a Christian community in the New World. He passes on the saying that “a Puritan is one who is haunted by a lurking suspicion that somehow, someone, somewhere might still be happy.” While this may fit the stereotype of the Puritans, their belief was that the greatest pleasure was found in leading a pure life dedicated to finding pleasure in God and His Law rather than trying to find fulfillment in the fleeting pleasures of this present world. As Mr. Kagin goes on to credit the Puritans for the way in which they helped to shape the character of America in the early days, he states that “ideas are not responsible for the people who support them.” While I do agree with him in principle on this point, I would have to qualify the statement with the complimentary idea that a person’s heart and character can be known by the ideas they support. Judging by the ideas that Mr. Kagin credits the Puritans for supporting (i.e. honesty, integrity, duty, education and family) I would say that even he characterizes them as quite honorable people. As far as the idea of establishing a theocracy in the colonies goes, it has been said that if Christians decided to set up a society based entirely on God’s Law and the principles of Christianity, that would be the most wonderful utopia in the history of the world. Neighbors would love and care for one another, no one would be in need and God would be honored in all that the people undertook to do. Therefore, a government (or at least a system of law) that is based upon the Law of God would be the best option of all the manmade forms of government that have ever existed. As a side note, the Mayflower Compact was only signed by 41 of the 102 passengers because that was the number of men that survived the trans-Atlantic voyage to America. Women and children would not have been given the option of signing the document.
In making the claim that modern fundamentalists are desiring to create a theocracy in America in seeking to make laws that reflect what is commanded by God, Mr. Kagin makes a fundamental error regarding the nature of law (surprising considering he is an attorney.) At its core, any set of laws is a reflection of the morality of those making the laws. For instance, if it is considered immoral to steal another person’s private property then laws are passed making it illegal. Nowadays it is considered immoral by many for tobacco to be smoked in enclosed public places, so ordinances have been passed to make such activity illegal. Once it was generally considered immoral for two men to have sexual relations with each other, so anti-sodomy laws were enacted. Now the morality (or lack thereof) within the American judiciary has been enforced upon those parts of the country having such laws, striking them down as unconstitutional (since when has there been a constitutional right to sodomy?) Therefore we come to the issue of “theocracy.” The only way that Mr. Kagin and his colleagues seem to be defining theocracy is a government that makes laws based on the morality of a given religious system, when in reality a theocracy would be direct rule by God Himself. So the question is no longer “theocracy or not-theocracy”, it now becomes “what moral system best fits the direction we, as a nation, desire to go.” I personally believe that our country would best be served by laws reflecting the moral code within the Judeo-Christian.
At this point Mr. Kagin goes on to show how Article VI, Clause 3 of the Constitution prohibits a religious “litmus test” for candidates for public office. I would certainly agree that this should not be the case, but I am not aware of any attempt being made to require that one be a Christian to run for office. That being said, there is not such constitutional restriction placed upon voters keeping them from denying non-Christians their vote. Would Mr. Kagin have a nation wherein there are new elections held anytime someone feels they were not elected simply because of their religious beliefs? I hardly think so…but I may be mistaken. He then mentions the infamous “wall of separation” that does not exist in the Constitution. The ideas in the First Amendment Non-Establishment Clause are covered in the response to Kimberly Blaker’s opening article and I will not belabor the point any more here. Suffice it to say, it shows total ignorance of the Constitution and its framers to insist on a “wall of separation” in the way Mr. Kagin and his ilk do.
Once he reaches the point where he addresses the progress of fundamentalism in America, I believe Mr. Kagin has his history together, yet he cannot quite seem to get a grasp on the true motivation behind those he names. While he is quite right in naming such greats as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards as those who helped to spread a “fundamentalist” view of Christianity in the Colonies, he misrepresents their intended purpose. He cites Edwards’ “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” and labels it as “a bitter, abusive denunciation of those who do not share the preacher’s views and what God’s wrath will do to them….” I can assure Mr. Kagin, and anyone else, that the last thing Jonathan Edwards was trying to accomplish through this sermon was to persuade people to his viewpoint. What Mr. Edwards (and any worthwhile preacher) was trying to do was to let people see God’s viewpoint as shown in Scripture. And while much of the sermon is dark and ominous in nature (yet so very true), at the end Mr. Edwards holds out the hope of escape from the judgment of God through trusting in the sacrifice of Christ. This type of preaching is far from abusive, it is necessary. An excellent parallel can be found in the world of medicine. Imagine a person with a terminal illness. What doctor would be derided as abusive for telling the patient their diagnosis and prognosis? In fact, the doctor would be sued for malpractice if he did not tell the patient what was wrong with him! And so it is with the preacher of the Gospel. He is compelled to tell the world of their sin and the judgment to come to them because of it. But, just as the doctor can hold out the hope of treatment if the patient will submit to it, so the preacher holds out the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ for those who place their trust in Him.

Class on 1 Peter

Actually got into the text of 1 Peter in my class yesterday. Man, I love teaching this stuff! I was supposed to go through verses 1 through 12 but I got hung up in verse 2 and never made it past there. There's so much good stuff there..."elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood." How can you not spend an hour in that??

Lies, lies, lies

The deception continues. I've started on the 2nd chapter of Blaker's book. It's an article written by Edwin Kagin. I'm not sure which is worse; lying by attributing a quote to someone when they didn't say it or taking an actual quote out of context in order to make it sound like the person quoted meant something other than what they did mean. The following excerpt from his article The Gathering Storm is in the context of the claim that fundamentalist Christians no longer favor the King James version of the Bible because some say that King James, who commissioned the translation, was a homosexual. I'm going to be careful to put Mr. Kagin in context here and then analyze what he's done:

Gary Bauer from northern Kentucky is former president of the Family Research Council (FRC) a Christian fundamentalist "pro family" organization, a Republican candidate for the 2002 Presidential campaign. It has been widely circulated that Bauer concluded that nothing touched by a homosexual could be good for good Christians:

"I feel uncomfortable that good Christians all over America, and indeed the world, are using a document commissioned by a homosexual. Anthing that has been commissioned by a homosexual has obviously been tainted in some way."

This originated as parody, but so accurately fits Bauer's views, that it has been frequently cited by fundamentalists.

Now, what Mr. Kagin has done is what is what is called "poisoning the well." He has taken a quote that did not come from the lips of Gary Bauer, puts it in a context where it is implied that he did say it, then recants after the fact by stating that it "originated as parody." Although he did finally state that the fictitious quote was parody, it has already been placed in the reader's mind that Mr. Bauer actually did make that statement. By doing this, Mr. Kagin has conditioned his audience to believe that Mr. Bauer did actually make the statement in question. And they are accusing the Christians of distortion, manipulation and subterfuge?

And so it goes, and so it goes.

critique of Blaker (pt 2)

True biblical Christianity, to put it in the words of James, is: “to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” The goal of every true Christian is to become more like Jesus Christ as described in the New Testament. What objection does Ms. Blaker have to this? Does she object to caring for the sick? Does she object to showing compassion to the hurting? No, what she likely finds most offensive is Jesus’ statement that He is “the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father except by [Him].” If this statement is true (and I believe that it is), then would it not be extremely unloving of the Christian believer to not inform others of this single way of salvation? Ms. Blaker would likely jump in at this point with the argument that some “Christians” attempt to do this through violence, but I challenge her to show one place in the New Testament where violence is condoned in the conversion of the lost. Again, just because someone calling themselves Christian behaves a certain way in the name of Christ does not mean that it is something condoned by Christ or in the Scriptures. That would include the ideas of concubinage (i.e. the Branch Davidians), racism (i.e. the Christian Identity Movement) and murder (i.e. Army of God). Again, by focusing attention on the small, radical elements claiming identification with Christ, Ms. Blaker attempts to paint all who hold to a conservative Christian view in the same light. This is unfair, irresponsible and, as she describes Dr. Dobson, manipulative.
Ms. Blaker continues with her unfounded alarmism as she goes on to say that children in “fundamentalist” homes are “at high risk for physical abuse and incest.” I personally find this statement extremely offensive and am appalled at the author’s total lack of facts to back it up. But that is not part of her agenda. She only seeks to throw the idea out there to create suspicion of Christian parents knowing that those who quote her will be relying only on her authority as the writer of such an article rather than checking her facts. After all, if it’s in print it must be true, right? Again, Christian parents, if they are truly following biblical principles, are the best, most loving and nurturing parents in the world today.
The author’s ignorance of biblical Christianity is only matched by her ignorance of the United States Constitution. She refers to the “Separation Clause” in the first amendment. There is no such clause. The anti-establishment clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution reads as follows:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
There is nothing in this clause, or anywhere else in the Constitution, about a “wall of separation.” This is an assurance that the government will not pass a law making an official State Church, not that religion has no place in informing the views of government officials or the laws they devise. If there were laws against such in intrusion of religious ideas in the government, then that would be a denial of the right of the individuals in government to exercise their faith, thus violating the same clause. Studies have shown that of the to 100 sources of quotes found in the writings of the founding fathers of our nation the Bible is far and away the most-quoted source (four times higher than the 2nd most-quoted source). With this in mind, where does Ms. Blaker believe the founders got their ideas for the governance of this nation? Even the French statesman Alexis DeToquville recognized the United States as a nation founded upon Christian ideas as shown in this passage from his work Democracy in America:

“The greatest part of British America was peopled by men who… brought with them into the New World a form of Christianity which I cannot better describe than by styling it a democratic and republican religion. This contributed powerfully to the establishment of a republic and a democracy in public affairs; and from the beginning, politics and religion contracted an alliance which has never been dissolved. … It may be asserted, then, that in the United States no religious doctrine displays the slightest hostility to democratic and republican institutions.”

The very principles found in the Bible are what our great nation was founded upon, not the godless ideas of secular humanism. Far from placing democracy in peril, as the title of this article implies, Christianity is actually the very source of democracy.

Critique of Blaker

Here are the introductory paragraphs of my attempt to refute the ideas in Kimberly Blaker's book The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America (New Boston Books, 2003):

The Bible is replete with reminders to Christians that they will face various trials and tribulations as they seek to imitate Christ in their lives and expand the Kingdom of God. It is no less true today than it was in the first century when the words of the New Testament were first being penned by the apostles. Yet it is saddening that the cause of Christ is under such vehement attack by those who despise God and wish nothing more than to see a godless world community brought to pass. And this in a country whose founders expressed such deep devotion and indebtedness to the sovereign God they saw as their guide and their helper. I believe that one of the best ways to discredit a group is to take the unorthodox and fringe elements that claim to be part of that group and paint the picture that these extremists are the legitimate representatives of the group. That is what is attempted in this work.

In The Fundamentals of Extremism, Ms. Blaker seeks to inform her readers of the dangers of a broad group that she identifies with the term “Christian Right.” The book is actually a compilation of articles written by Ms. Blaker and others of secular-humanist/atheistic beliefs. The best way to characterize the work is with the word “misrepresentation.” I’m not sure if Ms. Blaker failed to do any research at all in writing and compiling these articles or if she merely focused her research to those sources that agree with her anti-Christian views. Either way, she and her co-contributors are completely out of touch with the teachings and motives of genuine biblical Christianity. In this paper I will take each article in turn and refute the false claims and straw-man arguments presented by the various authors and, hopefully, present a solid defense of Christianity as it is shown in Scripture.

In the opening article, Kimberly Blaker comes out with both guns blazing…but they’re loaded with blanks. She makes a lot of alarming noise, but there is no substance in the call-to-arms. There are so many issues in this article that it’s hard to know where to begin, so I will begin…at the beginning.

Ms. Blaker opens the article with a quote by Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family ministries:
Those who control what young people are taught, and what they experience – what they see, hear, think and believe – will determine the future course for the nation.

While she does not dispute the veracity of the statement, she merely uses it as a springboard to launch into a rant about how Dr. Dobson uses his great influence to “wield power over the Republican Party” and to “manipulate unsuspecting Americans who otherwise might not agree with his views.” Needless to say, influence does not equal subversion, it’s part of the democratic process. What does Ms. Blaker think that groups like People for the American Way and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State are trying to do? While Dr. Dobson does have a certain amount of influence in what happens in Washington, he by no means controls the actions of Congress. There have been many times that the U.S. legislature has passed bills that were contrary to Dr. Dobson’s wishes as well as defeating bills that he would have liked to have seen passed. It is only after this character-bashing and ad-hominem attack that Ms. Blaker gets to the heart of things. She makes the claim that Dr. Dobson’s quote reveals the desire on the part of the “Christian Right” to exercise mind-control over the children of America in the same way that radical Islamic fundamentalists do. Here is where the gloves (thin as they are) come off.

In the very next paragraph, Ms. Blaker comes with a full-on assault on conservative Christianity. She attempts to draw a parallel between the radical Islamic madrasahs, or religious schools, with the homeschooling movement. In her mind, Christians are attempting to brainwash their children through isolating them from the world in order that they may one day take over the world and impose Christianity on all mankind. It is here that Ms. Blaker first demonstrates her total ignorance of not only the concept of raising children, but also of biblical Christianity and the homeschooling movement. I will address the ideas of the education of children and then make a defense of biblical Christianity opposing Ms. Blaker’s attempt to equate it with fundamentalist Islam.

It doesn’t matter what a person believes, when they have children they almost always try to pass those beliefs on to their children. It is for this reason that these core beliefs are often referred to as values…because it is this base of knowledge that the parent holds as valuable in order to live a fulfilled life. I would assume that Ms. Blaker values independent thought and the discarding of anything that can’t be proven empirically, and judging by her statements in this article I would assume that if she has children, she is passing these values on to her child(ren). In her words, she is brainwashing her children to believe the way she does (or ships them off to the secularized public school system to let the educators indoctrinate the child in this belief system). So just as she claims that homeschooling or conservative Christian private schools indoctrinate children to a fundamentalist Christian worldview, so the public school system is guilty of the same concept of indoctrinating children into a fundamentalist secular-humanist worldview.

Ms. Blaker states, “Christian fundamentalist schooling is known for indoctrinating children through recitation and memorization of Bible verses and prayers, reinforced with hellfire and brimstone lectures.” Yet the very same statement could be made this way: “Secular fundamentalist schooling is known for indoctrinating children through recitation of unproven theories and memorization of assumed information and catch-phrases such as ‘safe-sex’ reinforced by lectures laced with implications that if what is taught is questioned, the student is merely ignorant and unenlightened.” She goes on to state “these children are taught from textbooks that distort scientific and historic facts.” There have been entire volumes written on the errors found in the textbooks of secular schools. Evolution is taught as fact when it is still an unproven theory. Not one transitional form has been found in the fossil record as of yet.

That is the point of Dr. Dobson’s quote. That is also the reason why there is such a struggle in America today. Christians and Secularists are in a high-pitched battle for the minds of the children of our nation. Both sides believe that their way is best and both sides are struggling to pass on their views to the next generation in order to hopefully win this battle.

Ms. Blaker’s ignorance of true, biblical Christianity is profound but not uncommon. There are many in this world who claim to be Christian but carry on in such shameful ways that it drags the name of Christ through the mud. I think of the very groups Ms. Blaker mentions in her article: the white-supremacist Christian Identity Movement, the Branch Davidians and the Army of God. But if I steal your coat, put it on and then rob a bank, you would not expect to be found guilty of a crime that was committed by one dressed in your clothes. Yet many people condemn Christianity based on crimes committed by those who wear the name of Christ.
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I will post more on this as I continue to get my thoughts put into my laptop.

Misrepresentation 2

Found the book. The title is actually The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America. It features articles with titles such as: The Perils of Fundamentalism and the Imperilment of Democracy (so what, exactly, was American democracy based on?) and Eternal Subservience - Created from Man for Man (obviously a feminist rant) by Kimberly Blaker and The Path to Theocracy-the Purgation of the First Amendment by John M. Suarez. Looks like a lot to chew on....

Misrepresentation

I was browsing in a local bookstore today and found a book that touted itself as an "expose of the 'Christian right.'" It caught my attention so I flipped through a few pages. It consisted of about 6 or 8 articles attacking conservative Christians and comparing them to radical extremist Muslims. The only thing that comes to my mind in perusing this vitriol is that the authors have absolutely NO idea of what biblical Christianity is about. If a person were truly a "radical extremist" Christian, that person would be the most perfect citizen (regardless of the country they live in) and the most loving and tender person one could imagine!
What get's the hackles up on those who find themselves thinking like the authors represented in this book is the exclusivity of Christianity. If biblical (not 'extremist') Christians do not allow them to re-make the God of the Bible after their own fashioning then such Christians are labeled as "intolerant" and "dangerous." And yet they cannot understand what biblical Christianity is about because their foolish minds are darkened and have not been regenerated by the power of the Spirit of God. Still, this type of rhetoric must be addressed, lest the foolish minds that read the ravings of these foolish minds will be convinced of the "danger" of Christianity. I believe that I may yet return to that store and purchase the book. Not that I desire to put money in the pockets of the writers and editor, but in order to study their position more fully so that I may dismantle their straw-man arguments that the name of Christ would be glorified in the face of their godless efforts. More on this later.

New Covenant Theology

I've been giving some thought to this topic over the last year or so. Many of you reading this blog may not have any clue as to what New Covenant Theology is about. New Covenant Theology (NCT) is an alternative theological system over against Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism. One of the differences with NCT is that, rather than setting your theology from the Old Testament and reading that theology into the New Testament, NCT reads the theology of the New into the Old. Basically, NCT interprets the Old Testament through the lens of Jesus (as shown in the Gospels) and the apostles. The primary work that outlines this theological system is New Covenant Theology by Fred Wells and Frank Zaspel. Another that I have read is Abraham's Four Seeds by Reisinger. I will address this system in more detail in future posts.

Sad state of affairs

It's really disturbing to me to see a quote like the one I saw on James White's blog and know that there are "evangelicals" and Romanists and cultists all listed as viable options as the source! And to think that the (once) respected Eerdman's Publishing is now putting out cultic apologetic works. Just brings home the point that one must be a true student of God's Word and study it diligently in order to protect oneself from errors that lead away from the narrow path of salvation.

Conference

Well, the conference was very exhausting but very good as well. For anyone not familiar with this type of conference, it is a large gathering of parent-educators who come together for a couple of days of workshops and purchasing curricula for the following school year. We've now gotten all the books purchased or ordered for our three oldest children (Elizabeth will be in 3rd grade, Faith will be in 1st and Rebecca will be in K). The keynote address on Friday was given by Doug Philips of Vision Forum. He spoke on the need to turn the hearts of the fathers toward the family and build a lasting legacy in their children for the glory of God. It was very insightful and moving. I also finished my book! I had worked over a year doing a study of 1st Peter (actually only about 15 hours of work spread over a year) and I printed it and bound it at home. So now I have an actual hard-cover book with my name on it as the author! :)
I start teaching through 1st Peter in my church starting this Sunday (May 1) through July. I'm looking forward to sharing what I've learned.
I finally got the class schedules for this fall from Midwestern Seminary. I will be taking a class on Christian Ethics on Tuesday evenings. I'm so looking forward to getting back in the classroom!
I must be going now. Have to read another chapter from John MacArthur's Twelve Ordinary Men so I can prepare a lesson for our small group from church this Thursday. Until then... God Bless!