Tried With Fire

I posted this quote a year ago, but in the light of the Trinity debate, it's worth repeating. Many people do not like arguing. They picture an angry dispute between two individuals… It is usually characterized by negative emotions: we are upset, raise our voices, and maybe even stomp out of the room in frustration… Usually, if we are honest, the goal of this kind of arguments is to win… Another type of arguing features a dispute not between competing individuals but between competing ideas… Rather than emotional; it is rational. We are seeking reasons for why we think a belief is true. In arguing this way, we do not attack the other person, but we are both attacking an issue or problem. This is why philosophers often can hold opposite views on issues and yet be good friends.  The goal of this kind of arguing is not to win but to find the truth. In fact, if you can show me that a belief I had thought was true is actually false, I have not lost but have won, because, I do not ...

"If this confession of the trinity of God takes such a central position in the Christian faith, it is important to know on what ground it rests and from what source it has flowed into the church. They are not a few in our time who hold that it is the fruit of human argument and academic learning and who, accordingly, regard it as of no value for the religious life. According to them the original Gospel, as it was proclaimed by Jesus, knew nothing about any such doctrine of the trinity of God — that is, nothing about the term itself nor about the reality to which the term was intended to give expression. It was only — so the argument goes — when the original and simple Gospel of Jesus was brought into relationship with Greek philosophy and was falsified by it that the Christian church absorbed the person of Christ in His Divine nature, and eventually also the Holy Spirit into the Divine Being. And so it came about that the church confessed three persons in the one Divine being. ...

ht: Lloyd Legalist on Twitter

In perusing the blogsphere, I have read many posts challenging women to exercise discernment in regard to the resources they use. Concerns have been raised about: - Hermeneutics. How does the author interpret scripture? - Commitment to the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. - The subtle incorporation of New Age mysticism. - Shared platforms and endorsements by questionable teachers, e. g. Word of Faith/prosperity gospel teachers - Ecumenicism that muddies the gospel. - Inadequate recognition of sin and calls for repentance. - Legalism that supplants the gospel. I could list more, but you get the point. People may have varying degrees of discomfort over the meat-to-bone ratio and which issues are deal-breakers, but I think we would agree that it is wise to consider who is teaching and what is being taught. Given the recent debate over the Trinity and more specifically the relationship between the Father and the Son, it's worth repeating the question t...

Exhibit A: The Bible several times says that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father, but He's at the right hand. He sits with Him on His throne. He has equal glory and equal honor but not equal authority. The Father and Son are equal in all their attributes, and the Holy Spirit is too. But among those persons of the Trinity, though they are equal in all their attributes: infinitely wise, infinitely powerful, infinitely loving, just and merciful, omnipresent and omniscient; they share all attributes, but there is a difference in the way they relate. The Father has an authority that the Son does not have. .. The idea of headship and submission never began. It has existed eternally in the relationship between the Father and Son in the Trinity. It exists in the eternal nature of God himself. And in this most basic of all relationships, authority is not based on gifts or ability. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are equal in all attributes and perfections, but authority is just t...

"What the Christian goes on to confess about that God is not summarized by him in a number of abstract terms, but is described, rather, as a series of deeds done by God in the past, in the present, and to be done in the future. It is the deeds, the miracles, of God which constitute the confession of the Christian. What the Christian confesses in his creed is a long, a broad, and a high history. It is a history which comprises the whole world in its length and breadth, in its beginning, process, and end, in its origin, development, and destination, from the point of creation to the fulfillment of the ages. The confession of the church is a declaration of the mighty deeds of God. Those deeds are numerous and are characterized by great diversity. But they also constitute a strict unity. They are related to each other, prepare for each other, and are interdependent. There is order and pattern, development and upward movement in it. It proceeds from creation through redemption to san...

ht: Modern Reformation on FB

"While believers should be Bereans and search the Scriptures for themselves, we don't do it in a vacuum. Our study of the Word is not disconnected from what has transpired in church history. " Read the rest of the post here .

In light of the recent and lively debate about the Eternal Subordination of the Son and gender, here is Kevin Giles on the word "role." The French word role originated in reference to the part an actor played on stage. In the 1930s, it became a key term in functional sociology. It was only in the late 1950s and early 1960s, as the study of sociology became established in the universities, that the word began to be widely used in the English-speaking world. I can find no evidence of Christian usage of the word in theological discourse before this time. 1 Giles then gives an example of an officer and a private in the army. They have different roles, but the roles do not imply inferiority of one to the other. Likewise the roles are not intrinsic to the persons involved. A private may be promoted up the ranks. The officer may be demoted. 2 Makes sense, right? A parallel cannot be made with the complementarian-hierarchical view of women. In this case, because a woman is ...

God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself, is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain; he is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands; to him is due from angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them. ( John 5:26 ; Psalms 148:13 ; Psalms 119:68 ; Job 22:2 , 3 ; Romans 11:34-36 ; Daniel 4:25 ...

ht:  Savage Chickens ht: Savage Chickens

I am thankful for: A little break in my workload. Sunshine after many rainy days. The mother robin who is guarding her nest. I try not to scare her when I pull up the driveway, but it is hard when her nest is on top of the light above the garage door. The pic is a little fuzzy because I didn't want to get any closer. Doctrinal disagreements that are coming to the light rather than being swept under the rug. I don't like controversy for controversy's sake, but I think it is more dangerous to blindly agree with your favorite Christian leader. No human is infallible except Jesus, and God gave us minds to use, not turn off. Martin Luther's statement that his conscience should be bound by the Word of God alone. The Doctrine of God. Even though the sermon series is over, I'm still learning how crucial this is.

The expression "first-born" does not in clude Christ in the realm of the creatures, but ex cludes him from that realm. Being the firstborn and only begotten Son and Logos, and the adequate image of God, he from eternity sustained a very unique relation to the Father. And although as Mediator Christ is represented as dependent upon and subordinate to the Father; so that he is the servant sent to complete the Father's work, obedient unto death, and delivering his kingdom unto the Father; in essence and being he remains, nevertheless, co-equal with the Father. Accordingly, when in John 14:28 Jesus says that his going to the Father is for the disciples and occasion for rejoicing, "for the Father is greater than I," he does not mean that the Father is greater in power - for John 10:28-30 teaches differently - but he refers to himself in his humiliation . The Father in his glory is greater than the Son in his humiliation. But when Jesus goes to the Father this infer...

I've posted this quote by Carl Trueman before, but it bears repeating: "[T]he doctrine of God is a more complicated matter than the authority of Scripture, When someone starts to tinker with the doctrine of Scripture, many Christians instinctively feel that something nefarious is being done. But when someone starts to tinker with the doctrine of God, many simply assume that very clever people are engaged in improving the tradition." 1 I believe this is happening with the doctrine of the Eternal Subordination of the Son (ESS.) This doctrine believes God the Son is subordinate to the God the Father in role but not in substance, but this subordination is not just for the purpose of redemption but perpetually. I do not agree with ESS and believe it is inconsistent with the classical doctrine of the Trinity. This may seem esoteric, but our understanding of God is the bedrock on which our beliefs rest. If we get God wrong, then any doctrines that follow, which are pretty mu...

CREATOR AND REDEEMER GOD, Author of all existence, source of all blessedness, I adore thee for making me capable of knowing thee,                     for giving me reason and conscience,                     for leading me to desire thee; I praise thee for the revelation of thyself in the gospel,                      for thy heart as a dwelling place of pity,                      for thy thoughts of peace towards me,                      for thy patience and thy graciousness,                      for the vastness of thy mercy. Thou hast moved my conscience to know how    the guilty can be pardoned,    the unholy sanctified, ...

Jedi Blind Date:

It's my turn to post at Out of the Ordinary: My church began a Sunday school series on the history of the Protestant Reformation. In the first class, the teacher gave a 45-minute whirlwind tour of the 1500 years that led up to the Reformation. He covered the eventual decline of the Roman Empire, the threats and attacks from neighboring tribes, and the political instability that ensued. Christianity went from severe persecution to Constantine's blending of church and state, setting the stage for the rise of the papacy. Sadly the church-at-large became a political entity in its own right with all the associated corruption and power grabs. But amidst the decline, God was setting the stage... Read the rest of the post here .