Meditations

Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
Malachi 2:10

Once again this morning I was reminded of how vast, unknowable, and yet how wonderfully faithful God truly is; and subsequently I was reminded of how utterly limited, simple, and devastatingly faithless a creature I am. I pride myself in my knowledge, my ability, all the time blind to the inestimable greatness of a God that given all eternity I would still not even begin to catch a glimpse of. I try to pray and I am only ashamed and embarrassed by my inability to express anything that should even begin to concern Him.

"Why did the Son of God become man, one of us, our Brother, our Fellow in the human situation? The answer is: In order to judge the world. But in the light of what God has actually done we must add at once: In order to judge it in the exercise of His kingly freedom to show His grace in the execution of His judgment, to pronounce us free in passing sentence, to free us by imprisoning us, to ground our life on our death, to redeem and save us by our destruction. That is how God has actually judged in Jesus Christ."
-Karl Barth

Once again this morning I was reminded of how incomprehensible the work of Christ is; and subsequently, I was reminded that I truly am counted righteous and that one day that righteousness shall be evident in its fullness because of the work of Christ. I take pride, not in anything of myself, but in the person and the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, continually thanking God that he has given me more than just a glimpse of what He is like, but revealed Himself in fullness to me. I start to pray and I encounter the Living God who has heard my words and does not neglect them but responds with the assurance of His Son.

Liturgical Worship

Among other things, one of the effects that an understanding of Reformed theology has engendered in me is the appreciation of liturgical forms of worship. What used to seem like dead prayers and cold formulas of worship now appear to me as guardians and teachers of true doctrine. Not only do the best liturgies maintain substantial presentations of Biblical truths for the body, but they also ensure that the Word is taught in its full scope without pandering to "hot topics" or any other pet issues of the minister.

Even with the strengths that I have mentioned (and the many more besides) I am as yet unconvinced that a formally constructed liturgy is the only valid form of worship. The salvific work of God in Christ is the greatest truth of all time, and as such must lend itself to many varied and diverse forms of response. While we undoubtedly have certain non-negotiables of worship presented by Paul, it appears that the instructions given to the Church in the epistles lend themselves to the adaptation of many different people groups, cultures, and traditions. While God must be worshipped for the truth He has revealed, and that truth is the same across the board, there seem to be many different ways to express the gratitude for that truth. So long as the reality of man's sinful state and the gracious intervention of Christ's work of forgiveness is being proclaimed rightly, we should be grateful for the many diverse expressions of gratitude that different traditions produce.

One principle that is helpful for the true worship of God by His people is distinctiveness. The worship of the Triune God should look like no other activity that the world has to offer. Once again, this seems to me to be the strength of many liturgical forms. Try finding any other institution in the world whose gatherings look even remotely like the worship services of a church in the Reformed, Lutheran, or even Catholic tradition. It is essential that a Church whose message is the antithesis to any other message in the world, have a style of worship that is distinct from any other type of gathering in the world. However, I am as of yet unconvinced that the only way to do this is with one the historic liturgical styles of the Reformed tradition. No doubt, it is vital for any church to implement the historic creeds, confessions, and hymns of the Church throughout the ages, but where exactly do we find the standard for how these resources should be specifically used? I believe that keeping in mind this principle of distinctiveness, along with the proper proclamation of the Gospel and a regular use of the historic resources of the Church, there is room for many new expressions of gratitude for God's work.

In all honesty, the point of this post is to get you to read another post by Steve Bush, a Ph.D. candidate at Princeton University, to which I've provided a link below. He expresses this far better than I could.

http://www.generousorthodoxy.net/thinktank/2005/09/liturgy_and_con.html

Response to Barth

I'd like to thank whoever it was that left the anonymous comment on my Karl Barth post. Not only do I appreciate the critique, I'm just glad to see that at least a few people are reading the blog. I'd like to respond to some of the concerns that were expressed in that comment regarding my rendering of Barth's view on general revelation. As far as his view of Scripture goes, I'll simply stand corrected for the time being, at least until I have a better grasp on Barth's position. I admit, I am finding it rather hard to pin down exactly. In light of this, my comments on the subject should probably have been more reserved in the first place. For now, I'll simply respond to the second objection.

As for natural and philosophical speculations about God, that is a development of a very Reformed way of thinking. Barth is protecting against the idea that we can reach God by means of our own inherent capabilities in any way whatsoever. He wants to preserve the notion that it is God and God alone who reveals himself to us and makes himself known through his revelation--and that we cannot achieve any knowledge of God on our own apart from that revelation. To put it another way: he's making sure God is put in the position of revealing who God is, not man. That seems right to me. We can't get to God naturally or by our own philosophizing--only God teaches us about God through his revelation in Christ, the scriptures, and the proclaimed word. It's hard to see much wrong with that.

I would agree with Barth's view as you have set it forth on this point. The only knowledge that man can have of God is that which God chooses to reveal of Himself. The question is, what kind of knowledge does he reveal? Barth would say (I believe) that the only knowledge we can truly have of God is what is revealed in the man Jesus Christ. I would agree that revelation of who God is and what he truly is like can only come from Christ, and that the knowledge that accompanies salvation must be that of Christ. However, this is not the only place that God has revealed Himself, at least in some measure. According to the Reformed tradition, all men do have some knowledge of God if only from what they see in nature or from the testimony of their conscience. This is not enough to bring anyone to a saving knowledge, of course, but it is the general revelation that God gives to all men. As you have said, "only God teaches us about God throughout his revelation in Christ, the scriptures, and the proclaimed word." These are the only means that He uses to reveal his saving purposes, but he also reveals himself in his creation. The knowledge that can be gained from this type of revelation is obviously not enough to relate the saving nature of God's work, but it is enough basic knowledge of God to condemn man for rejecting Him.

I realize that Barth formulated this view in the light of natural theology movements that attempted to develop a full full-orbed theology on the basis of what all men can affirm about God. With respect to challenges such as this his response was no doubt a much needed defense of the need for a specific revelation of the life and work of Jesus Christ. However, I believe that the account that he put forth is flawed. This flaw manifests itself in his outright rejection of the task of apologetics, a responsibility which is not only set forth clearly in the New Testament, but one that has also been a priority of the Church from its very beginning.

Again, I thankful or the comments that have been offered and hope that my response is clear and that there is some merit found in it. Hopefully whoever left the comment will stop by the blog again and offer anymore thoughts they may have.

Reporting on "Chosen"

The Chosen by God conference at Twin Oaks this weekend were absolutely amazing! It was a once in a lifetime privilege not only to sit and hear Dr. R.C. Sproul teach, but also to get him to sign my well-worn copy of Chosen by God. As he once again showed this weekend, there is no one who has done a better job of preserving and dispensing the truths of Reformed theology, presenting them in a clear, easy to understand, yet deeply profound way for the average layman. Yet, as edifying as his sessions were, the sessions taught by Dr. Derek Thomas were perhaps even more engaging. Dr. Thomas imparted a vision of the grandeur of God and the election of Christ, which is the proper foundation for understanding the doctrine of election. He not only taught ideas correctly, communicated the heart of the doctrine. The scholarly precision of Dr. Sproul and the warm pastoral emphasis of Dr. Thomas provided an excellent balance.

And yet, as wonderful as the teaching sessions were, I must admit to being a little disillusioned by the whole experience. Ligonier Ministries is a great organization and I believe that they are providing an important service to the people of God by putting out some of the best material in Christian publishing. However, I became a little weary of being barraged with plugs for everything from the Reformation Study Bible to an Alaskan cruise with R.C., before, after, and inbetween each session. Running infomercials and stating (even in jest) that the audience can count themselves amongst the elect if they own a certain study Bible or subscribe to the tape of the month doesn't sit to well with me. Certainly, they need to sell their products to be able to continue providing the valuable resources that they produce, but surely there is a less crass way to do so. In addition, there was a polemic attitude that seemed to permeate much of what was said. By the end of the weekend I refused to laugh at one more joke simply because the punch-line was "an Arminian!" If the Doctrines of GRACE are going to be taught rightly, they must communicate a spirit of grace as well as precision of doctrine. There were moments at least were this spirit appeared to be sorely lacking.

Despite these slight concerns, the experience was truly wonderful. Here's a brief rundown of how it went: Friday night, Dr. Sproul held a question and answer session followed by a book signing. He opened the first session on Saturday morning by explaining the requirement that all biblical Christians have some doctrine of predestination and then expounded on the proper way to hold this view. Dr. Thomas took the next session and went through an exposition of Revelation 4:8-11, giving a picture of a majestic and mysterious God who shows us electing grace. After lunch he expounded on the bondage of the will and human inability. After taking some more questions and answers, Dr. Sproul finished with a session in which he responded to some the come objections to the doctrine of election. It was a truly inspiring and refreshing weekend.

Chosen by God

Just a quick post to say how excited I am about the R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God conference at Twin Oaks tomorrow! Chosen by God was the first book I read dealing with Reformed theology and I still think it's one of the best introductions. Dr. Sproul might just possibly be the coolest person living on the planet at this point in time. I'll be sure and report back on the conference after the Saturday sessions are over.

Karl Barth

I am currently reading a selection of Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics edited by Helmut Gollwitzer. Growing up in conservative evangelical circles and reading the materials of that tradition tend to (or at least have in my case) produce a stigmatizing effect towards Barth and his writings. The term "neo-orthodox" is thrown around without much if any explanation, and it seems to be used almost simultaneously with "liberalism." However, with this negative connotation firmly entrenched in the minds of most evanglicals, it seems that very few have actually read Barth. This has been true for me at least, and I believe that I am greatly benefiting from having taken steps to remedy this. I have found Barth's writings to be filled profound insight and a fresh and invigorating passion for the Church, the Gospel, and most importantly, for the centrality of Jesus Christ in all things. Certainly, his view of scriptural authority and his tendency to dismiss all natural and philosophical understandings of God as certain paths to idolatry, are both disturbing aspects in his writings. However, it appears to me at least that these mistakes are made a consequence of attempting to make the revelation of Christ the most central reality of the human experience. While this does not necessitate or excuse the misunderstanding of the authority of the written Word of God or the truths about the general revelation of Himself therein, I am certainly willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and to receive the blessing of wisdom that are contained in so much of what I have read to this point.

Here is a small sample of what I have been enjoying:

" It [the Christian community] cannot approve nor tolerate the way and ways of the world. It has to indicate a very different path. On the other hand, its decisive task is not to confront men with this objection, criticism and negation, nor with a programme, plan or law in the performance of which men must abandon that great attempt to live without God, counterbalancing it by the opposite attempt to return to God and with His help to make everything better. This is what the Synagogue does. This is what Freemasonary does. This is what Moral Rearmament does. But this is not what the Church of Jesus Christ does. It has no right to make proposals to men as though they could now help, justify, sanctify and glorify themselves more thoroughly and successfully than hitherto. It cannot set before them any better men, any sinless men, any innocent men, and men who escape the confusion and sorrow of the world. It has no such men to hold out as examples to follow, as though others had only to imitate them to extricate themselves from the quagmire and hell in which they live...No, its great and simple but very different commission is that of declaring to them the kingdom of God, and not therefore a means to help them to do something, but the one truth that God has already begun to do something for them and that He will also complete it in spite of their opposition, outbidding all the attempts which spring from this opposition, overlooking and bypassing all their perversity and futility."

I could keep quoting for pages (this quote continues with some amazing stuff about the "divine Yes"), but time and space constraints will force me to leave you something to be read on your own.

It is also taught among us...

In looking back over the Augsburg Confession of faith recently this phrase, "It is also taught among us," stuck out to me in particular. Each article of faith follows the one before with this phrase and then goes on to expound on subjects such as:

Original Sin: "It is also taught among us that since the fall of Adam all men who are born according to the course of nature are conceived and born in sin."

Justification: "It is also taught among us that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before god by our own merits, works, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God by grace, for Christ' s sake, through faith, when we believe that Christ suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is for given and righteousness and eternal life are given to us."

Repentance: "It is also taught among us that those who sin after Baptism receive forgiveness of sin whenever they come to repentance, and absolution should not be denied them by the church."

Freedom of the Will: "It is taught among us that...without grace, help, and activity of the Holy Spirit man is not capable of making himself acceptable to God, of fearing God and believing in God with his whole hear, or of expelling inborn evil lusts from his heart."

The princes of Germany presenting this confession to Charles V did not use this phrase flippantly. These were men whose subjects were searching after clear direction from the Word of God. Clearly defined teachings were going to be vital for the fledgling Lutheran church if it was to sustain the reforms that had to this point so desperately been seeking. Clear and correct doctrine was for these men not a peripheral issue but a matter of life and death as they presented their teachings to a Catholic sovereign ready to force them to submit even by means of the sword. If a proper understanding of salvation by grace through faith was not taught, correct implementation of the sacraments not observed, or true knowledge of repentance not grasped by the church community, then they would be risking their lives for nothing.

If only such fervor for the teaching of the Scriptures were to be found in the Church of our own day! Far less often than hearing about what a particular church teaches or what beliefs they hold to, we hear about the particular activities or social groups that they can offer. Instead of hearing about Christ crucified for sinners we hear about services and conviences offered to "seekers."

What is to be done about this woeful lack of proper instruction in the knowledge of the Triune God and the Word he has delivered to his people? If every Evangelical church on the continent started offering courses in the basic doctrine of their particular tradition and encouraged each member to delve into these subjects for themselves would the problem be solved? While these would certainly be steps in the right direction and are a necessities for any church, there must certainly be more to this kind of a transformation than simply offering the right courses or reading good books. What must precede these things is a true hunger for God. This type of desperate longing to have communion with the God of the Bible cannot be produced by simply understanding Him correctly. This sort of work can only be accomplished by a radical work of His Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. The saints at the time of the Reformation experienced this kind of revival. They sought after proper teachings of the work of Christ because they had been robbed of hope by doctrines that made this work to be less than efficient for the people of God.

So, how is it that we will see a hunger for the pure teachings of the Word restored in the Church during our day? It will be through a powerful work of the Holy Ghost as He works upon the heart of every believer. As this work takes place, careful exposition of the Word will be experienced in greater amount through out the Church, and the glory for this marvelous work will be attributed to the power of God alone.

Peace

There are times when I'm so frustrated with myself, my sin, my weaknesses, my circumstances, and any manor of other things that I can hardly concentrate on anything else. I'd like to say that these times are short lived and infrequent. In reality I would probably be ashamed if other people knew how often I was assailed by these doubts, as I'm sure most of us would be if we were honest. The truth is that in these moments there are few things that can be of comfort. Despite the unshakeable knowledge that I am a recipient of Christ's righteousness in a real and concrete sense through his unalterable work at the Cross, in these times I am so distraught over the reality of my current sinful state that the knowledge of this truth doesn't fill me with the gratitude that it should. The only hope that I can find in these moments is in dwelling on the certainty that very soon I will be rejoicing eternally before the presence of God. In only a moments time I will be gazing upon the Father as he truly is and all the concerns of the former world will be as the vague memories of a dream. This is the reality that I long for in these times of frustration. You can call it escapism if you like. It suppose that it is. But when confronted with the disturbing reality of my own sin, there is no better option than to escape into the hope that soon I will be with the Father and because I am with Him, my sin will no longer beset me. This truth is captured perfectly in the verse entitled Peace, by 17th century poet Henry Vaughan:

My soul there is a Countrie
Far beyond the stars,
Where stands a winged Sentrie
All skilfull in the wars,
There above noise, and danger
Sweet peace sits crown'd with smiles,
And one born in a Manger
Commands the Beauteous files,
He is thy gracious friend,
And (O my Soul awake!)
Did in pure love descend
To die here for thy sake,
If thou canst get but thither,
There growes the flowre of peace,
The Rose that cannot wither,
Thy fortresse, and thy ease;
Leave then thy foolish ranges;
For none can thee secure,
But one, who never changes,
Thy God, thy life, thy Cure.

Blogging, Reforming, and Baseball

I have become very interested in the phenomenon of blogging and at the prompting of friends (especially G-Funk @ gdeakin.blogspot.com) have decided to throw in my two cents worth. Although I have long be disgusted with many forms of internet communication, i.e. instant messenger, myspace, etc., I have found that blogging provides an excellent format for people to express ideas and engage in meaningful conversation without the ridiculous fractured thoughts or blatant self-advertisement that other venues seem to encourage. It is promoting more people to express themselves through the written word as well as to keep a record of their daily lives and thoughts, both practices that I'm sure most would agree have become all to uncommon.

My hope for starting this blog will be that it will help me foster some of these positive habits and perhaps be a starting point for some constructive dialogue. My passions are first and foremost focused on the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and the church that He has established and continues to build through the promptings of his Holy Spirit. I have come to believe that the most faithful way to express this devotion and to better understand the ways of God in light of Holy Scripture is through the Reformed Tradition. The truths of Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Sola Scriptura, and Soli Deo Gloria, the Doctrines of Grace as expressed through TULIP (the five points of Calvinism), the understanding that salvation is received by grace through faith on the account of Christ alone, and the proper understanding of God's Word as comprised of Law and of Gospel, are truths that have truly transformed the church at one point in history, and certainly can do the same again. However, these wonderful doctrines will fall on deaf ears if the Church does not have a powerful encounter with person of the Holy Spirit and the gifts which he brings.

It may sound silly, but in some way I believe that blogging may have a part in this. As Christians from every tradition and background come into greater communication with each other, there is room for a better understanding of what Christ is doing throughout His body. We can see truths that others may have latched onto that our particular tradition has lacked. We can learn from each other and correct each other as we begin to see the vast and various things that God is doing in His kingdom. Hopefully, we will be humbled, but we will surely be surprised. One way we may be surprised is to see the way that the Holy Spirit uses blogs and other internet formats to aid in bringing about the visible unity of Christ's Church. Who knows? But enough with these grandiose ideas. I'm simply going to try to be faithful to continuing posting (at least on a semi-regular basis). My posts will include thoughts on books I'm currently reading, the Church, theological and philosophical topics in general, and probably the occasional rant about the current condition of the injury plagued yet still winningest team in the Major Leagues, the St. Louis Cardinals.