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On September 21, 2017 By In Politics

What is a Just War?-The Just War Tradition in Brief

This is the second in an ongoing series about the just war tradition. Here is the first post where I review Charles and Demy’s book on the just war tradition. They list three basic sets of rules for a just war: rules for going to war (jus ad bellum),  rules for conducting a war (jus in bello), and a third list of what the authors call “prudential” or “secondary” criteria that flow out of the first two. There are three rules for going to war, two for conducting the war, and five prudential criteria.  In subsequent posts I will address these different criteria. In this post I give several quotes from the authors’ introduction where they explain what a just war tradition is and what it is not. The goal is to give the reader an overview of the just-war tradition.

Just war thought in its classic expression…is not first and foremost about military tactics and strategy; nor is it about justifying military operations that already have been undertaken. Rather properly viewed, it is a morally guided approach to statecraft that (1) qualifies the administration of coercive force and (2) views peace as the result of justly ordered relationships. Not all use of force is just; frequently it is not. And not all use of force creates conditions for bringing about peace and justice.  Therefore, the use of force must be highly qualified. Peace is not to be understood as the absence of conflict; it is rather the fruit or by-product of a justly ordered society…The ordering of society-and the just maintenance of that order at its various levels-is the task of policy

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On September 14, 2017 By In Books

What is a Just War?-Book Review

People talk about just war all the time, but rarely is it defined or described. What is a just war? Was Iraq a just war? What about World War II? How does one conduct a just war in the age of terrorism?  Does Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek mean we can never kill? Over the next several weeks I am going to do a series on just war. We will look at just war criteria for going to war and waging a war, the idea of justice and whether or not peace is an automatic indicator that a society is just. We will also consider the connection between Scripture and natural law when discussing just war, historical examples of the just war tradition, pacificism, and many other topics.

When I began studying just war I needed to get my bearings. Everything I knew about war came from talking heads. I investigated book options and found this gem; War, Peace, and Christianity: Questions and Answers from a Just War Perspective. I bought this book hoping for two things: First, I would get a basic understanding of just war theory.  Second, I would get a lot of footnotes that pointed me to other sources.  This book delivered on both counts. There are other books that will give you more depth on specific issues connected to just war theory.  But if you have never studied just war theory, Charles and Demy’s book is a great place to start.

The authors divide their book into six different sections Just War Tradition and the: Philosopher, Historian, Statesman, Theologian, Combatant, and Individual. They use a question and answer format to describe what just war is, what it is not, some questions that still need to be answered, and the history of just war. They rely heavily on Augustine, Aquinas, Grotius, Vitoria, and Suarez. (I hadn’t heard of the last three either.) They also use a lot of O’Donovan and a current just war writer named James Turner Johnson. They address terrorism, nuclear war, humanitarian intervention, the UN, post war development of countries, non-lethal weapons, “turn the other cheek,” does war violate the command to not kill, did Jesus change our approach to war, is just war only a Christian idea or it can it be found in non-Christian sources, Bonhoeffer’s attempt on Hitler’s life, Ghandi’s pacifism, C.S. Lewis’ writings on war, supreme emergency, the early church on war, including Roland Bainton’s pacifistic reading of the church fathers, criteria for going to war, criteria within a war, private military contractors, ethical development of weapons, Romans 13, etc. The value of this book is how much ground it covers. You will not get an in depth chapter length discussion of each facet of just war theory, but you will get the basic ideas on it. It is an excellent introduction to just war thought, though I doubt any reader will agree with all.

The questions and answers in various sections overlap with questions and answers in other sections thus there is some repetition.  Also, there are areas that I would like more precision and discussion, such as what makes an authority legitimate, but the sources cited should provide answers. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand how Christians and others have defined just war.

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On September 1, 2017 By In Culture, Family and Children, Theology

Mere Sexuality

The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) released the Nashville Statement this week. I have had more disagreements with the CBMW over the years. Initially, I was enthralled by them. But more reading, in particular, historical reading, has led me away from them. However, this statement is good. It lays out mere sexuality, as in basic, very basic, Biblical sexual ethics concerning marriage, sodomy, and transgenders. Initially, I thought the statement was too basic to be worthwhile. But the response by many progressive Christians has vindicated the need for it. Surprise, surprise many Christians are not as firm on the basics as they let on.  (more…)

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On March 3, 2016 By In Culture, Politics

Unrelenting: A Prayer for Faithfulness

In their excellent book, Unchanging Witness, Professors Fortson and Grams spend a chapter recounting the capitulation of the numerous mainline denominations to the homosexual agenda, including the Episcopal Church and Evangelical Lutheran Church. But the account that caught my attention was the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA).

I am not an expert on the history of the PCUSA, but I believe there were serious issues, such as rejection of the authority of Scripture, rejection of the supernatural, and ordination of women, which preceded their acceptance of homosexuality. If true, their capitulation to the homosexuals was not a surprise. A denomination that ordains women is going to have a hard time barring the doors against homosexuals. Here is the timeline of how the PCUSA moved to accepting gays, gay ministers, and eventually same sex marriage (Fortson and Grams p. 157-158): (more…)

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On January 21, 2016 By In Books, Scribblings

Recycled Protestant Liberalism

Here is a quote from Os Guinness’ book Fool’s Talk  about how the evangelical world is filled with theological liberalism:

Full blown revisionism was once the natural preserve of extreme Protestant liberalism, and its proponents still lead the field by miles. But they no longer run alone. “Emergent Evangelicals” have emerged and aged until now only nostalgia or denial allows them to claim that they are emergent. But as their emergent sell-by date has passed, they demonstrate the effects of being weaned on the diet of their day-postmodern uncertainties, a relentless rage for relevance and a burning desire to be always seen as “innovative” and “thinking outside the box.” Not surprisingly, the result in the extreme cases is an Evangelical revisionism that is a recycled Protestant liberalism with the same feeble hold on the Bible and truth, nonchalance about authority, a patronizing stance towards tradition and the church catholic, and a naive idea of their own importance as heralds of newer, fresher gospels, and an uncritical stance towards the future.

Guinness’ description is spot on. Much of what passes for evangelical today is nothing of the sort. The assumptions of many evangelicals line up nicely with those we saw during liberalism’s great day in the late 19th and early 20th century. In particular, their “feeble hold on the Bible and truth.” Evangelical denominations, conferences, seminaries, and publishing houses are full of those who shave Scripture to fit their agenda, deny Scripture’s inerrancy, or blatantly ignore the plain teaching of the Bible.  Evangelical pastors are not much better. And perhaps the worst part is we don’t even know we have been gutted. We walk along, whistling merrily, believing we are alive when we are just a carcass.

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On December 5, 2015 By In Culture

Questions About Same Sex Attraction

A firestorm started with The Gospel Coalition’s recent posts on same sex attraction. They published two posts both focusing around Ed Shaw’s book Same Sex Attraction and the Church: The Surprising Plausibility of the Celibate Life. The first post, entitled “Godliness is not Heterosexuality” was an excerpt from the book. The second post was a glowing review of the book by Ron Citlau, who also written a book on how the church can minister to homosexuals. Tim Challies then posted another very positive review of the book.

In response, Rick Phillips gave four propositions on homosexual desire. Douglas Wilson entered the fray with two posts, here and here, expressing his concerns about the way the TGC articles approached the issue. Denny Burk added his voice, which gives some context to the TGC articles from Shaw’s book. Outside of these articles there have been quite a few other blog posts, as well discussions on social media. The issue is an important one and will have lasting consequences moving forward for the church and her members, including those who struggle with homosexual temptations.

I am firmly in the Wilson-Phillips camp. I find the arguments brought forth by the gay-celibate/SSA movement to be weak and in many cases dangerous. The TGC articles were no exception. Perhaps those articles put in the context of Shaw’s book would alleviate some of my fears.

There are several questions that need to be clearly answered in this debate and rarely are. By the way, I do not like the term SSA. But I use it in this post for charity’s sake. Also I focus on men not women because that is mainly who is writing on this subject. (more…)

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On September 16, 2015 By In Scribblings

R.L. Dabney on Public Prayer

R.L. Dabney has a wonderful chapter on public prayer at the end of his book Evangelical Eloquence.  Public prayer is not something I was taught formally in seminary nor informally watching my ministers growing up.  Like the public reading of Scripture it is ignored. Samuel Miller also wrote a book on public prayer in 1849. But since the 1800’s the importance of prayer in the pulpit has been forgotten.

Dabney begins by saying, “I deem that the minister is as much bound to prepare himself for praying in public as for preaching.  The negligence with which many preachers leave their prayer to accident [chance], while they lay out all their strength on their sermons, is most painfully suggestive of unbelief toward God and indifference to the edification of their brethren.” For many years little thought went into my public prayers. What did I teach my congregation about approaching God when I prayed in a sloppy, poorly thought out manner?  He goes on to say, “The many blemishes which we hear in public prayers are to be traced to two sources: first, deficient piety, and second, deficient preparation.”  We are not holy enough, near enough to God in our daily lives and we do not think about our prayers beforehand.

Then Dabney gives six things we should remember about public prayer.  There is a lot of wisdom in this list.

1. The grace of prayer is to be secured only by a life of personal and private devotion. He who carries a cold heart into the pulpit betrays it not only to God, whose detection of it is inevitable, but almost surely to the hearers also.

2. The pastor should remember that he is praying on behalf of the people, therefore his language should be simple, his petitions corporate, not private and he should make sure he is praying, not preaching…the language of prayer must be wholly unambitious, unaffected, and simple…not such as is proper from a teacher to a congregation, but just such as is appropriate for an accepted sinner speaking to his God.

3. The leader of the church’s prayers shall present distinct and definite petitions, and these not too numerous….The leader of prayer should therefore speak as one who has an errand at the throne, a point to press to God. He should eschew loose generalities of petition, and all that stream of indefinite, goodish talk with which so many prayers are filled, which really expresses nothing save a slumbering faith and a heart void of desire.

4. He who leads the devotions of others must study appropriateness of matter.  He should ask himself what would be uppermost in the hearts of Christians at that time.

5. The language of prayer should be well-ordered and considerate. He who speaks to the Searcher of hearts should beware how he indulges any exaggeration of words, lest his tongue should be found to have outrun his mind and to have “offered the sacrifice of fools.”

6. Above all should the minister enrich his prayers with the language of Scripture. Besides its inimitable beauty and simplicity, it is hallowed and sweet to every pious heart by a thousand associations.  It satisfies the tastes of all; its use effectually protects us against improprieties; it was doubtless given by the Holy Spirit to be a model for our devotions.

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On August 26, 2015 By In Culture

The Morning After or Preparing to Fight the Long War

After all the protests on Saturday, I began thinking, what now? Where do we go from here? This is a post, slightly edited, I wrote before the protests occurred. It is reminder that the war has been going on for a long time and will continue well into the future.  It is particularly a challenge to the under forty generation. Are we ready for a long war? 

As the videos continue to post, I wonder if Christians feel how Jews felt when Allied soldiers entered concentration camps at the end of WWII. Finally, the world is able to see what has been going on. Finally, they will see the ovens and the bodies stacked like cord wood. Finally, they will see the little arms and legs cut up into pieces. Finally, they will see the death of all these little ones.

While this sting operation by the Center for Medical Progress might be a kind of D-Day, it is not the whole war. Even before these videos, abortion clinics were closing on a regular basis. For decades men have been fighting against abortion through sermons, prayers, picketing, and books. Hundreds of pastors, including John Piper, have faithfully preached against abortion year after year. I think of my friends Charles and Al who regularly picket in front of abortion clinics. I think of  R.C. Sproul Jr. who whenever tragedy strikes reminds us of the greater tragedy of the thousands of babies legally killed every day. I think of Francis Schaeffer and his work in the early eighties. I think of pastors who have converted women walking into death clinics and helped them find homes for their newborns. I think of all the older ladies who pleaded with God to end the murder of the unborn.  I think of parents who have many children or who have adopted unwanted children. On and on the list goes.  God’s people have always hated abortion.  Christians are not waking up for the first time. But there is physical proof of what we have always known. Babies are being chopped up for profit. Like pictures coming out of Germany in 1945, these videos vindicate the war. There is a reason we fight.

Thanks to all the brothers and sisters, pastors and priests, mothers and fathers, who fought, often in obscurity, since Roe v. Wade. We are grateful for your faithfulness. May our generation be worthy of walking in your footsteps. May we look to you, our Savior, and the Word to give us strength to endure in this battle against abortion and the other battles we will face in the coming years.

I also think of all those hipster Christians who thought abortion was old news. Who got tired of the war. Who rebuked those who said abortion was wicked. Who were silent in the face of the holocaust. Who loved their reputation more than Jesus. We need to move on they said, after all it is legal. Separation of church and state they bellowed. We should ignore the barbed wire and the smoke and the smell. We will preach Jesus, but we do not need to make a political statement. Ours is a spiritual kingdom.  We love women so much we will let them kill their child. They lost their moral authority when they abandoned the Scriptures. Now they have been exposed as those who ate and drank while members of their congregation and city sacrificed their children to Molech. They are hirelings (John 10:13). May their tribe decrease. May they see their folly and publicly repent of disgracing the name of Christ.

Then I think of us, the under forty generation who are working with renewed vigor to end this atrocity. As we all know, this battle is far from over. Doug Wilson reminds us we to pursue. We must push through to Berlin. We must keep doing the things which matter most such as loving God, telling our neighbors about Jesus, repenting of our sins, praying without ceasing, and gathering for worship. We must persevere in the behind the scenes work we have been doing in our churches, homes, and communities.  We must keep pressing forward in the direct assault on Planned Parenthood as well through sharing the videos, blogs posts, elections, and legislation. We are seeing victories in the fight against abortion, which is wonderful. But these victories did not happen overnight. The war did not start with these videos. The war will not end with these videos. There are years of battle ahead of us, which is the great danger for my generation. We like quick fixes and easy answers. We lose steam fast. A few tweets and Facebook posts and we move on. But three weeks is not very long. Three years is not very long. Three decades is not very long. Besides the abortion battle, there is sodomy, a wicked and corrupt government, a compromised church, evolution, the denial of Scripture as God’s inspired Word, the rampant sexual immorality in the church, and many other battles to fight. Abortion is but one front, albeit an important one, in our work for Christ’s Kingdom. Are we prepared for the long haul?  Will we fight for decades like our fathers did? Can we keep the pressure on year after year? Or will our attention wane and vigor wilt? Will we bend the knee to the world in the end? Will we grow weary and go back to binge watching on Netflix?  I am grateful for the impact these videos are having. I am grateful for the almost 70,000 who protested Planned Parenthood last Saturday. It is nice to win a battle now and then. But we must prepare our churches, our families, and ourselves to fight the long war. Without endurance, all that has been gained will be lost.

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On August 21, 2015 By In Culture

Peacefully Protesting Planned Parenthood

Tomorrow could be a huge day for pro-lifers. All over the United States thousands of Christians will be protesting Planned Parenthood. With over 300 protests planned around the country, several of my friends have indicated that this may end up being one of the largest pro-life demonstrations in history.

Tomorrow could also be a terrible day for pro-lifers. We will be on the stage and the world will be watching.  Any minor infraction will be used against us to discredit what we are doing. The media will hunt for a way to destroy our momentum. Here are some tips for making sure the protests honor Christ. These are in no particular order. If you have other suggestions or disagree with a point make a comment.

1. Remember to evangelize. The immediate purpose of the protests is to make a point about Planned Parenthood and to prevent babies from being killed. But our ultimate goal is to bring people to Jesus Christ. Keep that in mind with the women going into the clinics, the doctors, the nurses, and those who oppose you.  Tell them about Jesus and how he can cleanse them from all their sins. Make sure you are not just protesting, but you are also evangelizing. There is blood on the hands of those you will meet. They need to know how that bloodguilt can be taken away. Have brochures inviting people to church. Keep the big picture in mind.

2. Pray before going out, while protesting, upon returning home, and in the weeks that follow. Those of us who cannot go need to pray for those who will be there. Without the Lord’s aid we are hopeless. If we think numbers, resources, signs, organization, videos, or protests will bring us victory we are foolish. Prayer reminds us that this is the work of God. Pray hard, trust God, and then get to work.

3. Sing. Bring sheets with the Psalms on them for folks to sing. If the crowd does not know the Psalms then bring some common hymns that people can sing.

4. Bring your children or grandchildren.  I would love to see dozens of children of all ages at these protests.  Children will do at least two things. First, they are visual reminder that protesters are not just anti-abortion, but pro-children. We love children. Second, they will often keep those who are protesting in check. Let’s be honest if our child is watching we will usually watch our language and actions more closely .

5. Have good options for the those ladies who do not want to have an abortion. Are there brochures you can hand out? Are there people at your church who would adopt the baby? Are there care facilities where a single pregnant mom can get aid? Is there a place they can get a free ultrasound? Make sure there are Christian women there who can counsel these ladies, pray with them, and encourage them. Be ready with solutions for these women.

6. Know what the laws are and follow them. This is not the time or place for civil disobedience or stupid actions. Cameras will be on. Hundreds of protests could be quickly undermined by one foolish decision (I Peter 2:13-25).

7. Stay away from arguments that are a waste of time. People can get belligerent when you interrupt their freedom.  Choose your battles wisely. Avoid any physical altercation. If you are a hothead, don’t go.  If you feel yourself losing control, leave. Try to remain at peace with all men, while still making your point (Romans 12:18).

8. Set up a laptop or other device where people can watch the shorter videos from the Center for Medical Progress.  For us it is hard to imagine not knowing about these videos. But many have not heard of them or seen them. Ask people if they would like to watch what Planned Parenthood has been doing. We have never had this resource before. Use it.

9. I would avoid signs that show dead babies. I would use less graphic signs that make it clear what you are protesting and then have the more graphic videos available.

10. Read sections of Scripture out loud. The Word of God is powerful. Read it before going out. Read it with people as you protest. Read it to those who are going in. Read some after the protest is over as well. Lean hard on God’s Word.

Here is the Protest Planned Parenthood website. If you need to find a protest in your area you can look there. All protests are scheduled from 9-11 am on Saturday, August 22nd.

Here is good article by John Piper on why he will be attending the protest in his hometown.

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On July 30, 2015 By In Scribblings

Contact Your Elected Officials

American Family Association has set up a form to contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to defund Planned Parenthood and investigate the selling of baby parts.  It is easy to use.  If you type in your zip code it will automatically load your elected officials and then you can send them a message. Based on recent choices by our politicians I am not sure this will do much, but it is still worth letting our elected officials know where we stand.

Here is the link to the portion of AFA’s website where you can do this. If you click on the section titled “Advocacy Campaigns” and then click on the first one listed, “Tell Congress: Defund….” it should take you to the right spot.

Below is the message I sent.  The bold part is what the AFA already has in the message. You can delete this portion and put in your own message. Or you can add to it as I have done here. AFA automatically adds a “To Whom It May Concern.”

I am grateful for all the service you perform on behalf of our state and our country. Many of us do not realize the long hours you put in and the difficult decisions you have to make on our behalf.

As a taxpayer, I am deeply disturbed by the recent news and video exposing Planned Parenthood’s barbaric practice of selective harvesting and selling of baby parts.

I am equally troubled by the fact that my tax-dollars are being used to help fund Planned Parenthood’s despicable actions. This should not be!

With millions of American families struggling to make ends meet, I urge you to do the right thing by cutting off all federal funding to Planned Parenthood and returning the money back to its rightful owner, me, the taxpayer.

In addition, I support House Speaker John Boehner’s call for Congress to investigate Planned Parenthood for the illegal trafficking of human body parts.

I am a minister who believes the Scriptures show that life begins at conception (Psalm 139:13-16) and that justice dictates that no one be killed who has not committed a crime worthy of death (Genesis 9:6). Therefore unborn children deserve to live. Killing them is not an act of love, but rather the unjust taking of an innocent life.

I also believe that the Scriptures and Jesus taught us to love the poor. Planned Parenthood preys on the poor while their executives make millions of dollars. They tell low income women that their lives will be better if they kill their child. But that is not true. Abortion survivors are racked by guilt and many children born into difficult financial situations grow up to lead full and satisfying lives. The weakest among us, unborn children, are destroyed by the strong. This should not be.

We also know that children are the future of our country. We need more sons and daughters to keep our state and our country growing. These young ones will grow up to build houses, invent things, defeat diseases, run for office, etc. They are the lifeblood of our future. Why would we kill them?

They are people not fetuses. They are poor and weak and therefore need our protection, not laws allowing people to kill them for profit. They are the future of our state and country. Why would we slowly drain our own blood?

Therefore I urge you and exhort you to defund Planned Parenthood, to launch an investigation into the selling of baby parts, and to work for the complete abolition of abortion in our state and country  just as our fathers worked for the abolition of slavery.

With Thanks for Your Service,
Peter Jones,Pastor of Christ Church of Morgantown

Father of Nine

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