MENU

Theology
Category

On June 14, 2014 By In Theology

A Brief Introduction to the Athanasian Creed

The Athanasian Creed is known for its very thorough Trinitarian statement. But the Creed also contains a high Christology. “The Athanasian Creed is usually divided into two sections: lines 1–28 addressing the doctrine of the Trinity, and lines 29–44 addressing the doctrine of Christology.” a The Creed was early attributed to St. Athanasius, but that attribution has since the 17th century been disputed. It is widely accepted now that Athanasius did not pen the Creed, though the Creed reflects much of Athanasius’ Nicene theology.

The Creed begins with these perilous words:

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith. Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled; without doubt he shall perish everlastingly.

This harsh expectation for salvation implies, according to Philip Schaff, a precise knowledge of doctrine in order to be saved. Schaff was critical of this language and there have been others who have shared this criticism. For instance, here is a short description from the Creed:

The Father unlimited; the Son unlimited; and the Holy Ghost unlimited. The Father eternal; the Son eternal; and the Holy Ghost eternal. And yet they are not three eternals; but one eternal.

This, according to some historians, would place too great a demand on the laity. Some have seen this to be a strict demand that cannot be met, except for those grounded in historical Christianity. Indeed there is some truth to this skepticism. A modern look at our landscape would conclude that not only do evangelicals speak very little about the Trinity from the pulpit, but have little knowledge that such a Creed even exists.

My own reading of the Athanasian Creed and its history is more in line with Greg Uttinger who stated:

The Creed, of course, does not require every Christian to fully understand the complexities and implications of Trinitarian orthodoxy. Yes, an ignorant believer may speak in, say, Sabellian terms because he has not been taught better. He may in his ignorance compare the Trinity to an egg or a tree. The Creed is not addressing such ignorance; it is addressing outright rejection of the truth by those who have every reason to know better. b

As Trinity Sunday approaches, let us not be those who speak in ignorance, but those who confess this Creed and live out this Trinitarian faith.<>рекламное агентство тольятти

  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasian_Creed  (back)
  2. http://chalcedon.edu/research/articles/the-theology-of-the-ancient-creeds-part-4-the-athanasian-creed/  (back)

Read more

On June 11, 2014 By In Theology

Pneumatology in Baptism, Part IV, The Red Sea

Guest Post by Joshua Torrey

Read Part I & II, III

The Exodus Baptism

Fast forward now to the baptism of the Israelite people in the Red Sea. Moses has defeated one Pharaoh by being saved through water (baptism). But the Lord is after His entire people. The story of God conquering Pharaoh and Egypt’s gods are well known but the focus for this section is the time period after Pharaoh’s defeat at the Passover. After this incredible event, the Lord took the people of Israel up against the waters of the Red Sea. This happens to be more than the people of Israel can handle. All these people can tell Pharaoh is on the verge of overtaking them. A return to slavery seems eminent. What will God provide to demonstrate that this won’t happen? A baptism. A baptismal union consisting of water and Spirit,

21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. – Exodus 14:21-22

Once again the Hebrew Scriptures invoke water and the Spirit together. And again the symbol is found most clearly in the Hebrew language, “the Lord drove the seas back by a strong east spirit.” The Holy Spirit is once again about His work parting the waters and providing deliverance from sinful oppression. He is making the dry land appear to make a path for new creation! The Biblical story is not new but certainly perpetually epic.

After a long night of the Spirit’s work, land appears from underneath the waters. God’s new and ransomed people have a deliverance to walk upon. From every possible direction this seems like a water and Spirit baptism. The correlation to creation is evident; the similarity to the Noah’s flood is obvious. The only remaining question is how accurate of correlation is the portrayal of the Holy Spirit.

It is here that the events shortly after the Red Sea are helpful. For the people of Israel their songs can often reveal great theological moments. And after this baptism Moses and the people sing an important song. A song that confirms the interpretation of this text and validates the incredible work of the Holy Spirit,

8 At the blast (literally “spirit”) of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind (literally “spirit”); the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters. – Exodus 15:8-10

Without question the Spirit of God is responsible for the waters parting in baptism for the people. It is the water of deliverance and salvation (Psa 18:15). Destruction will not overtake the people of Israel and Israel’s enemies are destroyed by the very same baptismal waters. This is because water and the Spirit are administered in baptism. It was the Spirit responsible for the waters closing around the people of Egypt in judgment. It is the Holy Spirit’s necessary involvement that invokes both blessing and curse. And this is true also in Christian baptism. All of this symbolism continues the line of Old Testament thinking. The baptismal waters of Noah brought both salvation and destruction. The waters of death were for salvation with Moses. And they do so again here with the people of Israel and Egypt. It then is no wonder that this event is picked up by Paul in the New Testament as a warning,

1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-5

Blessing and curse. Paul presents both quite clearly in this passage to the church at Corinth. Within the epistle’s context it is clear that this passage is intended as a warning to the church. Baptism is not solely for salvation and this is because of the involvement of the Holy Spirit. For the unfaithful these activities are warnings and judgments. Mere water cannot be responsible for that.

Even more, what is most telling is the language used. The baptism of Moses is a type of Christ’s baptism. In fact Paul uses to the very same language for both of them. In Corinthians Paul speaks of being “baptized into Moses” (1 Cor 10:2). In Romans Paul uses similar language when saying that the church is “baptized into Christ” (Rom 6:3). Baptism into Moses is a type of baptism into Christ. This fits the motif of Moses being baptized before Israel and Jesus Christ being baptized before the church. But baptisms deliver from death. Both bring curse and blessing. And in both cases is a baptism of both water and Spirit. Neither one nor the other explains the fullness of Paul’s teaching. It must be both water and Spirit.<>технологии prбесплатная контекстная реклама

Read more

On June 11, 2014 By In Culture, Theology

Kill Your Idols

Satan is the master of the bait and switch. It is the old game where someone is led to believe they will receive one thing, usually good, and they receive another, usually bad. An example from a while back is where a young lady thought she had won a Toyota car. However, when she went to get her prize she found that she had won a toy Yoda doll instead.  Satan loves to do this. He promises us something great and tells us to pursue it. We believe him and run after what he has promised.  But right at the end he switches the prize.   Satan tempted Adam and Eve to believe that glory waited if they just ate the fruit. Eat this fruit and you will be like God. But what they got was death, alienation from God, alienation from one another, getting kicked out of the garden, and dead son.

Ezekiel 23 gives a terrifying picture of this exact thing.  Israel longs for help from the nations surrounding her.  Instead of trusting in God, she listens to Satan and runs to Assyria for aid.  Ezekiel says, “She lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians” (vs. 5, 12).  Like a young woman longing for the arms of a coworker instead of her husband, Israel looked upon the glory of Assyria, all her mighty captains, all her great warriors, all her great power and she left her husband, the Lord, and slept with Assyria.  However, this did not bring her the satisfaction she expected.  Like the young man addicted to pornography, she found herself destroyed by the very thing she lusted for.  Ezekiel says that Assyria slew Israel by the sword (vs. 10) and that God sent those nations that she lusted after to deal furiously with her, take her children, and strip her naked (vs. 25-26).  Like Adam and Eve in the garden, Israel expected to find glory and deliverance, but instead they found death.  So is the end of all who trust in idols. The idols promise bread, but in the end give us stones.

idol 1

We must kill our idols or they will kill us. Nothing outside of Christ will bring peace, satisfaction, or deliverance. Just like Israel, we love setting up idols, things we lust after that we think will satisfy us. These idols can be another man or woman, a new job, more money, more power, more time, control over other people, a bigger church, children that are holier than anyone else’s, a better education, a better sex life, better friends, a new president, a new congress, etc. etc. etc.  The list never ends. However, these things will not fill us. We will not be delivered or satisfied if we get those things. They are cracked pots that hold no water.  If we pursue them in an ungodly fashion, if we long for them instead of longing for Christ, then we are headed for nakedness and the sword. Idols are merciless.

How do we kill our idols?  We bring them to Christ. We seek his mercy. We confess our adultery with the world. We confess our sins. We believe that he forgives. And we believe that by His Spirit and His Word he will slay our idols.  Only when Christ cuts off the heads of idols can we have true life. The idols promise life but give us only death. Christ promises that if we die, and our idols with us, then and only then can we have life eternal. 

 What happens to our friends, jobs, marriages, sex, churches, money, reputation, etc. when we stop making them idols? What happens to these things when Christ slays them with the sword of his mouth? They become what they truly are: gifts of grace given to us by Christ to enjoy and to use to build his Kingdom.  If we put them under Christ they become a joy and we find satisfaction in them.  If we put them in place of Christ,  beside Christ,  or on the throne with Christ they become beasts that devour us.   We must slay our idols or they will slay us.

<>где можно дать рекламу

Read more

On June 9, 2014 By In Theology

Pneumatology in Baptism, Part III, The Baptism of Moses

by Guest Writer, Joshua Torrey

Read Part I & II

The Baptism of Moses

After addressing the clear union of water and Spirit in the story of Noah and Peter’s teaching, some might conclude that the matter of baptism is settled. But there are more Old Testament references to be incorporated to validate and expand the doctrine of this interpretation. Through the seed of deliverance in Noah came the great Patriarch Abraham and the Scriptures tell us that through Abraham God began to build a people to provide a Savior and Blessing, found in Jesus Christ, for the entire world. The remainder of the Old Testament is filled with “how to recognize Him when He gets here” type of material.

One of these important Old Testament reminders and pointers to Christ comes with the story of Moses. He like Noah is a savior. But this time he saves all of Abraham’s family (seed) from the land of Egypt. The early portions of the book of Exodus set the stage for this salvation of Israel,

8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. – Exodus 1:8

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:23-25

The contrast between these two passages is important. Pharaoh’s lack of knowledge led to persecution and trials for Abraham’s seed. This Pharaoh ceased to “know” the blessings of God through the faithful deliverance of Joseph (a subject matter all its own). As a result the people of Israel were forced into slavery and their lives were made miserable. Despite Pharaoh’s rejection God chose to bless Israel. Pharaoh responded by taking things to the highest level: He attempts to kill the covenant children of Israel (Exo 1:15-22). The importance of this event and its relationship with children will be fully developed later but this event does cast a looming shadow on the tenth and final plagues sent by God. For now it is against this death of Israelite children that the great arm of the Lord is revealed and He does this through “knowing” His people. As seen with Noah, this means that God is acting in favor and mercy towards His covenant people. And so through the faithfulness of two Levites (Exo 2:1) God brought forth a deliverer. And once again He used an ark (H8293),

2 The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. 3 When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. – Exodus 2:3

Before addressing the reintroduction of God’s saving basket/ark, it is interesting to note that Moses upon birth is declared “good” (H2896). This is the reason given in the Scriptures for the saving of Moses and it is an element of the story that gets repeated in the New Testament (Acts 7:20; Heb 11:23). Since good is rarely used in the Hebrew concerning people (Genesis 24:1; 26:7; 1 Sam 9:2; 16:12 among the exceptions) the description surely stands out. In two cases it is associated with women found at wells (Gen 24:1; 26:7) and in two others it is the kings of Israel (1 Sam 9:2; 16:12). In every case the individual is clearly being marked out to bring deliverance (the kings) or new life (the Godly wives of the patriarchs) to God’s promised seed. Moses stands in this tradition and the Scriptures mark him out. And it is this marker that explains the actions of his mother.

The English translation hides the symbolism of the Hebrew word tebah (H8293). Moses’ mother truly built “an ark made of bulrushes” to deliver her son. The parallels to Noah are fairly obvious. Pharaoh has declared that all Hebrews shall be “cast into the Nile” (Exo 1:22) to die by water. Moses too is cast into the waters that are meant for death but the Lord delivers him through an ark. This is done not only for the deliverance of Moses but to bring salvation to the people of Israel. One can speculate if Paul’s concept of being “buried with him [Christ Jesus] by baptism into death” (Rom 6:4) is influenced by this out-of-death typology for baptism.

The very name Moses means “to be drawn out.” It stems from a Hebrew verb used only in David’s baptism/deliverance from Saul (2 Sam 22:16-20; Psa 18:15-19). In Moses’ example, God brings forth “new land” from the waters of death. Moses’ rise up out of the water once again reminds us of the baptism of Jesus Christ (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:9). Through baptism, Moses is now capable of saving His people and providing new life. Even more graphically, the ark carrying Moses is delivered from “the reeds” (Exo 2:3). This is the same Hebrew word to describe the baptism of Israel and the conquest of Pharaoh (Exo 15:4). Moses is lifted up from the very death that consumes the armies of Pharaoh (we’ll see more of this is the next section).

The Holy Spirit has no direct link to this story and the symbolism found in Noah is obvious. Sinfulness and death abounds. God has once again “remembered” His covenant people and had godly people build an ark. God has used this ark to perform a baptism of deliverance and instituted a man to deliver His people. As Moses is tightly linked to Noah so also he is to Jesus Christ. In fact the example of Moses brings into focus the particulars concerning Jesus’ baptism under John. Moses, like Christ, was baptized before His ministry began and both spent a full time (40 years/40 days) in the wilderness. Jesus Himself was saved from the arm of an evil king (Matt 2:13-15). He was even delivered to and from Egypt like Moses.

But how does this apply to the baptism practiced by the church? As already seen, Moses’ baptism prepares him to lead Israel through one large baptism to save all of the people. This story points forward to Jesus Christ and the church. Jesus would participate in a baptism in order to start a ministry that would lead to a baptism for God’s people. He would be baptized in John’s “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3:3) and then send His disciples out proclaiming “repentance and forgiveness of sins” (Luke 24:47). We know that Christ’s baptism was water and Spirit. Now it is to be seen how Moses’ baptism in the Red Sea is also a union of water and baptism.<>поддержка а цены украинарейтинг ключевых слов google

Read more

On June 4, 2014 By In Theology

Pneumatology in Baptism, Part II, Noah’s Baptism

by Guest Writer, Joshua Torrey

Read Part I

Noah’s Baptism

The story of Noah is well known to us. We know how it starts (sinful man leads to rain drops) and how it ends (wine drops Noah). But lodged in the middle are a few fascinating events that link Noah with the original Adam and the last Adam. These events affirm the typology of baptism in the Old Testament as one that is a union of Spirit and water.

The Narrative

The primary link occurs mid-flood and is the crucial bridge between the original creation and Noah’s “new creation,”

1 But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided. 2 The fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed, the rain from the heavens was restrained, 3 and the waters receded from the earth continually. At the end of 150 days the waters had abated, 4 and in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 And the waters continued to abate until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen. – Genesis 8:1-5

There is a lot here so I’ll start with the Spirit focused part. When this passage is read in Hebrew the inclusion of the Holy Spirit is more evident. Genesis 8:1 reads “God made a spirit blow over the earth.”  Translated in English the inclusion of “a” before the word spirit or wind is a misnomer that can confuse readers. Broken down the sentence reads “God (noun) passed over (verb) spirit (direct object) the earth (indirect object).” But the grammatical argument is solely part of the link. The greater argument is the general context surrounding Noah’s deliverance.

Destruction of sinful flesh has occurred through the flood. The world is once again “formless” and once again it is covered in water. Genesis 1:2 is played out once again as God’s Spirit moves across the water and brings to fruition life-bearing land. The waters are brought together once again in the heavens and under the earth and slowly the great mountains of the earth show themselves. And it is on this mountain that the ark rests. The baptism of Jesus Christ has already been connected to new creation and so here too Jesus is the realization of this “new land.” He is represented by the mountain that reveals itself because of the hovering of the Holy Spirit.

New creation has appeared. Noah is a re-casting of Adam and he is bestowed with a new creation. Already this story is highlighting the Holy Spirit and water. Once again both in union point to the creation account and to the work of Jesus Christ. Event surrounding the flood interconnect with the baptism of Jesus. The first is the timing of the parting of the heavens,

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. – Genesis 7:11-15

The opening of the heavens only occurs once the full number of animals and people are within the ark. It is at the conclusion of their inclusion that the Lord Himself closes the door to the ark (Gen 7:16). So also Luke’s description of Christ’s baptism comes at the inclusion of “all the people” (Luke 3:21). The heavens open up at the baptism of Jesus Christ and the Lord speaks. The Trinitarian involvement does not stop there. The typology of Noah’s sending out of the dove is also a pertinent link to this story’s link to the baptism of Jesus,

8 Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. 10 He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. 12 Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore. – Genesis 8:8-12

An argument from this passage may border on allegorical for many. But the dove of Christ’s baptism makes sense of the gospel writers’ tie to the Old Testament baptismal stories. This tie could be to the general idea of peace that is associated with doves but I believe the easier link to make is with this story of Noah. For through Christ, new life is granted to His church and to us. The seven days between flights and the total number of three flights are surely symbolic of Christ’s work but they do not build up or diminish the two-fold link found in Noah’s flood to the first Adam and last Adam.

Covenant Framework

Having drawn a relationship between creation, Noah and Christ’s baptism, this section concludes with an application to New Testament hermeneutics. But before that we must address the covenant framework contained in the simple idea “God remembered” (Gen 8:1). From a grammatical perspective, this is a powerful word in the book of Genesis and Exodus. It is used in respect to covenants (Gen 9:15-16; Exo 2:24; 6:5) but it is also used for deliverance from trials (Gen 19:29; 30:22). In the story of Noah both of these concepts are pertinent and permissible understandings of God’s remembrance. The world is being judged and God’s “remembrance” delivers Noah and his family through the work of the Holy Spirit. Outside of the story of Noah, no other place in the Old Testament combines these concepts more clearly than the prelude to the exodus from Egypt,

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew. – Exodus 2:23-25

Everything pertinent to this word “remember” (H2142) is contained here. There is a need for deliverance and there is a remembrance of a covenant. Our God is omniscient and does not actually forget so it should be clear that this word is drawing together a pertinent truth focused on the covenant action of God. These are actions focused toward His covenant people for deliverance. Thus God’s “remembrance” is another way to say that He has decided to save His people.

This concept stands at the start of our important passage with Noah. God has remembered His covenant man with his covenant family. And God has decided to move in His Spirit to save His covenant people through the emergence of new land and new life. All of this is tied together in a way very similar to the exodus. There is salvation through the Holy Spirit and water. There is then salvation in baptism. It is in all of this that we interpret Peter’s link Noah and baptism,

20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ – 1 Peter 3:20-21

It is the overriding concepts of salvation from trials contained in this epistle that drives Peter to this story of deliverance found in Noah. Baptism, which was portrayed in the flood and realized in Christ, points to the type deliverance and new creation Peter is using to assure those who are suffering. Through this typology his audience would be aware of the faithful being saved from the filth of the world. Even with the original story of Noah is embedded the Jewish concept of 40 days for purification. This is Peter’s conclusion that water from God washes away the sinfulness of the world. But Peter has to make sure that the church doesn’t fall into the mistake of presuming its only water. As the story of Noah has shown it was the deliverance found of in the union Spirit water. The story of Noah was water and Holy Spirit moving to revealing new creation (Gen 8:1) and so it is with Peter. Baptism saves but not as just water. Baptism truly saves because of its inherent relationship to the Holy Spirit in applying to us the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Peter cannot be read to make a separation of water and Spirit. The water was necessary for the flooding of the world. It’s the entire basis for the typology to the narrative of Noah. But the Spirit was necessary for the deliverance of ark.

Water and Spirit remain distinct from each other but they are not separated from each other. Baptism is Spirit and water.<>mobile online gameцены на рекламу в новосибирске

Read more

On June 3, 2014 By In Theology

Where Does the Southern Baptist Go From Here? Thoughts by Guest Writer, Grant Castleberry

Guest Writer, Grant Castelberry – Executive Director of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Note: KC reported on the SBC’s seventh year of decline. We invited a special Southern Baptist Leader to talk about the decline and what the Southern Baptist can do about it.

Later this month, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) will convene facing a downward trend in baptisms and attendance for the seventh year in a row. I have never been one to put much stock in numbers, but that does not mean that they are unimportant. They do reflect trends and direction, and our baptism and attendance numbers definitely show that the SBC is shrinking.

I am not exactly sure why we are facing a downward shift, but I have some ideas. I think that it probably has a lot to do with the overall secular movement of our country. A recent Pew Research study showed that 20% of our country now considers themselves completely unaffiliated to any organized religion. This shows that the influence of the established church in America is fading away, and with it, the church’s ability to impact the wider culture. So in many ways, the SBC’s decline is indicative of the massive cultural shift that is currently taking place. I have noticed this personally, especially in my conversations and efforts to share my faith. There is a growing apathy towards Christianity and even animosity towards the Christian moral ethic. A young law school student I was sitting next to on a plane recently was flabbergasted that I believed that homosexuality was sinful and that Hell actually existed. She had grown up Roman Catholic and attended an all-girls Catholic high school. In the past few years, I have sometimes found myself thinking the very thing Molly Worthen voices when she says that the “center of gravity” of Christianity is shifting away from the United States.

Where Do We Go From Here?

I absolutely agree with the SBC Pastor’s Task Force’s conclusion that we must pray that the Spirit would renew and revive our country. We must pray that the Spirit will work supernaturally to bring salvation, because I honestly believe that nothing short of revival will be able to reverse the course of conservative, orthodox Christianity in our country. I also agree with Trevin Wax that Christian millennials (my generation) need to own this and redouble our efforts to evangelize the lost and engage the culture with an apologetic that answers the questions of the secular mind. So here are some brief thoughts on how my generation, the millennial generation, can engage the secular culture with the gospel.

Some Thoughts On How Millennials Can Engage Our Culture

1)     We need to show outrageous love to our neighbors, especially our enemies (Matt 5:44)

Over the past few years, my father-in-law, Dr. Carl Broggi, and I have traveled to Ukraine to train pastors at the Baptist Bible College in Vinnitsa, Ukraine. I recently heard from my father-in-law, who just got back this week from another trip that the Bible College is now housing and feeding over 200 Tartars that have fled to Ukraine from Crimea seeking safety from the Russians. Since the Tartars are all Muslim, this act of love and kindness is making waves throughout the Muslim world. One of the Tartars recently remarked to a Christian Ukrainian that if the shoe were on the other foot, that Muslims would not show hospitality to Christians. The Christian responded, “You see, that’s the difference between Christianity and Islam. We love our enemies because we are filled with the love of Christ.” This love has stunned these Tartar Muslims and other Muslims throughout the world, and it will continue to stun the secular mind, which knows nothing of sacrificial love.

Evangelicals have historically been good at loving the poor and the needy, the widow and the orphan, but I think we can do better at loving our enemies. By loving our enemies with the love of Christ, the secular world will see and experience the love of our Lord Jesus. They will have to consider our message because of the super-natural love with which we love those who persecute us.

2)     We must be ready to “reason” with the secular mind (Acts 17:16)

Luke writes in Acts 17:16 that when Paul entered Athens he “was reasoning in the the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place every day with those who happened to be present.” Those conversations with the Jews in the synagogue and the gentiles in the market place were incredibly different. With Jews, Paul had to show them how Christ is the long awaited Messiah and King that had come to suffer and die for them to establish His kingdom (Acts 17:1-3). However, with Gentiles, Paul explains that they have missed the God who crafted the world “and all things in it” (Acts 17:24). And this God will one day judge the world through His Son, who has overcome death through the resurrection (Acts 17:31).

So what is the starting point with secularists? That’s a tough question, and I’m honestly still trying to figure out the answer. I think, as Rosaria Butterfield points out in her book, Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert, we often have to begin at ground zero, because most secularists do not even have a basic framework from which they can understand the gospel. And as Butterfield points out, they often will not even listen if there is not a previously established relationship. It will be largely through relationships that we are able to explain the simple truths of the gospel, but it will often take time to explain concepts like sin, spiritual death, judgment, righteousness, and propitiation.

Ultimately, to establish the truths of the gospel, we must be able to explain why we believe the Bible to be objectively true and why it trumps other truth claims. This can be incredibly difficult to establish with the post-modern secularist, who rejects objective truth, but I have found that there are some incredibly helpful resources out there that we can turn to for help during these conversations (See Covenantal Apologetics by K. Scott Oliphint, Can You Believe It’s True?: Christian Apologetics in a Modern and Postmodern Era by John Feinberg, The Question of Canon by Michael Kruger, Who Chose the Gospels by C.E. Hill, Jesus and the Eye Witnesses by Richard Bauckham, Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul).

3)     We must continue to trust the power of the Word of God  (Rom 10:17)

As Paul explained to the Romans, faith comes from hearing the Word of God. By this he meant that when the Word of God is read and faithfully explained, taught, and preached, the Holy Spirit can impart power through the Word and invade the dark and unbelieving mind of the lost soul (2 Cor 4:6). This is a powerful tool, and is the only offensive weapon we are given so that we can stand firm in the faith (Eph 6:17).

In an interview with Albert Mohler a few years ago, John Stott said:

Nevertheless, when a man of God stands before the people of God with the Word of God in his hand and the Spirit of God in his heart, you have a unique opportunity for communication. I fully agree with Martyn Lloyd-Jones that the decadent periods in the history of the church have always been those periods marked by preaching in decline. That is a negative statement. The positive counterpart is that churches grow to maturity when the Word of God is faithfully and sensitively expounded to them. If it is true that a human being cannot live by bread only, but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God, then it also is true of churches. Churches live, grow, and thrive in response to the Word of God. I have seen congregations come alive by the faithful and systematic unfolding of the Word of God.

I absolutely agree with Stott’s assessment. When the Word of God is faithfully exposited and proclaimed, there is always opportunity for spiritual growth and reformation.

4)     We need to continue to plant churches in the uncharged cities of our country (Matt 28:19-20)

This is something that I think the SBC is doing incredibly well at and is a sign for encouragement. Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a North American Mission Board (NAMB) church plant in Boston called Redemption Hill Church. I was impressed not only by the clear gospel message preached by Tanner Turley, but also the large turnout. This is secular Boston and even though just a few miles from Harvard, there were over 200 people in attendance for worship and there was an excitement and an anticipation to hear the Word of God and to go out and serve the community and engage the lost with the gospel. I left encouraged and excited by what God is doing through this gospel believing community of Christians.

I also think Redemption Hill is similar to many other NAMB church plants that are popping up in cities all over America as part of the Send: North America movement. Many of the best and brightest millennial evangelicals in America are choosing to be a part of this movement and are volunteering to take their families back into the secular cities of our nation. One number that I have not seen discussed in recent news articles is that at NAMB’s annual conference last year, Send 2013, there were over 4,000 in attendance. I think that number points to the traction and momentum that NAMB has right now, especially with the millennial generation.

But we cannot let down our guard just because we’ve had success. We must continue to go to the hard, secular cities. We must be ready to send our best and brightest into the toughest of environments for the sake of the gospel.

5)     We must continue to be faithful to our confessional convictions (Jude 3)

Ultimately, we will not be judged by a lack of converts if we were faithful to preserve the orthodox teaching of Christianity as handed down by the apostles and to share our faith with the lost. In this area, I have also been encouraged by SBC leaders and the direction that they are leading the convention. Russell Moore, President of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, has done an excellent job in speaking to the wider culture about the beliefs of the Christian faith as a voice for not only the SBC, but also for evangelicalism in general. I think Ronnie Floyd will likely be elected as the next President of the SBC, and he is a strong conservative and inerrantist that has been one of the key leaders of the Great Commission Resurgence within the SBC. Also, just yesterday, Albert Mohler released a statement calling Southern Baptists to draw a line in the sand on the issue of homosexuality at the upcoming SBC convention. Moreover, it was just announced that Denny Burk and Andrew Walker will present a resolution at the SBC annual convention that preserves the biblical teaching on gender in the wake of the looming Transgender controversy. I think these are signs of health and vitality within our denomination. Many will protest that this could cause our numbers to decrease even more as people jump ship with our culture on the social issues. But they do not understand that “bigger,” at the expense of biblical compromise, is not better.

The Marine Corps is a relatively small service branch. When I was on active duty, we were about 180,000 strong. But every year, the Marine Corps is seen by Americans as the most prestigious service branch. This is because Marines operate with an ethos of the highest moral character and physical standards. It has the hardest entrance requirements of all the service branches. As a Series Commander at Parris Island, one of my job requirements was to insure that only the highest quality recruits graduated from Boot Camp. Every cycle I would normally send anywhere from twenty to fifty recruits home. This was not seen as a loss, but actually as a gain, because by graduation, we only wanted the recruits that had whole-heartedly bought into our ethos and core convictions. So by sending those home that we not buying into our ethos and core convictions, we were actually ensuring a stronger, more combat effective Marine Corps. I think the same will be true in the SBC. As those that compromise on our confessional convictions leave or are shown the door, we will actually be a stronger, sleeker, more effective force in our mission to share the gospel with every tribe, tongue, nation, and people on this planet.

So as millennials, we must be ready to pick up this mantle of defending the faith that has been delivered to us. Many of my peers are already leading in this area and it is encouraging to see.

So in conclusion, despite the negative number trends, I’m optimistic about what God is doing in our country, especially through the SBC. I’m optimistic because I think we have a core base of faithful Christians that are prepared for the challenges that are ahead because they are relying on the Word of God and seeking God in prayer. Finally, I’m optimistic because Christ said that He would build His church and Hades will not stop it, and I still think the SBC has a valuable part to play in this mission (Matt 16:18).

—

Grant Castleberry is Executive Director of The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. He is also an M.Div student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a member of Kenwood Baptist Church. He and his wife live in Louisville, Kentucky with their two daughters.<>dayzgamesопределение позиции в поисковике

Read more

On June 2, 2014 By In Theology

Pneumatology in Baptism, Part I

by Guest Writer, Joshua Torrey

Note: Here is an introduction to baptism focusing on the role of the Spirit in this sacrament.

The New Testament actually says very little about baptism. Not counting allusions to the practice of baptism, the number shrinks even more dramatically. The lack of any clear exposition on the practice of baptism is even more discouraging. What are we to make the Biblical “instruction about washings” (Heb 6:2) that apparently is an “elementary doctrine?” Simple questions have plagued the church and split its theologians since the beginning. No question though is more important than “what does the word baptism mean?” Well that might seem silly but it is an important question.

Does “baptism” in the New Testament refer to a literal and physical washing with water? Or is it speaking to a type of “baptism of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:5)? Do distinctions exist between these two views? And how pertinent are they to one’s theology of baptism? With all great questions the answer is both yes and no. With respect to the existence of distinctions the answer is yes. But there is also a qualified no.

Why the yes then? Well, the answer is yes because John the baptizer makes a clear distinction between these two (Matt 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5; 11:16). This cannot be argued and the time of John the baptizer through the book of Acts displays the outworking of this distinction. But does this mean that the distinction made so clear by John the Baptizer is taught in the rest of the Scriptures? Asked another way, is John’s baptism the normal working procedure? Or does John’s “baptism of water” stand out among the backdrop of Biblical baptism that unifies water and Spirit?

In an effort to provide a thorough Biblical view on baptism this chapter must provide a qualified “no” to the distinction between water and Spirit found in the baptism of John. It is my opinion that when John’s “baptism of water” is studied and placed in the history of the Scriptures its distinctions between water and Spirit stand out as abnormal. The Scriptures then communicate a theology of baptism that answers “no” to great distinctions. This chapter will argue that no distinction exists between “water baptism” and “Spirit baptism” in the fully developed baptism of the New Testament epistles.

As would be expected, this view will have a significant bearing on our perception and practice of Christian baptism. So we must strive to be convinced by the full breadth of Scripture on this issue. Since “all Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Timothy 3:16) all Old Testament references to baptism must be forcefully considered and investigated. Subsequently, since the few mentions of baptism in the epistles of the Apostles point to the Old Testament these references, and their constituents, must be evaluated for symbols and typology. In this regard, our evaluation of the Old Testament will have to expand. We must find the interpretation of the Old Testament that allows us to say with Paul that these Scriptures were “written down for our instruction” (1 Cor 10:11). This entails the images and symbols found in the Old Testament be allowed to speak on the issue of baptism when interpreting the New Testament.

This chapter will proceed to look at many, though not all, of the Old Testament texts that should be incorporated to produce a Biblical teaching on baptism. Instead of the traditional word study approach, the historical narratives will present a picture of baptism that shows a holy union between water and Spirit in baptism. Each step in the Old Testament revelation will show that the Apostles carried over covenantal and salvific themes into Christian baptism precisely because of this paradigmatic union of water and Spirit in baptism.

The Creation Baptism

Creation is the event. No matter one’s interpretation of the first chapters in Genesis there is near universal agreement that this event is paradigmatic for the rest of the Scriptures. Thus it isn’t surprising that many Biblical doctrines are related to or contained in these early chapters. Without degrading the historical validity of the Genesis account, all agree that it is full of symbols and images that have reverberations throughout the rest of the Scriptures. Some of these symbols and signs are clearer than others.

John re-writes Genesis 1:1 to introduce the eternal logos (John 1:1). Paul returns to “let there be light” to proclaim the new creation found in the light of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). Paul even returns us to the garden to see that the church is Christ’s bride: there is a new Adam and a new Eve (Eph 5:31-32). Just because all the symbols are not this clear does not permit ignoring the smaller links. Since the topic of inspection is baptism and the Holy Spirit, it makes sense to highlight some insights from the Holy Spirit’s role in creation,

2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:2, 10

These are epic events. And there are things to be noticed on the surface of the verses. First, the Holy Spirit’s introduction is post-deceleration. Genesis 1:1 has already occurred. God has already created the “in the beginning” and “the heavens and the earth.” It is at some time later that the Holy Spirit is “hovering” (H7363). This Hebrew word can implying both negative and positive emotion (Deut 32:11; Jer 23:9). The imagery in Jeremiah of a hovering/cherishing mother seems most relevant to this text given the birthing of creation that is about to take place.

Second, the Spirit is hovering over the waters. Water and the Holy Spirit are seen together. This point cannot be emphasized enough. Paradigmatically the two are introduced in God’s revelation together. In the effort of forming creation they are obviously distinct. The Holy Spirit remains the Hoverer. And water remains the thing hovered upon. But they are found in relationship together. They remain distinguishable from one another but in relation to each other.

Third is the effect the Holy Spirit has on the water in creation. Though the Holy Spirit disappears from the Biblical text, it seems safe to say that His “hovering” didn’t cease the moment God spoke light into existence (Gen 1:3). The next time these waters are mentioned in the Scriptures, they are brought together to allow dry land to appear. This is the dry land that allows the first examples life in creation to appear (Gen 1:11-13). This imagery in particular is important for all subsequent Old Testament baptisms. Though there will be many Old Testament references that point back to this for the moment we’ll focus on its impact on the New Testament via the baptism of Jesus Christ.

The baptism of Jesus is a re-telling or re-casting of the creation event. There are multiple reasons to be persuaded of this. First, this is the beginning of Christ’s ministry. This is not re-creation in the normal sense but in the declaratory sense. When Jesus hears His Father speak the echoes of creation come to mind. “This is my beloved Son” (Matt 3:17) is not unlike the spoken word of God. Even the minority rendering of Luke 3:22 which reads “This is my beloved Son; today I have begotten You” points to a type of creation decree of the part God. Since the Psalmist records this (Psa 2:7) and the apostles interpret in in multiple ways (Acts 13:33; Heb 1:5; 5:5), it is not a statement of factual creation (the Eternal Son has always existed with the Father). But the Lord’s decree declares something new in creation via the baptism of Jesus Christ.

The second image that tied this baptism to creation is the Holy Spirit descending upon Christ. This event is quite consistent with His hovering over the waters. It is even alluded to in advance by the prophet Isaiah (Isa 11:1). In the Synoptics, the Holy Spirit is portrayed as a dove descending upon Jesus (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22). Though the importance of the dove imagery will be discussed in the next section, it is the abiding of the Spirit that is important. To see how the Holy Spirit is “hovering” the difference in John’s depiction must be analyzed,

32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.” – John 1:32-34

For John the baptizer and John the disciple it is the reality that the Holy Spirit “remains” that proves the authenticity of Jesus Christ. The addition of this concept is important in this context. This Greek word menō (G3306) is paramount to understanding the writings of John. Throughout his gospel and first epistle the word is used at a staggering amount as a sign of true believers and followers of Jesus Christ. Before all of this though, the word is used to validate Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit remained with Jesus Christ throughout the rest of His ministry. The Holy Spirit directed Christ and drove Him in His ministry. It is this hovering and cherishing of the eternal Son that reminds us of creation. Ultimately it is this same Holy Spirit that will again be present to raise Christ up, this time from the dead (Rom 8:11), and proclaim the conquering of death. This resurrection of the death ties together this second image and the final third image.

Consistent with these images from Genesis, this third and final image ties the baptism of Jesus back to creation even more strongly. It is the appearing of new land suitable for life from out of the midst of the water. This is the reason that Matthew and Mark tell that the Holy Spirit and Father’s declaration as Christ “came up out of the water” (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:9). As shall be seen with other Old Testament texts, this element is perhaps the crucial concept to understanding the apostle’s teaching on baptism. This symbol of new life is particularly valuable to understand the salvation and deliverance in baptism. But for now simple recognition will do that in this baptism, performed by John, the new land/life is Jesus Christ.

This concept might sound awkward at first. The language requires more than one glance. But Jesus Christ is the “new man” that believers are to put on (Eph 4:24). Paul links this “putting on” of the new man to baptism (Gal 3:27)! Jesus Christ is also the “man of heaven” that combats the fall man of the first creation (1 Cor 15:46-49). These statements make sense of Jesus Christ rising out of the water is a faithful re-telling of creation. Jesus Christ in His baptism begins all “new creation” imagery. Christ’s baptism point forward to His death (Mark 10:38-39; Rom 6:1-5). God has begun to make all things new (Rev 21:5). This explains why in the resurrection Paul can speak the way he does about “anyone [who] is in Christ…” (2 Cor 5:17). For when we participate in Him in baptism and death we participate in “new creation.”

Jesus’ baptism under John accomplished this. Or put another way, John’s baptism when accompanied by the Holy Spirit accomplished this. Baptism of water and Spirit as described in Genesis 1 accomplishes this.

Excursion of Luke’s Placement on Baptism

Though the content of this excursion would flow significantly in the midst of the previous section. However the brief focus on the gospel of Luke is presented best on its own. Luke is purposeful in his placement of Jesus’ baptism. It all starts in the third chapter of his gospel. A historical setting is given for Jesus Christ to enter into. Like the Old Testament prophets before Him, the word of the Lord is about to come to Jesus Christ. It is after the full number of baptisms (more on this in the next section) that Jesus Christ presents Himself for baptism. There is a proclamation from God and the descent of the dove. And then Luke places his genealogy.

This would seem an awkward place to put the genealogy. Matthew’s genealogy begins his gospel (Matt 1). This was much like the start of 1 Chronicles. But Luke includes his after baptism. Matthew’s genealogy only goes to Abraham (Matt 1:2). Luke’s goes all the way back to Adam and God (Luke 3:38). Luke’s placement of baptism and genealogy points to the creation of Genesis 1 and the genealogy in Genesis 2:4. Luke’s decision intentionally links Jesus Christ’s baptism to the original creation.

Along with this, Luke remarks in passing that Jesus was around thirty years old. This age is historically significant. It links to the beginning of Joseph’s service to Pharaoh (Gen 41:46), the starting age of the priests (Num 4) and the age David became king (2 Sam 5:4). Something new is starting in the ministry of Jesus Christ. For Luke that ministry is related to the genealogy of creation. It stretches back to Adam and God. Jesus is beginning to be the new Adam reigning and serving before God. Paul’s theology of the second Adam seems to have controlled much of Luke thinking in this regard. And for Luke, the event that begins all of this is Christian baptism.

Joshua Torrey blogs here.<>новые идеи для малого бизнеса для турфирмы

Read more

On May 28, 2014 By In Theology

How Helpful Are Analogies of the Trinity?

All analogies fall short. They can be enormously helpful at times, but sometimes we need to simply acknowledge that analogies are always limited. They help communicate profound truths in simple terms, but they may at times take us a bit too far and actually undo the intention of the analogy itself. a This is what happens when evangelicals use a variety of analogies to explain the doctrine of the Trinity.

The Trinity, Michael Bird, explains, “is not an esoteric doctrine forged in an unholy marriage of Greek metaphysical speculation and dodgy biblical interpretation.” b Our experience of God is not unitarian or tritheistic, but can only be true if it is Trinitarian. So, a biblical expression of the Trinity is essential.

We live in a day where Trinitarian religion in all its historical beauty has been lost in a sea of trivial statements about God. God, Three and One and One and Three, has become merely a side note in theological pursuit. As one pastor recently told me, “We do not need to talk about the Trinity to our people. It is too complex for them.” The Trinity is arguably the central doctrine that differentiates the Christian faith from other religious traditions like Islam and Judaism. Modern attempts to reconcile these traditions to the Christian faith is ultimately impossible. God is Three and One. He is Oneness and Community. Ancient heresies like Modalism, which teach that each person of the Trinity is merely a “mode of God’s activity as opposed to a distinct and independent person” is by and large the position of Oneness Pentecostals. Yet, most evangelicals view them as just another branch of the orthodox Church.

The nature of the Father, Son, and Spirit have never been more detached from the work of doing theology in our day. As a result of this neglect, modern Christians have attempted to re-energize the idea of the “forgotten Trinity” by providing analogies. These analogies are meant as simple illustrations. They attempt to do with simplicity what the Early Church sought to do with tremendous care and heavy qualifications.

Though the popular illustrations add a little more clarity, they end up confusing the Trinity with other heresies.  S. Michael Houdmann offers a few examples:

The egg (or apple) fails in that the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, not the egg in themselves, just as the skin, flesh, and seeds of the apple are parts of it, not the apple itself. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not parts of God; each of them is God. The water illustration is somewhat better, c but it still fails to adequately describe the Trinity. Liquid, vapor, and ice are forms of water. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not forms of God, each of them is God.

Some have attributed these analogies to St. Patrick of Ireland. d The supposed bad analogies of Patrick was put into a comical conversation between St. Patrick and two simple men inquiring about the Trinity:


To put it simply, “The problem with using analogies to explain the Holy Trinity is that you always end up confessing some ancient heresy.”

I have found that analogies of the Trinity are a normal reaction from Christians who find themselves defensive about a complicated doctrine. But Christians ought not be defensive about such a lovely description of our God. God is not meant to be intricately analyzed like an ancient fossil, but to be adored. Any explanation of His Nature ought to be done carefully and with the qualifications the Bible provides. e God is. And that is where we must start. In the words of Fred Sanders:

Trinitarianism is the encompassing framework within which all Christian thought takes place and within which Christian confession finds its grounding presuppositions. f

The Trinity is the necessary paradigm for all thinking. It is the beginning and the end of human thought.  The Trinity is mysterious, because God is infinitely powerful and beyond human reasoning. In the end, we ought to catechize, biblicize those under our care with great care when we speak of who God is. In a nutshell, we can affirm the following essential elements concerning our Triune God:

First, the unity of one God in three persons.

Second, the eternity of the three persons.

Third, the shared and equal deity of the three persons.

Fourth, the shared and equal essence of the three persons.

Fifth, the Trinity includes distinction in roles and relationships within the Godhead.

Finally, the Trinity will always be an ineffable mystery.

In the end, the Trinity ought to lead us to worship as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6. And in that worship, we ought to imitate the seraphim who continually sing, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”<> ы женской тематики

  1. For a history of “analogy,” see this  (back)
  2. Bird, Michael. Evangelical Theology: A Biblical and Systematic Introduction, pg. 92  (back)
  3. No heresy is better than the other  (back)
  4. This claim is debated: http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/17724/did-saint-patrick-actually-explain-the-trinity-using-a-shamrock  (back)
  5. Analogies like Marriage and community are actually helpful ways to begin to understand the divine Trinity  (back)
  6. Quoted in Bird’s Evangelical Theology, pg. 124  (back)

Read more

On May 28, 2014 By In Theology

A Time to Quit Searching

Guest Post by Justin Dillehay

“It’s about the journey, not the destination.”

This statement is one of the hallmarks of a certain type of religious person (though they would likely prefer to be called “spiritual”). This person is always searching, always asking, always roaming. If he hears you claim that you’ve found the truth–that you actually have the right answer–he will regard you as intolerant, closed-minded, and arrogant.

You can find an excellent depiction of this never-ending searcher in chapter 5 of C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. In this imaginative novel, people in heaven take a bus trip to hell in order to persuade their damned ghostly friends to repent and return with them to heaven. In the end, almost none of the ghosts choose to leave, but instead persist in the sins that brought them there. Listening to their self-justifications is both fascinating and disturbing.

Lewis casts our never-ending searcher in the form of an apostate Episcopal minister, whose friend “Dick” tries to show him the error of his ways. When Dick invites him to return with him to heaven, the ghost agrees to come, if–and only if–heaven is a place where he can continue his spiritual journey with an open mind. Only if heaven is a place of “free inquiry.”

“No,” Dick responds. “I can promise you none of those things…For I will bring you to the land not of questions but of answers, and you shall see the face of God.”

The ghost objects: “Ah, but we must all interpret those beautiful words in our own way! For me there is no such thing as a final answer…I am not aware of a thirst for some ready-made truth which puts an end to intellectual activity.”

Seeing hope begin to slip away, Dick reasons with him. “Listen…Once you knew what inquiry was for. There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them…[But now] you have gone far wrong. Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth. What you now call the free play of inquiry has neither more nor less to do with the ends for which intelligence was given you than masturbation has to do with marriage.”

Lewis captures something profoundly biblical in this story. This is the type of person whom the Apostle Paul castigates as “always learning, and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Always asking questions, but never really wanting definite answers. Always comparing alternatives, but never willing to choose between them. Always deconstructing other people’s views, but rarely questioning his own mixed motives. Always searching for truth, but somehow resistant to finding it.

It seems rather odd, doesn’t it? The idea of searching for truth but not wanting to find it lest our search be over? You’d think that was the point of the search–to find what we were searching for!

So why would anyone do this?

Answer: because we love searching more than we love truth.

Truth requires us to submit; to stand under it and conform ourselves to it. Truth, we suspect, would require us to acknowledge a reality outside of ourselves that doesn’t depend on what we think and won’t simply be what we want it to be. But searching, at least the kind of searching that we prefer, allows us to chart our own course and act as our own guide, while also giving us the illusion of being more humble than the person who claims to have found the truth.

I say “the kind of searching we prefer,” because there is another kind of searching that God invites us to. The searching of a creature seeking to know his Creator; the searching of a servant seeking to obey her Master’s will. Those who seek like that will find.

But that’s the problem. Apart from the work of the Spirit, there is none who seeks like that, not even one (Rom. 3:11). Apart from Christ, we’re fools. We don’t want the Triune God walking with us on our journey, because he has an annoying tendency to steer us away from paths that seem right to us (Prov. 4:12) and toward paths that will make us wildly unpopular with the very people we want to please (John 5:39-44). So we prefer to walk alone. Or else to walk with peers who won’t “judge” us for the directions we choose to take.

We should ask ourselves the obvious question: “If I resist the very idea of finding truth and ending my search, am I really searching for it? Or am I actually evading it?”

God calls us to a different kind of searching. He calls us to search for truth out of love for truth. And at the end of the day, truth is a person (John 14: 6). To know Jesus is to know the truth, and he delights to be found by those who search for him. Indeed, when you find him, you realize that it was he who was seeking you all along.

When you find the truth as it is in Jesus, you find that it isn’t stagnant. Because he who is truth is also life (John 14:6). Rather than enslaving you, knowing this truth sets you free (John 8:31). Why? Because knowing this truth is what your search was designed for. It’s what your open mind (like an open trap) was meant to close on. To use Lewis’s graphic analogy, if endless searching is like masturbating all your life, finding Jesus is like finally getting married. It’s what your mind is for–a consummation devoutly to be wished.

And unlike the endless search, in which you are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth, finding Jesus enables you to have the truth yet always to be learning. Because you are finite and Jesus is infinite, there is always room to go deeper. As a Christian, you can say “I have found him whom my soul desires” while also saying “Oh that I might know him!” Christ is both within us as our wisdom (Col. 1:27; 2:3), and before us, beckoning us on to greater knowledge. As Paul put it, “I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own” (Phil. 3:12). It’s an upward spiral into a truth we have already grasped (or better, a Truth whom we have already been grasped by), rather than a downward spiral away from a truth we are seeking to evade.

So let us search well, but search rightly, remembering the goal of our search.

If I may appropriate the words of the Preacher for my own use:

“There is a time to search, and a time to quit searching” (Eccl. 3:6 NLT).

*********************************************************************************

Further reading: The End of our Exploring, by Matthew Lee Anderson.
*********************************************************************************

justin_tillyJustin and his wife, Tilly, blog at While We Wait.

This article was originally published here.

Click on the following link to read one of Tilly’s pieces:

5 Things I Wish I Could Say to Every 16-Year-Old Homeschooled Girl<>реклама окна

Read more

On May 15, 2014 By In Theology

A Day Like Any Other Day

Van

It is easy to forget that death is always right around the corner, especially when you are young like I am.  I am not the most physically fit man in the world, but I am in decent health. I do not see my impending doom like a seventy year old man or a woman with cancer.   Death is what my parents will reach soon enough. But for me it is still decades away.

But this perspective is a lie. Death is always, at every moment, only a step away. This became clear to me as I drove home from vacation a back in January.  My wife took the picture at the top of the page out the front window of our 15 passenger two wheel drive van. I drove in snow like this for over six hours. I knew that at any moment we could slip and our van could roll. I watched in my mirror as semi-trucks hurtled down snow covered roads at 60 miles an hour while I was going 30. I got behind cars driving 10 miles per hour that created more of a risk than the fast drivers. I saw big trucks in ditches, cars overturned, and highway patrolmen helping stranded motorists. I felt my back tires slide numerous times. I felt the weight of the nine souls in my care.  

So how did my life change in that six hour brush with death? I prayed. I prayed like I rarely pray. I prayed for safety. I prayed for wisdom. I prayed for peace. When I finally got down my snow covered driveway and put the van in park, I thanked the Lord for keeping me and my family safe. When we got the van unloaded I gathered the family and we all thanked the Lord again.  Finally, I thought to myself, “Only God knows how close I was to death.”

Later that night it occurred to me that this day was no different than any other day.  God sustained and kept me as I drove in the snow. He sustains me and keeps me when the roads are dry. He keeps my family safe in the sunshine, just as he did when I could barely see five feet. He keeps me safe from crazy college kids (our town is full of them) just as he did from crazy truckers.  Every moment I am not in a ditch or wrecked on the side of the road or rolling my van means that the Lord has protected. Every morning when I wake up, the Lord has protected me throughout the night. Every evening when I sit down to eat God has hedged me in throughout the day. Every kiss I get from my wife means that he has covered her under his protective wings. Every child I get to tuck in at night means that their heavenly Father has given them to me for one more day.  

Why don’t I pray every day like I did that day in the snow? Why don’t I give thanks just for reaching my front door like I did that day? Because I forget that every day, all day, it is only God’s watchful care that keeps me and those I love. I forget that “all things come, not by chance, but by his fatherly hand.” (Heidelberg Catechism Q.27). I saw that my prayer life is directly linked to my recognition of God’s providence. When I forget God rules, I cease to pray and give thanks. When I remember that God governs all, my prayer life gets a shot of adrenaline and each day ends in thanksgiving, no matter what the weather was like. 

Originally posted at Singing and Slaying.

<>siteокна реклама

Read more