Kuyperian Commentary

On July 22, 2022 By Uri Brito In Church 1

The Case Against Neo-AnaBaptists

In the revival of conservative politics and theonomic ethics, the danger is that evangelicals eager to see all things made new will capitulate to theological formulations that are more akin to Anabaptist rituals in practice and worship.

But the return to proper rituals and rightly dividing of the Law-Word does not mean a return to a Victorian past but a movement to a vibrant future. We incorporate past habits, styles, and paradigms by rightly absorbing them into our new world; adapting the parapet to protection around the pool (Deut. 22:8).

The Schleitheim Confession of Anabaptist religion should not be a model for those in the Reformed tradition seeking this cultural and political reformation. The attempt to disassociate from the world by forming isolated colonies leaves the church unprepared and naked before our enemies. Instead of providing a strong refuge for people, it serves as an escape world.

James Jordan’s emphasis on historical movement from land to sea; or land to metropolis is the right one. We are called to engage/be with/in the presence of/ the polis. Yet, many have adopted a neo-anabaptist paradigm. Chestertonian localism is good only insofar as the locale becomes the center of ecclesial life rather than an attempt to hide. As Peter Leithart observes: “Jesus doesn’t call us to be copers. We aren’t survivalists. We aren’t to beat a retreat. “

Generally, this plays out in the evangelical tendency towards externalized practices that differentiate Christians from unbelievers, other Christians, and Christians even within our tribes. I am describing a theological formulation that is not content with basic biblical imperatives but rather delves into extra layers of differentiation.

Under worship, this may play out in tendencies against instrumentation or excessive emphasis on preaching to the detriment of the liturgy (identifying liturgical practices as too Roman Catholic; pitting word against sacrament) and a fundamental pursuit of novelty in worship patterns identifying the structure as too cumbersome.

Anabaptism–theologically and historically–is a distancing from good, material things, despising the gifts of God in technology, industry, plentifulness, & McDonald’s (I Tim. 6:17). The solution is not to look different for the sake of looking different but to act differently for the sake of changing society’s rituals.

For an additional follow-up, see my post.

On July 21, 2022 By Bill Smith In Culture, Discipleship, Wisdom 1

How To Talk To A Fool

It is difficult to watch. You want to say something, to do something, something that will change the situation. You know that if things continue as they are going, the end will be disaster. But he won’t listen. She’s got this. So they think. They are taking the path of a fool. What do you say to them?

Solomon was aware that in a world of sin in which we are called to bring order that one of our greatest challenges would be dealing with fools. A fool is not merely a superficial, immature buffoon. He may be a cultural icon, a respected businessman, or a leader in society. The Proverbial fool is the man whose heart and life are disordered according to the standard of God’s created purpose. He is in rebellion against God. Fools come in all shapes and sizes, falling on a spectrum of foolishness. He may be the child whose foolishness is present but still has the opportunity to be cut off through discipline (Pr 22.15), or he may be the belligerent, hardened fool whose foolishness has matured to the point that he holds God and everything that is wise in contempt. The wise must learn to identify and deal with all types of fools.

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On July 19, 2022 By Joel Ellis In Church, Culture 3

Ring Around the Collar

What the minister wears while performing his official duties is more important than many of us might imagine. When I came to Arizona in 2013, this congregation was used to having its pastor wear a suit, a nice suit, every Sunday. I did not own a suit like that, nor did I think that wearing one would help change the culture. So I preached my first sermon in a button-down shirt and tie, not a bow tie, and without a jacket. Several months later, I took off the tie and simply preached in a button-down. I preached one Sunday with the shirt untucked, which made me uncomfortable. As reformation proceeded in the congregation, the changes were reflected—perhaps too subtly for many to realize—in what I wore on Sunday.

After two years, we bought hymnals for the church, began using a modest but explicitly Reformed liturgy for the service, and I put back on a tie. As the worship became more consistently biblical, I wore a jacket with the tie. But I did not think then, and I certainly do not believe now, that the pastor should dress like a businessman. I am not the CEO of this organization. I am not running a company. I am a minister of Jesus Christ, a slave representing the kingdom of heaven, called to pray, teach, and care for this flock. So after a lot of thinking, studying, praying, and conversation, and with the Session’s blessing, in December of 2016, I took off the jacket and put on a preaching robe for the first time.

Presbyterian Churches do not have a dress code for their ministers. But though there is not a formal standard, it is unlikely you will see a Presbyterian minister wearing skinny jeans and flip-flops in the Lord’s Day service. In many Reformed denominations, the minister usually wears a jacket and tie on Sundays. Some might preach without a tie, but the jacket and tie are the unofficial uniform. Relatively few ministers wear a Genevan robe regularly, though they used to be very common in Presbyterian churches. Only three or four of the thirty churches in our presbytery use the robe regularly.

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On July 18, 2022 By Uri Brito In Podcast, Theology Like

Episode 101, R.C. Sproul and His Legacy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:53 — 25.3MB)

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When I was in the heights of ignorance somewhere in my glorious teens, a radio show emerged on my station on a snowy evening in Altoona, PA. “Renewing Your Mind” with R.C. Sproul dramatically shaped my theological pursuits. I wasn’t fully on board with the fanatic Pittsburg Steelers fan by the name of Robert Charles Sproul, but I knew he was on to something.

My joy was made complete during my seminary days in RTS/Orlando where we had the opportunity to attend St. Andrew Chapel for a short season and sit under his preaching and also his classes on the Westminster Confession on Wednesday nights. I had the pleasure of interacting with R.C. on many occasions, but the memory of watching that titan preach from his Lutheraneque pulpit is something I will never forget. When I came across a new biography of Sproul, who died in 2017, I had to contact the author. And it’s my delight to have Nate Pickowicz discuss his book: R.C. Sproul – Defender of the Reformed Faith.

In this episode, we discussed:

*the educational background that gave roots to the genius of R.C. Sproul

* major theological issues that shaped R.C. theological ministry

…and many other topics.

You can purchase Nate’s book here: https://www.amazon.com/R-C-Sproul-Def…

You can follow Nate on twitter: https://twitter.com/NatePickowicz

On July 15, 2022 By Uri Brito In Theology 4

Postmillennialism for Dummies

One of the joys of speaking loudly around here is that I get to see some fine china broken in real-time. That’s a metaphor for views being shattered and replaced by something else, for those of you just tuning in.

The thing broken is a variation of pessimistic eschatology and it is being replaced with some happy, hopeful, and hosannah postmillennialism. Mind you, I am not so much concerned about the loyalty to the systematic category, but to the heart of the matter. Because es-cha-to-lo-gy has consequences for casuistry. Say that three times.

It pleases me to see folks going through that radical transformation and sending me notes about it. Just this last week, two brothers texted me separated by 30 minutes sharing with me their newfound dogmatism for stout-beer postmillennialism. And the good news is that they didn’t come into it half-heartedly. They did the hard work of research, reading, and repeating. It is an amazing thing to plant seeds for a long time, only to see them bear fruit much later. God seems to work like that on many occasions. I believe we are reaching a stage of massive theological conversions, and I have alluded to some of these factors before, but the postmil conversion is a fruitful blossoming of many seeds planted long ago.

I have been harping on the postmil “C” chord for a really long time and I think postmil eschatology is beginning to see a resurgence. This may be the result of ecclesiastical behaviors these past two years. In fact, I will go so far as to say that the churches who have been pushing against shut-downs and sundry silliness have postmil bones. Now, lots of other non-postmil flocks have come alongside our efforts, or later decided to peek behind the curtain, but the reality is that the majority of pastors I know who decided to fight the tide named one of their kids or their dogs, B.B. Warfield.

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On July 14, 2022 By Bill Smith In Culture, Discipleship, Wisdom Like

Lip Restraint

All of his spirit goes out of a fool, but the wise stills it.
~Proverbs 29.11

No one likes a fake. When people come across as disingenuous, it is off-putting. Consequently, in our broader society and church, high value is placed on authenticity that is expressed in transparency. There is, of course, a need for authenticity. The Scriptures speak of this as faithfulness. But, as one of my seminary professors used to quip, “The devil’s favorite trick is to take a good thing too far.”

Authenticity and transparency have come to mean self-expression in any way you deem fit. If you are truly authentic, you will say all that you are thinking or feeling to the guy standing in front of you or to thousands, potentially millions, of people on social media. You should be able to speak with words, clothing (or lack thereof), hairstyles, piercings, or in any other way to tell everyone of your psychological brokenness, your rebellion against the oppressive powers that be, the goings on of what used to be called a private life, or any number of improprieties. Restraint is inauthentic. It is a lie of the highest order because psychological nudity is the highest good. Restraint from self-exposure is the great sin. “I’m just being real.”

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On July 13, 2022 By David Koyzis In Culture Like

Reflections on Dobbs v Jackson

I was in my final year of high school when the United States Supreme Court handed down its controversial Roe v Wade decision, declaring a constitutional right to abortion and unifying the abortion licence across the country. To understand the significance of that decision, we need to recall that, unlike Canada which has a single Criminal Code applicable to the entire country, the Constitution of the United States reserves most of the criminal law to the individual states under the 10th Amendment. This is why, for example, the death penalty is still practised in some states and not in others. Prior to 22 January 1973, the legal status of abortion varied amongst the several states, with some being more permissive than others. After that date, the states were obligated to recognize a woman’s right to abortion according to a trimester framework. In the first trimester, a woman’s right to abortion was absolute. In the second, the state might regulate but not prohibit abortion. In the third, after the foetus was assumed to be viable, the state could prohibit abortion except in cases where the mother’s health is at risk.

Roe was decided based on a right to privacy the court claimed to find in the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, citing as precedent the Court’s decision in Griswold v Connecticut (1965). There was one problem, however. The due process clause reads:

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On July 7, 2022 By Bill Smith In Art, Discipleship, Wisdom 1

Occasional Speech

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, and a word in its time, how good!
~Proverbs 15.23

Communication is an art. We all begin as three-year-old finger painters with little control over our minds and bodies so the art we produce, though appropriate for a young age, reveals that we have a long way to go to become da Vinci. As we grow we move to the paint-by-numbers pictures where everything is laid out neat and tidy. The predetermined outline is sketched out and only needs to be filled in with the colors in the spaces matching each number. If you follow the detailed directions, your finished project will look a great deal like the picture on the box in which your canvas was purchased.

Developing skills to paint freehand takes a great deal of time, effort, and training from masters (mixed, of course, with natural talent). To look at an image and reproduce it on canvas or imagine an image and bring it to life through various colors and shades is not the skill of a toddler. It is the mature fruit of perseverance in learning the craft.

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On July 6, 2022 By Uri Brito In Podcast 1

Episode 100 of the KC Podcast: The Failed Church: Restoring a Vision of Ecclesial Victory

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:56 — 16.6MB)

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In our 100th episode, we spoke with the founder of the Center for Cultural Leadership, P. Andrew Sandlin. Sandlin is editor and contributor to a new work that challenges head-on the many failures of the evangelical church during the COVID season.

I truly believe that these essays will be a tremendous source of wisdom and insight in the days to come. I was honored to contribute a chapter to it and hope that you will order copies for your congregation and book studies. These essays can be studied individually, which will provoke a sturdy dose of conversations within the Church and the home.

On June 30, 2022 By Bill Smith In Culture, Discipleship, Theology, Wisdom 1

Gaslighting

Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 stage play Gas Light, which was adapted into British and American films in the 1940s, is the origin of the term “gaslighting” that is used so much today. The story concerns a manipulative, evil man who kills a woman to steal rubies. He couldn’t find the rubies at the time of the murder, so he left and concocted a plan to come back and find them. Assuming an alias, he marries a lady who has the money to purchase this house years later. He attempts to drive his wife mad by orchestrating events and then telling his wife that she imagined things. Each night he would sneak into the attic to hunt for the rubies and light the gas lamps. This would cause the gas lamps in his wife’s room to dim. She told him about the dimming of the lamps, and he would tell her that she was imagining it. She was going crazy because he was manipulating her by re-writing history and making her think she was delusional.

As the story progresses, you feel the tension and spite for this man growing inside you. He is evil. He has, what Solomon describes in Proverbs, a perverse tongue.

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