Hitchens to believers: Man up!

Christopher Hitchens on his debates with Douglas Wilson:

Wilson isn’t one of those evasive Christians who mumble apologetically about how some of the Bible stories are really just “metaphors.” He is willing to maintain very staunchly that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and that his sacrifice redeems our state of sin, which in turn is the outcome of our rebellion against God. He doesn’t waffle when asked why God allows so much evil and suffering—of course he “allows” it since it is the inescapable state of rebellious sinners. I much prefer this sincerity to the vague and Python-esque witterings of the interfaith and ecumenical groups who barely respect their own traditions and who look upon faith as just another word for community organizing. (Incidentally, just when is President Barack Obama going to decide which church he attends?)

Sometimes Christians are embarrassed of or afraid to defend what we believe, so we pussyfoot and equivocate, thinking maybe then unbelievers will like us. Hitchens’ take here suggests otherwise. If you’re going to believe something the world hates (and they will), might as well man up and really believe it. They may think we’re stupid, but at least they won’t think we’re irrelevant.

“He is not after those three points. He is after that woman’s job.”

In his talk at DG’s Calvin conference, Doug Wilson gives a great illustration of Calvin’s doctrine of the supremacy and self-authentication of Scripture.

One day, the schoolmarm in the one-room schoolhouse of modernity gave a test to all the little kids in her class. The schoolmarm’s name was Mrs. Enlightenment, and one kid was named the Bhagavad Gita, and there were the Vedas, and there was the Koran, and another was the Book of Mormon. And of course the test was also given to the best student in the class, the Holy Bible.

When the tests were graded and returned, it turned out that the Bhagavad Gita scored a 38, the Koran a 52, the Book of Mormon a 17… and our Scriptures, our Bible, scored an impressive 97.

What does this make all of us want to do? It makes us want to get up to the teacher’s desk pronto, and argue for the three points, that’s what! We have fallen for the trap of thinking that inerrancy requires us to be grade nerds: always the best student in the class, but one who cannot abide making a mistake and who will argue with the teacher over every last point.

But something is more fundamentally wrong with this picture than that unfair grading process. The problem is that the Bible never enrolled in that class to begin with, and never agreed to be tested by any Mrs. Enlightenment. The Scriptures do not take these tests; the Scriptures administer tests. The Bible is not that which meets the standard; the Bible is that which sets the standard.

So would Calvin have agreed that the Bible is like silver refined sevenfold, as in Psalm 12:6? Yes, certainly. Would he have agreed with a score of 97? Of course not. The Scriptures are not a possession of ours which we may put into the world’s balances to be weighed. Rather, the Scriptures are God’s scales, in which he places the entire world, and all the nations of men.

…[series of Calvin quotes and explanation]…

[Calvin] would have no trouble showing that the three points were rightfully ours. But he would also have no trouble showing Mrs. Enlightenment that unbelief ought not to be teaching that class or grading the papers. He is not after those three points. He is after that woman’s job.

Listen to the whole thing. (Don’t just read it; it’s not a full manuscript and some of the best parts are off-the-cuff.)

DeYoung: Church critics and their inconsistency

From Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck’s Why We Love the Church, as quoted by JT:

But then again, consistency is not a postmodern virtue. And nowhere is this more aptly displayed than in the barrage of criticisms leveled against the church.

The church-is-lame crowd hates Constantine and notions of Christendom, but they want the church to be a patron of the arts, and run after-school programs, and bring the world together in peace and love.

They bemoan the over-programmed church, but then think of a hundred complex, resource-hungry things the church should be doing.

They don’t like the church because it is too hierarchical, but then hate it when it has poor leadership.

They wish the church could be more diverse, but then leave to meet in a coffee shop with other well-educated thirtysomethings who are into film festivals, NPR, and carbon offsets.

They want more of a family spirit, but too much family and they’ll complain that the church is ‘inbred.’

They want the church to know that its reputation with outsiders is terrible, but then are critical when the church is too concerned with appearances.

They chide the church for not doing more to address social problems, but then complain when the church gets too political.

They want church unity and decry all our denominations, but fail to see the irony in the fact that they have left to do their own thing because they can’t find a single church that can satisfy them.

They are critical of the lack of community in the church, but then want services that allow for individualized worship experiences.

They want leaders with vision, but don’t want anyone to tell them what to do or how to think.

They want a church where the people really know each other and care for each other, but then they complain the church today is an isolated country club, only interested in catering to its own members.

They want to be connected to history, but are sick of the same prayers and same style every week.

They call for not judging “the spiritual path of other believers who are dedicated to pleasing God and blessing people,” and then they blast the traditional church in the harshest, most unflattering terms.

Why invoking Nazism is bad (for both Left and Right)

Michael Gerson:

Nazism is not a useful symbol for everything that makes us angry, from Iraq to abortion. It is a historical movement, unique in the ambitions of its cruelty…  Nazism was the “beard game,” in which the beards and sidelocks of Jews were pulled off or set afire before audiences of cheering soldiers. It was the practice of making elderly Jews dance around a fire of burning Torah scrolls. It was whole orphanages deported to death camps, and pits full of corpses, and ancient communities erased from human memory, and death factories issuing a thick smoke of souls, and a mother trading her gold ring for a glass of water to give her dying child.

Read the whole thing.

Piper on Drama and Movies in Worship

John Piper:

I think the use of video and drama largely is a token of unbelief in the power of preaching.

Read the whole thing. Not only because he’s right, but because he distinguishes well between biblical command and personal practice.

Ultimately right, proximately stupid.

President Obama this morning:

The future does not belong to those who gather armies on a field of battle or bury missiles in the ground.

One day that will be proven right. It will not be because of Obama’s brilliance.

What Are You Supposed to Do for God?

J. D. Greear:

You go into a progressive church… and what you walk away with is “You gotta recycle, you gotta feed the poor, you gotta take care of the earth.” You go into a conservative church and it’s more about “You gotta do missions, you gotta do your quiet time, you gotta do True Love Waits.” You go into seeker churches, and you walk out with… “5 Ways to Fix Your Life”. You go into a traditional church and you walk out with “This is what a real Christian looks like.”

Is there anything wrong with most of these? No. But anytime we preach a gospel that leaves people thinking about what they are supposed to do for God and not what God has done for them, we have preached a false gospel.

Guilt’s Desire for Justice

A guilty soul is a soul that feels it deserves punishment equal to the offense. This is a psychological reality. The guilt-burdened soul cries out for the lashes and nails of justice. That is why the soul of man never rests until the conscience has been purged by a believing look at the bleeding, crucified Lamb of God.

Pearl, To Train Up A Child, 45

Why Parenting is Scary

As the child relates to the figurehead of parental authority, in like manner he will later be prone to relate to God. If parents allow their commands to be treated lightly, the child will take the commandments of God lightly also. Children raised by fathers who are cautious and uncertain, slow to assume command, will grow up with no fear of God and no respect for his commandments.

Pearl, To Train Up a Child, 35

“I’m very proud of it, Mr. President. I worked for it.”

Rush Limbaugh invited President Obama yesterday to come on his radio program for a debate. This was my favorite part:

I, Mr. President, will send my jet, EIB One, to pick you up and bring you here and take you back to wherever you want to go.  You’d love it.  It’s not as big and luxurious as your jet, but it’s got enough seats for your Secret Service detail.  But it is something to behold.  I’m very proud of it, Mr. President.  I worked for it.  I paid for it.  Taxpayers pay you for your travel.  Nobody pays me for mine.  I pay for it.  I pay for the airplane.  I pay for the travel.  I pay for practically everything I do.  We can talk about that, too.  I could tell you what that’s like.