The Best Possible Place

There is a time-honored tradition in Old Testament oratory of addressing one’s enemies from the safety of a nearby hilltop.

Jotham called out his family’s murderers from Mount Gerazim. The Philistines hurled their insults at the Israelite army on one side of the Valley of Elah from the mountain on the other. Even David appealed to Saul from atop the hill of Hachilah.

Not too bad a strategy, really, before the invention of megaphones and loudspeakers: just stand far enough up and back to avoid the enemy’s arrows and occasional javelin toss while staying close enough to remain audible.

It was the best possible place, especially if things went south and you had to beat a hasty retreat down the far side of the hill.

Anonymous Asks (384)

“What does it mean that a friend’s wounds are ‘faithful’?”

The line comes from one of Solomon’s later proverbs. In full it reads, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.”

The wounds of a friend are not injuries he incurs on your behalf or in the process of defending you from others, though that might be your first thought, as it was mine. Taking a major hit for a pal is definitely a confirmation of friendship, but I don’t think that’s what Solomon was talking about.

Timing is Everything

God’s timing is always impeccable.

The gospel spread like wildfire in the first century precisely because God had put all the pieces in place centuries prior. As James noted when the apostles and elders gathered in Jerusalem to discuss the issue of imposing the Law of Moses on Gentiles, “from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues”.

Ironically, the fact that the whole world of James’ day had access to an obscure set of Jewish laws was a function of Israel’s disobedience.

No King in Israel (37)

Truth is objective and its importance paramount. Technical precision is one aspect of truth and its importance situational. On several occasions the Lord Jesus was technically precise in quoting the Old Testament. On many others it would not be outrageous to say that he wildly paraphrased.

The standard for quoting a conversation as evidence in a court proceeding is not the same as the standard for reporting dialogue that took place during historical events for which the author could not possibly have been personally present. The former ought to be as close to word-to-word as possible. The latter permits or even necessitates some stylistic license, and everyone but a pedant makes allowance for it. Expecting an author to recount a conversation that took place a hundred years ago with the technical precision of a legal transcript is manifestly unreasonable; a paraphrase or summary in his own words is frequently more than adequate.

Well-constructed prose often makes for a better story anyway.

Too Hot to Handle: The Correct Church

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

In 2002, Julie Staples (for the Protestant side) debated Apolonio Latar (representing Catholics under the initials ‘AL’).

At one point in their exchange Latar said this:

“Sola Scriptura leads to doctrinal anarchy, which is further reason why you need an infallible authority. Look at all of these Protestant denominations, 30,000 of them the last time I checked. How do you know you’re in the correct church?”

Now it turns out the “30,000” is vastly, wildly overstated, as others have since demonstrated. Regardless, everyone would certainly agree that there are lots of denominations and lots of different beliefs within Christendom.

Tom: So my question is, how would you personally have answered Latar? How do you, Immanuel Can, today, know you’re in the correct church?

The Worship of Angels

I went to an old-time hymn sing last week.

It’s not that I prefer the old hymns. I’m just as much a fan of new choruses as the next guy … provided they’re theologically sound, of course. And singable: there’s no point in trying to sing something that’s lame musically. But if it’s all coming together, I don’t much care how new or old the tune is. If the words are good, and the tune is great for congregational singing, I say let’s go.

Jude and ‘the Faith’

“… contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Numerous passages in our English Bibles refer to “the faith”, as in the sentence fragment from Jude I have quoted above, which may be the most familiar case in all of scripture. Even the casual reader can quickly see Jude means something slightly different than James does when he says, “Faith without works is dead.”

That is to say, he is not talking about the act of believing, but rather about the things believed.

Semi-Random Musings (46)

From Doug Wilson’s Tuesday letters column, J asks what Doug’s “ideal Christendom” might look like for convicted criminals:

“In your ideal Christendom, where we have God-honoring laws, what would you do in cases of theft where the criminal cannot pay? How would they make restitution? And would that be considered a form of slavery?”

Hmm.

Anonymous Asks (383)

“My (saved) parents seem uninterested in their grandchildren. Is there anything I can do?”

Anonymous, you have the opposite problem many of us encounter, and that is that our children (saved or unsaved) may not have the level of interest in their grandparents that we would like them to have. Alternatively, many grandparents are overly invested in pursuing relationships with their grandchildren and complicate the lives of their parents by meddling.

In short, this is a new one for me among Christians.

Distinctions with a Difference

My church is working its way through the names and titles of Christ at our weekly prayer meeting. The idea behind the series is that a variety of speakers will study one name or title and take twenty minutes to present a summary of scripture’s teaching about it. I think it’s a terrific plan, but one that may take until the return of the Lord to execute. The Lord Jesus has a great many names and titles.

Last week’s title of Christ was “advocate”.

No King in Israel (36)

In 2017-18, archeologist and historical geographer Dr. Chris McKinny published articles arguing that modern Bible scholars ought to rethink the purported location of Lehi, an ancient Israelite town prominent in today’s reading from Judges.

For fifty years prior, many considered the ruined Arab village of Khirbet Beit Lei the probable location for Lehi on the basis of a specious similarity in names advanced by Israeli anthropologist Joseph Ginat in a Brigham Young University academic symposium. Absent any better suggestions, many accepted Ginat’s conclusions about the town’s location.

Too Hot to Handle: From the Pit of Hell

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

The man who would be president, former nominee Mitt Romney, is troubled that a minister from Dallas has been asked to open the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem with a prayer.

Romney’s objection?

“Robert Jeffress says ‘you can’t be saved by being a Jew,’ and ‘Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell.’ He’s said the same about Islam.”

Tom: Oh dear. Let’s talk a little bit about so-called religious bigotry, IC. What do you think: is “pit of hell” maybe a tad strong?

A Change Is Gonna Come

Umm ... not effective?

So sang Sam Cooke.

I guess he’d know. He was writing his soulful anthems back in the ’50s and early ’60s in places like Mississippi and Chicago — not the easiest places for a young person of his particular shade of skin to be. But things were changing then, and in retrospect, those who didn’t know they were changing and who thought they could keep things the way they were forever were just spitting into the wind.

Yes, change is gonna come. And you can’t change that. You’ve just got to be ready and react smartly when it does.

Praying in the Spirit

The phrase “praying in the Spirit” or “praying in the Holy Spirit” appears in both Ephesians and Jude, and is much misunderstood in Christian circles. Some associate it with a sensation of being caught up or carried along, like riding a bike down a slope instead of pushing uphill.

Maybe it’s just me, but I get edgy when anyone starts talking about feelings or sensations when we are discussing the faith and its practice.

The Erosion of Trust, Part 89

True confession: I haven’t actually written 88 previous instalments under this title in our blog’s history, but I may as well have: 89 is more approximation than exaggeration. If we count the entire 13-part Language of the Debate miniseries, add in more than half our 38 “COVID 19” posts, 90% of our 30 “Media” posts, a few Too Hot to Handles, a few “Technology” posts, and no small number of our 57 “Government” posts, we are probably closing in on the century mark.

In one way or another, these posts reference the growing untrustworthiness of all mainstream information sources. If your Spidey-sense doesn’t tingle at just about everything you see in the news cycle at this point, you are not paying sufficient attention.

Anonymous Asks (382)

“Is there an NT equivalent for sackcloth and ashes? If so, how should we practice it?”

The expression “sackcloth and ashes” occurs in only three Old Testament passages in precisely that form. In another two places both words appear in the same context separately. Both words are common in the OT, and both were well-known signs of public mourning. The mourner would wear the sackcloth and sit (or sometimes roll) in the ashes, and/or sprinkle them on his head.

Fun? Not really. But in ancient times, if you were in distress and wanted your neighbors to know it, that’s the way you told them. Sackcloth and ashes.

Autonomy and Justice

David French’s laughable assertion that US society has become increasingly fair and just as women have gained political power (presumably along with other nations traveling the social justice path) has gotten me thinking about the relative importance of autonomy and justice, and how the Bible speaks about these two goals our society claims to find most desirable.

We’d all like a little more self-determination, right? And who apart from criminals rejects justice?

No King in Israel (35)

Othniel led an army to drive out Israel’s oppressors in his generation. Ehud used a successful solo mission to raise an army to do the same. Deborah’s general Barak, Gideon and Jephthah were all leadership figures behind which the nation (or parts of it) rallied and successfully defeated invaders.

In every case to date, a judge’s appearance on the scene meant Israel entered a period of rest and relief from its enemies.

Too Hot to Handle: Blow Up the Worship Team

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

Nate at PracticalWorship has decided to “terminate the Worship Team”. I believe he used the words “blowing up”, in fact.

I got all excited. This is radical Christianity, folks!

But to my personal disappointment, Nate doesn’t actually mean it. By “blow up the Worship Team”, he actually means “change its name to ‘the MilePost13 Band’ ”. He lists two reasons for the change: first, that an actual name gives the band a sense of identity, pride and ownership and makes them feel like professionals.

The Change Is Gonna Do You Good

Where is Kodak these days? Remember that company? It used to have its name on most of the cameras and film that you saw around. Kodak was an empire, an institution. Now where is it?

And how about Blockbuster Video? Seen any of those stores around lately? They used to be on every corner.

Laura Ashley clothing? Napster music service?

On Becoming Irrelevant

Transitioning from one stage of life to another is never easy.

Aging is part of that, certainly, but it’s not the entire thing. For example, in a high unemployment society, aging may make me irrelevant to the work force. That will likely happen without my consent, and probably when I least expect or want it to happen. Tough luck. I’m now irrelevant in that role, and I had better learn to deal.

It also helps if I am willing to make myself relevant to the world around me in some other role.

The Blind Spot

“Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”

I’d like to give some thought this morning to the phrase “rulers of this age” that appears twice in the passage above. It might be a little more interesting than it looks.

Anonymous Asks (381)

“Is it unloving to confront somebody about his sin?”

As in so many situations Christians encounter in this life, motive is more important to the Lord than the actions it produces. Some people just can’t get their heads around that. We generally call these people legalists. They value actions and outcomes more than the heart and mindset that produces them.

The Lord just … doesn’t.

A Controversial Thesis [Part 3]

I said I would. Here it is.

There’s little point in referencing a controversial thesis, let alone siding with its author, if you decline to address significant arguments raised against it. Helen Andrews’ “The Great Feminization”, has generated considerable online debate. Her thesis is essentially “Women Equals Woke”. Our DEI woes on the job, she says, are all due to increasing numbers of women in the workforce.

Now, blaming everything that’s gone wrong on women sounds sexist, nasty and mean, even when it’s a woman doing it. But that’s not really where Andrews was going. Her critics disagree, and we’ll look at some of their objections today.

No King in Israel (34)

Bible students online differ concerning the extent to which Samson was truly heroic or any kind of role model for believers. The four chapters that chronicle his life and death portray him as impulsive, turbulent and temperamental, driven by his whims and easily pushed off course by events around him. Rarely do we see evidence of serious devotion to the Lord, or the fruit of such a relationship in his life, though there’s absolutely no question the Lord used him, and used him in a major way. Like Jehu centuries later, Samson was a wrecking ball when Israel needed one.

The New Testament portrays Samson as a man who in at least one instance exercised remarkable faith. Even then, in typical Samson style, his faith basically amounted to the conviction that God would make an exception to his own rules by special request …

Too Hot to Handle: The Palestinian Question

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

Editor’s Note: This post was our first together, presented over a decade ago. I thought it makes an interesting re-read in view of both the things that have changed since, and the things that have not.

Alex Awad is a professing Christian who leads a Bible school in the town of Bethlehem and wrote 2008’s Palestinian Memories: The Story of a Palestinian Mother and her People.

Tom: Mr. Awad believes the Old Testament promises to Israel are strictly conditional on Israel’s faithfulness and obedience and consequently that “Israel as a nation annulled its privilege as God’s chosen nation.”

I Want to Die

I was baptized young.

Not so young that I did not know what I was doing. After all, I believe in believer baptism only … just like the scriptures tell us.

I was around ten, I think. I asked for it to happen. No one pushed me. And at that time, I had a ten-year-old’s faith, and a ten-year-old’s understanding. Nothing wrong with that … it’s just not where I am today.

A Controversial Thesis [Part 2]

Discussions about masculine vs. feminine tendencies in any area of life produce polarized reactions these days. One pole insists there are no meaningful differences between the sexes, an assertion falsified by scripture, and one the Christian cannot accept. The other pole declares itself a diehard member of Team Men or Team Women, breaks out the heavy artillery and goes to war, a strategy unlikely to lead to the perpetuation of our species. Between the poles, the careful Bible student tries to observe and comment about potential spiritual danger zones for each sex in a fair, balanced and reasoned way.

We are not the same, and neither are our temptations and struggles to live out Christ in a fallen world. That’s where I’m going to try to go today: right down the middle. On this subject at least, I think that’s where the Lord would prefer us to be.

A Controversial Thesis [Part 1]

A lengthy illustration will probably serve me best here. If you doze off, I sympathize. I’ll probably still tell the whole thing though.

I have no doubt mentioned several times in this space that I currently work with a bunch of women. To be specific, I work under a bunch of women. My direct supervisor is a woman twenty years younger than I am. Her occasional replacement is a woman five years younger than me. They both report to a woman a few years older, and she reports to another woman roughly the same age. Layers and layers of women in a quasi-traditional hierarchical structure, with me and a couple of other part-time guys on the bottom and an executive male or two way, way up top, whom I almost never see and certainly never interact with.

How do I like that? You didn’t ask, but I’m going to tell you anyway: I love it.

Anonymous Asks (380)

“Does a Christian marriage have to be romantic?”

Men and women born much prior to the ‘Summer of Love’ — like, say, those who managed to live through a World War, the Great Depression or any of the plagues and famines of prior centuries — would probably find this question hilarious. Even today, in cultures where the social or financial advantages of being married outweigh any potential negatives, a deficiency of romance in a marriage rarely amounts to a stopper.

However, we live in an era in which a young person’s view of marriage is often wildly unrealistic. Feminist media propaganda shapes the expectations of most young women — and many men.

Quote of the Day (51)

Cognitive dissonance exists because it’s possible for otherwise-intelligent men and women to hold two points of view at the same time that mutually exclude at their core. ‘X’ and ‘Not-X’. That sort of thing.

I ran into this in a conversation with two women at work many years ago about the Liberal Prime Minister they had just helped elect. As I listed government policy after government policy with which I knew they both had serious issues, they nodded in agreement like twin bobbleheads of the sisters from Full House. These were indeed bad policies, and they were driving our country into the ground. We were all on the same page about that.

“So … why?” I finally asked.

No King in Israel (33)

The story of Samson is full of miraculous events. The narrative has a big, mythical quality to it: the robust young hero smiting his enemies in impossible numbers. A child reading it may find himself caught up in the action and missing the subtext. I certainly did. Nevertheless, like so many other Old Testament characters, this “hero” has feet of clay; he cannot seem to get out of his own way. His failures and temptations are all too human.

Never mind. God can use that too. We can take some encouragement from that fact at least.

Too Hot to Handle: The Christian View of Premarital Sex [Part 2]

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

In an article appropriately entitled “Premarital Sex: Is It A Sin Or Not?” Charles Toy of TheChristianLeft.org rather predictably contends it’s … not:

“There is no passage of the Bible that references premarital sex as a sin against God. The association between sin and premarital sex is a new Christian idea. The only possible reference to premarital sex being a sin in the Bible is in the New Testament. This premise although, is generally dismissed by theologians because the Greek word πορνεία, or sexual immorality is commonly incorrectly translated into the English word fornication.”

Tom: In our earlier discussion, we discovered we agree that Mr. Toy is wrong about the association between sin and premarital sex being a “new Christian idea”. It actually goes back to Genesis. So his first point is inaccurate.

Star Trek, Salvation and Sermons

Back in the early 1990s, The Humanist magazine interviewed the famous producer Gene Roddenberry, creator of the TV show Star Trek. The first series had been off the air for years and was long into syndication. Roddenberry was in the process of cranking out its eagerly-awaited sequel, Star Trek: The Next Generation — soon to prove yet another great hit.

The interviewer got the famous producer chatting about the relationship between the show and his own secular humanist beliefs.

Semi-Random Musings (45)

I’m on the fence about the compulsive need of Western Christian minds to harmonize every instance of apparent contradiction in the Bible’s historical accounts. On the one hand, the critics need to be defanged and each upcoming generation of young believers inoculated from the skepticism they breed. On the other, I am personally comfortable with the knowledge that the originals of these manuscripts passed muster with generations that lived much closer to or even during the events these accounts preserve.

If these believers did not find fault or write defenses to similar criticisms in their own day, why would we imagine we are better at spotting errors than they were?

New Songs and Ultimate Mouth-Stoppers

From a literary perspective, I find the resolution of the book of Job perfectly satisfying. Sure, it’s a whole other world culturally, it’s translated from another language, and it’s incredibly ancient, which means the uncertainty of the Hebrew text for this word or that figure of speech is footnoted more often than in other scriptures. That said, it’s a tremendous piece of writing, and God’s four-chapter response to Job’s perplexity and distress is its epic and poetic climax.

From a theological perspective, however, modern Christian readers may walk away from the book’s conclusion feeling something significant about the problem of human suffering still needs addressing.

Anonymous Asks (379)

“What does it mean that everything is meaningless?”

Today’s question comes from the NIV’s rendering of the second verse of Ecclesiastes. The NIV is one of only two English translations out of the most common 35 that has elected to go with the word “meaningless” in this context. People are far more familiar with the King James: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.”

The vast majority of English translations (21 of 35) follow the KJV.

Faith in Strange Places

Matthew’s gospel is the very first thing we read in the New Testament, and we tend to think of it as coming early in church history; I know I used to before I looked into it. In fact, Matthew circulated his gospel close to three decades after the events it describes, long enough for Galatians, both Thessalonian epistles, both Corinthian epistles and Romans to predate it and make the rounds of the first century churches.

Question: Did Matthew understand the allegedly-Pauline doctrine of justification by faith when he recorded his version of the Lord’s genealogy in chapter 1 of his gospel? You betcha.

No King in Israel (32)

Ahab listened to a lying spirit sent out from the presence of God. He consequently perished in battle. It was inevitable. The Lord had purposed to put him to death. He knew Ahab would follow the word of four hundred false prophets telling him exactly what he already wanted to hear rather than one lone man with the truth of God in his mouth.

Thus, the will of God profoundly influenced Ahab without Ahab having the slightest personal insight into it, and without him deriving any benefit from it.

As we will see, our twelfth judge had far too much in common with Ahab.

Too Hot to Handle: The Christian View of Premarital Sex [Part 1]

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

In an article appropriately entitled “Premarital Sex: Is It A Sin Or Not?” Charles Toy of TheChristianLeft.org contends it’s … not:

“There is no passage of the Bible that references premarital sex as a sin against God. The association between sin and premarital sex is a new Christian idea. The only possible reference to premarital sex being a sin in the Bible is in the New Testament. This premise although, is generally dismissed by theologians because the Greek word pornei, or sexual immorality is commonly incorrectly translated into the English word fornication.”

Tom: Immanuel Can, what say you?

Straight Talk

Some years ago, Dr. Gordon Marino, the ethicist, wrote an article for the Chronicle of Higher Education called “Before Teaching Ethics, Stop Kidding Yourself”.

In this article, Marino complained of the cottage industry of posers and pseudo-experts we have today who dispense advice to us about how we ought to conduct our moral lives. Ethics, he argued, are not so much a matter of specialized knowledge as of ordinary people doing what they already knew to do.

Four Women Out of Place

If you’ve been involved in many home Bible studies over the years, you have probably noticed that no two Christians read a verse or passage of scripture precisely the same way, draw the same conclusions from it, or see the same significance to it. The worst ideas you’ll hear are way out in left field or obviously wrong, pulled out of the air by people who likely haven’t read the passage more than once. The best of them correct you where you may have erred, or supplement your own understanding with nuances you may have missed.

Maturity, experience, gift, intellect and Bible study habits all factor into the differences. Whenever you ask folks what they think about a scripture, be prepared for an earful.

From the Department of TL;DR

Men and women discuss their differences of opinion … well, differently.

Unless a woman is completely out of control, she will generally pepper her assertions with endless qualifications, disclaimers and occasional flattery. These allow her to walk back any criticism not well received. Men frequently just go at it hammer and tongs with little concern whether the other party finds it hurtful or offensive. We are trying to get at the truth, and we are often too careless of both feelings and fine detail in the process.

In our favor, we are not generally mealy mouthed.

Anonymous Asks (378)

“Should Christians spank their children?”

I have experienced spanking from both ends. (Sorry.)

I have regularly spanked three children throughout their formative years, and maintain loving and mutually-beneficial relationships with each one to this day. I have also received the occasional judicious and quite necessary whack from a loving and reluctant parent during the lengthy period it took me to grow to maturity.

Both ways, spanking worked. I regret nothing.

No Country for Old Micromanagers

“I went up … in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.”

In the first two chapters of his earliest letter, the apostle Paul is concerned to establish the credentials of his gospel. The background: in Paul’s absence, religious Jews were encouraging the young Christians from the churches in Galatia to supplement their faith with vestiges of the now-obsolete Law of Moses. Paul recounts how, fourteen years after his first and only post-conversion visit to the birthplace of the Christian faith, he had chosen to return to Jerusalem once again. He also tells them why.

He wanted to make sure he “had not run in vain”.

No King in Israel (31)

We have been examining the third and final appearance of the angel of the Lord in the book of Judges. In chapter 2, he rebuked Israel for its disobedience, setting the stage for both the judgments he would inflict on the nation throughout the book and the repeated miraculous deliverances these punishments would necessitate. In chapter 6, he appeared to Gideon, causing him to fear for his life. In this chapter, he appears to the woman who would shortly become Samson’s mother, and to her husband Manoah.

Manoah’s wife described the angel of the Lord as “very awesome”. She and her husband were shortly to discover he was much more than that.

Too Hot to Handle: Stomaching Veganism

In which our regular writers toss around subjects a little more volatile than usual.

How, now?

Increasingly, studies like this one point to the strong possibility that a strictly vegan diet might actually be the healthiest for human beings, and that even consuming a small amount of meat in our diet is sufficient to increase our chances of diabetes, among other things.

These studies may well be accurate (though, as with all assertions of the scientific community these days, I tend to reserve judgment until we see all the consequences of a purely vegan diet in a representative sample of the human population over a generation or two). But for the sake of argument, let’s give these studies the benefit of the doubt and assume they represent truth and not simply another scientific boondoggle.

Tom: So, the obvious question ...

Do Christians Hate Science?

If you pop around on the Internet for very long, you’ll find that one of the most common screeds against Christians is that we hate science.

I don’t think it’s true, of course, but it does seem a rather general perception among our detractors. They think we see in science a direct threat to our beliefs; and since science undeniably does many good things for us, secularists of various kinds have a duty to deprive us of our illusions in this regard. We will thank them later: or if we do not, it will only be because we couldn’t be helped.

No Prophecy of Scripture

Doug Wilson is currently working his way through the book of Acts every Saturday on his blog. This week he’s in chapter 21, noting that as the apostle Paul made his way toward Jerusalem, he received prophetic warnings in every city to which he traveled concerning what would happen to him there.

That sort of thing happened often in the first century. If it happens at all in the twenty-first, it does so almost exclusively in Charismatic circles.

Human and Angelic

“He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel’s measurement.”

John makes this observation in the second-last chapter of our Bibles, amidst visions of a new heaven and new earth, complete with the holy city coming down out of heaven from God. This is where we find the famous line about how God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of his people, and there will be no mourning, crying or pain. Believers all long to realize these visions of the future; they really, really matter, and the chapter contains many more statements equally significant to the remedy of the human condition and our final destination.

In such a context, why would we care if human beings and angels use the same measurement system? Can such an observation be anything more than comparative trivia?

Perhaps. Indulge me, if you will.