An End To Evil?
My public policy-buff friends may find interest in a new book by Richard Perle and David Frum. There are interviews available on NPR's Morning Edition and Fresh Air.
My libertarian leanings militate against much of this neoconservatism. I prefer a free and more dangerous society to "efficient" government with every aspect of life under their safe control. At the same time, I don't think that negates everything they have to say.
1.11.2004
1.09.2004
WhiteTrash Unto Harvest
Recently I visited a friend who is now the director of New Geneva Theological Seminary's Baltimore extension campus. It's southeast... basically Dundalk. That's where the port and docks are... the last stronghold of old time, white catholic blue collar Mob Town culture.
So what exactly is "uncle" Steve trying to do? From what I can gather, he and N.G. have an eye to educating the workaday masses (something RTSdc and the practically defunct ChesapeakeTS are unlikely to do). And it looks like a "build it... and they will come" kind of endeavor. I find their vision refreshing and inspiringly radical. But will graduate level biblical education be viable among the least of our brethren?
Let's pray so.
Recently I visited a friend who is now the director of New Geneva Theological Seminary's Baltimore extension campus. It's southeast... basically Dundalk. That's where the port and docks are... the last stronghold of old time, white catholic blue collar Mob Town culture.
So what exactly is "uncle" Steve trying to do? From what I can gather, he and N.G. have an eye to educating the workaday masses (something RTSdc and the practically defunct ChesapeakeTS are unlikely to do). And it looks like a "build it... and they will come" kind of endeavor. I find their vision refreshing and inspiringly radical. But will graduate level biblical education be viable among the least of our brethren?
Let's pray so.
1.06.2004
Piper And Culture
NewYear activities were enjoyable as (if not more domesticated than) usual. But I'm back from a brief hiatus, which justifies a somewhat lengthy post.
Recently several publications have reprinted an article by John Piper entitled "Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence." I find Piper's use of metaphors tortured and lame. But his main point is what bothers me the most. Here is my letter to various editors:
Piper's article does not present sound exegesis or a biblical conclusion. He correctly points out the fact that if something is American, that does not make it Christian, and that Christians must not be selfish or arrogant. However, the article concludes “We (Christians) don't own culture, and we don't rule it.”
This erroneous conclusion is the inevitable outcome of Piper's belief that “Christ died for sinners so that all things might one day belong to his people” (emphasis mine). Piper assumes that all things will belong to God's people only after the consummation. Certainly God's people before the consummation have but a foretaste of their full inheritance in Christ. However, since presently all things belong to Christ, all things belong to those who are in Him right now. This is the clear teaching of Scripture: “all things belong to you” (1 Cor 3:21-23). This is a present reality for everyone in Christ!
Piper's denial of this present reality leads him to advocate a view of Christian cultural influence that amounts to little more than attempts at moral persuasion. However, it is God Himself who commands us to rule, and who created us for that very purpose (Gen 1:28, 2:15). So we are not in the service of American culture (as Piper would have it), but in the service of Jesus Christ.
There is no "winning" or "losing" for Christians in their cultural task. As aliens and strangers in this age, we groan under the temporary subjection to corruption. And we have a heavenly citizenship for which we gladly suffer as we obey our Lord's call to cultivate and keep His creation in all its depth and diversity: from parenting to politics, from art to aerospace, from scholarship to surfing. We must not reduce Christian cultural influence to moral witness.
God has given us culture and the sacred task of ruling it. Culture does belong to us, and we exercise dominion in Jesus' name. Affirming this biblical teaching does not produce “swagger,” and denying it will certainly not encourage biblical piety.
NewYear activities were enjoyable as (if not more domesticated than) usual. But I'm back from a brief hiatus, which justifies a somewhat lengthy post.
Recently several publications have reprinted an article by John Piper entitled "Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence." I find Piper's use of metaphors tortured and lame. But his main point is what bothers me the most. Here is my letter to various editors:
Piper's article does not present sound exegesis or a biblical conclusion. He correctly points out the fact that if something is American, that does not make it Christian, and that Christians must not be selfish or arrogant. However, the article concludes “We (Christians) don't own culture, and we don't rule it.”
This erroneous conclusion is the inevitable outcome of Piper's belief that “Christ died for sinners so that all things might one day belong to his people” (emphasis mine). Piper assumes that all things will belong to God's people only after the consummation. Certainly God's people before the consummation have but a foretaste of their full inheritance in Christ. However, since presently all things belong to Christ, all things belong to those who are in Him right now. This is the clear teaching of Scripture: “all things belong to you” (1 Cor 3:21-23). This is a present reality for everyone in Christ!
Piper's denial of this present reality leads him to advocate a view of Christian cultural influence that amounts to little more than attempts at moral persuasion. However, it is God Himself who commands us to rule, and who created us for that very purpose (Gen 1:28, 2:15). So we are not in the service of American culture (as Piper would have it), but in the service of Jesus Christ.
There is no "winning" or "losing" for Christians in their cultural task. As aliens and strangers in this age, we groan under the temporary subjection to corruption. And we have a heavenly citizenship for which we gladly suffer as we obey our Lord's call to cultivate and keep His creation in all its depth and diversity: from parenting to politics, from art to aerospace, from scholarship to surfing. We must not reduce Christian cultural influence to moral witness.
God has given us culture and the sacred task of ruling it. Culture does belong to us, and we exercise dominion in Jesus' name. Affirming this biblical teaching does not produce “swagger,” and denying it will certainly not encourage biblical piety.
12.25.2003
The Reason For No Season
I love the distinctiveness of each meteorological season in the MidAtlantic. You typically get summers in the 100s, winters in the 30s, springs and autumns in the ascending and descending betweens.
Winter can be cheery and cozy indoors, with special food and drink to get us through the colder, shorter days. Often distant family and friends vacation from work, and we gather from the four corners with time to enjoy fellowship undiluted. All this I love, and would never derogate. These things are what really matter at the turn of each year.
However, all pretended ritual or sacred significance in this or any other month or day is a worthless fantasy and a product of foolish imagination. Indeed, the incarnation (and birth) of our Savior finally culminated in His re-birth, putting an end to all the shadows.
I love the distinctiveness of each meteorological season in the MidAtlantic. You typically get summers in the 100s, winters in the 30s, springs and autumns in the ascending and descending betweens.
Winter can be cheery and cozy indoors, with special food and drink to get us through the colder, shorter days. Often distant family and friends vacation from work, and we gather from the four corners with time to enjoy fellowship undiluted. All this I love, and would never derogate. These things are what really matter at the turn of each year.
However, all pretended ritual or sacred significance in this or any other month or day is a worthless fantasy and a product of foolish imagination. Indeed, the incarnation (and birth) of our Savior finally culminated in His re-birth, putting an end to all the shadows.
12.20.2003
Discussing God, Etc.
I sometimes recommend to you an article, book, film, or artist. But this appeal goes beyond my highest recommendation. If you've ever found any interest in our existential discussions, please get a copy of Roy Clouser's Knowing With The Heart.
I'm addressing quite a few people really. Whether you're a believer or not, whether we are friends or were brief acquaintances, if we met in the past twelve years in either Baltimore, D.C., Harrisburg, California, Chattanooga, Prague, Amsterdam, Japan, or Canada… we probably had a philosophical conversation or two. And this book explains several key ideas I tried to articulate.
Did you ever read C.S.Lewis' Mere Christianity ? Although not written in the same kind of literary style, Clouser's book is honestly superior in content and is written in clear, nontechnical, immensely readable language. The primary theme of the book is religious experience and belief in God, and you'll find its implications as broad and deep as life itself.
I sometimes recommend to you an article, book, film, or artist. But this appeal goes beyond my highest recommendation. If you've ever found any interest in our existential discussions, please get a copy of Roy Clouser's Knowing With The Heart.
I'm addressing quite a few people really. Whether you're a believer or not, whether we are friends or were brief acquaintances, if we met in the past twelve years in either Baltimore, D.C., Harrisburg, California, Chattanooga, Prague, Amsterdam, Japan, or Canada… we probably had a philosophical conversation or two. And this book explains several key ideas I tried to articulate.
Did you ever read C.S.Lewis' Mere Christianity ? Although not written in the same kind of literary style, Clouser's book is honestly superior in content and is written in clear, nontechnical, immensely readable language. The primary theme of the book is religious experience and belief in God, and you'll find its implications as broad and deep as life itself.
12.16.2003
Sympathy For The Damned Secularists?
Sure, you're not permitted to publicly practice any theistic religion in all of France. But hey... you can smoke everywhere!
(you can't imagine how closely the degree to which I despise anti-smoking fascism approaches the amount of abhorrence I have for anti-religious totalitarianism.)
Sure, you're not permitted to publicly practice any theistic religion in all of France. But hey... you can smoke everywhere!
(you can't imagine how closely the degree to which I despise anti-smoking fascism approaches the amount of abhorrence I have for anti-religious totalitarianism.)
12.12.2003
Researching Ramus
About four years ago a friend mentioned how Ramist logic was in vogue at the Westminster Assembly. I never heard this before, and was quite curious. But only recently have my thoughts turned back to Ramism. I'm hoping to discover more.
Pierre de la Ramée (Petrus Ramus 1515-1572, not to be confused with Rudolf Grossmann who took the name as an alias) was a Huguenot scholar killed at the St. Bartholomew Massacre. Ramus worked to reform the Liberal Arts in a particular anti-Aristotelian manner.
He was perhaps the most influential thinker upon Calvinist scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Ramist thinking is reported to have heavily influenced the likes of Milton, Shakespeare, Bacon, and Althusius, in addition to many Puritans from Sir William Temple to Jonathan Edwards.
I hope to acquire three major works on Ramus by F.P. Graves, W.J. Ong, and J.V. Skalnik.
About four years ago a friend mentioned how Ramist logic was in vogue at the Westminster Assembly. I never heard this before, and was quite curious. But only recently have my thoughts turned back to Ramism. I'm hoping to discover more.
Pierre de la Ramée (Petrus Ramus 1515-1572, not to be confused with Rudolf Grossmann who took the name as an alias) was a Huguenot scholar killed at the St. Bartholomew Massacre. Ramus worked to reform the Liberal Arts in a particular anti-Aristotelian manner.
He was perhaps the most influential thinker upon Calvinist scholars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Ramist thinking is reported to have heavily influenced the likes of Milton, Shakespeare, Bacon, and Althusius, in addition to many Puritans from Sir William Temple to Jonathan Edwards.
I hope to acquire three major works on Ramus by F.P. Graves, W.J. Ong, and J.V. Skalnik.
12.08.2003
Strange Fellow
In my experience, the words "calvinist philosophy" do not tend to inspire enthusiasm in other people. But if the idea of exploring the depths of human experience is at all interesting to you, give it a chance.
A wonderfully strange fellow, Glenn Friesen, gives us a window into his life and reflections on his new site concerning Christian Nondualism. The site is a significant resource, but I must highlight the (comparatively insignificant) fact that he has two photos of Dooyeweerd here that I have wanted to post for months.
Caveat: I'm fairly certain that the term "mystical" as Friesen applies it to Dooyeweerd must not be understood as any kind of supra-creational spiritualism.
In my experience, the words "calvinist philosophy" do not tend to inspire enthusiasm in other people. But if the idea of exploring the depths of human experience is at all interesting to you, give it a chance.
A wonderfully strange fellow, Glenn Friesen, gives us a window into his life and reflections on his new site concerning Christian Nondualism. The site is a significant resource, but I must highlight the (comparatively insignificant) fact that he has two photos of Dooyeweerd here that I have wanted to post for months.
Caveat: I'm fairly certain that the term "mystical" as Friesen applies it to Dooyeweerd must not be understood as any kind of supra-creational spiritualism.
12.03.2003
Philosophical Terms
On Aug. 21 I gave a sort of definition for continental philosophy. For those more interested in the subject I heartily recommend Scott Moore's Notebook. It is quite extensive.
Being a fan of extensivity (and you know I love dictionaries) let me also mention The Ism Book. Perhaps "Dooyeweerdianism" will be included in the next version, despite its reformational anti-reductionism(!) and critique of most "isms."
On Aug. 21 I gave a sort of definition for continental philosophy. For those more interested in the subject I heartily recommend Scott Moore's Notebook. It is quite extensive.
Being a fan of extensivity (and you know I love dictionaries) let me also mention The Ism Book. Perhaps "Dooyeweerdianism" will be included in the next version, despite its reformational anti-reductionism(!) and critique of most "isms."
12.01.2003
Jurisprudence
Gary North once wrote: "Every revolution needs slogans. Here is mine: politics fourth" (sidebar p.575). One point here, among others, is that Jesus being Lord of every part of life does not mean there are political fix-alls or shortcuts in the Christian cultural task. And yet we certainly have work to do in the political sphere.
Some of that work involves legal scholarship. I was encouraged to read Andree Seu's article recommending that Christians work to wrest jurisprudence from its secular captivity and bring it to its biblical roots. Holding up Kuyper as an example, Seu suggests that it might be time to establish a Christian School of Law in the U.S. that will labor to go beyond "generically conservative analyses to engage in a distinctively, self-consciously, rigorously biblical undertaking."
Similarly, Bruce Green (Dean of Liberty University's School of Law) writes about progress in founding a new Christian law school and mentions reading Dooyeweerd (via Strauss via Reeves). Certainly, if any would take up Seu's challenge to "revive Kuyper's proposal," they ought to avail themselves of the tremendous head-start provided in Dooyeweerd's writings.
Gary North once wrote: "Every revolution needs slogans. Here is mine: politics fourth" (sidebar p.575). One point here, among others, is that Jesus being Lord of every part of life does not mean there are political fix-alls or shortcuts in the Christian cultural task. And yet we certainly have work to do in the political sphere.
Some of that work involves legal scholarship. I was encouraged to read Andree Seu's article recommending that Christians work to wrest jurisprudence from its secular captivity and bring it to its biblical roots. Holding up Kuyper as an example, Seu suggests that it might be time to establish a Christian School of Law in the U.S. that will labor to go beyond "generically conservative analyses to engage in a distinctively, self-consciously, rigorously biblical undertaking."
Similarly, Bruce Green (Dean of Liberty University's School of Law) writes about progress in founding a new Christian law school and mentions reading Dooyeweerd (via Strauss via Reeves). Certainly, if any would take up Seu's challenge to "revive Kuyper's proposal," they ought to avail themselves of the tremendous head-start provided in Dooyeweerd's writings.
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