Einstein was a KOOK! (just keeping the spirit of the quote)
Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are even incapable of forming such opinions.
– Albert Einstein
Frankly, Beckwith
Frank Beckwith has resigned as president of the Evangelical Theological Society as he has re-embraced Roman Catholicism. Protestants are pitching a nutty. Catch some of the flying fur here.
See also Tom Ascol, James White, BaylyBlog, Justin Taylor, Chris Tilling.
Just Wonderin’
Is it wrong to blog on the Sabbath?
Radical Corruption
If (read “since”) man is radically corrupt, meaning that no part of man is unaffected by the Fall, and that he carries that corruption with him wherever he goes, doesn’t it necessarily follow that he will express it in every sphere of life…even the virtual world?
Check this out. [Not for the squeemish or those unwilling to see sin as it really is.]
Freedom: God’s greatest gift?
I attended a local “National Day of Prayer” event. It was on the courthouse lawn. It was hot. It was thirty five minutes of praying that God would bless America. “God intends for us to be free,” and apparently he wants the whole world to have the same kind of freedom Americans enjoy. But “America is in deep trouble.” We need to “reclaim America for God.” The whole thing is just puzzling.
Good Fences, Bad Fences (good dog, bad dog)
There are good fences. There are bad fences. Mostly, fences are just good places for dogs to take leaks.
Not for Nothin’
Some guy said this on the radio yesterday.
“Capitalism is a system that rewards you for doing what’s best for yourself.”
Made me think.
Why I Oppose FV
A theological tempest is brewing in the Presbyterian teapot. Various New Perspecti on Paul (NPP) are gaining traction, not least of which is the Federal Vision (FV) which claims, I think, not to be the same as NPP but those outside the FV and NPP say it is…I think. (It really all depends on which side of the subtly nuanced shading of the shadow of the reflection of the image you happen to be standing in…or on…or near(?).)
At any rate, I write to express my stern and fervent opposition to NPP and FV. It really has nothing at all to do with the theological positions of NPP and FV (to be both Frank and Ernest, I’m not sure I get it all). It has more to do with the default initials by which they are referred. To say, “NPP” is, in my ever-so-slightly-more-than-sophomoric mind just sounds naughty…or hip hop. “Yeah, you know me. I’m down with NPP.”
FV, on the other hand, has a slightly more literate reason for offending. It just isn’t poetic. It doesn’t flow effortlessly from the lips. In order to say it correctly, one must pause (as briefly as one can) between the F and the V. This is simply too cumbersome in the flow of conversation. If you say it with any sort of flow, it doesn’t sound like much more than FE. Or EVEE. If you’re going to come up with a new theological system, and you want it to gain purchase in the vernacular of the common man, you’re going to have to make it simple and easy to say.
Take PCA for instance. Simple, slides easily past the teeth. Even OPC sounds almost automatically familiar and friendly (cranky elements within said denomination notwithstanding). Heck, even SBC has something going for it…although people really have a hard time writing “an SBC church.” Because it begins with S, people want to put “a” in front of it…which of course sounds totally wrong when spoken.
And of course there are others that don’t work. PCUSA (too many letters), AofG (speaks for itself, I think), UMC (reminds me of the Marine Corps) and others.
I wonder if the FV guys would be willing to call it something else. This would help people like me who would be glad to entertain the ideas if only we could relate to its tag. Maybe FedViz or FeVi or FEVO. Or they could get celebrities to embrace the doctrine and brand it with their own special thang.
Britney Spears could embrace it, divorce it and then feel ambivelent toward it and call it K-Fed Vision.
Mark Driscoll could take it on and cuss about those who don’t like it and call himself a Federvisionary.
At any rate, until I can say it and sound as intelligent as Doug Wilson whilst so doing, I’m out.
To learn more of the substance of all this check out the following:
Bayly Brothers (comments get good in parts)
N T Wright (snoop around)
You’ll find enough to get you in way deeper than perhaps you’re desiring to go if you start reading and random clicking on these sites.
Maybe Federal (re)Visioning? (just trying to help)
Ro to Replace Ro?
As Rosie O prepares for her departure from ABC’s The View, names are being batted around as potential replacements. Roseanne Barr is said to be tops among those being considered. Others include Joan Rivers, Whoopi Goldberg, Connie Chung and Kathie Lee Gifford. May I offer one more name? Hillary Clinton. Think about it.