When we are not getting along with others, the pressing temptation is always to believe that you are just as you have always been, and that they have somehow changed. This is often not true at all, but even if it were true, that does not put you in the right. Perhaps they have changed …
He Who Has a Tongue to Taste . . .
When we say that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, we generally do well at not inserting any portion of the material creation in between Christ and the believing soul. We know that it is the Word preached or written that was the instrument of salvation, but we don’t attribute …
Muddled in the Sanctuary
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father, Your Word summons our nation to forsake its abominations, and …
Timber Wolf Poo and Rabbit Poo
This post was originally titled “The Way of the Cross and Constantine,” but this is more interesting, don’t you think? Jesus died outside Jerusalem two thousand years ago. That death was not only the hinge upon which all history turns (although it certainly is that), it is also the hinge in the story of every …
Obey the Magistrates
Book 4/Chapter 20 Motives in litigation (section 18) 1. When are lawsuits permissible? 2. What must the righteous litigant be without? 3. How should he treat his adversary? Legal wrangles (section 19) 1. Who is Calvin arguing against? 2. What kind of court system is Calvin assuming here? 3. What should the aim of the …
Yeah. Like That.
The president said that the health care package that cleared the Senate was the most important social legislation since Social Security. Which was, as my daughter Rachel put, like saying we haven’t had weather this good since Katrina.
To Gain His Everlasting Hall
Bethlehem was the opening gambit in the last campaign of a long war. Many centuries after our father Adam had first plunged our race into the insanity of sin, God finally made His opening move. Jesus Christ, born of a woman, born under law, was born to fulfill every one of the numerous promises that …
Sinews of the Commonwealth
This set of questions is for Saturday, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is Christmas. Take a break from your Calvinism already. Book 4/Chapter 20 Sinews of the commonwealth (section 14) 1. What does Calvin treat next, after his discussion of the magistrate? 2. What is the relationship between magistrate and law? 3. Does Calvin believe that the …
Stirring the Pan Ever More Vigorously
As I have written before, there are many political assessments that should be made on the basis of what everybody can see, and not on the basis of esoteric “insider” knowledge. Further, these judgments should certainly not be made on the basis of a paradigm powerful enough to invert what is obviously happening — powerful …
Garrisons, Leagues, and Civil Defense
Book 4/Chapter 20 Force and piety (section 10) 1. What question does Calvin seek to answer in this section? 2. What answer does he give? 3. And why is this? 4. So what should they do if they want to be approved by God? 5. What defiles a magistrate’s hands? 6. What is the chief …