I need to get caught up with Lane, being two behind. This is a response to his post here. Three points: The first is that Lane points out an apparent contradiction between me and my friend Steve Wilkins, and asks “which one is correct?” The answer, of course, is that I am. Seriously, the quote …
The Absolute Necessity of the New Birth/Romans 9
INTRODUCTION:  We left off with St. Paul’s observation that the Gentiles blasphemed God’s name because of the behavior of God’s people. In this passage, he goes on to show the root cause of the discrepancy between the holy name by which God’s people were called, and unholy lives which disgraced that calling. The root cause …
Veracity of Scripture
Book I/Chapter 8 Miracles (section 5) 1. Summarize Calvin’s fifth argument for the veracity of Scripture. Miracles II (section 6) 1. How can this argument carry any force for us when we ourselves have not seen any of the miracles? Fulfilled Prophecy (section 7) 1. What is his seventh argument? Fulfilled Prophecy II (section 8) …
A Few Brisk Ones
In a recent correspondence with a friend who is much more of a Girardian purist than I am, he said something like “all violence is righteous.” He was referring to the Giardian insight that human beings have a deep mimetic propensity to deceive and blind themselves, especially when it comes to matters of violence. The …
Have I Proved Too Much?
With regard to this “Violence and the Trinity” series, I got a great set of questions from a member of our congregation here, and so I asked him if I could interact with them publicly. He said sure, and so off we go. “I noticed that in a recent post you refer to several classic …
Herod is God Tee-Shirts
This really is an historic day, a day on which a black man will become president of the United States. That doesn’t make it a good day, but it does make it memorable and worthy of comment. Those who have followed my political writing for any time at all know that I have been very …
When the Majesty is Brought
Book I/Chapter 8 Superior Wisdom (section 1) 1. Does human reason go the “whole distance” in giving us evidence that the Scriptures are God’s word? 2. Does this it proves nothing? 3. What is necessary before these secondary proofs are worth anything? 4. In the first line what does “this certainty” refer to? 5. There …
Heh
HT: Right Mind
No Middle Ground
If we believe in the Bible, we believe in the Christian future. This means that the salt is not seasoning to no effect, and that the light is not shining to no effect. The labor we put forth to make the world a better place is not labor wasted (1 Cor. 15:58). Moreover, if we …
The Beginning of True Doctrine
Book I/Chapter 7 The Holy Spirit (section 4) 1. What is the foundation for credibility in any doctrine? 2. What is the secret testimony of the Spirit? 3. Those who try to build faith in the Bible through disputation are doing what? 4. The testimony of the Spirit is superior to what? 5. Scripture characterizes …