Letters to Remind Us of Our Better Selves

Just . . . yikes. I’m sure TGC will be getting cancelled any minute now for daring to say that sex involves penetration and distinct gender roles.

KR

In your book Her Hand in Marriage you say that the daughter remains under her father’s authority and protection until she is given in marriage. How does this work with a daughter over 18?

Do we insist she has to have a 3rd wheel with her on her dates? How does that work with a daughter that is older?

Nicole

Hi! Is there a way to subscribe to your blog? Thanks!

Dana

Suppose a man and a woman have four children. Delivery of number four was really hard going, and mom almost died. After that, she wants to call that the last one. She is scared and shaken up, and feels that four children certainly qualifies as “being fruitful.” But he feels that to “turn off” God’s gift (even for a season, never mind permanently) is a bad thing. How would you counsel?

David

I wanted to ask your view of Christian counseling—the reason I am asking you in particular will be clearer by the end of this.

I am a Christian in the Reformed tradition as well as a licensed counselor in my state of California. My personal view of counseling —worked out over about a decade of counseling and reading a steady diet of Bible, Lewis, GKC, you, and a smattering of secular psychology books—is somewhere between the Integration view and the CCEF type biblical counseling view. Why I still hold some affinity with the Integration view is that I see it as largely unavoidable, especially if one practices outside the church. That, and I hold that “all truth is God’s truth,” so if, say, Aaron Beck of cognitive behavioral therapy stumbles upon some truth that the Bible teaches (unbeknownst to him), I am free to use it, and will do so if it helps someone recognize their thinking patterns are making them miserable (all the while I am praying for ways to turn things back to a more explicitly Biblical view, since I think that’s where they’ll find true joy, peace, etc. ) As for the more explicitly Biblical counseling views (although to a lesser extent CCEF, in my opinion), much of them are somewhat like Christian music—even where the content is right, the execution of it is so bad that I feel towards it like you said you felt towards Donald Trump trading cards (what was the word again? It meant embarrassed on their account where they should feel that emotion themselves). Because of this, I have a hard time not going to the various secular theories and books on counseling, “plundering the Egyptians” style.

Here is where the question comes back to you in particular: From what I can gather, your whole movement (of which I am very thankful, and, along with my wife and kids, profit from greatly) seems to presuppose that in the world of ideas there is no neutrality, and to assume so is to start with a dead wrong assumption, even if it is a slow death. The integration view, seen as a position to land on, seems to suffer that fatal error of assumed neutrality, in this case, that the whole psychology movement is neutral and well-meaning. Given your view of no neutrality, what do you think is the best option for Christians in the counseling field?

Thank you,

Ryan

I was pointed here a few days ago by sending the following message to the church’s email:

I am looking for a little guidance in resources, and perhaps a little general direction. To keep things to point and give you an idea of my situation; I come from an independent Baptist background, and currently attend an evangelical fellowship church, and during this time have come across many of your online resources (most specifically Canon+, which we have an active subscription for) and the amount of growth and learning my wife and I have done as a result has been, well, incredible. It has inspired me to get the men together in my local church to inspire the same growth and to be Godly men, leading Godly families. I have also spoken with my elders and they agree that there is huge need in this area and are on board with the whole idea of training up the men. My major point of concern is the battle against culture, feminism and societal stigmas that have crept into the church in general, and how much of it is not seen, or understood by most, even if they agree with Biblical headship and patriarchal structure. I want to know how best to approach this, some resources that would be good to dive into whether it is books, videos, even courses. Some things I have already watched/listened to are; Its Good To Be A Man, How To Exasperate Your Wife, Man Rampant Podcast (not all episodes yet), most of the documentaries already produced, and currently listening to Masculine Christianity.

I feel that we are led to be here at this church, and the desire to learn also exists, but not surprisingly culture and misconceptions are/will get in the way, and even though I know enough in my own head, I do not yet know enough to give the correct answers to convince, based on Scripture, others of the same view. While I grew up in a denomination that had a lot of its doctrine correct, the understanding and practice of that theology was severely lacking, and poorly taught. I have learned so much of the connections that I never saw before, and all the “why’s” of what makes what I already believed make sense. Now that God has opened my mind to all of this, I cannot keep silent, but I also want to do it right.

Lastly, I was wondering about any way in which my wife and I can connect with others that believe much the same, as there are no known Reformed churches around us where we live in Canada. Being able to talk with those of a like mind would definitely be help if at all possible, or even connecting with a group or structure that already exists.

P.S. I have joined the FLF network as well and have been enjoying the resources found there.

Also a more pointed question, what are some good resources for digging into Biblical headship in addition to the books I have already mentioned?

Trevor

I wanted to write and thank you for all your work in ministry, it has been indispensable to me and encouraged and grown me closer to our Lord. You are a true blessing and the Lord has worked mightily through you for the kingdom.

Specifically I wanted to thank you for your blog post on “Affection for Israel as Biblical Requirement.” I know many individuals who claim Christ but have fallen into this antisemitic/national socialist ideology, and believe that it is biblical, and the only correct position for a Christian. It’s very encouraging to hear you address this issue as no one else seemingly is even aware that this is becoming a prevalent issue among young Christians and in our churches. And these individuals see nothing wrong with this view, and aren’t convinced by any biblical arguments. I would greatly appreciate more blog posts and content on this topic.

May the Lord continue to bless you!

In Christ,

Jacob

Having hung around these parts for a bit now, I have grown to see and love your willingness to dive into and explore all of the dark corners of modernity we currently languish under.

It really is cathartic (I suppose in a morbid kind of way) to poke my nose in here and see real life and intellectual hot potatoes being tossed about with seriousness, candor, honesty, sound theology and a healthy dose of joviality. It keeps me engaged in a world that has become so unserious at times that one could be excused for just checking out.

Where else could I find serious discussions about polygamy, the Jewish question, theonomy, principled politics and rot in the evangelical world? I truly admire your conviction and courage. You make walking around in the furnace almost alluring.

While you are in there I occasionally get the urge to climb in with you and this is one such occasion. I have read many comments on your posts about the rising problem of anti-Semitism on The Right© and, as anyone whose been around for a while knows, that side has had that particular bugaboo lurking in the shadows for many years. Only post-Buckley has it become absolutely verboten. This is not to say all of the accusations were legitimate but there was definitely more tolerance for it than today.

In your blog posts you acknowledge that it does indeed exist, and it is verified by the vitriol you receive in the comment sections from actual antisemites. I like your admonition to refrain from racial animus and to guard your heart from envy and ethnic vainglory. I think that caution goes a long way in preventing bitter and sinful roots from springing up and thereby doing much damage to an already heavy laden church.

The reason I’m writing this is because I wanted to throw another angle on the discussion. It is undeniable that Jewish folks punch way above their weight in almost every category. In everything from IQ, the arts, science, philosophy, economics, law and politics we see them prominently, whether for good or ill. I think envy on the part of other ethnic groups is indeed the cause of the focus by wary Christians on the negative influence many Jews have had, especially in things like pornography, politics, banking and cultural perversion. Again, their prominence and presence are indisputable, but their motive is what evades me.

In cautioning Christians against envying them are you open to the idea that the Jews are actually operating from a heart of envy? Countless times in both Old and New Testament God tells them that he will make them jealous of the other nations by showing the gentiles favor and chastening Israel.

Could it not be like the petulant child knocking over his brothers Lego creation after praise from mom or a bitter employee betraying his boss after some perceived slight? Rather than some kind of particular genetic corruption or satanic advantage, maybe we just have a clearly intelligent people, subjected and exposed to myriad cultures and epochs and horrors and that they have developed a kind of cultural bitterness?

I think this hypothesis is worthy of some intellectual rigor. Its exploration may go a long way in informing the minds like yourself that have committed to untangling this knot.

That is about as deep into the flames as I wanted to step, so, at that I will retreat.

Until He comes,

Dave

I just saw your interview with John Anderson, it was very well done. I think he would be a great guest for Man Rampant. Thoughts?

Joe

You answered a previous question I had about ecclesiology by saying that multiple forms are “lawful” but that Presbyterianism is more “biblical” (I hope I am representing you fairly here). I am unclear how something can be lawful without being biblical.

For context, John Frame says that the NT gives us leeway and allows for three kinds of church government (Episcopal, Presbyterian, and Congregational).

James

Hello Pastor Doug. A completely off-topic question: Do you have any recreational interests or hobbies? What do you do to unstring your bow? Reading, writing, and listening to audio books doesn’t count. :)

Mark

In response to your recent eleven theses, I have a few comments and one question. As a preamble, my own position is that Christians should gather often, and that local congregations have the freedom to gather on any day of the week, or multiple days. Gathering on Sunday, in the long established and widespread practice of the church, is certainly as good as gathering on any other day.

As I understand it, your argument is that (in the absence of any explicit commandment to gather for worship on Sunday,) the Scripture *implies* both that the church made a habit of gathering on Sunday, and that the church ought to gather on Sunday.

We should note that the first practice of the church, following Pentecost, was to meet daily, in the Temple and in private homes, as recorded in Acts 2:46. The location info is especially helpful for proper interpretation of these daily gatherings, since we can see they were not gatherings of the entire church, unless we suppose that there existed multiple private homes capable of hosting upwards of 3,000 people at once.

I grant that it is interesting to see references to “the first day of the week,” especially as we do not see mentions of “the third day of the week” or “the fifth day of the week.” On the other hand, we do see a number of references to the final day of the week, using the label “sabbath.” Throughout Acts, the apostles are often preaching daily, with the weekly (Mosaic) sabbath as a prime opportunity.

To claim that “the Lord’s day” must refer to a particular day of the week is essentially begging the question. Another possible interpretation is that “the Lord’s day” refers to the same eschatological moment elsewhere called “the day of the Lord,” “the day of the Lord Jesus,” “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ,” “the day of Jesus Christ,” the “the day of Christ,” and even “the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.” That this future time is referred to with so many slightly different phrases makes it easy to suppose that “the Lord’s day” is yet another permutation. The preponderance of textual evidence is really against your usage.

Finally, my question: do you believe observing Sunday as sabbath is a commandment which Christians are morally obligated to obey? I imagine if we conducted a survey of readers of your blog, asking them “what precisely does Doug believe?” we would get a variety of responses. Is Sunday sabbath absolutely binding, equivalent to the prohibition against idolatry? Is it generally binding, but with exceptions? Or just generally recommended?

Nathan

Doesn’t the practice of the the 5-day work week with 2-day weekends also violate the Sabbath command, in that work is only done for 5 days instead of the required 6, and shouldn’t those who take a two-day weekend also be guilty of violating the Fourth Commandment?

GH

11 Theses on the Glory of the Lord’s Day

The first day of the week is also known in Scripture as the 8th day. Here are some of the examples of 8th day observance in the Old Testament (as types of the new creation and finished work of Christ) from Robert Haldane’s commentary on Romans.

Genesis 17:12 circumcision: a seal of righteousness fulfilled by Christ’s finished work on the 1st (8th) day of the week

Leviticus 9:1 consecration of Aaron and his sons completed on the 8th day

Leviticus 14:10; 15:14-29 cleansing from leprosy and issues (typical of sin) took place on the 8th day

Numbers 6:10 atonement was made for the Nazarite who was defiled on the 8th day

2 Chronicles 7:9 on the 8th day the dedication of Solomon’s temple was completed and the ark placed therein

2 Chronicles 29:17-20 on the 8th day Hezekiah sanctified the house of the Lord; on the 16th day (2nd 8th) worship was completed

Ezekiel 43:27 in Ezekiel’s vision of the Redeemer’s kingdom, the peace and burnt offerings are accepted by the Lord on the 8th day

Numbers 29:35 Feast of Tabernacles consummated on the 8th day by the offering of the one sacrifice

Leviticus 23:11-15 sheaf of first fruits accepted on the 8th day, a type of Christ’s resurrection

In the New Testament on the 8th day:

-Jesus is received as firstborn from the dead

-His sacrifice was accepted

-As great High Priest he was consecrated forevermore

-Jesus made atonement for his people, by which they are cleansed from sin

The 8th day is the day on which God rested from His works of redemption and of the new creation, which He has called the Lord’s day.

Heidi

Just wanted to pass a link along to my podcast. I started it for my autistic 5-year-old son because he loves listening to me read books. His current favorite is your daughter, Rachel’s, newest book, Sir Badalot. Just hoping you can pass it along to her.

I don’t monetize these . . . I understand I didn’t seek permission for this recording. I am recording these for an audience of one: my son. They’ve become a big hit at our local children’s hospital among the speech therapy staff. Just hoping they might benefit a wider audience.

All the best.

Tim

I wanted to run a hypothesis by you and get your opinion since it was much inspired by your work on preterism. I hung onto your idea of the 40 years between Christ’s ascension and the Fall of Jerusalem being this passing of the baton between the Old and New Covenants.

The short version of this idea is that Matthew 24.31 “And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” meant that the Gospel reached all the Jews in all parts of the world they were in, thereby giving each member of the Old Covenant the chance to receive the promise of the Messiah and thus be gathered into Jesus and his church before the fall of Jerusalem (And the passing of the Old Covenant). So that all the Jews, from the western part of China to those in Spain to those in Ethiopia would have heard the gospel before the year 70.

This idea was motivated by the following factors:

1. Reading a lot of Jewish material, the Rabbis deny that Jesus could have been the Messiah because he didn’t accomplish the Messiah’s mission of gathering the righteous Jews into Israel. Interestingly, they also identify the suffering servant of Isaiah 51 as the nation of Israel itself, and this was the moment that it snapped: Christ is Israel, the church is identified with Christ’s own body the same way that the Old Testament saints are identified with Jacob’s/Israel’s body. So if the righteous Jews of the New Covenant are gathered into Jesus they are gathered into Israel. This typological solution seems to me much better than thinking the land of Israel was point of Abraham’s promise.

2. The parables associated with the Olivet discourse (the 10 virgins, the talents), the constant comparison with Noah’s cataclysm and the language of Revelations (3.10 for example) seem to give a very expansive and universal meaning to both the trials and the judgments that were to come in the “end of the age.” A futurist has an easy interpretation for that, but if a preterist expands the meaning of such judgment to all of the Jewish world (or the Jews in the whole world) it seems to me to fit quite well with the scope of the passages. In particular the Jewish converts would suffer under the persecution of the synagogue everywhere and all such trials would result in judgement to the unbelieving persecutors and vindication to the Jewish Christians (The scope is even further expanded by including the Roman persecution of Nero).

3. Both the New Testament (in Acts 17.6, Romans 1.8) and Eusebius Church History II.3.1 (and many more) seem to indicate that during these 40 years (the book of Acts plus some) “the Gospel illuminated the whole world” using both the word “kosmos” and “oikoumene”. It confirms the words of Jesus in Matthew 24.14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” and it would be a problem if it meant what we mean today by “the whole world”, because the Gospel never got to the Americas or Japan in this period. But if it meant, the “inhabited world” and more specifically the known world to the Jews, it would not be too far off to propose it actually did reach the whole thing. Paul probably got to go on his voyage to Spain (the most Western land known to the Jews), Philip got to preach to an Ethiopian official that probably spread the Gospel around all the Jews and proselytes of sub-Saharan Africa, and Eusebius tells us about the disciples that went Eastward to Babylon and possibly as far as China.

4. A great number of the unbelieving Jews were brought by God himself to Jerusalem, from all parts of the world (Josephus talks about the city having 10x its population during the siege) to suffer the aforementioned judgement in the Jewish wars of 66-73, and one of the biggest Jewish colony outside Israel at the time, Cyrene, was also destroyed by the Romans as the war in Judea inspired other Jews to rebel (Told in the last chapter of Josephus’ “Jewish Wars”), which leads me to speculate that many other local judgements might have taken place across the empire and into Parthia.

5. Jesus’ primary mission to the apostles was to “seek the lost sheep of Israel”, and the text of Matthew 10.23 says “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes,” which can be interpreted to mean “when you reach the last jewish town, then the Son of Man will come.” Verse 10.15 is also important since it would establish a particular responsibility of the Jewish towns to receive the Gospel of Christ different from the Gentile ones. Thus only the Jews would receive such temporal and corporative judgment for the rejection of the Gospel *in the first century*.

6. As to the specific language of the verse, I take “the elect”/”eklektous” to mean what it means in the Septuagint: the Jews, “the elect/chosen people of God”, I take the “four winds” to mean what it means Zachariah 2.6, i.e. the dispersion of the Jews throughout the whole world/oikoumene. The “angels” could be both understood as the apostles and disciples themselves as “messengers” or the supernatural workings of God’s ministers as in Acts 8.39 to overcome the impossible geographical distances involved.

I’m really attracted to this idea that God would have had searched the whole world to not leave a single covenant member behind, before declaring the mission of the Old Israel complete and proceed to remove it (Hebrews 8.13).

Am I far off? Has anyone already written extensively on that?

Rafael

I am tremendously blessed, encouraged, spurred onward by your writing—and all the more so recently thanks to the Canon+ App. Simply wanted to pass along an anecdote that reminded me of your recent experience in the snow (snow falling off trees, while you were listening to the coming of spring to Narnia):

Very early one recent morning I was shoveling 15” of snow out of my driveway, since my snow blower was broken. I was listening to your sermon series on Ecclesiastes and you were emphasizing “vanity” as Solomon’s description of inscrutable repetition. Just as I tossed aside the last shovelful, the city snowplow barged through and refilled the driveway I had cleared. I simply stood there in the dark and laughed out loud for a good 30 seconds or so, per your encouragement. And then I started over. Praise God for that gift.

Alec

Thank you for all your YouTube videos, I find them excellent teachings. I don’t have a church I attend and really appreciate what you do. Especially on dealing with gay and trans people I come in contact with here in Southern California . . . it was getting to the point I didn’t want to go out anywhere in my local community because it is starting to be everywhere.

I just had one question on your video about “when false teachers strut,” I think episode 22. Around the 30 min. mark you start talking about the crucified Christ, and if I’m not mistaken, you said the Roman’s broke Christ’s legs to aid in suffocation. As I’m sure you know, they pierced him with a spear and considered him dead- because no bones were broken on our savior, going along with prophecy.

Please let me know if I got this wrong. Thank you again for everything you and your church do.

Thank you and God Bless,

Tom

On “Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning”

I remember reading your book on classical education and tut-tutting your description of reading recovery being a judgment from God as the musing of an ignorant republican who believes whatever Fox News says rather than reading research. I now know I was wrong. I used similar materials to reading recovery that taught what is called “the 3 cuing” system which has been receiving a well deserved thrashing even in secular education for years now. I never knew that what I was doing was flawed, after all I sought out and read big textbooks about teaching reading that used all sorts of complicated words to justify flawed methodology.

In my defense, the reading materials produced by the “incidental phonics”/guided reading camp actually were really useful as read aloud books for language learners. The simple repetitive sentences supported by pictures are incredibly useful for language learning, and I still read them to my classes. I just don’t use them to teach kids to read anymore. I taught overseas for years and the phonics materials that I had encountered were utter trash. They made no sense, included no systematic review and got way too hard, way too fast. They may have fit native English speakers or ESL kids living in an English-speaking country, but they did not fit Chinese learners in China. Every single word has to be explained in my context.

So after I had a child I knew I had to teach him to read myself and I used a phonics program. As I saw what worked with my son, I modified my teaching with my students. Then, because the commercial phonics programs here are mostly trash, and the good stuff that my son uses doesn’t fit language learners, I wrote my own phonics program with decodable readers and started distributing it here in China.

I just want to say, I feel sorry for telling others you are an ignorant republican who believes Fox News. I now know I was wrong. I mean, even the New York Times is writing about how the systemic phonics advocates were right all along. When I think of all that time I wasted learning to apply debunked theories I just say jeepers . . .

Joel

Thanks for your ministry. God has used you mightily in my life. This one isn’t about one of your posts, but about a principal post. We’ve begun a small school here in eastern NC that is seeking to bring robust classical Christian education to lower-income families in the prayer that it will be transformative for our community. However, so far we’re getting zero candidates for the principal role with any classical experience. Since we’re not yet part of ACCS (hopefully in the future), we can’t post job openings through them. But we are eager to connect with someone with a strong biblical worldview, classical chops, and a heart for the poor. The search process has been frustrating so far. If you have any direction you can point me, I’d be most obliged. Thanks.

Justin

Hello Doug, greetings from Argentina! I would like to know if you recommend Hans Orberg’s method, Lingua latina per se ilustrata, for parents without any instruction in Latin, and who are educating their children in CC. I saw you recommend it on Wordsmithy. Anyway, I await your response . . .

Joaquín

Firstly, just want to thank you for all your content, which has been an absolute blessing!

Knowing that you’re a C.S. Lewis fan (and a Space Trilogy fan at that), I’m wondering if I can pick your brain about The Dark Tower and the controversy surrounding it (apparently being an unfinished work by Lewis, but some believe a forgery by Walter Hooper). Have you read The Dark Tower? And what are your thoughts on all that controversy?

God bless,

Jesse

Re: This Carnival of Claptrap

Hey brother, in this post, you helpfully point out the necessity of Christian consensus to the classical liberal order. At the end, you point out the need for preaching a “hot” gospel. I’ve seen you use that phrase, hot gospel, many times. Exactly what do you mean by that?

Thanks!

Chaz