Letters for Times That Try Men’s Souls

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A Dead Constitution?

Is the Constitution as Dead as that Parrot?
This spring, I had the privilege of attending a course offered by Patriot Academy called Biblical Citizenship. It is free and my father and I watched it with a group of our neighbors. Our Constitution, as the Founding Fathers knew it, has been dead since at least the Woodrow Wilson era. I highly recommend the course for anyone interested in learning how the Founding Fathers really thought. It introduced me to the writings of Revered John Wise, whose writings on church governance influenced the Declaration of Independence. I read his Vindication of the Government of New England Churches and found it highly edifying.
Long story short, if you sign up to be a Constitution Coach (which is free), you can watch the 8-video lecture series. Here is the link:

Ariel

Ariel, thank you.

Keeping Current?

You have answered this question before in a few places, but I cannot seem to remember where. What news outlets/sources do you use for current events and news updates? Thank you!

Colten

Colten, I quit reading the newspaper many years ago. In the transition from that there have been stages, but the way I get my news now is a combination. I frequently hear that something has happened in my Twitter feed, and I also regularly check aggregator sites like Instapundit. And then if I want to watch bits of speeches, or exchanges, I can do that with YouTube.

AI Stuff

Thank you so much for this blog and for all the great content that y’all put out of Moscow! I really do appreciate it so much. Last year you did a post on ChatGPT and it was really helpful to me. This article was just released last week. Didn’t know if you were aware of it. I think that it is an extensive and thoughtful handling of the topic of having a Christian Perspective towards AI. Full disclosure: my husband wrote it. :)

Annie

Annie, thank you. And please thank your husband for us.

Answering a Fool

Sir, in the absurdities of our current culture, I wonder about when & how Christians either should, or should not, “answer the fools according to their folly.”
For instance, when I consider an employee in a company where it is encouraged to identify your preferred pronouns (in email signatures, lapel labels, door signs, etc.) . . .
Should a Christian answer the fools according to their folly, and go on record to state, “My preferred pronoun is ‘his majesty,’ ‘his holiness,'” “mjxcugjqiirt”, or the like . . . to demonstrate the absurdity by answering according to their folly . . .?
Or should a Christian refrain from even dignifying the nonsense in any way whatsoever, refraining from any participation in such ungodly nonsense, so as to NOT answer the fools according to their folly?

Daniel

Daniel, I think that it varies. The reasons given in Proverbs are varied—lest you become like them, and lest they be wise in their own eyes. If you can avoid the former danger and succeed in the latter task, then go for it. If not, then not.

John Piper on Faith Alone

You’ve recently mentioned John Piper’s latest book and the criticism he’s faced. You wrote:“I am closer to Piper than to his critics, although I do think there is a category mistake going on.”
Could you further share your thoughts on this whole thing? Where is Piper wrong?
There are quite a few in the “Reformed” world, especially in Escondido, who claim that Piper’s views on Justification are identical to Rome’s. If I recall, this article actually restarted the whole confusion and not the book.

John

John, I don’t know enough details of John’s reasoning to say that he is “wrong.” But I definitely see a category confusion from his critics, the same confusion that was in evidence when people came after me in the FV days. The issue is not whether anything else comes alongside faith to help appropriate imputed righteousness. Of course not. The issue is “what are the constituent elements of a living faith.” The Westminster says that justifying faith is not a dead faith. So what does it mean for faith to be alive. Just as a living eyeball sees, so also a living faith does . . . what? Well, it trusts. And does trusting have an affectional element? Of course.

Difficult Care Giving

Thank you, Pastor Wilson, for your reply. I should have clarified, there is very little physical work. She may be over 100, but she does not need any assistance apart from her meals and making sure supplies are readily available and the house is clean. What I am struggling with is her very subtle emotional sabotage. I love her, but I have not liked her as a person since my teens; and now I’m beginning to hate her and I don’t want that to happen.
Thank you for the counseling link. I’m looking forward to contacting them soon. God bless.

GRD

GRD, I would also recommend Joe Rigney’s recent book Leadership and Emotional Sabotage, and the sermon he preached for us two Sundays ago, applying the ideas to situations closer to home.

Now There’s a Thought

I wondered whether your Session might hold its June meeting in Eagle, ID, at the Old State Saloon in honor of its recognition of Heterosexual Awesomeness Month. You could wear matching t-shirts emblazoned with Proverbs 16:18. (It would be even more fun to purchase them from Amazon.) For the devotion, consider something like “Genesis and Guinness” or “Haggai and Rye”. It is a bit of a drive, so probably requires an overnight stay.
As always,

John

John, thanks. We are always on the lookout for good ideas . . .
Why wasn’t there consternation in the early church over the baptism of women? If circumcision is Old Covenant sign, and baptism is New, why wasn’t there a council to decide to include women?
This appears to be an argument from silence similar to the paedo argument from silence “If Jewish Christians suddenly had to cut out their kids, we would have heard about it.”
My husband—a godly man and a godly father—is firmly credo, and I joyfully submit in this even as I appeal to the Lord to change his mind. He asked me this question, as well as asking the elders at our CREC church, but no one has answered in a way that scratches his particular itch. He asked me to ask you . . . so here it is.

JS

JS, I believe there was not a ruckus because baptism did not signify their inclusion. Women as women had always been included by the representation of circumcision. Thus they were not in the same position as the Gentiles were, needing to be brought near. They had always been near. In addition, the Jews practiced ceremonial washings or baptisms, which had always included the women. Thus, when baptism replaced circumcision, including the women was a natural step, attended by no controversy. “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women” (Acts 8:12).

Resources on Anxiety

I have a quick question for a well-read man like yourself. I’m in the very early stages of writing a book on anxiety and more specifically the biblical antidote to it. One angle I’m thinking of tackling it is from that of our bodies and how our bodies relate to the anxiety we may feel.
I recently purchased Wonderfully Made: A Protestant Theology of the Body by John Kleinig and am wondering if you have any book recommendations in a similar vein?—either related to anxiety specifically or on gaining a better theological understanding of our bodies in general.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

Caleb

Caleb, I am afraid I don’t know of any books. But we can crowd source the question. Anybody?

Gospel-Centered Failure

I am a little late to this conversation, sorry. I heard you on Christ Over All podcast and you mentioned something like the failure of the Gospel-Centered movement. Can you point me to either some of your blogs on that or some other articles, or better yet some books on this? I have heard this from the boys in Ogden too and am curious. Thank you in advance.

Jon

Jon, here would be a couple of sources—here and here.

Ministry Minded

Not about any post in particular, but just a general question: I’m in my late 30’s, a husband to a beautiful wife, a father of two, and I have a desire to be in the ministry. Canon plus, and much of your work, has helped me to identify areas in my life where I did not meet the qualifications for elder, and I’m seeking to repent and bring honor to Christ in those areas. But without having to go into debt for thousands of dollars to go to seminary, are there ways I could, for lack of a better term, autodidact my way into the necessary education? Thank you again for your ministry.

B

B, yes, there are ways to do that, but your ability to implement what you have learned will depend on what kind of church context you want to labor in. If you want eventually to serve as a pastor, most churches will be looking for more education than the books you have read. That can sometimes happen if you are the one planting the church, or if you are in a church with a low ecclesiology. But if you are in a church with higher standards, you are probably going to need some form of formal training. Now if you are simply looking to make yourself useful in the body, say, by teaching a Sunday School class, then start studying. That would be a good path to becoming a ruling elder, etc.

It Depends

What would you say to a Christian who says, “People should not get married unless they are ready to have a baby”?
Thank you, Pastor.

C

C, I would say it depends. If they are talking about being emotionally or spiritually ready for a baby, then I agree they shouldn’t get married. If you are not ready for a baby spiritually, then you are certainly not ready for a woman. But if it is something more like “Bob has one more year of med school, and then we are praying for a passel of kids . . .” that would be different.

The Number of the Saved

Thank you for taking the time to answer my previous questions. I have a follow up question. When you say you believe the overwhelming majority of people will be saved, do you think even the majority of people on earth now will be saved? Or did you mean, since we are in the early church, as time goes on and the church grows on the earth, eventually the amount of people who are saved will far surpass the people who are not saved?
I am asking because I’ve been listening to Dr. James Jordan on Canon+ and he mentioned in “Reading the Bible for the First Time Again” the difference between the sin of intentional transgression of God’s law and the sin that comes from being deceived (sin of Adam, sin of Eve). Also, this article from the Theopolis Institute further convinced me that the Lord is more merciful than I ever imagined and that maybe the Lord does forgive those who don’t know what they are doing?? Is what I am saying heretical?!?! Any help is very much appreciated!

Caroline

Caroline, I do believe God is far more merciful than we can understand, but from your original two choices, I would pick the second. When the world is successfully evangelized, and billions of people are saved, and that goes on century after century, we will be able to say, comparatively, that the whole world was saved.
In your 5/28/2024 Letters Edited in the UK, you stated that you believe “the world, meaning the overwhelming majority of human beings, will be saved.” How does this jive with the common Reformed refrain that salvation is through faith in Jesus alone (and the many supporting Bible versus such as Eph. 2:8-9 and Gal. 2:16)? In our current context, the overwhelming majority of human beings on the earth certainly do not even pretend to have this saving faith. Through what mechanism will they be saved? Regards,

DKH

DKH, please see the answer to the previous letter. You are right that this is not the case now, which means we have a lot of work before us. “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4:13). The whole world will come to faith.

Starting Seminary

I am getting ready to start seminary soon and was just wondering if you have any advice for a new seminarian. It has been 5 years since I graduated with my bachelor’s.
I finished my second read through of Ploductivity and it was helpful but just curious if you have any specific advice for this time of life.
I will be attending RES online. I am married, 2 daughters, my wife stays home, I work full time, and serve as a deacon at my church alongside preaching and teaching youth every week.
Thanks

Sam

Sam, always remember that your family is your principal qualification for ministry. After that, add the books.

Thoughts on a Book?

Thoughts on Andrew Wilson’s “Remaking the World: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West” ?

Kyle

Kyle, sorry, I am not familiar. But from the subtitle, I suspect there would be differences. I agree we fell away after the Founding, just as I agree that William here flunked out of tenth grade. But he did pass ninth grade, and I would dissent from the idea that we should blame the dropout rate on the last class that we successfully navigated.

Paedo Credo

Recently revisiting all available media re: the credo/paedobaptism debate, I appreciate James White’s disposition and rigor, though I believe him to be ultimately incorrect.
Trying to tackle this from an alternate perspective—what do you understand as the credobaptist stakes in this debate? I mean really. If baptism isn’t salvific ex operato (which no orthodox position holds), is this not an inside fight which ought to compel fellow covenant members toward a similar position as Bayly’s Evangel presbytery?
Cheers.

Joe

Joe, I am sorry, and need to ask you to amplify. Are you asking about credo communion, or something else?

Time Prices

Your post today on Time Prices should be reposted every Thanksgiving, every Earth Day, and every time someone uses the word “overpopulation” in conversation. It’s downright cheery stuff, Doug. Downright happy clappy, if i may be so bold.

Nathan

Nathan, thank you.
Re: Time Prices I always found the analogy of human output to a light bulb very interesting and useful.
A decent cyclist can put out 100 Watts
In my home right now—9 – 100 Watt bulbs are lit up.
The furnace is on—converting 400 Watts of natural gas into heat into heat.
My wife is boiling the kettle to make some tea = 1200 Watts
The AC is keeping the house cool = 1000 Watts.
If all this power came from cyclists—I would need 35 decent cyclists.
Or more servants than many kings had.

Murk

Murk, yes. And thanks.
Time Prices was a very provocative post, thank you. There is a crushing poverty in this “wealthy” generation of college students to whom I am called to be a mentor and a light. I put “wealthy” in scare quotes, because their wealth reminds me of Christ’s warning to the Laodicean church. I pondered a bit how your analysis fits into that relativization of wealth. Given that many of our current students have lost both confidence and interest in the impoverished experiences of what has been offered to them as Christianity, fishing for these people has meant that a lot of the work of a professor like myself is finding attractive lures that will entice a nibble. With respect to time, there is a lot of work to do in one direction, and with respect to technology there is a lot of work to do in another. These students largely have no concept of anything like a Sabbath practice that opens up ways of experiencing time as a gift to receive as a member of a community. While they are hungry for lives of meaning and purpose, they have no idea how to proceed in constructing such a life, and when they realize the kind of intention and effort and yes, time, that such an enterprise involves, they easily talk themselves out of participation. Too much of an imposition, too much effort, there’s got to be an easier way. They also have no moral framework by which to discern when using technology to “save time” is unwise or unethical vs. when it is a gift which allows other deeply beneficial blessings, both material and spiritual, to be received. Your post only went so far to providing help for those of us fishing for people in these waters. A follow up post with some ideas for engaging these challenges would be appreciated, if any such tools come to mind.
Thanks,

Michelle

Michelle, thank you. Good suggestion.
On Time Prices:
Having not read Gilder’s book or Pooley’s, I am limited as to what I can say here. Context is key, and an entire book or two is much more context than a blog post. Having lived my adult life dealing with economic relationships, I am not so limited as to what I think about this.
I think, on the surface, this blog post and some of the quotations sets up a nice straw man. Perhaps it doesn’t, but that’s what I think . . . at least for now. I have no debate with comparing a modern LED bulb with its lumens and longevity against 700 tallow candles and the amount of work I have to do to acquire a light bulb vs what a peasant serf must work to get his lifetime supply of lighting. But that’s altogether too easy.
The general argument might not be the same if we compare my “time price” to acquire light vs my selfsame “time price” 30 years ago. I made less money back then, but the light bulb (as I recall) only cost $1 for a four-pack. The bulbs have increased in cost by a factor of 5—even for incandescent bulbs . . . to keep the apples together with the other apples—but my gross income has not increased by that same factor.
It’s also a bit of a straw man, IMO, to focus mostly on technology. As you pointed out, there was no amount of love or money that would have bought our poor serf a dose of penicillin in the 1300s. Or an iPhone, or an F250. But he could have bought bread. But that’s all still too easy. What about the price of bread in 1980? Less than $1, if I recall correctly. This too had quintupled, but not my salary.
Even using my salary tricky. I am in an executive position, and not everyone of my age is. Some are millionaires, while others are blue-collar factory workers. So, in the end, there really is a level of subjective reality to this. Bread, gasoline, utilities, rent, light bulbs . . . everything has quintupled (or more!) in our lifetime, but our purchasing power has not kept pace. And for those who are making $40k a year (yes, a king’s ransom in the 1300s), they have seen themselves become poorer over time. Compared to what is exactly the right question. Compared to the medieval age, stop complaining. Compared to your neighbors, stop complaining. But compared to 50 years ago in America . . . this is a valid complaint.
If there’s any envy, it’s envy of yesteryear. We all want 50-cent gasoline and $1 four-packs of light bulbs. Then our $40k salary would actually feel like the king’s ransom we’re told it is. And our wives wouldn’t have to work to supplement that income, just like she didn’t have to back in the ’80s.
But . . . context is key. Perhaps all of this is well covered in both Gilder’s and Pooley’s books. Perhaps I should read them to gain a fuller picture of the argument for Time Pricing. But in my lifetime, it really does seem like we have had to work longer hours to maintain par.

Andy

Andy, yes. The comparison can be made with centuries ago, but it can also be made for the time when I was a kid—which Gilder and Pooley do address.

The Nationalism Part

I am thoroughly supportive of the Christian Nationalist movement and theonomic principles, but my question regards an apparent discrepancy between the overtly national focus of this movement and our simultaneous stance on the original purpose of the Constitution as an establishment of a federation of sovereign states, and with that, the rectitude of the Southern argument for the constitutionality of secession during the War Between the States. I’ve heard you say before, “I don’t want globalism, and I don’t want tribalism, so I want nationalism,” implying, if I understand correctly, (and judging by the cover picture on Stephen Wolfe’s 𝘊𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘮) the “nation” of the United States. But I’ve also heard you say in discussions about the Constitutional Convention that the anti-federalists were afraid that ratifying the Constitution would suggest that we would be creating a “nation,” to which the federalists responded by assuring them that we were specifically 𝘯𝘰𝘵 doing such a thing, but simply covenanting together in a mutually beneficial federation of sovereign states.
I understand that the CN movement encompasses all parts of civic government, submitting everything—local, state, and federal government—to the Lordship of Christ. But I do not think we’ve been clear on whether we are campaigning for one big Christian nation or 50 sovereign Christian mini-nations. We seem to be accepting the modern, centralized, Union conception of the Constitution.
I feel like we need to have a clear stance on this question: Do we want a “the United States 𝘪𝘴,” or do we want to go back to “the United States 𝘢𝘳𝘦?” Every time I hear one of our guys mention the United States, it’s usually followed by 𝘪𝘴…

David

David, I am with you. I do not believe a country the size of ours can be genuinely free apart from a robust federalism. That should be one of the goals.

Yes, But

Do you have a study Bible you’d recommend? Thanks.

Nathan

Nathan, I don’t use study Bibles for reading, but I do use them to look particular questions up, using them the same way you would use a Bible dictionary or a commentary. That said, the ESV study Bible is handy.

An FV Covenant Question

I want to say again that I appreciate your ministry and am grateful for the clarity you give on a various range of topics. My email here is for seeking clarity concerning your view of the covenant.
Concerning your response to Kevin DeYoung in regards to FV you stated—in your first agreement—that you “[are] not mono-covenantal.”
At the start of chapter 7 in “Reformed” Is Not Enough there is this definition that you give for your view of the covenant.
“Christians tend to understand covenantal history in one of two ways. Either God has made one basic covenant with men throughout history, or He has made more than one—possibly many. As well shall see Scripture teaches that there is only one covenantal history which we may call the covenant of grace. In the New Testament, we see the (final) scriptural name for this covenant is the New Covenant.”
It appears that you are saying two things here. How do you reconcile the two statements? Were you previously mono-covenantal and now are not?
Gratitude,

Joshua

Joshua, we are looking at two different subjects. This quotation is talking about one covenantal reality throughout all redemptive history, over against dispensationalism, which divides human history up into distinct administrations. For that, the Reformed view is that all of postlapsarian history is one covenant of grace. In that sense, I would be monocovenantal. But when I denied being monocovenantal, I was denying that the covenant with Adam before the fall was all of a piece with what followed.

Sexualism

Merriam-Webster.com defines sexualism and sexualist, respectively, as, “an emphasis upon sex or sexuality as a major concern” and “one who explains phenomena by sexuality.”
Consistent with your encouragement to define the terms, I suggest that going forward we refer to so called LGBTQ persons and their supporters as sexualists and adherents to sexualism. This avoids conceding to them their desired minority status and properly identifies their behavior and those of their heterosexual supporters as expressions of a chosen ideology which can be overcome by Jesus’s gospel.
Godspeed!

Christian

Christian, thanks. Good thought.

A Sabbath Question

In the small Banner of Truth book ‘The Christian Sabbath’, it states, “If we shop, buy gasoline, frequent restaurants, watch athletic events, we are hiring people to serve us, wait on us, or entertain us, and thereby robbing them of the potential of Sabbath rest.” Do you think this is a valid train of thought that we ought to consider in Sabbath observance?

Chris

Chris, yes and no. I do believe that in a sabbath-keeping town, the Lord’s Day would not be “business as usual” in the public square. The pace should be entirely different. But there is a danger in the other direction as well. This line of thought could prohibit driving your family out into the countryside for a restful picnic because that would involve starting the car, and the Scripture prohibit “igniting a fire” on the sabbath. Take care both directions. The Lord’s collisions with the Pharisees frequently revolved around their tight-shoed version of sabbath breaking.

Ambition

“Ambition and Plowing in Hope”
This was helpful. I discussed in my theology class that the modern church sees “ambition” much way the medieval catholic church viewed “lust.” Just as the latter associated all desire for a mate with lust, so today the evangelical church views all ambition as greed. The occasionally right (but unholy) Ayn Rand gave us a decent litmus test. “A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not the desire to beat others.” And a righteous man must be a creative man.

Luke

Luke, yes. Thank you.
In your post on Ambition I’m surprised you didn’t mention 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
The kind of reshaping of Greco Roman society that would be required in order to allow someone who worked with their own hands to live a quiet life apart from the desperate political struggles of the urban jungles, would not be realized for the nobility until the mid 1600’s and was only briefly seen for the actual working class during the 1870-1930’s in the US. This is the greatest ambition in the history of the world, requiring achievements in abundance and safety of the community that would have been almost almost unimaginable to Paul’s initial audience.
Having read American Milk and Honey, I thought that’s where you were going. And since you didn’t go there, I thought I would commend the idea to you.
This is the greatest ambition in the history of the world and I would contend that the American experiment is really nothing more than a proof of concept. We still need to get the minimum viable product built and shown that it can be scaled.
We have faith and hope that it can be of course, but there is a very specific glory that we are aiming for.
I would love to hear your take on this.

Gregory

Gregory, I am surprised I didn’t mention that passage also. I really like your line of thought here, and agree with it entirely.

Crude?

Re: “Envy, Malice, Bitterness & the Moscow Mood…” Pastor, was there not a less crude and crass phrase you could have used rather than “get laid” in making an otherwise relevant point? I daresay Mrs. Wilson and even Dr. Ransom may have raised an eyebrow or three upon reading that.

Zenas

Zenas, I think we might be appealing to two different sets of connotations. I was not attempting to be crude there, but rather colloquial. Apologies if it hit you wrong, which was not the intention of the author.

A Challenge

God has blessed me and edified me richly through your ministry and through your counsel to me through this blog. I once again ask your counsel on a matter.
My wife and I have been married for just over a year now. Due to our circumstances and a gap of time between jobs and starting school, we are living with my in-laws for a short period of time. We are thankful for the blessing of family at this time. However, my father-in-law is a man with a short temper. This has never been directed at me and, since we were married has not been directed at my wife, it is not uncommon to hear him from anywhere in the house yelling and cussing at a game on TV, projects, etc. Most often, it is manifested towards my mother-in-law in escalating quickly to raising of the voice and exasperated tone when she misunderstands him or when communication is otherwise unclear. I find his behavior to quite often be in violation of Colossians 3:19, and as far as I have seen he is not at all remorseful of his harshness. My wife and her mother generally seem to attribute this behavior to depression, anxiety, and related problems, with which he has legitimately struggled. As such, my wife has expressed a desire that I not speak with him so as to not exacerbate those issues. However, sitting by while this behavior is not addressed biblically with a call to repentance does not sit well with me. How would you advise that I deal with this situation in a way that shows respect for my father-in-law?
Thank you for your commitment to God’s Word.

Anonymous

Anonymous, on the assumption that none of this calls for a direct intervention, or for calling the cops, I would suggest that you sit tight for the moment. You are not in a good position to be heard, and this has obviously been going on for years. I would encourage you to wait until you are out on your own, and then to take your father-in-law to lunch in order to talk with him about it. And I would approach him this way: “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father . . .” (1 Timothy 5:1).

But Why Wait?

In discussing biblical marriage, I have heard you say that in order to have a real marriage, there must be both a public exchange of vows and a sexual consummation of the marriage. Regarding the sexual consummation, is it important for the bride and groom to prioritize consummating the marriage immediately or should they just let it happen whenever it happens even if that is a few days after the wedding ceremony? My understanding is that in biblical times, after a wedding ceremony, the bride and groom would immediately go to consummate the marriage and the bloody bed sheet might even be brought out as proof of the woman’s virginity. In contrast to this, in talking to some of the older married men at my church, I have heard some of them say that the bride and groom should not expect to have sex on their wedding night at all because they will be tired from the wedding, with some of them even saying that the bride and groom should agree ahead of time that they won’t have sex on the wedding night. Is it a reasonable biblical expectation to expect to consummate the marriage on the wedding night or is that an unreasonable expectation, as some of these men seemed to suggest to me?
Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Will

Will, I think these older gents are giving bad advice. Of course the expectation is for the evening to conclude with a sexual consummation. And also of course God can providentially hinder this if somebody comes down with a bad case of the flu. But in all ordinary circumstances, I can’t see any good reason for waiting.

An Optical Illusion

I noticed that you read 25 books or so in January of 2023. My question is simple. How in the world did you do this? Do you sleep or eat?
Please instruct me. I would like to be so diligent.
Kindly and with thankfulness,

Will

Will, there is an optical illusion involved. My goal is to average two books a week, and I generally am a little bit ahead of that. So at the end of the year, when I have hit my 104, I deliberately drag my feet on finishing whatever books I am reading at that time so as to finish them out in the next calendar year. That enables me to finish a spate of books in January, giving that month a false footing for pride. That month is just a buffer in case I can’t read anything in July. So if I finish 25 books in January,. that is technically true, but a more accurate number would be seen by looking at February or March.
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Jennifer Mugrage
6 months ago

Books about the body and anxiety: -Age of Anxiety (a memoir – not by a Christian, but instructive about how some people seem to be “wired” for it more than others) -The Body Keeps the Score (written from a modern therapeutic perspective. You might not wish to read all of it, but enough to get the idea that people who have been through severe trauma often develop chronic health problems that they don’t even realize are connected.) -The Highly Sensitive Person (again, not by a Christian – kind of Jungian in fact – but the thesis is that some people… Read more »

elizabeth
elizabeth
6 months ago

I disagree and why are you citing non-christian sources…? You can get traumatized and or robbed like anyone else…..give me a break! this is just so she could air how much she really looks down on those less fortunate…. snob much!

Jennifer Mugrage
6 months ago
Reply to  elizabeth

I’m confused by your comment. I didn’t make any assertions for you to disagree with, just recommended some books that are out there. As for non-Christian sources, common grace allows non-Christians to gain some insights from their own life experiences and research, and to write engagingly about it. Finally, I don’t know who “she” is in your comment. Is it me? I would think the books I recommended show a sympathy with people who experience anxiety, health problems, or the aftereffects of trauma. A few of the books I recommend are by female authors, so maybe “she” means one of… Read more »

Jennifer Mugrage
6 months ago

“Time Prices” was kind of hard to read. Although I knew intellectually that it was written to encourage gratitude, it reminded me strongly of the Christian-and-a-little-bit-Marxist context in which I was raised, where we were often told our standard of living was soooo high compared to both history and the Third World, the objective being to induce guilt and/or giving.

Nathan
Nathan
6 months ago

Not much out there that can’t be abused; blessings are no exception. That total depravity is pervasive and insidious, and we all get our various scars and tender spots from it.

I pray God will help you enjoy the blessings He has given and indeed, be generous, but only cheerfully, not guiltily.

Last edited 6 months ago by Nathan
Jennifer Mugrage
6 months ago
Reply to  Nathan

❤️

Joe
Joe
6 months ago

Credo/pedo clarification –

What to you understand the real contention of credobaptist brothers in the faith, to be re: infant baptism? All said and done, it appears disingenuous. The orthodox understanding and practice of PB is clear and voluminously articulated. The vehement response against PB looks like over-correcting for a potential error, and contended in bad faith. I don’t believe James White is in bad faith, but neither do I understand his “fatal flaw” in arguing against PB. Ergo, I conclude there must be some larger downstream (? non-sequitur) consequence. Otherwise, its bad faith.

Hoping that’s more clear and thx.

Josh
Josh
6 months ago
Reply to  Joe

I think most credobaptists view PB as:
-a downplaying of the importance of faith
-deliberate distortion of the Bible

Where a better understanding of a reform PB view is in play, the first point shouldn’t be such an issue.

I also wonder whether social dynamics have played a role. Baptists have historically endured a lot of persecution – that creates a very strong us/them mentality where the dividing issue is very clearly defined.

John Middleton
John Middleton
6 months ago
Reply to  Josh

Josh, as a Baptist I can tell you whatever persecution Baptists may have endured it has no bearing on why they are credobaptists, rather, the opposite is the case. History does, partly, explain Baptist insistence on free church and aversion to a state church, but not insistence on credobaptism. We are credobaptists because of what we believe baptism is.

Andy Trauger
Andy Trauger
6 months ago

@Will

I once heard a godly pastor explain it this way. The wedding ceremony is just that–ceremony. It is good, proper, and should be as glorious as can be afforded. What is more wonderful than this? What grander occasion can be imagined? The first and most incredible command God gave to us absolutely should be accompanied with pomp, decor, singing and dancing, prayers, and much wine shared by a cloud of friendly and familial witnesses.

But…if it were left to the groom, all that would happen in the motel parking lot.

Jake
Jake
6 months ago
Reply to  Andy Trauger

…and today, please.

If someone had suggested to me that we wait past the wedding night for no good reason, um, yeah, no. I don’t know that I’d have laughed out loud, but my assumption sure would have been that they were kidding. And “tired” as the reason to wait longer?! Are you kidding me? Land of Goshen, as Pastor Wilson would say.

Jane
Jane
6 months ago
Reply to  Jake

My reaction to the “tired” thing is — scale back the activities of the wedding day, leave the reception early and let the party continue without you, or any other choice that will enable you to be sufficiently energetic for the later festivities.

Consummating the marriage is an essential aspect of the wedding day — two hours of photos and four hours of dancing are not.

Last edited 6 months ago by Jane
John Middleton
John Middleton
6 months ago
Reply to  Jake

Maybe tired is what you get for waiting until late in life to marry?

James
James
6 months ago
Reply to  John Middleton

And the problem is, these days some people think you have to be almost perfect to marry

Dave
Dave
6 months ago
Reply to  John Middleton

No, but it is what I got for waiting until late in the day.

Zeph
6 months ago

Doug’s father wrote an essay about Anxiety. Jim Wilson. You should be able to get it through Canon Press. I think the essay is in the book, How To Be Free, by Jim and Bessie Wilson. If not there, CCM books

Fredrick
Fredrick
6 months ago
Reply to  Elliot

Glad to see someone included this rec by Matt LaPine. His “The Logic of the Body” does amazing work surveying neuroscience, Scripture, and historical theology to see how Christians have conceived of and engaged with the internal life of man. Some of it is deep waters, but it is certainly a worthwhile read in this vein. Two others come to mind for Caleb’s requested recs: * “Stress Fractures” by Chuck Swindoll. More pastoral/devotional in tone, but this was an excellent work on the topic of anxiety that blessed me in the past. * “Spurgeon’s Sorrows” by Zach Eswine. While it… Read more »

Jane
Jane
6 months ago

Though it’s not precisely on the same topic, I think you might find much in D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’s “Spiritual Depression” that might be helpful to a study of anxiety.

Jono Brooks
Jono Brooks
6 months ago

Doug, in your response to Joshua above concerning mono-covenantalism, you eneded your response with: “I was denying that the covenant with Adam before the fall was all of a piece with what followed.

What does “all of a piece of what followed” mean?
Was this an typo that should have read: “at all a piece of what followed”? With “what followed” = “the CoG”? Which means that the prelapsarian covenant wasn’t part of the CoG?

Jono Brooks
Jono Brooks
6 months ago
Reply to  Douglas Wilson

Thanks for the reply. That’s helpful. Can you help me out with understanding the importance of comparing the similarities of prelapsarian covenant with the CoG? I read Ralph Smith’s book “Eternal Covenant” (you recommended it somewhere, can’t remember where now…). In his dealing with the problems of the medieval concepts of merit applied to justification, Smith points out the similarities between the prelapsarian covenant with Adam and the New Covenant afforded by Christs’ death. In particular he points out “faithfulness” to the covenant was required of Adam and is required of the NC Christian as well in order to not… Read more »

Jono Brooks
Jono Brooks
5 months ago
Reply to  Douglas Wilson

A link or other resource would be fine. I’m trying to understand the connections here in regard to the CoW vs. CoG.

Shawn Paterson
Editor
Shawn Paterson
6 months ago

John,

Here’s an archive of good resources regarding Piper: http://www.thedailygenevan.com/blog/2017/2/17/mark-jones-on-justification-and-sanctification.

Jennifer Steward
Jennifer Steward
5 months ago

I think people forget that baptism wasn’t invented by Christians. It was part of ritual cleansing which women participated in most months of their adult lives. It was also part of the Jewish conversion process and since, prior to the destruction of Jersusalem, Christians were just considered a Jewish sect it was also incorporated into theirs. In short, there was no hubbub because it wasn’t anything new

Jacob
Jacob
5 months ago

Caleb, I would really recommend reading The Illness and Cure of the Soul in the Orthodox Tradition, by Hierotheos Vlachos. It was a profound work that the Lord used to heal me from a long time being haunted by tense anxieties. I would also commend anything in the Philokalia dealing with stillness and the prayer of the heart. Take note that these will be different than Reformed works on the topic. Blessings