Memory and The Ister

From time to time I will watch (usually in segments) the 2004 film The Ister, which is a three-hour fascinating re-telling and interpretation of Heidegger's talks on the Hölderlin (1770-1843) poem which was written sometime in the early 19th century.

What is Good Art? Dominionist Aesthetics versus the Detachment-Discernment Ethos of New Testament Pilgrim Christianity (II)

Rather than reduce art to the Hellenistic categories of the good, true, and beautiful our understanding needs to be both wide and nuanced.

What is Good Art? Dominionist Aesthetics versus the Detachment-Discernment Ethos of New Testament Pilgrim Christianity (I)

https://g3min.org/art-that-accords-with-sound-doctrine/

This G3 article represents yet another attempt to formulate a Christian theology of art. It's clear enough that since the Scriptures don't speak to this - and verses have to be grasped at, the exercise is not one of doctrinal elaboration but philosophy cast in theological terms.

Herman Bavinck's Monism and Redefinition of the Kingdom (II)

One can only sit back in wonder when reading a statement like this:

It is on this basis that Bavinck can say: “There is thus a rich revelation of God even among the heathen—not only in nature but also in their heart and conscience, in their life and history, among their statesmen and artists, their philosophers and reformers.”

Herman Bavinck's Monism and Redefinition of the Kingdom (I)

https://www.wyattgraham.com/p/what-does-herman-bavinck-mean-by

Reading this article about Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of thoughts. His influence is profound and growing and yet is this something to celebrate?

Wilson's Judaizing Call for Sacralist Architecture

https://building.christkirk.com/

For those familiar with Wilson's 1998 'Angels in the Architecture', this appeal for a new building is nothing new. It is but a continuation of his celebration of the Middle Ages, along with the usual refrain to 'live it up' and do everything on a grand scale - big buildings, big feasts, and all the rest. His ethos is one of triumphalism, an outworking of his over-realized eschatology, itself a result of his misreading of Scripture on a massive and dare I say mortal scale.

Inbox: The Church as Institution vs. Sect (I)

What of those who insist it's wrong for the Church to be viewed as a sect? Is it an institution? Is it right for us to think of it in such terms?

Over the past several years I've heard more than one statement or discussion regarding the question of the Church needing to function as an institution or fixture within society and not fall into the category of being a sect and it connotations of marginalisation, exclusivity, and even extremism. The acceleration and amplification of the culture wars and the perceived marginalisation of the Church has fueled this discussion.

Inbox: Romans 9 and Paul's Affection for Israel as a Justification for Patriotism

I was asked concerning Romans 9 and Paul's affection for the Jewish people. Apparently this passage is used by some Dominionists to justify ethno-nationalist agendas or forms of patriotism, suggesting that Paul effectively endorsed such thinking by his expressions for the Jewish people.

Dominionism and the Tucker Carlson School of Homiletics

Visiting another church this Sunday once more proved to be a serious disappointment. The congregation was something of a hybrid between Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism and yet Sacralist thinking dominated. The pastor continually confused the identity of the Church and the nation and begged the question regarding the Christian call to engage and dominate culture.

Dominionist Eisegesis and Doctrinal Cowardice

https://caldronpool.com/the-gospel-has-many-political-implications-for-a-nation/

New Calvinist pastor Matthew Littlefield asserts that those who believe the Church should not engage in politics are guilty of trumpeting ignorance. He then proceeds to elaborate what he believes are the political implications of the gospel.

Dominionism and the School Board Strategy

https://religiondispatches.org/baby-we-were-born-for-war-to-dominionist-christian-group-no-election-is-too-small-and-colorado-is-just-the-beginning/

This is a problematic article to be sure but nevertheless it should be read. The School Board Strategy is proving effecting and it's expanding – and it's likely that it's already affecting your church or soon will be. The author is sounding the alarm and we should be alarmed – but for reasons different than those of the Religion Dispatches reporter.

Postscript: Magisterial Protestantism's Cultural Legacy and Aesthetic Schizophrenia

Recovering the First Reformation - Toward a Proto-Protestant Narrative of Church History (XXI)

This topic may seem off-base or represent a strange sidetrack and it must be admitted not all will be interested in this discussion or even be able to follow it. Nevertheless these are issues of practical importance, all the more given the way in which such questions (presented within the framework of a holistic system) permeate Evangelical discussions and dominate airwaves, pulpits, and an endless stream of books and cultural commentaries.

High Place Hermeneutics – The Spirit of Balaam-Hananiah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtdPoLDl5jU

At 4:44, Jordan Hall engages in a classic syncretistic move of bait and switch. Juxtaposing the holy covenantal inheritance due to Esau and the inheritance gained and earned by American patriots who through work and war built the nation Hall has sold his soul to – he engages in a basic hermeneutical and theological fallacy and yet one well known to students of the Scripture and those who continue to watch American Evangelicalism with a wary eye.

The Moscow Abomination, Sacralist Worldview and Memorial Day (Part 2)

From the anti-sacralist Two Kingdom standpoint of New Testament Christianity, the aforementioned thin line between Church and State is in fact an insurmountable wall.***

Christians do not celebrate war. They do not take up the sword. They do not seek revenge and they do not put themselves in service to mammon. As such, Christians are necessarily divorced from the cultural mainstream and cannot have any part in the political apparatus. Life of course is complicated and saints have at times found themselves in difficult situations and have been pulled into realms and spheres that they did not seek. These realities are part of life in a fallen world. But this is quite different from a mode of thinking that not only embraces these categories but sanctifies and glorifies them.

The Moscow Abomination, Sacralist Worldview and Memorial Day (Part 1)

https://www.rferl.org/a/inside-moscows-new-military-megachurch/30580784.html

I happened to turn to the website affiliated with Radio CIA and discovered this story. Radio Free Europe is biased to be sure but there are sometimes hints of interesting stories and in other cases messages are communicated that tell me more about the reporter than the subject being reported.

Most Westerners will find this Nationalist Orthodox Cathedral to be a disgusting thing and rightly so. It is offensive – but I say that not as an American or Westerner or someone committed to Liberal ideals. Rather I say it as a Christian. This cathedral represents Sacralism on full display.

Stonestreet's Anti-Feminism: An Endorsement of Feminism (Part 2)

The truth is there has been a profound shift within Evangelical culture. In the 1970's there was still enough of the old Fundamentalism at work in how people viewed the family so that those who broke with the old order did so not so much out of ideological commitment but due to pragmatics and questions of financial stress. They weren't fans of Stanton, Anthony or Steinem but were people (in many cases) trying to hold on to the Middle Class lifestyle. This continued into the 1980's but more embraced the new model because lifestyles were changing and in many parts of the country housing prices were making it very difficult to live on one income.

Then the 1990's happened – the decade of decadence and debt. A new over-the-top lifestyle emerged and with it came a new theology – a theology of empowerment and prosperity. It affected all Evangelical circles, not just the sphere of tacky Charismatic televangelists. Christian career women started to become the norm but there were still tensions. The Culture War of the period drove many to reconsider what had been happening and there were certainly groups reacting to it – but for many a new theology was emerging that not only sanctioned the new feminism, it theologised it and embraced it.

Stonestreet's Anti-Feminism: An Endorsement of Feminism (Part 1)

https://www.breakpoint.org/women-at-work/

It's no wonder people are confused. What we have here is a feminist argument to counter more extreme forms of feminism. Evangelicals have in recent years largely embraced the early stages of feminism, even lionising the likes of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony – once largely reviled figures in the Evangelical world. And they have in other instances rejected as 'sexism' the Bible's ordering of the family and marriage.

Inbox: An Elaboration of Biblicism (III)

A third consideration which while hinted at above, requires further elaboration, this is the relationship between Authoritative Sufficiency and Biblicism:

Worldviewism is a philosophical construct rooted in Sacralist assumption and inference and as such posits the Sufficiency of Scripture in terms of a holistic vision for the transformation and sanctification of culture. This is in fact a de-covenantalised abuse of the doctrine of Sufficiency.

Trueman, Biblicism and Oberman's Contrived Tradition Schema (Part 2)

Biblicism and the rejection of Classical Metaphysics go together and this collapse ought to be celebrated. While we do not endorse Kantian epistemology, his exposure of Western Metaphysics as a paper castle was in the end helpful. It should have allowed the Bible-believing churches to break free from the Sacralist-Scholastic tradition and its centuries of syncretistic philosophical theologizing. The error (I think) is that many self-proclaimed Biblicists have like dogs returning to vomit re-embraced Sacralist frameworks of thought and many retain Baconian ideas concerning epistemology as well as Classical and Evidentialist forms of apologetics. And thus once again Aristotle and company are placed in a state of rivalry with the Scripture and its claims.  

Stonestreet's Hat Trick (Part 2)

On 9 January 2020, Stonestreet addressed the situation in China. Citing the imprisonment of Wang Yi, Stonestreet seems ignorant to the fact that Beijing would consider Wang a threat due to his open collaboration with the American Empire. Once again while I think Beijing's policies are deplorable and bestial, Wang is not suffering for the gospel but for his political activism.