Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (7) Restoration, Kingdom and Political Expectation

Practically speaking a Restorationist mindset means frustration with the state of things and many difficulties in relating with other Christians. It becomes all the more confusing because you will encounter many Evangelicals who believe they too are Restorationists.

They believe they are following 'just the Bible' and they too want the Church to be like it was in the first centuries. And then more often than not, they'll talk about 'our guys' over in Vietnam or Afghanistan and how we need to stand by Nixon, Reagan, Bush, or whomever. They'll also tell you about how America was founded as a Christian nation etc..

The pronouns become confused and it becomes clear they really have no idea what they're talking about...not just about America...but with regard to Restorationism. In fact for them the founding of America is almost a Restorationist concept!

Generally speaking a Restorationist mindset has led to a myriad of practical difference that makes 'getting on' with your average Christian American Evangelical rather difficult. For the rest of this series I would like to touch on some of those differences.

So-Called Christmas 2012

Once again I offer the following to consider during this time of....whatever it is that's happening right now.

It's interesting that those who decry the materialism of this season have failed to grasp that our retail economy and thus much of the national economy is absolutely dependent on Christmas related sales. Many stores break even at best nine months out of the year. Christmas related sales make or break them. If there was a nationwide rejection of materialism...the national economy would implode and collapse.

Of course as one who spends absolutely zero on Christmas, I care little other than I would like to see the country adopt a different economic model...one that would necessitate a different political order. But that's for another time.

In the meantime for those interested in contemplating or reconsidering this holy day....

Uganda and A World Net of Lies

I saw something this morning that drove me to sit down and write this even if it meant being late for work. It started with a podcast at a website which frequently praises the efforts to politically Christianize Africa. Uganda frequently comes up. The Christian Right in America has had their eyes on it for some time.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (6) The Reformed Tradition

I'm including a link to Part 5 because I noticed many seemed to miss it in the flurry of subsequent and unrelated posts.

Thus far in discussing Restorationism we've looked at the Stone-Campbell Churches of Christ, briefly at the Anabaptist legacy and I've mentioned the Restorationist impulses and elements found with the Reformation.

The Lutheran and Anglican wings had a very limited view of Restoration. The Reformed wing went further and yet it could be argued this impulse was severely arrested with the development of specifically Reformed creedal and confessional standards. In addition the mainstream Protestant wings of the Reformation never repudiated the Medieval Sacral order. They wanted so-called Christian societies, a Protestant Christendom.

Thanksgiving 2012

For those who haven't read it yet or for those who are interested, here's a link to my 2010 article on Thanksgiving.

As is usually the case, I approach these questions in a different manner. I'm not binding your conscience, nor do I want to ruin your day but it's interesting to observe the responses I get when I tell people I couldn't care less about the American holiday of Thanksgiving. This year will be no different, it's just another Thursday and I'll most likely be at work.

Being counter-cultural in this case is viewed as being somehow anti-Christian. To me it just further exemplifies the confusion in most people's minds regarding these issues of Kingdom, culture, and state.

I realize virtually no one will accept my argument. I realize very few will accept my arguments in general. But as always, it's something to ponder and meditate on.

Answering Questions #21- Conscientious Objector Issues

A friend in Turkey recently wrote to me regarding a Christian man who is in a difficult situation. Many countries have conscription and Turkey happens to be on that does not have a provision for conscientious objectors. The penalty varies but if he refuses to do the mandatory 'service' he might be looking at anything from a few months up to a year or so in prison. He has a wife and child.

The Geography of Division as Demonstrated in the Electoral College Map

Another interesting link and a comment I posted with some information some might find to be helpful. Some other worthy commentators also contributed to this thread.

My comment follows:

Election Commentaries

Here are some comments I put up at Green Baggins, a Reformed website. They will interest some readers.

But for context you'll need to visit the link: Random Election Day Thoughts

And there's another link mentioned in the comments that I also commented on.

5 Christian Responses to the 2012 Election

The author is someone I often disagree with. Ironically I used to attend his church several years before he took over. Reformation21 doesn't allow for comments, hence the discussion thread over at Green Baggins.

Here are my comments, which you can also find if you visit the Green Baggins link.

Veteran's Day 2012

Here's a link to a 2010 Veteran's Day post.

Sorry about the spacing on the Vance piece. I didn't go through and fix that. The paste function often does that...add spaces.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (5) The Anabaptists and The Constantinian Shift

The Church of Christ represents one aspect of Restorationism that I at least in principle would seek to emulate... a commitment to Biblicism and more specifically a New Testament oriented Biblicism.

With this comes a certain posturing toward history and doctrine that on some level I do appreciate, though in many cases I do not come to the same conclusions they do.

Another grouping to consider would be that of the Anabaptists. This would include the various Brethren groups in addition to the better known Mennonites.[i]

Halloween 2012

Every year at this time I post the following link. I'm afraid for those of us in the Eastern United States, this year's Halloween will be a bit of wash out. Nevertheless the issue doesn't go away. In terms of spending, it's now the second biggest holiday in the United States and all the culture warriors and Dominionists feel the need to respond. 

My take is a bit different.

All Sacralist's Eve

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (4) Stone-Campbell and Musical Instruments

The Stone-Campbell Movement, Biblicism, and the example of musical instruments.

What does this Restorationism I propose look like? Usually when people speak of Restorationism they think of the Stone-Campbell movement, better known as the Churches of Christ. This group is worthy of much admiration. I greatly appreciate their Biblicism, their determination to adhere to the text of Scripture. Many of their positions are akin to my own though we often arrive in a different manner.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (3) The Kingdom In History

I recently heard a Reformed podcast in which the host and guest caricatured the whole idea of returning to the first century. Look at all the problems in the New Testament era, why would we want to return to that?

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (2) How Far Back?

Some of this distaste for Restoration is also related to ideas of 'progress' and Primitivism (or Restoration) is by nature regressive. It does not elevate the development of ideas and consciously rejects much of history as invalid. That is to say, a Restorationist will suggest many of the claims and ideas which have come out of history are in many ways just built on bad foundations. Restorationism seeks to sweep this away and get back to the foundation and start over as it were.

Answering Questions #20- Restorationism (1)

You're ideas while interesting seem to lead toward some sort of Restorationism. Your ideas concerning theology and church history would seem to lead to that end. Aside from some doctrinal points, aren't you saying the same thing? Are you ultimately promoting some form of Restorationism? How do you differ?

And practically speaking, where do you draw lines? Sometimes reading your material I feel like with 'Confessionalism' being invalidated the possibilities seem, endless. But on the other hand it seems like you're condemning almost all of modern Christianity. Somewhere you said you attend a PCA, which seems strange considering at times you're quite hostile to Reformed theology and polity. Can you clarify some of this?

Letter to a Presbyterian Pastor

Philosophical Wanderings 5a

These posts have generated some offsite discussion. I've been posting some of these exchanges. This is a continuation of the discussion from the previous post.

Philosophical Wanderings 5- Is Logic Empirical?

Continuing this discussion, a friend and I have been interacting via email. With all argument you tend to have to keep peeling back layers and get back to basic definitions of your terms and concepts.

No surprise my friend is a bit uncomfortable with some of my language concerning logic. I say no surprise because again, for those of us reared in the West...this is default thinking. He inquired concerning logic and wondered if I would agree that logic itself it 'built into humanity and at least analogous to the Mind of God'?

In response I raised an issue concerning logic itself. What is it? What is its nature? Not easy questions to answer. Is logic objective? Is it something intrinsic to creation or can we go even further and say reflects the Divine Nature?

What if logic is in fact subjective? What if it is dependent upon our human ability to frame, decipher, and categorize? In response to my friend, I raised a question....

Is logic empirical?

Answering Questions #19- War and Scepticism

This is kind of a strange lead-in, but my friend and I were discussing one of my favourite movies. ‘The Last Valley’ came out in 1971 and stars Michael Caine and Omar Sharif, certainly two of the best actors…ever.

Philosophical Wanderings 4

The role of reason and logic in the realm of metaphysics....

Philosophical Wanderings 3

** These discussions will not interest most readers.

They will seem perplexing, pedantic, if not arcane and impractical. In the end what I'm saying is that the Bible has to shape our thinking. That would seem obvious to everyone that appreciates my writings. That's what all this leads to.

While on the surface it seems obvious, there are nevertheless many disagreements among Christians and within the larger circle of people labeled the Church. Why?

Because we all read things differently and we have different ideas about 'thinking' and how ideas are formed and work. You don't have to master this material to read your Bible. But at some point virtually all of us will to some extent wrestle with some of these questions. If we're not, then we're probably just reading the Bible as Westerners, as 21^st Century Americans. To be sure, we can still apprehend the Gospel...but will we understand the Bible rightly? Deeply? What is that we're after?....to merely escape hell or to know God, to be reconciled with Him and to know the Truth?

So many of us agree the Bible alone is foundation. So many of want to just follow the Bible....why then are there so many disagreements on so many topics? Most of the arguments are a waste of time because the fundamental issues that drive the disagreements are not being addressed. That's what is happening in these posts, in this discussion I've labeled Philosophical Wanderings....

Dishonorable Disclosures

A few comments regarding the ‘Dishonorable Disclosures’ film….

 

Putin and a Punk Band- Sacral Russia and American Evangelical Silence

Sacralist minded American Evangelicals have long hoped for some form of synthesis between Church and State. While they generally eschew a formal or legal union with an Established Church, they want the two 'spheres' to work in a symbiotic relationship.

The political leaders should be members of and thus accountable to the Church.[i]

Assange, Breivik, a SEAL, and Wicked Hypocrisy

While Bradley Manning certainly committed treason in releasing the diplomatic cables made famous by Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks website, I’ve often been left scratching my head when listening to people speak of Assange himself.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 8)

This is the final segment of this discussion on marriage the state and the related issues concerning sexuality and behaviour.

It may seem I’ve strayed a bit in discussing the whole issue of ‘church’ weddings, but the reason I bring it up is because I think we have problem when we take ideas like marriage and divorce which for us have theological meaning but also overlap with the culture.

If the last segment seemed a bit out of bounds to some readers, I’m afraid this section will seem even more so.[i]

Two Items

One, the final part of the Gay Marriage series is basically done. I hope to post it sometime Saturday.

Thank you for the recent comments. I'm going to hold off on responding until the last part is up. It might help clarify why I was bringing up certain points. Many still will not agree but hopefully be able to understand why I'm thinking as I am.

I don't expect very many readers to agree with me. Some of thinking is way out of bounds to probably most people. But I hope the discussion is helpful and challenging.

And, I thought I would post the link to a pertinent article I put up a couple of years ago since it is a date that deserves reflection.

1 September 1939

Anwering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 7)

Marriage for the unbeliever is like all things....ultimately sinful. It's part of what condemns them. The little bits of relationship, love, and humanity they experience result from Common Grace. Sometimes people will experience a great deal of this and are very guilty when they stand before God.[i] Others receive very little of this in their miserable lives, but they still stand condemned.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 6)

The Israelite Theocracy presented a multi-faceted picture of Adam (the Hebrews) in the Garden (the land of milk and honey) as well as a picture of man's inability to find his own righteousness (the law standing alone) and a picture of the gospel (the law's condemnation and the picture of redemption). With Israel we have a picture of both the 1^st and 2^nd Adam, the condemnation/despair and the redemption/hope.

Or to put it another way, from start to finish it was a picture of Jesus Christ the True Israel and demonstrated the consequences of rejecting Him.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 5)

At this point Proverbs 14.34 is usually invoked to contradict what I’ve said….

Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a reproach to any people.

We see this everywhere, on billboards and certainly on Church signs[i] around election time.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 4)

To answer my first question:

For the unbelievers among us, what purpose does marriage serve?

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond To Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 3)

There were some Christians in the 1600's...early Congregationalists who refused to perform marriages.[i] These elders said the Bible nowhere teaches that a 'minister' should marry you,[ii] nor does it give any credence to the whole idea of a 'church wedding'.... all holdovers from medieval Catholicism and the Romanist view of marriage as a Sacrament, viewing the building as a holy temple, etc...

A Miscellany for 21 August 2012 (MacArthur, Zenawi, and Akin)

I have several more articles just about ready to go, but tonight I wanted to comment on three things.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond to Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 2)

There are others who have made America into an idol and created a myth-narrative to go with it. Essentially the United States has become the present manifestation of the Kingdom of God or at the very least the leading vehicle for the Kingdom of God to work on this earth. It's not that far of a leap if you incorporate culture (and thus politics) into the definition of the Kingdom. Following Verduin, we have labeled this extra-Biblical and very pervasive error...Sacralism.

If America or the West abandons its supposed Christian heritage, then it's as if the Gates of Hell have triumphed.

Answering Questions #18- How Should We Respond to Gay/Homosexual Marriage? (Part 1)

I've received a couple of questions regarding this matter and basically I can sum up the questions in this way...

Why are so many Evangelical and Reformed leaders so adamant about the need for Christians to oppose the Homosexual agenda, not just theologically, but in social and political terms as well? And why has this become so much more intense over the question of marriage?

It's a complex question, but to put it simply....for different reasons.  Since that's not very helpful, we'll have to look at some of the larger issues, or to put it differently, we have to look at some basic or foundational issues and assumptions that are driving people to think a certain way and thus respond a certain way. After examining this a bit, we can weigh their considerations and then attempt to come up with an answer, hopefully one that is Biblical and helpful.

Philosophical Wanderings 2

 

Since these comment threads are so long, I'm just putting them up as posts. The comment module will only take about a page at a time. If I want to type a 5 page response, I have to break it up and copy-paste. Plus it's harder to read for anyone following. This is easier.

Pardon any typos....I'm not getting too carried away since this is just an ongoing discussion.