Apostasy and Nuance in Popular Christian Fantasy

I recall when I was younger many Christians were critical of CS Lewis' Narnia due to perceived pagan elements and intrusions. Recently I was a bit taken aback to realize there are contemporary 'Christian' critics who are more upset over his traditional values.

Temporal Conditionality and Typology vis-à-vis Eternal Reality

We read in 1 Kings 2.4

'If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,' He said, 'you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.'

The Davidic promise is two-fold. It contains both a temporal/provisional aspect which is typological and an eternal/unconditional aspect which is the reality.

Mohler's Moral Logic

Speaking of Moral Logic let us consider another of Mohler's moral judgments. Why Mohler? Well, he's considered a respected leading figure in Conservative Christianity. He appears on CNN and NPR. He runs one of the top seminaries in the country and one affiliated with the largest Protestant denomination no less.

Dispensationalism, Daniel's Vision of the Ten Toes and Biblical Numerology

In retrospect it's fascinating to me that while I was growing up as a Dispensationalist during the Cold War one of the great fears was the European Economic Community. Based on Dispensationalism's misreading of Daniel we all looked for the future European Union to be the fulfillment of a 'Revived' Roman Empire.

Considering Presidential Strengths and Weaknesses Through the Lens of Worldly Wisdom

Over the past few weeks I've received numerous emails and 'shares' related to the 'weakness' of Obama especially vis-a-vis Russia's Vladimir Putin.

While it cannot be doubted that Obama has proven to be a weak president, I think a few things ought to be mentioned.

The Poverty of Hyper-Literalism

In the recent piece on the Gates of Hell I mentioned how the Postmillennial hermeneutic struggles with the imagery of the gates and how they over-read the metaphor to the point it becomes a stumbling block for them and they end up missing the point altogether.

The Underground Feed

For those that haven't already noticed I have put up a Feed Widget immediately to the right which lists the current posts over at The Pilgrim Underground.

These posts are shorter and generally tied to news items... though not always.

The Underground is more of a typical blog with frequent posts, a more casual writing style, links etc...

I'm trying to keep the longer, more 'in-depth' and timeless pieces for the main blog. Other than that difference, it's still just me talking about the same types of issues.

Postmillennialism and the Gates of Hell

Reviewing some old Theonomy leaflets and other writings I stumbled across a paper that vigorously defended Postmillennialism by appealing to Matthew 16 and Christ's statement regarding the Gates of Hell.

Postmillennialists who believe the world will be Christianized prior to the return of Christ criticize both Pre- and A-millennialism as being 'pessimistic' in their outlook.

Countering the Claims of the Watchtower Society: Talking to Jehovah's Witnesses

To put it simply, the main problem with the Watchtower Society is that their views are not based on Scripture. Despite their claims to the contrary, Scripture is read through the eyes of CT Russell and JF Rutherford. They believe these men to have had possessed prophetic powers. These powers are perpetuated by the Governing Body based in Brooklyn.

Essentially their system functions like the Catholic Magisterium. In fact at the core the issues we have with Rome are functionally the same. The Governing Body tells you how to interpret the Bible. Bible study is encouraged but only through the lens of the Governing Body.

Jury Nullification

Some time ago I finally received an email regarding an earlier post wherein I talked about how Wayne Grudem believed that Christians should use their Bibles in jury deliberations and was outraged that a verdict was tossed by a Judge when he discovered members of the jury were referring to the outside source of the Scriptures.

I completely disagreed with Grudem on several points.

Two Articles on Reformed Two Kingdom Theology (II)

For some readers this is revisiting old ground. But some find it helpful to continually revisit these basic themes. These two posts are responses to two articles. The articles are fairly brief and helpful in providing a matrix for this discussion. I hope that those who are still struggling with understanding these issues can read these pieces and my responses and in the end come to a fuller understanding of just what is at stake.

 

http://www.reformation21.org/articles/the-two-kingdoms-doctrine-whats-the-fuss-all-about-part-one.php

The second piece by Tuininga is actually much less helpful and far more guilty of generalization and at times misrepresentation. But it's still worth looking at.

Two Articles on Reformed Two Kingdom Theology (I)

For some readers this is revisiting old ground. But some find it helpful to continually revisit these basic themes. These two posts are responses to two articles. The articles are fairly brief and helpful in providing a matrix for this discussion. I hope that those who are still struggling with understanding these issues can read these pieces and my responses and in the end come to a fuller understanding of just what is at stake.

Employer-Based Health Care and the 14th Amendment

http://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2014/03/employer-based-health-care-and-14th.html

Neo-Anabaptists or Historical Anti-Constantinianism?

Here is a link to an article by a conservative Methodist who is critiquing Christian Pacifism and even though he doesn't really name it, his real attack is against the doctrine of the Spiritual Kingdom. He's accusing the followers of Yoder and by consequence people like me of novelty.

I argue that not only is he in theological error, he has misread the history.

The Legal and Technological Matrix for a Brave New Dystopia (4/4)

The Church in the World

What will it take to awaken the Church? Or is this just Judgment and Strong Delusion?

How do we respond? Do we need to just keep at it, keep persevering in our small corners of the world, doing what we can to expose lies? Do we just keep telling the truth and hopefully rescue people from the great destructive lie that is at the heart of our social system which the 'Church' has happily wed itself to?

It has loved the world and called it the Kingdom of God.

The Legal and Technological Matrix for a Brave New Dystopia (3/4)

Security or a New Foundation?

This has nothing to do with terrorism anymore. Personally I don't think it ever did. There was enough smoke in the 1990's to realize a firestorm was on the horizon. While few foresaw the impending Blowback of 9/11, they did see a network of schemers who had plans in the works and needed little more than a justification to get the ball rolling. They certainly got their wish.

There was no point in winning the Cold War unless you could capitalize on the victory. Security fears gave them a reason to act but how can you control the world in the computer age?

The Legal and Technological Matrix for a Brave New Dystopia (2/4)

The New Paradigm

Computer technology is no longer a tool of industrial society, it's at the heart of society...a new society which is in the process of establishing itself and the new parameters by which it will function and govern. While we're all playing with our gadgets, the social fabric is being re-woven and as I've indicated I think most people are in fact missing the magnitude and fundamental nature of the change.

The Legal and Technological Matrix for a Brave New Dystopia (1/4)

 

Orwellian is a term that is often thrown about in the media. Usually this is not meant in terms of Totalitarianism (at least not yet) but in the sense that we live under constant surveillance. Some think in terms of the American government wielding great fear in that it has claimed the right to take anyone away at any time and with no explanation.

The courts have ruled that security absolutely trumps the 4^th Amendment. I would contend that given our new technological society, the 4^th Amendment is effectively dead. The Patriot Act sealed the coffin.

The Altar Call of 1776: Charles Finney meets Smith and Wesson

http://www.npr.org/2014/03/10/287311237/kentucky-southern-baptists-draw-crowds-with-gun-giveaways

Since the innovations of Charles Finney in the 19^th century the Evangelical world has been plagued by different versions of a marketed gospel.

Finney's idea was that if you just created the right kind of conditions and presented the gospel the right way...then any sensible person would become a Christian.

Veith and Mefferd on Fascism

http://www.janetmefferdpremium.com/2014/01/30/janet-mefferd-radio-show-20140130-hr-3/

I remember when Veith's book Modern Fascism first came out in the 1990's. I recall a Lutheran friend of mine and fan of Veith being quite excited about it. At the time I was just beginning to come out of my Right Wing mindset but for the most part still embraced it.

Veith and Mefferd on Fascism (Part 2/2)

Here's the link to the related piece from February 2014:

http://proto-protestantism.blogspot.com/2014/02/postmodern-fascists.html

The Socialist Party Manifesto of 1936 reads, "It is now two years since the appearance of fascism in France. The great capitalists, dogged by declining profits and threatened privileges, fear lest the suffering people free themselves from the domination. They have subsidized and managed fascism."

Trinitarian Controversies are on the Horizon

Observing the theological struggles of our day it leads me to wonder what will the next big 'heresy' be?

In recent years we've seen challenges to God's Omniscience and Omnipotence in the teachings of Open Theism. From the Canon to many of the Fundamentals of Historic Christianity, scholars have been deconstructing historical understandings and re-contextualizing and re-interpreting them.

Revisionism, Manipulation and Distortion: The Conservative Re-Casting of The Civil Rights Movement and American Social History

For about the twentieth time in the past few months I heard yet again a reference to the fact that it was the Republicans who were the vanguard of the Abolitionist movement and that it was Democrats who compromised the primary membership of the KKK.

The implication is that Blacks should know who their real friends are. It is in fact the Democrats and their social programmes (including alleged eugenics and genocide) that are out to get them.

I've heard this explanation from both Conservative and Christian news sources.

Holy Week and The Temptation of the Tactile

I guess it's that time of year again, the Spring Equinox is coming and that means another full moon.

Dialogical Liturgy, Temple Emulation and Presbyterian Priestcraft

Conservatives are trying to steer their congregations away from 'contemporary worship' and rightly so. But because they still are following a flawed notion about what it is that we're doing when we gather they tend to drift toward High Church or what some people call 'liturgical' models of worship.

The meeting is not about entertaining an audience, nor is it about marketing a product. But it's not an emulation of the Old Testament temple either. While the more sober model is certainly preferable to the rock concert feel of modern services, they too have embraced in error in how they view the gathering.

This mindset, what I call the Temple Mindset is deeply held within cultural Christianity and there's little hope for real Reformation until it is broken.

The Marketplace becomes Zion and other errors

http://www.fln.org/fln-news/podcasts/detail/inside-out-304-ministry-in-the-marketplace/

Dominionism has wormed its way into mainstream Evangelicalism. The erroneous views of Francis Schaeffer and others have borne fruit. This report on the regional 'Christian' radio station exemplifies this.

The Shared Worldview of Albert Mohler and Bob Costas (Part 2 of 2)

Despite the lies and manipulations flowing from FOX, NBC and certainly Bob Costas have been taking constant digs at Putin. And it's interesting the commentary is more or less the exact criticism levied by someone like Mohler. The only exception would be with regard to the issue of homosexuality.

Other than that, the worldviews are essentially the same.

The Shared Worldview of Albert Mohler and Bob Costas

http://www.albertmohler.com/2014/02/21/the-briefing-02-21-14/

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/costas-calls-out-hostile-russian-policy-during-primetime-olympic-coverage/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/22/bob-costas-russian-government-olympics_n_4834810.html

Albert Mohler suggests that his news commentary is guided by a Christian Worldview. Every day he sets out to highlight a few stories he believes are pertinent and offer observations which will help his audience gain a more Biblical perspective on news and current events.

Postmodern Fascists? (Part 2/2)

The Romantics viewed Nationalism through feelings of connectedness with the past, a revival of folk tradition and identity vs. the mechanized view of Enlightenment society.

They were not militarists. Nationalism plus Militarism is what leads to Fascism. This is something remarkably absent from these Conservative criticisms and narratives which seek to tie Fascism to Leftist politics.

Postmodern Fascists? (1/2)

In this two part series I'm addressing some arguments that are being made which try and posit that Fascism was somehow a result of Leftist thinking and Individualistic philosophy.

These same arguments try and suggest the Emergent Church and particularly the Environmental movement are somehow philosophical heirs of Nazism, or at the very least flow from the same source.

While these movements are certainly worthy of critique, these arguments made by some well known figures in Conservative political and ecclesiastical circles are simply false and reveal either a real ignorance of the issues and history or worse, a deliberate attempt to mislead.

We don't need to twist history to advance our causes. Tell the truth.

But unfortunately when the Gospel is politicized, reflection and nuance are not effective tools. The goal isn't knowledge and understanding.
The goal is to win. And if that means crafting a somewhat dubious historical narrative, then there are many who are more than happy to do it.

The Re-Christianization of Valentine's Day

Dominionist thinking demands that all of culture must be subsumed and conquered or else eliminated. At its heart it is a theology of conquest.

In the Middle Ages this was expressed as 'Christianization'. It's tough to explain this to your kids, how on the one hand we speak of Medieval Europe as being 'Christianized' but in no way does that mean it was Christian. It's a Social and Cultural concept that hijacks the word 'Christian' and recasts it in a social mold. You'll be hard pressed to even find a Church history that will deal with this topic in an honest and Biblical fashion.

Everything in society has to fit into this power structure. It must be transformed and given 'christian' value and interpretation or it must be burned at the stake as it were.

The Baptism of Self-Indulgence (2/2)

But think of the Church as the Covenant Community out in the world. It is Judgment when lost people have a stronger moral compass concerning the plight of the poor. It is Judgment when the lost are more indignant and morally outraged about  the rape and pillage of the world that feeds our society's consumer appetites.

The Baptism of Self-Indulgence (Part 1/2)

Our culture worships self-indulgence.

I've said it before, many others have as well, but it needs to be contemplated and understood. We agree too quickly, and in doing so fail to understand what this means and how deeply it affects us.

The Third Rome, Nevsky, and Putin's Russia

Recently I was teaching my kids about Russian history and they found it interesting how connected the Russians are to their past. We spoke of the Mongol Invasion and how the Russian countryside is littered with little monuments and shrines the people still visit to remember the fallen warriors from battles that took place almost 800 years ago.

Even the Soviet period could not completely eradicate this impulse.

Angels of Light / Agents of Babylon (Part 4- Final)

Manipulators Being Manipulated

The wolves are out to win and make money along the way... but they're often being used too. They are often tools in the arsenal of greater powers.