Over the course of the modern era, whether fairly or not, orthodoxy has
come to be associated with glumness and austerity. Thus, those coming
across Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton might assume they are in for a dull
and obtuse recitation of doctrine and dogma. They will, however, be
delightfully surprised by Chesterton’s wit, feistiness, and zest for
life.
It is Chesterton’s contention that, rather than stifling
the individual, it is through orthodoxy that man is liberated to both
accept and embrace the contradictions of this life for what they really
are in all their wonder and horror. It is the heretic that is unable to
rise to a level that would give him a perspective that would enable him
to appreciate things as they actually are since the heretic is
ultimately beholden unto these very forces of life. Chesterton muses,
“Thoroughly worldly people never understand even the world; they rely
altogether on a few cynical maxims which are not true (22).”
Often,
believers are accused of being close minded. However, Chesterton
contends that Christians are no more close minded than the adherents of
any other outlook. Chesterton writes, “For we must remember that the
materialist philosophy...is certainly much more limiting than any
religion...The Christian is quite free to believe that there is a
considerable amount of settled order and inevitable development in the
universe. But the materialist is not allowed to admit into his spotless
machine the slightest speck of spiritualism or miracle (41).”
As a
result, the heterodox mind must increasingly withdrawal from a world
that declares the glory of God in order to maintain the consistency of
the fiction it has constructed. For example, in illustrating views
regarding the existence of sin, Chesterton offers the following humorous
illustration, “If it be true...that a man can feel exquisite happiness
in skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can only draw one of
two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all
atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as
all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly
rationalistic solution to deny the cat (24).”
Those adverse to
traditional religious notions have constructed elaborate epistemological
systems in an attempt to justify their unbelief. However, Chesterton
assures, such intellects (though formidable by human standards in terms
of the facts such minds have accumulated) actually bear a startling
resemblance to the insane.
Like the insane, rationalists view
themselves as the source of all meaning. In the struggle and strain to
understand everything, Chesterton notes, the consistent rationalist is
actually driven mad as they end up losing everything but their reason.
Chesterton observes, “The man who begins to think without the proper
first principles goes mad; he begins to think at the wrong end...But we
may ask in conclusion, if this be what drives men mad, what is it that
keeps them sane (48)?”
The answer provided by Chesterton is none
other than the mystical imagination found in religious orthodoxy. The
thing about the cosmos human beings occupy is that is both physically
and epistemologically too complex for the finite mind to fully
comprehend. The only thing we can do is appreciate what we can and to
accept that there is a power beyond us. Chesterton notes, “The real
trouble with this world of ours is not that it is an unreasonable world,
nor even that it is a reasonable one. The commonest kind of trouble is
that it is nearly reasonable but not quite (148).”
Chesterton
further likens the spiritual realm to two wild horses threatening to
bolt off into the extremities of either direction with only the church
adhering to orthodoxy capable of reining in these powerful tendencies
that are good and pure when kept together as a team but result in
heartache and ruin if not kept working together in tandem. Ironically,
Chesterton claims, though often depicted as scatterbrained the best
poets (actually quite sensible and businesslike) are often the ones
embodying the spirit necessary for handling this awesome responsibility.
For what the average person desires above all else is a life of
practical romance defined by Chesterton as “the combination of something
that is strange with something that is secure (16).” And what is any
more mysterious and secure at the same time than God Himself?
Written
in the early years of the twentieth century, some of the authors
mentioned by Chesterton might seem obscure to readers not that familiar
with general literary history. However, the fact that they have been
forgotten while Chesterton is still embraced as a foremost defender of
the faith is a positive testament to the relevance of Chesterton’s
ruminations that, though written nearly a century ago, ring with a truth
that sounds as if they just rolled off the presses.
by Frederick Meekins
Friday, July 18
Thursday, July 17
The Pope has admonished that nations should be more welcoming of the immigrants flooding over their borders. So does that mean tourists should be allowed to storm the papal apartments and gorge themselves upon whatever treats might be in the private papal pantry? Can whoever wants to without prior approval take a leak in the Vatican bathroom with the nudie paintings on the wall?
In discussing how he would have ended the “Life With Archie” series in which the eponymous protagonist is murdered, home school activist Kevin Swanson announced he would have instead had Archie arrest the gay character and banish the reprobate from the town. So if this is the idealized jurisprudence of the Christian Reconstructionist, what is to prevent rumors of carnal transgression from being concocted in the attempt to seize the property of business rivals or from those that simply have a nicer place than yours?
It has been announced that Archie will lose his life in defense of a homosexual acquaintance. Not getting as nearly as much press is that the gay character is a senator campaigning for increased gun control. So if Archie had been allowed to retain and exercise his Second Amendment rights, this comic hero might have been able to foil the assassination attempt without having to sacrifice his own life. Hopefully, conservatives will make as much fuss over how such narratives paint as an ideal the willingly giving up our own lives for elites thinking that they know how to run our lives better than we do.
Vancouver Catholic Schools Surrender To Transgender Restroom & Pronoun Policies
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Are Baptists Fielding A Security Force Openly Modelled On Hitler's Brownshirts?
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Wednesday, July 16
One of the principles of the Slow Church Movement holds that the individual should remain in the same church. So will ministry positions and opportunities go to the people that have remained at a church for ages? Or will this be more like the typical workplace where the gloryhounds swoop in when something opens up with the old timers overlooked because they aren’t the right demographic (meaning they are the wrong color or the plumbing hooked up incorrectly) with the excuse being that those at the bottom need to remain where they are (meaning there needs to be somebody to be stepped on).
Is The Slow Church Movement The Next Religious Threat?
According to the 7/23/14 Christian Century review of the book “Slow Church: Cultivating Community In The Patient Way Of Jesus”, these authors contend that the individual should stay in only one church.
This is because, “Every time we move from one church to another, we lose a little bit of our patience for all things religious.”
But what if the church is so small that the less desirable regions of the Afterlife will cover over with glaciers before the average person will be able to participate through means of other emptying pockets into the collection plate?
But more importantly, this perspective could easily lead to the fostering of an atmosphere where the victims (oh, I mean members and attenders of the congregation) will put up with increasingly shocking forms of abuse and levels of generalized mistreatment for fear of endangering their immortal souls.
Even if that is not what the authors originally intended, that is most likely what will result in a world characterized by Jonestown, Waco, and the epidemic of sex scandals blackening the eyes of both the Roman Catholic and Protestant branches of Christendom.
According to the authors of a manifesto on the Slow Church Movement, one is to remain in the same church more or less no matter what.
The authors clearly look like Emergent Church beatniks.
One of them is even a Quaker.
That means he does not view doctrine formulated upon the foundation of His unchanging word as the primary way that God conveys His intentions to mankind.
Rather, we are to fumble about being leading by what is assumed to be the Holy Spirit.
But with that given a higher status than the Bible, we don’t really have any proof that the message we are receiving is from the indwelling presence of the Triune Godhead or rather from demonic entities kicked out of the gates of Heaven.
In the end, this Slow Church mindset will no doubt be used to denigrate the character of those that get up and walk out once the gay weddings or the wife swappings commence and be used to applaud as spiritually awakened those willing to go along with such abhorrent practices.
by Frederick Meekins
Tuesday, July 15
In addressing the theology of hunting in “Rise, Kill & Eat” by Doug Giles, too bad theologian and apologist Kevin Boling did not ask the author why it is necessary for Americans to travel to Africa to kill animals. If you are rich enough to travel to Africa, you have more than enough money to procure food and clothing from other sources.
Monday, July 14
Will Religious Leftists Abandon Gospel Standards To Attract Reprobate Millennials?
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Friday, July 11
In a Dallas Theological Seminary podcast regarding the phenomena of Emerging Adulthood and Extended Adolescence, it was remarked that, in 1960, 70% of the population had achieved what are considered milestones of adulthood such as marriage and procreation by the age of 30. Today, however, only about 40% of the population achieved these by the age of 30. Given the epidemic of divorce, the unhappy marriages that lead to the dissolving of what ought to be a lifelong bond, and the resultant social upheaval that has transpired since 1960, that isn’t exactly a good track record of why it is advisable to push the young into situations they might be entering more out of social pressure and conformity rather than as something they actually sincerely desire.
Do Dallas Seminary Scholastics Insist Church Has More Right To Children Than Christian Parents?
It use to be that the name “Dallas Theological Seminary” was akin to a Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval” in conservative Evangelical Protestant circles.
Upon hearing that name, it was pretty safe to assume that what you were subjecting yourself to was sound theological teaching.
However, as in the case of the Good Housekeeping Seal Of Approval, it seems this once great name in theological erudition and learning can also be bought for a price in an era of declining standards and quality.
One comment in a podcast about the phenomena of Emerging Adulthood produced by that particular institution ought to send chills down the spines of the discerning.
One of the speakers in the discussion remarked that parents ARE NOT to think of themselves as the primary disciplers of their children regarding the Christian faith.
Instead, that is an area over which the parents are to yield to the authority of the Church.
Frankly, I doubt that is a concession even the most sincerely devout of Roman Catholics are willing to make to Vatican hierarchs.
So just how much control over what is taught in the home in regards to doctrine and practice in regards to secondary issues are the parents suppose to surrender to the pastor and his underlings?
Ideally, the parents are to be the primary teachers of the faith to their offspring.
The church is there as a source a general teaching and consultation should the family face an issue over which they do not feel equipped to address.
This mindset where the parents are looked to as glorified innkeepers and hotel bellhops with the real task of character formation left to credential and positioned experts has worked out splendidly in terms of the public education system.
Why should we assume it will work out any better in the confines of the Church.
By Frederick Meekins
Has Handout Mentality Penetrated Dallas Theological Seminary?
A Dallas Theological Seminary podcast tackled the issue of Emerging Adulthood.
That is the phenomena where many youth do not assume all of the responsibilities of adulthood all at once but rather over a span of time that can extend into the 30’s.
In reflecting, one of the seminarians remarked how in his own life as soon as graduating from Biola he set out straight to Texas to embark on his ministry.
Essential to his own success were regular checks from his church COMMUNITY.
Instead of simply offering a statement of gratitude, the seminarian went on to lament how this practice was no longer usually the case.
Why should it be?
Most people are struggling financially on their own to keep their heads above water.
On what grounds are those that are in jobs or occupations that they might not care for obligated to turn hard-earned money over to an Evangelical Christian equivalent of a shiftless beatnik meandering about trying to “find themselves” or are unwilling to lift a finger on their own until landing in their dream job?
Shouldn’t church money or money from church people instead go to those enduring ACTUAL hardships?
By Frederick Meekins
Thursday, July 10
Calvinists Overly Critical Of Altar Calls
A meme with an image pirated from Disney's Beauty & The Beast reads, “This Bible is so old that's I can't find 'altar call' in it.”
Such humor is an attempt to ridicule the practice where pastors and evangelists encourage those under conviction to come forward so that they might invite Jesus into their hearts for forgiveness and salvation if they are not exactly how to commence this journey towards a beatific eternity.
Granted, such tactics might prompt an insincere or misunderstanding person to rush forward thinking the profundities being approached are formulaic.
However, what those spreading this missiological propaganda fail to reveal is that they don't really want you making a decision irrespective of the venue.
If they had their way and preached sermons consistent with their soteriology, you'd remain neutral with your fingers crossed (unless they make a fuss about that gesture also somehow being pagan in origin) with the mystery resolved of whether you'll awaken after death in Heaven or Hell only after you arrive in one of these two regions of the Afterlife.
It is claimed that this ritual urging the penitent to march forward to receive Christ is not in the Bible.
But neither are many other traditions that these hardline Biblicists of a Calvinistic persuasion insist upon retaining.
For example, it should be pointed out to those holding to this variety of predestinarianism from a Presbyterian or Anglican perspective that there is nothing about infant baptism providing salvatory protection for a baby.
It might be a beautiful symbol of welcoming a child into the covenant community.
But if you, dear Christian, are relying on that liturgical act to protect your precious little one from the fires of Hell throughout a lifetime and do nothing more to introduce that child to Christ as the Savior they must claim for themselves, spiritually you have doused your child in gasoline and edged them to the brink of those unquenchable flames.
Next, there is really not a thing in the Bible about formalized membership in one particular church organization.
At most, the Scripture speaks of one church in a particular town.
So if we are going to be such a stickler on detail, if your church is not the oldest congregation in town, are you guilty of being a schismatic?
Interestingly, those looking down their noses at those congregations that make use of altar calls as part of their order of service certainly don't mind going out of their way to whack me over the head about not “belonging” to a particular congregation even though I go to church most weeks out of the year, listen to sermons and conservative talk radio at least four hours per day, and nearly every day post conservative and/or Christian content to the Internet.
The Bible provides the basic rules by which the Creator expects us to abide if we are to please Him and for us to receive His blessing even if that reward is not granted this side of eternity.
However, one truth that each of us often struggles with is that the specifics in which those absolutes are implemented on the practical level might not be as clearly spelled out.
By Frederick Meekins
Wednesday, July 9
Tuesday, July 8
Monday, July 7
Of Elves, Angels & Dueling Theologies
One of literature's primary functions is to generate interest in potentially controversial ideas by presenting them in an aesthetically interesting and imaginative manner.
Most Evangelicals would agree that few twentieth century writers was as successful in getting the reading public to consider the relevance of religious ideas to the complexities of modern life as C.S. Lewis. Yet it may come as a surprise, many of his most vociferous critics happen to be fellow Christians.
Writing in response to a recent Christianity Today article examining Lewis' use of the literary approach in presenting Christian truth to the modern mind, David Cloud of the Fundamental Baptist Information Service elucidates why Christians adhering to more strident varieties of Fundamentalism ought to avoid this acclaimed author's brand of apologetics.
To Cloud's benefit, he does point out areas in which Lewis thought may have veered from Biblical standards. Cloud sites as evidence a number of sources detailing where Lewis questioned traditional orthodox understandings of doctrines such as the bodily resurrection of believers, the inerrancy of the Scriptures, and the existence of Hell as a physical place rather than simply a state of mind.
Christians ought to be cautioned where the writings of Lewis stray from the narrow path. However, that does not mean there is not insight to be gained from Lewis or that his collected works should be consigned to the garbage to prevent weak minds from falling prey to their questionable aspects.
Particularly annoying to Cloud's brand of Fundamentalism is Lewis' use and defense of myth as a tool whereby skeptical minds might be introduced to the truth.
Of The Chronicles of Narnia and Christianity Today's endorsement of the series, David Cloud writes, "I don't know what to say to this except that it is complete nonsense. In his Chronicles, Lewis depicts Jesus Christ as a lion named Aslan who is slain on a stone table. Christianity Today says, 'In Aslan, Christ is made tangible, knowable, real.' As if we can know Jesus Christ best through a fable that is vaguely based on Biblical themes."
Such a conclusion fails to understand the reasons why and with what techniques C.S. Lewis wrote. For even though the Bible is the most detailed and forthright account attesting to the truth of Christ, many hardened hearts are not always open to such an outright presentation of the facts. Some minds may need to take a more circuitous route.
Lewis did not initially embark to compose an outright Christian allegory, and neither did his associate J.R.R. Tolkien in the Lord of the Rings saga for that matter. Rather these scholars endeavored to craft tales utilizing the classic motifs with which they had considerable expertise as professors of historical literature. Lewis was himself inspired to write The Chronicles of Narnia from the image of a faun, a half human/half goat creature from classical mythology. Tolkien wanted to establish a fantasy world for the language of elves.
Lewis stated in a BBC interview when asked if his Space Trilogy had been written for evangelistic purposes, "...everyone thinks that. They are quite wrong. I've never started from a message or a moral, have you. The story itself should force its moral upon you. You find out what the moral is by writing the story."
It is only natural then that authors with an abiding respect for the truth will end up addressing eternal realities and principles. Romans 2: 14-15 says, "Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts...(NIV)."
This means that all truth --- despite man's intentions to distort it for his own diabolical purposes --- is ultimately God's truth. Not all ancient myths revel in Bacchanalian debauchery. For example, some explore the dangers of humans possessing a godlike pride called "hubris". The skilled apologist can use these chunks of truth adrift upon the seas of falsehood as a lifeline to those drowning in a deluge of deception.
This is not unlike what the Apostle Paul did in Acts 17 when he addressed the philosophers gathered on the Areopagus.
Paul did not begin outright by berating them for their pagan belief. In verses 22 and 23 he extols, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious. For while I was passing and examining your objects of worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, 'To an Unknown God'. What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. (NASB)."
From this point, Paul goes on to explain how the message of Jesus Christ fulfilled and surpassed the best in Greek thought. Therefore, those who have a problem with C.S. Lewis' use of literature may also have a problem with the technique employed by the Apostle Paul.
While these rigorous Fundamentalists are to be commended for their eagerness to expound the plain Gospel message, many of them --- especially a number of the preachers --- fail in realizing that a fully-orbed expression of Christian thought requires more than preaching. It requires the translation of these eternal verities into other artistic and literary forms that prepare the heart and mind for a more direct assault upon fallen sensibilities.
By composing a narrative utilizing universal archetypes, Lewis hoped that his saga of these British children encountering a mystical lion in an enchanted land would spark readers into realizing they could have their own encounter with another cosmic cat, namely the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ.
Certain Fundamentalists have done their share of criticism. When are these preachers going to start producing stories of their own or encourage members of their congregations to contribute their talents in forms other than that which goes into the collection plate? At least C.S. Lewis attempted to make an effort in this regard.
David Cloud writes, "...a Christian is what he hears and reads ... it should come as no surprise ... they are seeking to continue the legacy of C.S. Lewis ... it should come as no surprise ... if we find them working towards a common mission with the enemies of the gospel. The young Christian should be very careful what he reads."
In the days before most Christians yielded their paradoctrinal thinking to the control of their pastors or stopped thinking about these cultural issues outside the immediate confines of the church all together, individuals would employ a kind of intellectual selectivity known as discernment. This meant they were capable of sifting through the good and bad ideas in a given work on their own without a critical clergyman standing over their shoulder chastising them for daring to make a literary selection with ecclesiastical consultation.
Lewis may have propagated questionable ideas in the course of his life's work. But so do a number of Fundamentalists for that matter as some believe one is not really saved unless introduced to Jesus through the King James version of the Bible, that being innocently infatuated with a member of the opposite sex is the moral equivalent of promiscuity or prostitution, and that women ought never get their hair cut or wear trousers.
Unfortunately, faulty ideas are often a symptom of living in a fallen world. But so long as we put our faith in what Lewis referred to as "mere Christianity", one day those of us who do so will have the blessed opportunity of having our thoughts put straight in the presence of none other than the Creator Himself.
by Frederick Meekins
Thursday, July 3
Pope Francis Allies Himself With Televangelists Of Questionable Doctrinal Quality
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Wednesday, July 2
In addressing the issue of church leadership, homeschool activist Kevin Swanson rhetorically inquired in his 7/1/2004 podcast if female bloggers are running the church. Technically, unless the blogger is on the church payroll or holding a formalized position within the ministry, how can she be accused of leading the church? The only way that can occur is if the pastor is negligent somehow in the execution of his ministerial duties in terms of either being too lenient or in a growing number of instances perhaps even too strident. As someone in the congregation as either a member or frequent attender, anyone (either male or female) can use the technology available to them to speak out as to what is transpiring in the public ceremonies, liturgy, or doctrinal teaching taking place within the assembly. To say otherwise is to introduce a procedural gnosticism leading to the festering of a cultic atmosphere potentially leading to the harm of both soul and body. And if you are going to be that secretive, don’t go complaining about how the Mormons and the Masons run things so secretively.
Fascinating how these ministries that condemn education anywhere but in the home and the concept of youth groups altogether rather than just those administered in a liquefied kidney expellant impoverishment manner rank among the first to condemn and ridicule those not married by the time they are 22.
Tuesday, July 1
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