Triablogue

Without God, everything is permitted

2013-05-19T16:42:00.004-04:00

Not surprisingly, the land of fruits and nuts is taking the logic queer marriage a step further:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/344861/ca-legislation-would-require-insurance-gay-infertility-wesley-j-smith

Once you deny God’s design for men and women, anything goes. Nothing is too perverted to be out of bounds. Case in point (beware: bad language ahead):

http://www.vice.com/read/i-want-to-give-birth-to-a-shark-ai-hasegawa

The only love that counts

2013-05-19T14:27:00.003-04:00

From his Facebook wall:

Jerry Walls

There is no nightmare like that of dreaming you are not elect…

Sure about that, Jerry? What about dreaming that you could lose your salvation tomorrow? Even if you’re a born-again Christian, there’s no guarantee, or even probability, that you won’t wind up in hell. Present assurance carries no presumption of future salvation. As Ben Witherington is wont to say, you are not eternally secure, until you are securely in eternity.

…and God has never loved you in the only sense that matters.

And what sense would that be, Jerry? Oh, you mean God’s love for the damned? The love that couldn’t save you from hell? The love that made no difference in the end?

Ask Cowper...

Well, since Cowper has been with the Lord for 213 years now, I expect he’d have pretty nice things to say about unconditional election.

Keep in mind that Cowper suffered from mental illness. Does Jerry think that Arminian theology inoculates you from the possibility of mental illness?

Thankfully for him, Cowper’s salvation did not depend on his willpower, but God’s willpower. Did not depend on his spirit, but God’s spirit. That’s the only love that counts.

Theological Determinism and the Standing to Blame

2013-05-19T14:10:00.000-04:00

http://shadflyofathens.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/theological-determinism-and-the-standing-to-blame-1/

Poker in a burning casino

2013-05-19T11:20:00.001-04:00

Atheists don’t know the stakes. They play poker in a burning casino. They keep score as fire encircles the perimeter, blocking their exits. They keep score as flames lick paint off the walls. They keep score as the ceiling is engulfed in flames. They keep score as the carpet smolders. They keep score as chips begin to melt. They keep score as cards begin to curl. Even when they win at the tables, they lose at life.

Doing business with the Devil

2013-05-18T22:33:00.002-04:00

The devil is a trader. He runs a traveling swap meet.

The devil offers you something for nothing, but in reality, you get nothing for something.

The devil cajoles you into giving away something you can never get back. Bartering something–or someone–irreplaceable.

When you realize your terrible mistake and try to return the worthless article, the swap meet has blown town. There’s a deserted lot where the tents used to be just a week before. Gone are the gaudy lights. The festive music. The bustling crowds. All that’s left is you, holding a party horn.

Chronicles of the Nephilim

2013-05-18T15:23:00.000-04:00

http://www.godawa.com/chronicles_of_the_nephilim/index.html

Not having read it, I can't vouch for it, but it might be an interesting exercise in Christian fiction.

Help! Arminians are giving me nightmares again!

2013-05-18T12:50:00.000-04:00

http://www.amazon.com/Help-Arminians-Giving-Nightmares-Again/dp/1462726739

Life Without Meaning: The Death of Ivan Ilych

2013-05-17T13:51:00.001-04:00

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/05/17/life-without-meaning-the-death-of-ivan-ilych/print/

The church of the poor

2013-05-17T13:43:00.002-04:00

http://keithburgess-jackson.typepad.com/blog/2013/05/religion.html

Perspectives on death

2013-05-17T12:44:00.000-04:00

The Bible has different perspectives on death. That’s because death means different things to different people, at different times of life.

Paul calls death “the last enemy” (1 Cor 15:26). I think you have to begin losing people close to you to appreciate the force of that designation.

For whom is death the last enemy? Death is the last enemy for the damned. Death seals their fate. Death extradites the lost to hell. This is vividly portrayed in the fate of Dives (Lk 16:19-31) as well as the king of Tyre’s demise (Isa 14:4ff.).

Death is also the last enemy for those who are left behind to grieve the loss. In a diary entry right after the sudden, unexpected death of his friend, Charles Williams, Warnie Lewis (brother of C. S. Lewis) said:

There is something horrible, something unfair about death, which no religious conviction can overcome. “Well, goodbye, see you on Tuesday Charles” one says–and you have in fact though you don’t know it, said goodbye forever. He passes up the lamplit street, and passes out of your life forever. There is a good deal of stuff talked about the horrors of a lonely old age; I’m not sure that the wise man–the wise materialist at any rate–isn’t the man who has no friends. Brothers and Friends, 183.

For Christians, the wrenching separation is not inconsolable, for Christians anticipate the future reunion:

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thes 4:13).

For the believer, death can sometimes be a blessing. It may spare the believer great sorrow had he lived longer:

The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; 2 he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness (Isa 57:1-2).

Paul viewed his impending death with a sense of relief and eager anticipation:

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account (Phil 1:21-24).

For younger Christians who have more to live for, death is still the last enemy.

Jesus said:

2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (Jn 14:2-3).

This picks up on the fact that Jesus is the Son, who is going home to his Father’s house. As the Son, it is his prerogative to assign rooms to his disciples (Jn 8:35-36). Christians take comfort in knowing that Christ has reserved a place for them in his Father’s house. And Jesus will come back for them, to take them home.

On a related note, Scripture depicts Jesus as a scout or pioneer who went ahead to secure our heavenly homeland. The walk of faith is a pilgrimage through life and death to our ancestral home, and Jesus leads the way:

10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering (Heb 2:10).

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 6:19-20).

We still must die, but the path is clearly marked while the destination is assured.

Finally, we must die before we can live again. To have the greater, better life to come, to enter into resurrected life, we first must die. We must set aside this decaying body, in this decaying world:

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (Jn 12:24-25).