Fear and Trembling

Ligonier Ministry’s blog has a series of posts from John Gerstner on the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. You can find the first three here , here , and here . The last post above contains great examples of Christ’s influence on the world. Here’s an excerpt from the summary: We are fully aware that to attribute Godhood to any man is a colossal affirmation. It borders on the incredible--the impossible. But when we consider the impression of Christ's humanity, the great claims He made for Himself in the most humble way, the unrestrained adoration and worship of those who knew Him, the miracles associated with Him whose life was a "blaze of miracles," and the constant recurring miracles of grace which have attended the heralding of His name throughout the world, we propose that (if it is difficult to believe that a man was also God) it is impossible to deny Christ's deity. It is difficult to believe; it is impossible to doubt.

Several posts and articles on Christianity in China have recently caught my attention. See the posts here and here and follow their links. It seems Christianity is no longer just a Western phenomenon. (Not that it ever was to begin with.)

Thanks to Between Two Worlds for printing the prayer below: O God of grace, Thou hast imputed my sin to my substitute, and hast imputed his righteousness to my soul, clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe, decking me with jewels of holiness. But in my Christian walk I am still in rags; my best prayers are stained with sin; my penitential tears are so much impurity; my confessions of wrong are so many aggravations of sin; my receiving the Spirit is tinctured with selfishness. I need to repent of my repentance; I need my tears to be washed; I have no robe to bring to cover my sins, no loom to weave my own righteousness; I am always standing clothed in filthy garments, and by grace am always receiving change of raiment, for thou dost always justify the ungodly; I am always going into the far country, and always returning home as a prodigal, always saying, Father, forgive me, and thou art always bringing forth the best robe. Every morning let me wear it, every evening return in it, go out t...

I’m reading the best recovery / self-help book I’ve seen. The book, The Last Addiction: Why Self-Help Is Not Enough , is written by Sharon A. Hersh (WaterBrook Press: Colorado Springs, 2008). The book’s take on “surrender” is the most Biblical expression of the concept I have read. Here’s an excerpt: When I surrender my wounds to [Christ’s] death on the cross for me, I am acknowledging that I can’t save myself. This concept of surrender is more foreign [than] we might think, especially if we are familiar with words of faith. We can believe that Jesus died, was buried, and arose again. We can say the words, “I know Jesus died for my sins. I want Him to come into my heart.” But surrender goes further. Surrender is joined to belief when I know that I am utterly helpless, and I exchange my ways of being good, of proving myself, of pulling myself up by my bootstraps, for The Way of needing [Jesus’] love, forgiveness, mercy, grace and holiness as much as I need oxygen. This despera...

I appreciate the post over at Ligonier’s blog on Bible Reading . R. C. gave a similar list of books to start reading in his Knowing Scripture . It helped me to read the books of the Bible he recommended in order to get the big picture of the Bible’s story. I then went back and read the other books to fill in the details.

I have been obligated to confess some deeply troubling personal sins over the last few weeks. I’ve always loved the Psalms, and I quickly found Psalm 51 when God was pleased to change my heart and grant repentance. I find that David’s prayer gives expression to the pain and turmoil I find myself in as I confess my sins to God. John Piper made some comments on this Psalm in a recent sermon that are worth quoting at length. He explains some of the darker feelings I have been having. Here is part of what he says, and I encourage you to follow the link and read the whole thing. …David is forgiven for his sin and justified in the presence of God. But what Psalm 51 describes is what David felt and thought as he laid hold on God’s mercy. Some might say that Christians after the death of Jesus do not pray and confess this way. They should not think and feel this way. I don’t think that’s right… This is foundational to everything. Being a Christian means being broken and contrite. Don’t ma...

Stand to Reason’s blog contains a great post on the new video from our modern aethiest group. Here’s a sample from the post. Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris are actually doing us a favor. The thing I appreciate about these men is that they don't view religion as a relativistic, subjective enterprise. They take the claims of Christianity seriously by addressing them as truth claims, not preferences. In the first ten minutes of a video they've titled The Four Horsemen , they express frustration about the fact that people have made religion untouchable--that if a person tries to argue against the truthfulness of a religion, even the non-religious will shake a finger at him for criticizing it. I couldn't agree more with their frustration... I agree. I dislike the way most people in the modern church make religion subjective. When religion moves into the are of “blind faith,” our critics are right to ridicule us. The Christian faith...

This is my 200th post to Fear and Trembling. I have enjoyed the time spent posting to this blog and I have learned much from the conversations. I have also enjoyed the give and take on many other blogs on the web. Thanks to some special friends and foes at the following blogs for making this activity interesting. http://extranos.blogspot.com http://www.extremetheology.com http://www.founders.org/blog http://www.ligonier.org/blog http://my2shekels.blogspot.com http://thatatheistguysblog.blogspot.com http://africacfar.blogspot.com http://debbie-thoughtsof.blogspot.com http://trevorburrus.wordpress.com http://youcallthisculture.blogspot.com http://theoldadam.wordpress.com http://burchbusiness.blogspot.com http://theologica.blogspot.com http://shamelesslyatheist.blogspot.com http://carolyn-ann.blogspot.com/2007/07/blogroll-changes.html http://rtjones.wordpress.com/ http://predestinariansuccession.blogspot.com/ Please leave a comment if you have benefited from the posts and conversations ...

Skeptic magazine gives a summary of possible explanations for the universe we live in. The article (“Why This Universe?: Toward a Taxonomy of Possible Explanations,” Robert Lawrence Kuhn, Skeptic, Volume 13, Number 2, 2007 .) starts with the question “Why is there something rater than nothing?” and notes many of the alternatives scientists and philosophers put fort as possible answers. This listing, or taxonomy, is intended to promote useful discussion about the alternatives. The article states that each of the alternatives given is “logically permissible.” This is a misnomer; “logically permissible” implies that there is a cogent argument in support of the explanation. Since many of the explanations are contradictory, this cannot be the case. To imply otherwise makes no sense. The author does note that these possibilities “should not be mistaken for scientific theories or even scientific possibilities.” I agree, but would add that logic in and of itself excludes all of the poss...

I wanted to reprint a letter to the editor I found while going through some old files of mine. Please note that this basic argument can apply to many scientific theories that claim that evens happen “by chance.” May evolutionists and scientists use that type of language. Dear Sir or Madam: William M. Montante’s article titled “Journey to a Definition of Chance” appearing in the August 2004 issue of Professional Safety hinted at a very important point about chance. However, it failed to adequately express the main philosophical issue. “Chance” is spoken of at many points in the article as if it were a tangible being that has the power to cause something, namely an accident. Some examples are the phrases “through which chance can act,” and an “outcome [that is] chance dependent” (page 39). Chance is an abstract concept. As such it has no existence. It is not a thing, no-thing, nothing. It cannot cause anything since it has no existence in reality. It has no being, and hence no po...

See here.