Jul
31
Book review: The Holy Trinity
Filed Under Apologetics, Books, Christian History, Holy Spirit, Worship | Leave a Comment
The best and most challenging class I took in seminary was an elective class during my final semester under my favorite professor, Dr. Douglas F. Kelly. The class was ‘The Doctrine of the Trinity.’ The lectures and the reading were like hiking in high elevation–awe-inspiring, humbling views, but the oxygen was thin and I tired easily. Murray Garrott and I co-wrote a paper on ‘The Trinity and Personhood’ which was not all that great, but I managed to do well on the oral exam at the end. Those who want to catch the vistas these days have a great guide and companion along the mountain paths in Robert Letham’s The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (P&R, 2004).
Letham is senior minister of Emmanuel Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware, and adjunct professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary and the Washington/Baltimore extension of Reformed Theological Seminary. His book is divided into four parts: 1) Biblical foundations, 2) historical development, 3) modern discussion, and 4) critical issues (the incarnation, worship and prayer, creation and missions, and persons). While writing from a Reformed perspective, Letham interacts with theologians from all periods of church history and from a wide variety of backgrounds, from East and West, from Roman Catholicism and Protestantism.
Most Christians do not have a biblically solid and precise understanding of the Trinity, finding it all ‘a mathematical conundrum, full of imposing philosophical jargon, relegated to an obscure alcove, remote from daily life’ (1). Letham is not attempting to write a ‘Trinity made simple’ book, but one that is thoroughly biblical and wide-ranging in its survey of the doctrines development and implications. For example, Letham observes that in Eastern Christianity (e.g., the Greek and Russian orthodox churches) there has been a tendency to fall into the error of subordinationism, viewing the Son and the Holy Spirit as deriving from the Father and thus not quite as much ‘God’ as the Father. In Western Christianity (Roman Catholicism and the Protestant churches) the tendency has been toward modalism, blurring or eclipsing the personal distinctions so as to view God as a single person who simple manifests himself at different times as Father, Son and Spirit.
All of this has daily significance because Christian experience of God and communion with God is inescapably Trinitarian. The design, accomplishment, and application of our redemption is a work of all three persons of the one true God. The Father, Son and Spirit are vitally united to worship and prayer. Letham presents a deep and thrilling case that embracing a full Trinitarian theology equips us to engage Islam and post-modernism with the claims of the Gospel, to engage Darwinism and pagan environmentalism with the biblical vision of order, coherence, unity and diversity in the universe, and end manipulation and lovelessness in our relationships with others. The ‘critical issues’ section of the book are worth the effort of working through the thicker parts of the historical development sections.
A Prayer from Service Book of the Syrian-Antiochene Orthodox Church, the all-night vigil service, the third hour:
Glory to thee, our God; glory to thee,
O heavenly King, the Comforter, Spirit of Truth, who are in all places and fill all things;
Treasury of good things and Giver of life:
come and take up thy abode in us,
and cleanse us from every stain; and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal One, have mercy upon us.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever, and unto ages of ages.
O all-holy Trinity, have mercy on us.
O Lord, wash away our sins.
O Master, pardon our transgressions.
O Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever, unto ages of ages. Amen.
Jul
30
Glorificar a Dios y gozar de El para siempre!
Filed Under Missions, Music, Westminster Confession | Leave a Comment
Our friends and fellow laborers with the Christian Missionary Society in Peru are developing a musical version of the first 38 questions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism–en Espanol, ya esta! Alonzo Ramirez has translated the texts, and Allen Smith is leading the way with the composition of tunes that sing well to the Peruvian ear. You can listen to samples at Allen and Sandi Smith’s blog, which also includes a video slide show for questions 1 and 7:
Allen reports that children in Trujillo, Peru love to sing these catechism songs, and that in some neighborhoods he can hear the songs being sung in the streets as the children play. Rejoice in God’s truth going forth!
Jul
24
Book Review: Here I Stand
Filed Under Books, Christian History | Leave a Comment
I admit a lifelong aversion to all things historical and biographical. Whether it was a bad history teacher in high school or my own generational arrogance I cannot say. However, Hebrews 11 is having its way with me. I am growing in my appreciation of biography and history as I read more of it, especially as it relates to the history of the church. Despite my aversion to all things historic, I have known from very early on in my Christian growth that I should spend time at some point studying the life of Martin Luther. If you are a Protestant of any flavor, there is no excuse for not knowing at least a cursory amount of information on the universally recognized father of the Reformation. It was this growing love for history combined with a nagging guilt of Luther ignorance that lead me to read Here I Stand: A life of Martin Luther, by Roland Bainton.
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Bad writers can ruin good history with relative ease. The life of Martin Luther is fascinating history. Bainton’s scholarship and writing style provides just the right setting to highlight the life of Luther in a way that avoids being cumbersome while at the same time providing rich depth. I read this book a chapter at a time over the course of a month, frequently finding myself sad to reach the end of a chapter and anxious to begin the next. Someone looking for an intricate scholarly analysis of Luther would find this book wanting but for the average minister or lay person, Bainton provides pleasurable readability.
Anybody who knows anything about Martin Luther knows that Luther had a propensity for being highly opinionated on a number of topics. His opinions have caused varying responses in people, some of whom rightly understand Luther’s historical context and some who do not. Luther’s vitriol poses difficulty for the biographer. Bainton handles Luther’s peculiar personality exceptionally well. He shows the very real internal struggles in Luther’s life that lead to the growth of this theology. He aptly shows the corruption of the Roman Catholic church to which Luther responded. There are places were Bainton openly confesses that Luther was overly sensitive and outright grumpy. At other times Bainton takes time to explain why a particular aggressive comment of Luther’s was justified in light of the ecclesiastical context of 16th century Germany and Europe.
I also appreciated Bainton’s decision to handle some parts of Luther’s life in chronological order while dealing with other issues on a topical basis. The book is mainly split in that order. The first half covers the chronology of Luther’s conflict with the Roman Catholic church. The latter part of the book deals with various themes in Luther’s life including the effect of his theology on marriage, state, and church.
I found three parts of this book especially interesting. First, I found Bainton’s portrayal of Luther to rightly show Luther’s desire to reform the church based on the Bible. I have heard Luther spoken of as a hot-headed reactionary who hated the church and wanted to start over based on his own ego-maniacal views of the Bible. Over and over again, through Luther’s own words and Bainton’s analysis you see Luther’s desire for the church to be built upon and nourished by the Word of God. It is for this cause that Luther was willing to fight, write, preach, and die. Secondly, Bainton did an excellent job describing the oddity of Luther’s depression. Luther is known commonly as a man who struggled with severe depression. What is odd about his depression is Luther’s enormous output in the midst of his darkest days. The most common symptom of depression is inactivity and withdrawal. Luther fought his depression with extreme exertion and a strong grasp on the Word of God. Certainly there is wisdom here for those who struggle with the darkness of depression. Lastly, I especially enjoyed the look at Luther’s marriage which Bainton provides. Luther’s profound effect on the Christian family may not even now be fully explored. To read the anecdotes of Martin and Katie’s marriage are at times humorous and other times profoundly meaningful and challenging. Many a mighty theologian has been shown to be an imbecile in his own home; for Luther this was not the case.
I cannot end my review without saying, “This book has pictures!” Let’s be honest, we really never make it past kindergarten. A good book should have pictures in it. Bainton has included in his biography over 100 illustrations of woodcuts taken from Luther’s own time. It was a pleasure to read the history as well as to see the art, sometimes beautiful sometimes satricial, that grew out of the conflicts in which Luther found himself.
In conclusion, I lay upon you the same guilt I felt before reading this book. Every Protestant should study the life of Martin Luther. He is the father of the Reformation. Given this mandate, the church is in desperate need of a good, readable biography, universally appealing to layman and minister alike. Bainton has provided the church with such a book. You are under obligation to read this book. It will do your soul good. And who knows when the church will again have need of men with the courage of Luther? This book serves Christian training that the church might find us ready should she need defending again.
Jul
18
Allies with your enemies?
Filed Under Christian Living, Prayer | Leave a Comment
Earlier this year I shared some thoughts from the e-journal of Buddy Wood, who lives in the Washington, DC area and is the brother-in-law of one of the members of FPC. Buddy has cancer for the second time, and this time it has manifested itself through multiple brain tumors. I get weekly updates from his CaringBridge site and find his reflections on God’s work of sanctification in his life to be so helpful and applicable to me and to others. Below is his latest “Glimpse into the Garrison,” which is printed here with Buddy’s kind permission:
“Whatever we trust in place of God will eventually turn on us and destroy us.” (John N. Oswalt, Commentary on Isaiah, p. 194)
GLIMPSE INTO THE GARRISON (#54): Life threatening disease is constantly putting the question “In whom do I trust?” on the table. For me this creates a “heart-check imperative” – a desire to make sure I understand what I am really trusting for deliverance and protection.
Webster defines trust as “assured reliance on the character or ability of someone or something”. What am I relying on for deliverance and protection? Why do I think I am going to be OK? Am I going to be OK because…
…the quality of the medical care in the DC area is top notch?
…my financial resources (insurance, savings, etc) are sufficient?
…I do very thorough research and stay on top of managing my own case?
…I analyze all the statistical data and come up with the best option”? (gulp!)
…God is my ultimate protector and deliverer?
It is probably no coincidence that in the midst of this “heart-check” I have been going through the book of Isaiah in the Daily Walk Bible reading. Isaiah is packed with lessons on trusting God for deliverance and protection. A little historical background will help in extracting these lessons…
Isaiah was God’s prophet to the Southern Kingdom of Judah from about 740BC – 701BC, but his prophetic horizon spanned centuries of expansionist tendencies of military powers like Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia and Egypt. These legendary powers constantly threatened Judah, and as God’s prophet to Judah, Isaiah spoke directly to Judah’s relationship to these powerful nations. The question for Judah was the same as the question for me:
“…On what are you basing this confidence of yours…On whom are you depending…” (Isaiah 36:4-5)
Isaiah’s answer to the question was clear and persistent: Judah should trust God as their ultimate deliverer and protector:
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” (Isaiah 12:2)
Judah could not match the political, economic, or military power of these nations, but Judah found it too difficult to trust God as a tangible means of deliverance and protection. In whom did Judah trust instead? Judah sought alliances with the very nations that were threatening them. One Judean King, Ahaz, approached an attacking Assyrian enemy this way:
“Ahaz sent messengers to say to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, “I am your servant and vassal. Come up and save me…” (2 Kings 16:7)
Rather than trust her creator God, Judah found it easier (even logical!) to trust her own worst enemies – enemies that eventually attacked or destroyed her. Over the centuries this included Assyria (attacked Judah) and Babylon (carried Judah into exile). Judah even sought protection from Egypt, who had enslaved the Hebrews for 430 years prior to their miraculous exodus!
It is important to note that Isaiah was neither pro-alliance nor anti-alliance as a concept; his issue was allowing alliances to replace God as Judah’s source of deliverance! Therefore the focus of my heart-check imperative is on my ultimate source of assured reliance and not on seeking quality care or staying on top of medical or financial issues. In other words, the question is not “should I seek quality medical care?”; the question is “where is my ultimate trust?”.
Here are some “takeaways on trust” from this powerful historical example:
- The first order of business when I am threatened is to come to terms with trusting God.
- When I refuse to trust God, I can somehow convince myself that it makes sense to trust my own worst enemy. This leads to defeat and despair.
- Whatever I rely on rather than trusting in God will eventually be my undoing. This could include misplaced trust in God-given talents and resources, turning into idolatry.
- These lessons are about ultimate trust and not use of God-given talents and resources as intermediate means to address life’s challenges.
Jul
17
Lives for sale
Filed Under Culture, Missions, Tragedy | Leave a Comment
The Sweet Dropper has existed for nearly a year now, and a perusal of the archives would tell you that we are not much for stomping about the latest assault on ‘family values.’ If you’re like me, you get more than your share of forwarded emails about these things as it is (and, if you’re like me, you don’t read them either). There is a certain self-righteousness about being perennially indignant about the cause du jour. In fact, if you listen to voices on the far left and the ‘Christian right,’ you’d think they were reading off the same script (’The world as we know it is coming to an end! ______ is the most outrageous and egregious assault on _________ to date and a danger to our country/heritage/environment/rights/liberties/pets, etc. You must join us in taking action/protesting/signing the petition/donating/spaying, etc.”). All this to say: The Sweet Dropper is not a place where we go on and on about “issues.”
Having said that, I do think Christians and others concerned about justice, mercy and faithfulness should be aware of the issue of global slavery. Those who study these things, including the U.S. State Department, estimate that 27 million people (including children) are in debt bondage, forced labor slavery, forced prostitution or trafficked as chattel. In other words, there are more slaves in the world today than were bartered and bought as chattel during the 400 years of the European and American slave trade!
A good place to begin learning about the problem (both as statistics and the human side) is the latest issue of Mission Frontiers, the journal of the U.S. Center for World Missions. Recently, National Geographic magazine shed light on this global blight, and their site contains more resources than you can shake a stick at–as we sometimes say around here. One more resource is International Justice Mission, whose site is also quite good.
If you check out any of this information, I’ll leave it to you as to what to do next. But let’s don’t find ourselves on the receiving end of the same indictment that Jesus made against the Pharisees: ‘you have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness…Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!’ [Matthew 23:23-24]. And I promise: no annoying emails.
Jul
9
Is Mormonism Christian?
Filed Under Apologetics, Mormonism | 2 Comments
Al Mohler and Orson Scott Card are currently participating in an online debate on whether Mormonism is Christianity or not. Mormonism has received a face lift in the pass few years through advertising themselves as just another denomination, aggresively advocating their family values, and by having a presidential hopeful in Mitt Romney. If you are at all interested in finding out more about the false religion of Mormonism, you really need to read the debate as it unfolds. Mohler is clearly, decisively, and graciously delivering a strong defense for the orthodox Christian faith handed down through the centuries.