Calvin on being a good minster of the Word of God and Scholarship

"None will ever be a good minister of the word of God, unless he is first of all a scholar." -- John Calvin

How My Mind Has Changed in This Decade: Part Two by Karl Barth

Read more....."The positive factor in the new development was this: in these years I had to learn that Christian doctrine, if it is to merit its name and if it is to build up the Christian church in the world as she must needs be built up. has to be exclusively and conclusively the doctrine of Jesus Christ -- of Jesus Christ as the living Word of God spoken to us men.....I should like to call it a christological concentration -- I have been led to a critical (in a better sense of the word) discussion of church tradition, and as well of the Reformers, and especially of Calvin." 

Hillsong United - Hosanna

Comparable to a hymn it's Hillsong United's song Hosanna. 

Double Predestination: The Elected Ones and the Crowd of the Condemned By Jürgen Moltmann

Here is an interesting essay by Jergen Moltmann commenting on Karl Barth and his reworking of Calvin's doctrine of Double Predestination. 

“The doctrine of election is the sum of the Gospel because of all words that can be said or heard it is the best: that God elects man; that God is for man too the One who loves in freedom,” said Karl Barth in § 32 of his Church Dogmatics (trans. is from Bromiley ed.). Why is this so? Because “God took upon himself the condemnation of sinful men with all consequences, and elected man to participate in his eternal glory (§ 33).” Is Barth teaching “double predestination?” Yes! But in a new dialectical form: God took the condemnation upon himself in order to embrace all in his election of grace. This is the new dialectical form of the old doctrine of “double predestination.” 

He goes on further and address what some say is Barth's Universalism. 

"Another question is whether universalism is the result of this reformulation. The answer is “No,” because we are witnesses of the Gospel not judges in the final judgment of God. Whether God will in the end embrace all with his transforming grace is His sake, ours is the witness of the Gospel to everybody."

Read more... 

Batman - Year One Animantion

If you haven't watched it yet, Batman-Year One is out on Animation by DC Animations and it's fabulous. It tells the story leading up to Dark Knight. 

A Moka Pot

My wife and I are going shopping today and one of the items that we are looking to purchase is a Moka Pot. The unit is found in most traditional italian homes and produces a coffee similar to espresso and not to far from a Turkish coffee.

My taste buds have changed more European in the last 4 years from living abroad, because I've been exposed to all the richness of the European products that make Singapore a former colony.

So cheers,

Ken

Was Calvin a Calvinist? Or, Did Calvin (or Anyone Else in the Early Modern Era) Plant the “TULIP”? Richard A. Muller

I've read most of this and will finish it up later today, but the ending of the article is tantalizing enough to read it more. 

"By way of conclusion, we return to the initial question, “Was Calvin a Calvinist?” The answer is certainly a negative. Calvin was not a “Calvinist” — but then again, neither were the “Calvinists.” They were all contributors to the Reformed tradition. The moral of the story, perhaps, is to recognize the common ground on which Calvin, the various Reformed confessions, and the so-called “Calvinists” of the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries stand, and if you must, “gather ye rosebuds while ye may,” but don’t plant TULIP in your Reformed garden." 

Read more...

Ken

An Idiot Abroad

This is the most funniest show besides the Rev that I've watched in a long time.

Karl Pilkington who is the main travel host is one of the most lovable persons on the planet and yet he is has one of the most odd perceptions of life in the world....so funny! 


Ken

Spanish Wordproject with audio

Here is a great resource for those who speak spanish and english and want a parallel translation on the desktop for free.

Ken

Van Til and the Trinity

One of the things that I've written on Van Til is that he made the doctrine of the Trinity into a paradox instead of a mystery in his writings in his systematic theology. 


I wrote: 


"To me Cornelius made the Trinity out to be paradoxical instead of a mystery with the wording of it in his Introduction to Systematics which I read along with most of his other books. But with that said, I owe a lot to him and his writings. I just wish that he would of cleared this up or at least updated his Trinitarian theology. At least he could of explained himself more and I think we’d all be helped if he did."

Why I’m Not Anglican – Response

Read this..pretty cool response!

Reformed Theology in the Church of England by Lee Gatiss

Listen

Obedience

...Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. 1 John 2:6


I had a guy tell me that I wasn't saved because I drink moderately a few times a week or on vacations every day. What I mean by moderation is 1 to 2 drinks, which is moderate both in alcohol and calories. 


Scripture forbids all sorts of drunkenness, but we don't find commandments against moderation. What we do find is that alcohol is blessing if used properly and that it brings joy to the heart. 


Ken


*That isn't my photo, because I found it on google search, but I do have that same bottle sitting by some of my german beer glasses. Calvinus as I remember was a good ale. 

Why I am a Protestant, Reformed, and Evangelical Christian by Dr Peter Jensen

The Right Reverend Dr. Peter F. Jensen is the Archbishop of Sydney, Australia and formerly Principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney


Listen

Grace

"We saw in the last chapter that, because death and corruption were gaining ever firmer hold on them, the human race was in process of destruction. Man, who was created in God's image and in his possession of reason reflected the very Word Himself, was disappearing, and the work of God was being undone. The law of death, which followed from the Transgression, prevailed upon us, and from it there was no escape. The thing that was happening was in truth both monstrous and unfitting. It would, of course, have been unthinkable that God should go back upon His word and that man, having transgressed, should not die; but it was equally monstrous that beings which once had shared the nature of the Word should perish and turn back again into non-existence through corruption. It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon man by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the work of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits……. It was impossible, therefore, that God should leave man to be carried off by corruption, because it would be unfitting and unworthy of Himself." St. Athanasius

In Reformed theology I've heard it said many times that it would of been perfectly ok for God to leave mankind in their sin and not save them. So is that true? I've heard some outside Calvinism use such a statement in order to discredit Reformed theology in order to paint Calvin's God as a monster. 

So where is the truth in all of this? Well, I think that Athanasius sets forth perfectly what is found in Calvinism's preaching of the Gospel. Athanasius vivid painting of God's grace in the above passage is quite frankly beautiful. We in ourselves are undeserving of God love, but he has chosen through his grace to have mercy on his elect by sending his Son and through is sacrificial death, resurrection and the sending of his Spirit he is saving his people. Simply put. 

Question 30: Does God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery ?

Answer: God does not leave all men to perish in the estate of sin and misery,into which they fell by the breach of the first covenant, commonly called the covenant of works; but of his mere love and mercy delivers his elect out of it, and brings them into an estate of salvation by the second covenant,commonly called the covenant of grace. Westminster Larger Catechism

The Trinity: Why We Should Teach It By Frank D. Macchia

 "I went on to note that even the simplest expressions of the gospel imply the Trinity."


Read more...

Double Predestination, Anglicans and Karl Barth

"Another distinctively Reformed teaching that was important in the development of Anglicanism was the doctrine of double predestination.  This taught that God, from all eternity, predestined some people to eternal life (election) and predestined others to eternal damnation (reprobation)…….Though double predestination was a prominent belief in Anglicanism's formative years, the Articles of Religion are silent on this and in later generations the doctrine fell distinctly out of favor." Anglican Influences

I had to google that one and find it, because while reading the Irish Articles and comparing them to the later Articles it's apparent that the Anglican church changed it's position or have chosen to remain silent on double predestination. This seems to be the position throughout Reformed Christianity, some are double like Calvin and some aren't double like his contemporaries and later generations. 

Karl Barth on the other hand wasn't silent like the later Anglican Articles on his doctrine of election and his rejection of of an absolute decree. "In keeping with his Christo-centric methodology, Barth argues that to ascribe the salvation or damnation of humanity to an abstract and absolute decree is to make some part of God more final and definitive than God’s saving act in Jesus Christ. God’s absolute decree, if one may speak of such a thing, is God’s gracious decision to be “for” humanity in the person of Jesus Christ (Barth calls this God’s “Yes”). " The Theology of Karl Barth 

While retaining the resemblance of early Reformed tradition Barth rethinks and rewrites election."With the earlier Reformed tradition, Barth retains the notion of double predestination, but he makes Jesus simultaneously the object and subject of both divine election and reprobation: Jesus embodies God’s election of humanity and God’s rejection of human sin. He is the electing God and the elect man. As the electing God, Jesus elects all of humanity in himself. And thus, as the elected man, all who are “in Christ” are elect in him. Non-believers, it is said, have simply not realized or recognized their election in Christ." The Theology of Karl Barth 

Some though have charged Barth though with universalism with his rewriting of Calvin's doctrine of double predestination, but other scholars like Ben Myers says no. "He(David Congdon) draws extensively on Karl Barth’s theology in support of a universalist view of grace. Naturally we can try to press Barth’s theology in this direction if we wish. But we shouldn’t forget that Barth himself was always sharply critical of “universalism.” 

"For Barth, the grace of God is characterised by freedom. On the one hand, this means that we can never impose limits on the scope of grace; and on the other hand, it means that we can never impose a universalist “system” on grace. In either case, we would be compromising the freedom of grace—we would be presuming that we can define the exact scope of God’s liberality. So Barth’s theology of grace includes a dialectical protest: Barth protests both against a system of universalism and against a denial of universalism! The crucial point is that God’s grace is free grace: it is nothing other than God himself acting in freedom. And if God acts in freedom, then we can neither deny nor affirm the possibility of universal salvation." Why I am not a universalist 

Ok, there is a lot here that I found just on the web, but more to come as soon as I read more about Karl Barth and church history. 


Ken

XI. Of the Justification of Man

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only, is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

TOM WRIGHT THE SHAPE OF PAUL'S THEOLOGY Paul and the faithfulness of God 2011

This link is excellent, especially when Wright explains monotheism in trinitarian-pauline terms. 


Ken

Bultmann on What Schleiermacher Got Right and Wrong

Read

The Spirit of Creation: Modern Science and Divine Action in the Pentecostal-Charismatic Imagination

Read, quite interesting. 

Currently reading

Ancient Philosophy: A New History of Western Philosophy, Volume 1


I haven't been on here much, but I plan to be on here more. I am currently reading Philosophy and then moving on the early church fathers. 


Should be a fun end to the year and a fun beginning to the next. 


Ken :)