Sons of Light

“While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

— John 12:36 ESV

Jesus was in constant battle with unbelief during his ministry. The Light of God had come to earth and yet some people refused to believe in him. Why do some believe and others do not? In this verse, Jesus puts the responsibility for belief squarely on the recipient of the light. Note his use of the personal pronoun, “you have the light” and “you may become”. The precondition to becoming a child of light is first having light, that is the light of Christ. If the light is present, then believing in the light (Jesus Christ) joins one to the light (child of light). Jesus also told us that we are the light of the world, not exactly like him, but carriers of his light. And while we remain true to him, this dark world has his light. Men and women can still become children of light if they believe in the light of Jesus. For this reason, if you are a child of the light, let your light shine.

The New Boogie Men

“We are troubled not by spirits but by bots and opaque algorithmic processes, which alternately and capriciously curse or bless us. In the Digital City, individuals may be refused credit, passed over for job interviews, or denied welfare on the basis of systems built on digital data against which they have little to no recourse.”

— L. M. Sacasas

This quote is from the article The Analog City and the Digital City published in the Winter 2020 issue of The New Atlantis.

I can attest to the truth of this assessment. I applied for many jobs last Fall via the online portals touted as avenues to employment by the Digital City. I always had the feeling that I was not offering up the correct sacrifice to the GADs (gatekeeping algorithmic directives) and, so, the oracles never responded to me. Or rather they responded with a generically generated email telling me that my resume had been reviewed and the company was going in a different direction. I finally decided to bypass the GADs by sending a physical letter to a physical address in the hopes that a physical pair of eyes would read it. And it worked.

Why I'm not a Calvinist...

I recently submitted an article to www.Soteriology101.com entitled “Why I’m Not A Calvinist, Even Though I Should Be”. In it I give three reasons why I do not find Calvinism to be a coherent theological system, even though I had been immersed in biblical and doctrinal study from the Reformed Theology perspective. The article was accepted and published in three parts. A pdf of the entire article can be found below.

Out, Out Brief Candle

Back in college I had a really bad year. It was 1989 or 1990, I can’t be sure which. I was at a friend’s apartment on New Year’s Eve, just the two of us. We scrounged up a black candle from somewhere and lit it as midnight approached. On the twelfth bell I blew out the candle, closing out the year that had brought me so much pain.

I did the same for 2019.

Complete Felicity

Isaiah 35:1-10 is one of this week’s Advent readings. The redeemed of the Lord shall walk on the Way of Holiness into Zion…

“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return / and come into Zion with singing; / everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; / they shall obtain gladness and joy, / and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

— Isaiah 35:10

This world only affords an alloyed felicity, joy mingled with sorrow, singing mixed with sighing. But in Zion, gladness and joy will be undiminished because sorrow and sighing flee away, leaving only purified blessedness for those ransomed by God.

On Mission

“Our task is to carry out our mission - to announce the coming of Jesus, his first and his second coming. His coming in mercy to save those who had defied his judgment, and his coming in judgment to save those who have not despised his mercy.”

— Douglas Farrow (Touchstone Conference 2019)

Dilbert Beware

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert cartoon series, recently authored a book entitled Loserthink: How Untrained Brains Are Ruining America. I was listening to an interview with Adams on The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish podcast (#70) in which Adams makes the following comment regarding those who purport to write non-fiction books:

People who are writing non-fiction believe they’re telling you what is objectively true in the world, but we don’t have that capability. We all have this illusion that the version of the world we’re seeing is “the one” and that if anyone’s got a different version they must be wrong. It’s sort of the most common illusion that we all have. So if you sit down and say “I’m going to write about reality” - you don’t have that capability! It’s not something you could do, no matter how hard you try, because all you have is a filter on reality. Now, we still label that as non-fiction because somebody is not trying to write fiction… but most of what we regard as fact is some kind of sheltered truth.

I’m confused. If no one has the ability to relay objective truth about reality and the best we can do is have our own filtered reality, then why should I trust Scott Adam’s filtered version of reality over my own? How has he managed to rise above the “most common illusion we all have”?

This is a version of what is called The Elephant And The Blind Men fallacy. You’ve probably heard this story before. A group of four blind men happen upon an elephant. The first blind man touches the elephant’s tail and says “It’s a rope”. The second touches one of the legs and says “No, it’s a tree”. The third touches the side of the elephant and says, “ No, it’s a wall”. The last blind man handles the elephant’s ear and says, “You’re all wrong, it’s a sail.” This story is meant to illustrate that no one can truly know reality and we each only have our limited perspective on the truth. However, it’s the fifth character in the story we need to consider - the Enlightened Observer.

If the group of blind men represents the limited capacity of humanity to know reality, the elephant representing reality, then how is it that the Enlightened Observer can see the entire elephant? How has the one using the story to illustrate humanity’s limitations risen above these same limitations? Many times this story is used in the context of demonstrating that religions only give a portion of the reality about divinity and none of them accurately give “the way things really are”. But to recognize this, the Enlightened Observer somehow has gained a perspective that is larger than everyone else’s perspective which enables him or her to see reality for what it is. Rather a presumptuous claim, isn’t it?

I haven’t read Adam’s non-fiction book, Loserthink, but if I do, I’ll be on the lookout for why he believes he knows the reality he claims none of us can really know.

Scripture and Systematic Theology

The Bible is not a theological handbook. The inspired Scriptures are composed of history, poetry, prophecy, biography, and epistles which tell us about God and his interaction with mankind. As such, the scriptures are rich in detail, in tension, in conflict, in beauty, in instruction, and in nuance. The Bible is a rugged landscape filled with mountains and valleys, streams and deserts, jungles and tundra. The Scriptures are given for the shaping of us into the image of Jesus Christ and are for the variety of human experiences, speaking to the rich and the poor, men and women, slave and free. The Bible is a highly textured text.

Systematic Theology is man’s attempt (non-inspired) to summarize and syncretize the various currents of the Scriptures into concise doctrines, short-hand synopses of what the Bible says about this or that topic. By necessity, this process loses the tension, detail, and nuance of the texts in all their diversity and difference. As a consequence, therefore, the intended richness and specificity of the Scriptures as intended for the life of the Church is also lost. Systematic Theology is no substitute for the Scriptures.

A problem then arises if Systematic Theology is used as the sole or primary tool for interpreting the Scriptures. The summarized and syncretized doctrines should not be turned into lenses by which to view the Bible. The Bible should always stand above and over the doctrines that were derived from it. Otherwise, the tendency is to warp the understanding of specific texts to fit within the doctrinal boundaries. Let scripture interpret scripture, but let not doctrine interpret scripture.

At this point some will object that I go too far, that I denigrate those who have studied to understand the Bible and help others understand it by providing a roadmap of its varied terrain. Not so. I only stand against using a doctrine derived from a summary of many texts to override the plain meaning of a single text. Perhaps an example will help.

The Westminster Confession of Faith states the following regarding the doctrine Of the Perseverance of the Saints:

They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved.

Compare this to the warning against apostasy in Hebrews 6:4-8

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

The Westminster Confession seems to negate even the possibility of apostasy, about which the author of Hebrews takes great pains to warn his readers. If the doctrine overrides the text, then this warning loses much (if not all) of its intended intensity. Therefore, let the text stand above the doctrine.

Let us be students of the Bible first, and know each part as well as we are able, so that we can then interpret the various doctrines and systems which are presented to us, and not lose the richness of the Scriptures intended for our good.

The Real Evil

“Religion counsels that the real evil is not getting old but the indifference of the soul; it is more the desire to act than the power to do so that one loses over time.”

— Ronald W. Dworkin from "Belief Limbo" in the August/September 2019 issue of First Things

I’ve always been more passive by nature than I would like. I need reminders like this to fight the good fight, finish the race, and keep the faith.

Facing The Long Dark

There’s a scene in The Lord Of The Rings where the Fellowship enters the mines of Moria. There have been hints and intimations that an evil would be encountered in those shadowed recesses beneath the mountain. Yet, to complete their endeavor, the band of travelers must pass through the long dark of Moria. An evil is encountered and hope is dimmed, for a season.

There are many long darks in this life, many encounters with the evil of a broken world, many reasons for hope to be dimmed. But we must persevere, we must walk in the long dark, until we pass through and hope is restored.

Walk on, good Pilgrim, follow the glimmer of light provided you though all around is midnight.

A Prayer For Obedience

Heavenly Father, who gives us all things pertaining to life and godliness, grant us obedient hearts that we may follow your precepts and bring glory to your name, through Jesus Christ our Righteousness. Amen

Fallen To Me

This blessing has fallen to me, that I have kept your precepts. ~ Psalm 119:56 ESV

When I first read this verse I thought, “O Lord bless me like this!” Given my bent toward selfishness and pride, it is surely a blessing from God when my heart finds obedience to His law. With the Apostle Paul, I find this principle at work within me: I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. This knowledge of my condition drives me to not only rely on what Christ accomplished on my behalf, a holy life, but also to rely on him to put his holiness into effect within me.

A Prayer For Guidance

Lord Jesus, you have sent the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us into all truth, grant that we may be attentive to the Spirit’s leading and so learn to do the Father’s will in all things. Amen.

Then I Will Go

Send out your light and your truth; / let them lead me; / let them bring me to your holy hill / and to your dwelling! / Then I will go to the altar of God, / to God my exceeding joy, / and I will praise you with the lyre, / O God, my God. ~Psalm 43:3-4 ESV

The Psalmist is making a request for guidance. He desires two guides, Light and Truth. Light gives us the ability to perceive the world around us and truth gives us the ability to discern the correct path. The Psalmist also has a destination in mind, God’s holy dwelling place. He finds joy in being in the presence of God, and joy begets praise.

Has the Psalmist’s request been granted? I think so. What he looked forward to in faith, we look back on, also in faith. Jesus Christ. Christ proclaimed himself the Light of the world and the Truth for the world. He alone is the access to God’s holy dwelling place. The Apostle Paul expressed it this way - “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” At God’s creative word, light sprang out of darkness. His same power is able to shine into our hearts and give us knowledge of his glory. How? By showing us the face of Christ and who he really is.

A Prayer For Obedience

Heavenly Father, you hear my prayer because of Jesus Christ, your Beloved Son, the one who perfectly fulfilled all righteousness. Conform me into his image, make me like him, that I may worship and obey you as I ought. Amen.

That We Keep

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. ~ 1 John 5:3 ESV

Love has a way of removing the burden from duty. We care for our children when they are sick, but we do not consider it a burden because we love them. Fidelity to our spouses is not onerous when we are in a loving relationship with them. We help our aging parents freely, because we love them. If we love God we do not consider obedience to him as burdensome. Instead of feeling that doing our duty is keeping us from what would make us happy, loving obedience confirms that we are being freed from the dictates of our own limited, fallen natures and can experience true happiness.

A Prayer For Direction

Heavenly Father, I cannot find the right path on my own. By your great mercy, teach me the way that I should go and let your Holy Spirit guide me day by day, through Jesus Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen.

The Way Of Man

I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps. ~ Jeremiah 10:23 ESV

Eight implications to ponder from this verse…

1. Revelation is necessary for direction

2. The natural state of mankind is one of aimlessness

3. The fundamental focus of mankind should be outward, not inward

4. Introspection should lead to a sense of neediness

5. The statement “follow your heart” may be the worst advice ever

6. Mankind is dependent, not self-sufficient

7. Life’s highest purpose is not self-actualization

8. The desires we find naturally occurring within us are not worthy of being our guiding principles

A Branch's Prayer

Lord Jesus, give me life that I may be a fruitful branch, showing love, expressing joy, and living in peace. May I be patient and kind, good and faithful, gentle and self-controlled. Make me to be like you. Amen.

I Am... You Are

[Jesus said,] I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. ~ John 15:5

This agrarian metaphor may sound strange to our modern ears, but it gives us an indispensable picture of the Christian life. We are dependent beings. Without Christ, there are no Christians. While this appears obvious, there are those who would use the name Christian, but deny essential elements of who Christ revealed himself to be. The evidence of our union with Christ is in our allegiance to his commandments as demonstrated in the lifestyle (i.e. fruit) we produce. Ultimately, we cannot live in an appropriate manner apart from Christ.