The Wrong Metaphor

In a post yesterday by Albert Mohler, Mohler responds to McLaren's criticisms of Mohler that Mohler had made of Bell.

Mohler quotes McLaren:

If a human father decided to throw his child in a fireplace for just ten seconds as punishment for disobedience, we wouldn’t fault the father simply for being unsentimental: we would say such behavior was unholy, an act of torture in violation of our most fundamental sense of justice. Any definition of justice and holiness that involves being unsatisfied unless the imperfect are suffering eternal agony seems to many of us as unworthy of a human being and if so, how much more unworthy of God whose justice must be better than our own.

And this is so true. But this is the wrong way to look the situation between God and humanity. We are not God's children by creation, we are rebelling citizens. And kings (and presidents) deal harshly with rebelling citizens. It is their right (and responsibility) to do so. Jesus related several parables where God as the king punishes his enemies severely and tells others that there will be great punishment for those who rebel against God. These include Matthew 8:5-13, 13:40-42, 21:33-44, 22:1-14.

Now, I realize that these passage don't settle whether hell will eventually be emptied, but they do speak to a God who is justified in punishing those who rebel against him and who sin against him. These passages speak to a Jesus who believes and teaches exactly those same things.

In RC Sproul's book, The Prayer of the Lord, he discusses the idea of the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man.

I think Harnack was wrong in his analysis of the essence of Christianity. I don't think these two propositions are at the core of the Christian faith. In fact, I don't think they're even a part of the Christian faith. I think these propositions are actually antithetical to the Christian faith. (22)

I think that RC is exactly correct, and that McLaren has bought into Harnack's error. The fatherhood of God is for those who are believers in Jesus Christ, and no others. That God has a creatorial love for his creation is true, but that does not mean that he loves all humanity in the same way. Challenge: is RC correct? Is there anywhere in the Bible that refers to God as the father of all humanity?

So, as we discuss the relationship between God and humanity we must be careful to use the correct metaphor for the correct relationship. For believers in Jesus Christ, he is Father. For all humanity, he is the king and creator to whom all owe allegiance and obedience. Those who will not give obedience and allegiance will be treated at some point as the rebels that they are.

Keep Your Greek, chapters 3 & 4 & 5

Just as an interlinear can be a crutch, so too can be Bible software. Those wonderful programs that allow the pastor and scholar to search and find new patterns can also substitute for the knowledge that allows us to read well and comfortably in another language. How to avoid this crutch? Don't have any native language Bible open when you are reading Greek for reading practice. Campbell gives other tips as well, but you'll need to read the book.

Chapter 4 deals with the need to know vocabulary. I have a confession to make. I like languages; it's fun to learn the ins and outs of the language (grammar) and just enough vocabulary to understand how the language works. That's the fun part for me. Then the hard work begins. That's learning vocabulary, enough vocabulary to become fluent. That takes time and patience and practice. This chapter gives hints and tools on how to learn vocabulary so that it really sticks. The blog excerpts are especially helpful.

Chapter 5 deals with parsing. I used to love parsing, but I hardly get to do it any more! Parsing is very important to the meaning of how verbs and nouns are used. But it's also important to remember accurately what those different labels mean. Anyway, review the paradigms for verbs and nouns. Write them out once a year, a few a month or something. But keep up with them. And I would add, go over the irregular ones that are common so that their principal parts are easily recognized.

Keep Your Greek, chapters 1 & 2

Chapter one - read every day! In Greek, of course. It's like becoming good at any other skill such as music or athletics. A little bit a day will go a long way to keeping up one's skills. Even though it is important to go through verb conjugations and noun declensions, reading will help keep all that fresh.

Chapter two - get rid of the interlinear! OK, Constantine actually tells us to burn it or give it away. The reason is that it is a crutch and we need to develop the habit of reading without the English vocabulary under our eyes. The interlinear also makes it too easy to avoid wrestling with Greek syntax. So, get rid of it! If you need help with the vocabulary, I would suggest instead A Reader's Greek New Testament, nicely bound in leather with the low frequency words at the bottom of the page. It won't do for serious text critical studies or word studies, but for reading it is great.

More later on the other chapters!

Keeping one's Greek after seminary

Here's a topic I'm interested in, and guilty of as well. When I was at Denver Seminary I taught beginning Koine Greek for two summers to fellow students. While I was at Trinity, I taught it for two years as well. However, since I finished my doctoral work and am teaching in a different field, I have let it slide.

So the book, Keep Your Greek by Constantine Campbell is both a challenge and a resource for keeping or regaining one's Greek skills. Given that seminaries require a great deal of time, effort, study, and money to raise the skills of their students to a certain level, it is worth students putting effort into keeping these skills after they finish their seminary studies.

However, it is not always easy to do so. When I finished seminary (twice) I ended up back in education in a different field, and even when I taught Bible and related subjects, a knowledge of Greek was not really required. So too, I imagine, for many pastors. The demands of their vocation allows them to not use their language skills, and so over several years, their skills deteriorate.

Campbell's book is available both at Zondervan and through Amazon in both paperback and kindle editions. This or a similar book should be required reading for those who are in the final stages of their seminary studies.

The book is fairly short. Each chapter is dedicated to one topic, ending with excerpts from Campbell's blog on the topic. There are ten chapters, plus an introduction, appendix, and a list of resources at the end. The blog mentioned is http://readbetterpreachbetter.wordpress.com/ which has other resources for teaching and preaching. I'll be checking it out as well.

In posts to come, I'll post more about the contents of the book.

First genealogy blog post - John Bradley

Most of my posts have been about theology or politics. My other interest for most of my life has been genealogy. So here goes.

My father got me interested in genealogy. We have a family Bible that is probably from the 1840s, and the handwritten records in it date to the time of the Revolutionary War. My father's interest over the years has been that family. Mine has been broader, but I have one family in particular that I find very interesting, and one that I would love to know more about.

John Bradley is the earliest person on this line of my mother's. According to town histories from New Hampshire, he was a schoolmaster in the 1790s. His widow remarried in 1801, so he was dead by then. According to the histories, he was an Englishman from Bermuda. I have not found any record of his birth in Bermuda; he was probably born in England. He was a schoolmaster in Stratford and Lancaster, and in Guildhall, a small town in Vermont just across the border. James Curtis of Stratford married August 30, 1801, Sarah Bradley, widow of Stratford's first school teacher, known as "Master Bradley." She was born Oct. 29, 1758. She married John Bradley in Portsmouth, New Hampshire in August 1790. Her name was recorded as Mrs. Sarah Buckley.

They had only one child, apparently. From the town records of Stratford, a Seth Hayes Bradley is recorded along with the Curtis family. Seth served in the War of 1812 (I have all the records that I have been able to find) and had several children. In the 1830s they left for Rochester, New York. He died in 1846. His widow, Ruth M. ???? survived him and lived until at least 1860. She lived with two of her children in Seneca and Tompkins Counties in New York in 1850 and later in 1860 with her daughter, Adelia Read in Chemung County.

Seth's son, Joseph Atwell Bradley served in the Mexican War, and then vanishes after an 1859 Rochester, Springfield Co., Ohio city directory entry. Seth's other son, Sylvester, was my ancestor. He married Martha Emaline Miner, who was descended from many old New England families. They moved to Jackson, Michigan where they lived out their lives. Sylvester joined the Union army (my father recently found a letter that he wrote as he was enlisting) and later died of illnesses he acquired during the war.

So questions:
1. Where do I go for more clues on John's origins?
2. Was Sarah Buckley married before? She was 32 when she married John. She was Mrs. Is there a significance to that?
3. Seth and Ruth were married around 1813. I've searched all the New Hampshire records that I can find online and through the LDS church for a marriage record. No luck. Any suggestions? Could they have been married in another state?

any other suggestions welcomed.

And all the best on your brick walls as well!

God is not ashamed

Yesterday I read section 51 in John Piper's book, Taste and See. A year ago I was teaching Hebrews in my Sunday School class at our church in Thornton, Colorado. Hebrews 11 is a famous chapter, full of ordinary people who failed in so many ways, yet who are remembered as examples of faith and faithfulness to God. In that chapter, verse 16 gives us an important clue as to why these people are in that chapter.

I find it comforting to read about all these people. They are commended for their faith, and yet their lives are marked by significant sin and doubts. Where is the faith when Abraham lied about who Sarah was? Or about whether he would have a child by her, and instead brought Hagar into the picture? Or Gideon who doubted God? What about Samson's continuous womanizing? How can they be examples that we are to follow?

Again - verse 16 contains the clue. They desired a better country, a heavenly one. They desired a city that God built and prepared for them. So in spite of the difficulties of their lives, and their failings and sins, they persisted in believing God and in wanting him more than the life of this world that was around them.

Piper points out the foundation of God's pleasure in the people of Hebrews 11 is that he has prepared a city for them. These people desired what God prepared for them - even though as the author states later they did not actually see it.

The reward for these people's desire (and for us as well) is that God "was not ashamed." This appears to be an understatement meaning that in fact God was proud of these people. Imagine. God actually being proud of these people with their weaknesses and failings.

I won't belabor the obvious applications. First, do we desire the city of this world (to use St. Augustine's image) or the city of God? Do we want the world's approval, or God's pride in us in spite of our own sins and weaknesses? Second, are you encouraged to desire God in spite of your knowledge of your failures? If you do, then you too can expect his pride in you. What greater motivation is there?

Immigration

It's been awhile since I've written. I've been doing a lot of reading, but not too much writing!

One of the next big items that I believe will become a topic of debate in the USA will be immigration. There are many facets to this problem, and I believe that it would be wiser to tackle them separately, rather than all at once. I believe that it is foolish to try and solve all the problems at once. There's too much that can go wrong. (See my posting on health care and unintended consequences.)

So:
1. What do we do about the people that are already here illegally, who came as adults?
2. What do we do about people who are here illegally, but who came as minors? (presumably with their parents)
3. What do we do about those who wish to come in the future?

The following are my opinions only, and subject to change based on intelligent arguments and discussion. Please don't throw any accusations about racism. No name calling.

1. I believe that those who came here illegally as adults should permanently lose their chance to become US citizens. They should, subject to certain conditions, be allowed to stay legally.

• No serious criminal record (Let the legislators decide how serious)
  
• Payment of a fine - not enough to be crippling, but enough to show the seriousness of their actions. The fine would be payable over several years, and not all at once.
  
• Employment and being productive members of society

2. Minors who came would be allowed to become citizens, again with certain conditions including at least:

• Successful high school graduation with at least a "C" grade point average (Special needs students would obviously excepted)
  
• Sufficient English skills
  
• Employment or college
• No serious criminal record
• Those who enlist in the military should be given a fast track to citizenship, barring other factors.

Minors who wish to attend college should be allowed to do so with instate tuition, if their parents are pursuing legal status (as above) and the minor children meet the conditions listed in #2.

3. Here I'm out of my league. We need to control the borders, and who is allowed in. A guest worker program might best fit the bill. From what I've heard the entire immigration system needs reform (but not all at once). It's byzantine, unfair, and keeps people whose skills we need out of the country.

Anyway, there are some thoughts. What are yours?