R. Scott Clark and “Reformed”

I have wondered when someone of a scholarly background would address R.S Clark on his narrow views of what it means to be Reformed and I’m glad that James White has in this post.

Social Networks

I think that I’m going to do away with Facebook for awhile. I’ve notice that I was spending to much time on there this year and it’s starting to bug me. 15 minutes here and there sure do add up to an hour a day. My wife is making the same decision also, because we are making reading together more of a priority this year than last and fb is something that we can delete from our schedule and still keep in contact with the people that are close to us.

HOMILY 3: Christians ought to go over the course of this world with care, that they may attain the praise of God.

1O. Therefore has he admonished us to beg of him the gift of grace with boldness, without intermission, and without
fainting. For it was for the sake of sinners that he came into the world, that he might turn them to himself, and heal
them that believe on him. Only let us withdraw ourselves from the deceits of the world, and reject all wicked and vain
thoughts, and ever cleave to him to the uttermost of our power; and he is ready to supply us with his help. For he is
merciful, and quickening, and healing the disorders that were incurable, and working redemption for them that call
upon him, and hang upon him with application and desire. To such a soul as this does GOD vouchsafe his help,
which looks upon all things else as superfluous, and acquiesces in nothing that this world affords; but expects to
rejoice in the rest of his benignity. And thus, having through faith attained to the heavenly gift, and daily advancing in
goodness, and continuing in the way of righteousness to the last, it is thought worthy to partake of eternal salvation.

Saint Macarius the Great

Where there is no belief in the soul, there is very little drama, Flannery O’Connor

As a “Southern” writer she has the advantage, at least, of recognizing a freak when she sees one; as a Catholic she has the advantage of a core of moral and historical certainty:

My own feeling is that writers who see by the light of their Christian faith will have, in these times, the sharpest eyes for the grotesque, for the perverse, and for the unacceptable. In some cases, these writers may be unconsciously infected with the Manichean spirit of the times . . . but I think that more often the reason for this attention to the perverse is the difference between their beliefs and the beliefs of their audience. . . . The novelist with Christian concerns will find in modern life distortions which are repugnant to him, and his problem will be to make these appear as distortions to an audience which is used to seeing them as natural; and he may well be forced to take ever more violent means to get his vision across to this hostile audience.

Flannery O’Connor

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II TO ARTISTS

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE JOHN PAUL II
TO ARTISTS

1999

To all who are passionately dedicated
to the search for new “epiphanies” of beauty
so that through their creative work as artists
they may offer these as gifts to the world.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gn 1:31)

The artist, image of God the Creator

1. None can sense more deeply than you artists, ingenious creators of beauty that you are, something of the pathos with which God at the dawn of creation looked upon the work of his hands. A glimmer of that feeling has shone so often in your eyes when—like the artists of every age—captivated by the hidden power of sounds and words, colours and shapes, you have admired the work of your inspiration, sensing in it some echo of the mystery of creation with which God, the sole creator of all things, has wished in some way to associate you.

That is why it seems to me that there are no better words than the text of Genesis with which to begin my Letter to you, to whom I feel closely linked by experiences reaching far back in time and which have indelibly marked my life. In writing this Letter, I intend to follow the path of the fruitful dialogue between the Church and artists which has gone on unbroken through two thousand years of history, and which still, at the threshold of the Third Millennium, offers rich promise for the future.

In fact, this dialogue is not dictated merely by historical accident or practical need, but is rooted in the very essence of both religious experience and artistic creativity. The opening page of the Bible presents God as a kind of exemplar of everyone who produces a work: the human craftsman mirrors the image of God as Creator. This relationship is particularly clear in the Polish language because of the lexical link between the words stwórca (creator) and twórca (craftsman).

What is the difference between “creator” and “craftsman”? The one who creates bestows being itself, he brings something out of nothing—ex nihilo sui et subiecti, as the Latin puts it—and this, in the strict sense, is a mode of operation which belongs to the Almighty alone. The craftsman, by contrast, uses something that already exists, to which he gives form and meaning. This is the mode of operation peculiar to man as made in the image of God. In fact, after saying that God created man and woman “in his image” (cf. Gn 1:27), the Bible adds that he entrusted to them the task of dominating the earth (cf. Gn 1:28). This was the last day of creation (cf. Gn1:28-31). On the previous days, marking as it were the rhythm of the birth of the cosmos, Yahweh had created the universe. Finally he created the human being, the noblest fruit of his design, to whom he subjected the visible world as a vast field in which human inventiveness might assert itself.

God therefore called man into existence, committing to him the craftsman’s task. Through his “artistic creativity” man appears more than ever “in the image of God”, and he accomplishes this task above all in shaping the wondrous “material” of his own humanity and then exercising creative dominion over the universe which surrounds him. With loving regard, the divine Artist passes on to the human artist a spark of his own surpassing wisdom, calling him to share in his creative power. Obviously, this is a sharing which leaves intact the infinite distance between the Creator and the creature, as Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa made clear: “Creative art, which it is the soul’s good fortune to entertain, is not to be identified with that essential art which is God himself, but is only a communication of it and a share in it”.(1)

That is why artists, the more conscious they are of their “gift”, are led all the more to see themselves and the whole of creation with eyes able to contemplate and give thanks, and to raise to God a hymn of praise. This is the only way for them to come to a full understanding of themselves, their vocation and their mission.

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Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin

BMEV, or “Blessed Mary Ever-Virgin,” should not be an issue for any Protestant today, but clamor from various quarters means that we need once again to “get real” with the Biblical data here. Herewith is a reworking of a recent essay on the subject originally published in Biblical Horizons.

Film School!

I passed my final assessment this week! I had to sit in front of 3 professors and they examined my work and in 10 minutes I was free to leave with just advice. Some of the other students were in there for over a half hour. I can only imagine the grueling! My last film project was on postmodernism and it was a dark satire of an affair between a student and a instructor. It’s dark and I won’t show it on here, but it did poke at postmodernism.

Ken

Finding a Home

My wife and I have been on a journey ever since we’ve been married. I fell in love with a charismatic while I was attending a Reformed Presbyterian church back in the United States where I lived for 35 years. I had no thought and desire at the time to ever go back to the charismatic church. Though it was something that I knew I would have to deal with theologically in light of all the historic protestant theology that I devoured over the course of almost four years earlier. So when time came around that in Singapore that we’d be looking for a church, we really didn’t know where to go. We started off going to her charismatic church right after we were married, but it never felt like a home to both of us. Theologically it was very hard for me to attend, though deep inside I agreed that the gifts of the Spirit were for the edifying of the church throughout this eschatological age. To make a long story short, we have been part of the Anglican Community for the last 1.5 years now and feel at home. We started out at one that had more modern services, but after a year we still felt that we were missing something and didn’t feel the closeness that we needed in pastoral care. So it was about 6 months ago that we heard of St. George’s and started attending. St. Goerges has a slightly modern service and then another one that follows the Book of Prayer. We love both, but I do like the the service that follows the Book of Prayer more because of the greater emphasis on the liturgy and Holy Communion is observed every week. Yes, finally a church that’s Eucharistic!

Why You Should Read the Puritans

Puritanism grew out of three needs: (1) the need for biblical preaching and the teaching of sound Reformed doctrine; (2) the need for biblical, personal piety that stressed the work of the Holy Spirit in the faith and life of the believer; and (3) the need to restore biblical simplicity in liturgy, vestments, and church government, so that a well-ordered church life would promote the worship of the triune God as prescribed in His Word (The Genius of Puritanism, 11ff.).

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One of my favorite hymns by Charles Wesley

And Can It Be that I Should Gain

1.

And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior’s blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

2.
‘Tis mystery all: th’ Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
to sound the depths of love divine.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.
‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
let angel minds inquire no more.

3.
He left his Father’s throne above
(so free, so infinite his grace!),
emptied himself of all but love,
and bled for Adam’s helpless race.
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!
‘Tis mercy all, immense and free,
for O my God, it found out me!

4.
Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

5.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine;
alive in him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’ eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ my own.