Exploring the riddle of the Bible's wisdom
[I wrote this last year but never published it.]
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We all want a better future. We want to see progress. We hope the next generation will prosper more than we did.
But how much control do we have over what the future looks like?
I ask this because it is common to view human history as an ongoing construction project and certain visionary famous persons as architects in that process.
But then Solomon kills the mood:
Continue reading “Building a Better Future”People commonly oppose something they call “individualism” against another thing they call “collectivism.” Either they insist these must be “balanced” or else they champion one at the expense of the other.
There are concrete situations where one must make a decision that seems like you are dealing with these competing values of this sort. If a homeless family asks you for some money, and you give it to them, that could be understood as you helping out more people than one (the family) at the expense of one (yourself). But this doesn’t strike me as a plausible justification for thinking in these general terms.
Continue reading “Individualism is not Selfishness”The book of Judges is not a lesson in how Israel needed a king. It is the opposite.
I’m not saying that Judges rules out the possibility that a righteous king could have helped with some of Israel’s problems. Moses had allowed that the tribes of Israel might choose a king in the future, and gave them God’s rules for a king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
But Judges isn’t a story about Israelites refusing a king. It is a story about attempts to exalt a man as king and the catastrophic results of those attempts. From the story of Gideon onward, Judges is a history of rulers who began toying with dynastic ambitions. Then the book ends with with two horrific stories. In those stories we meet the statement, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 19:25 ESV; see also 18:1; 19:1). But those stories are about degenerate Levites and come at the end of a history of God stopping his chosen judges from becoming kings.
Continue reading “Judges is About Needing God as King, not Man”Below is my award-winning church history paper, written in the late nineties. I want to thank Theopolis Institute for posting it and re-introducing the ideas to new readers.
I’ve heard that some people base their (erroneous as far as I can tell) views of hereditary guilt from a view of the imputation of Adam’s sin. Since I plan to put together my writings on (the myth of) hereditary guilt for Theopolis Institute, it seemed wise to put forth my view of the imputation of Adam’s sin, so I can refer to it. I generally agree with what I see as the Nevin-Dabney approach. I certainly don’t think other theories should be taken for granted as the only correct view.
At the time I write this, many in the United States are under some kind of “lock-down” order. But, thanks to the internet, people are still able to communicate with each other. And people have differing opinions on which medical or scientific projection about our current pandemic is most likely to prove accurate. And they write to each other about them…
We might be doing so “under the influence,” if you will, of angst: “Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad” (Proverbs 12:25 ESV).
Continue reading “Viral Anxiety Requires Infectious Wisdom”Proverbs is filled with warnings against sin and exhortations to keep God’s commandments. It constantly sets before the reader the two ways one can choose that result in two different destinies. Thus it is easy to get the idea that Proverbs is teaching wisdom as salvation by good works.
Part of the problem with that, which I pointed out in my earlier post, is that Proverbs understands all people to be sinners in constant need of forgiveness. The other reason is that our Lord Jesus Christ needed to grow in wisdom in his earthly life.
Continue reading “Proverbs is Not Pelagian, Part Two (of two)”
I don’t recommend Ted Talks often, or often write about diet on Christian blogs. But this presentation by a secular nutritionist seems to approach the borders of Eucharistic Theology.
I am not posting this for her recommendations of eating more plants. I am posting it for her acknowledgment of the social and personal significance of eating food. I recommend especially the beginning and the end of this video.
Her talk made me think…
Continue reading “Disordered Eating?”The “pyramid society” is a well known concept–the architectural analogy for the totalitarian state managing all of society and making it function better than it ever could without such a controlling political authority. The few at the top guide the rest beneath them.
But the power of the image relies on a hidden reversal of reality. The pyramid is supposed to represent a stable society in which the top directs the rest.
Continue reading “The Illusion of the Pyramid Society”The desire of the sluggard kills him,
Proverbs 21:25-26
for his hands refuse to labor.
All day long he craves and craves,
but the righteous gives and does not hold back
I won’t cite examples in this post, but I am growing weary of Christian books attacking capitalism or the free market in the name of helping the poor.
Where does wealth to help the poor come from?
If one believes we are obligated to help the needy then it follows that sloth is a robbery of the needy. Instead of becoming a resource for aiding others the sluggard voluntarily becomes needy and thus adds to the number of those needing help.
Continue reading “Productive Work Is Where Charity Comes From”The first draft of the Proverbs book is done so, while I’m arranging for publication, the blog is moving back nearer the center of my attention.
So stay tuned!
In the meantime, I recently posted at Kuyperian.com. Here’s the beginning:
Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven.
Colossians 3:22–4:1
The typical way I think this passage is applied and preached is to exhort Christians to be better employees because they want to please God by obeying him. Since we’ve eliminated slavery as they practiced it in the ancient world and later, these texts are usually applied to the employer/employee relationship. But I’d like to do something a little different here. I’d like you to consider how the way you work to please your employer should influence how you obey God.
