Wed, 02 May 2012 18:48:47 -0500WeeblyWed, 02 May 2012 21:48:08 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/05/is-darwinism-theologically-neutral.htmlFrancis Collins, a devout evangelical who headed the Human Genome Project, founded the BioLogos Foundation in 2007 for the purpose of advocating evolutionary theory as a viable option for evangelicals. When Collins stepped down from BioLogos to become the director of the Health and Human Services agency, Darrel Falk became president of the foundation. At Falk's request, a number of professors at Southern Baptist seminaries have submitted articles to the BioLogos forum to express our concerns about the foundation's promotion of theistic evolution. These articles are part of a series entitled “Southern Baptist Voices” in which consists of each article paired with a response from a BioLogos fellow.

The first article (which I wrote) is entitled “Expressing our Concerns” (found here), to which Kathryn Applegate, Darrel Falk, and Deborah Haarsma responded (found here).

Today (May 2) BioLogos posted the second article written by Bill Dembski of Southwestern Seminary entitled “Is Darwinism Theologically Neutral?” (which can be found here). The BioLogos response will be posted before the end of the week.

Other articles to follow have been written by Steve Lemke (NOBTS), John Laing (SWBTS), John Hammett (SEBTS), Bruce Little (SEBTS), and James Dew (SEBTS).  I hope you will take a look at the discussion.  It is a model of how Christian brethren, who have serious disagreements, can debate an important issue with candor and mutual respect.

This post has been cross-posted at betweenthetimes.com

]]>Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:52:39 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/04/was-there-animal-death-before-the-fall.htmlMark Rooker and I continue to work on a book for Kregel entitled 40 Questions about Creation and Evolution.  One chapter examines the crucial question of animal death prior to Adam’s rebellion and then gives an overview of four answers typically offered by evangelicals.  Below is a summary of the issues which this chapter will address:

The creation account of Genesis 1 ends with the declaration, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31 ESV).  Old-earth creationism (OEC) and young-earth creationism (YEC) proponents agree on at least this matter: the key issue boils down to what is meant by the expression “very good.”  More than the proper interpretation of Gen 1-3, the age of the earth, or even the theory of evolution, this is the question that stands above all others: Did animals die before Adam and Eve fell in the Garden?     

The fossil record presents us with a troubling past.  It reveals a history of predation, disease, and intrinsic selfishness.  The rocks speak of a history in which, for every creature, nearly every moment was filled either with hunting prey or being hunted (or doing both at the same time).  The past is filled with giant sea monsters and ancient diseases.  The fossil remains of dinosaurs show evidence of tumors and other ailments.  Natural history exhibits the intrinsic selfishness of natural selection—the survival of the fittest.  The strong preyed upon the weak, and the weak were selected for extinction.  Carnivorous behavior, suffering, and illnesses are typically labeled as “natural evils.”  What is troubling is that these evils appear to be present throughout natural history as presented in the fossil record.

The problem of immense suffering in the natural world was not lost on Darwin.  He once observed, “What a book a Devil’s chaplain might write on the clumsy, wasteful, blundering low & horridly cruel works of nature!” (Darwin: 1856).  Later Darwinists echo his opinion.  David Hull asks, “What kind of God [would create the] Galapagos Islands?...The God of the Galapagos is careless, wasteful, indifferent, almost diabolical.  He is certainly not the sort of God to whom anyone would be inclined to pray”(Hull: 1992, 485-6). They see the tragic history of the fossil record as difficult to reconcile with the Christian understanding of the benevolent nature of God.  

So, was there animal death before the Fall? Various Christians hold to four different views: one that answers “no” and three that say “yes.”  Arguing for the first view, Kurt Wise and Ken Ham contend that no creatures, including insects and bacteria, experienced death before Adam’s fall.  For them and other YEC proponents, the question of animal death goes to the very heart of the authority of Scripture and the nature of God. 

William Demski presents a second view.  He makes the interesting argument that, though animal death predated the events of Gen 3, their deaths still are the outcome of Adam’s sin.  Adam’s fall, like Jesus’ atonement, was a cosmic event, and as such had retroactive effects.  And still others, such as C.S. Lewis and Charles Foster give a third view.  They suggest that natural evil came about with the arrival of the first evildoer—Lucifer.  Satan committed the initial moral evil when he rebelled against God sometime in the primeval past, and in so doing brought about natural evil.  Therefore, suffering and death existed before Adam and Eve arrived on the scene.  Finally, some such as Hugh Ross, David Snoke and Mark Whorton, say that animals died before Adam’s fall, but they do not hesitate to attribute the cause of death to God.  They argue that the nature and purpose of death changed when Adam and Eve rebelled. 

For evangelicals, the central issue of the creation-evolution controversy is the nature and effects of Adam’s fall.  The no-death position argued by YEC proponents seems to have biblical warrant, but that does not mean it is exegetically or theologically necessary.  The three answers provided by OEC advocates are possible, but that is not the same as being likely. The divergent views espoused by those who hold to animal death before the Fall shows that this is an issue that has not been settled within evangelicalism.

It may be helpful at this point to remember that there have been times in church history when an apologetic issue seemed to be crucial to certain Christians that, upon further reflection, turned out to not be so.  Take, for example, when Galileo used his telescope to discover that the heavens were not perfect.  Christians of his day believed this precipitated a theological crisis.  Today we do not give it a thought.  Similarly, the notion of animal death existing prior to the Adam’s fall does not appear to be, theologically speaking, an insurmountable problem. Certainly this issue should not be the litmus test for biblical fidelity as some have made it.  In the next post we will address the broader question of the Fall’s effects. 

]]>Mon, 09 Apr 2012 17:51:03 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/04/four-reasons-we-know-that-creation-is-good-and-has-great-value.htmlOn Good Friday I listened to a talk show on one of the many cable news channels.  One of the hosts raised the question of whether Christianity teaches that believers will spend eternity in heaven or if heaven somehow will be on earth.  The consensus was that the Bible teaches that the saints will remain in heaven.  One (well-meaning) lady stated, “This world is sinful.  Christ came to save us out of it.”  Actually, the Bible teaches something much more wonderful.  Christ’s work was not just a rescue operation for some to escape this world.  Rather, He came to redeem and reclaim the world.  Let me give four brief reasons why I know that God is not abandoning this world:

 1. Because God created it.  The creation account in Genesis one ends with God surveying all He had made and observing "behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31).  God is good, and everything He does is an expression of His nature.  Therefore creation reflects His glory and goodness.  Though evil and sin has entered this world and evidences of the Fall are everywhere, the Apostle Paul declares that the created order is still good (1 Tim 4:4).

 2. Because Satan wants it.  From the arrival of the evil one in Genesis 3 to his demise in Revelation 20, Lucifer has been in constant pursuit of the cosmos.  Why would he want it so badly if the world and we who are in it were of little or no value?  Even the phenomena of demonic possession lets us know that the powers of darkness covet the physical realm.  Note that the demons preferred to inhabit swine than be exiled from creation (Mark 5:10-13).  We know creation is important because of the effort Satan expends for it.

 3. Because the Son of God became human.  When the Second Person of the Trinity became Jesus of Nazareth, God intimately and permanently wedded Himself to the created order.  Nothing proves the value of creation more than the Incarnation.  For all eternity One member of the Triune Godhead will also be a man.  So it is important to realize that Jesus Christ did not die merely to save us out of the world—but to save the world itself.  Heaven and earth was created by Him and through Him—and also for Him (Col 1:15-17). 

 4. Because of the Resurrection.  Yesterday we celebrated Easter.  When Jesus Christ died and then rose from the dead, the end of the world began (I suspect that’s the point of that mysterious passage in the Bible, Matt 27:52-53: “The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many”). Two great events mark the end of the age: judgment and resurrection.  Calvary and Easter declare that those events began in Him and will be completed when He returns.  But note something very important: Jesus rose bodily from the dead, and so will we.  The coming resurrection of the dead indicates that God is not abandoning or discarding this world.  Even though this present age will end with fire, the fire is for the purpose of transforming all into a new heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:10-13).  

 So sin in this world is like cancer in a loved one—but we don’t confuse the patient with the disease.  The heavens and the earth are glorious, and they declare His glory (Psalm 19).  So to answer the question posed by the talk show host, it’s not a matter of either/or but both/and.  Yes, we will spend eternity with Christ in heaven.  But in the age to come heaven and earth will be united.  “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” (Revelation 21:2-3). 

 Maranatha!    

]]>Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:24:13 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/03/what-are-the-distinctive-elements-to-the-doctrine-of-creation.htmlMark Rooker and I have been working for some time on a new book, 40 Questions about Creation and Evolution.  We are nearing the end of the project—and what a venture it has been!  Chapter one presents the core components to the biblical doctrine of creation, and below is basic outline to chapter one.  Pray for Mark and me as we attempt to complete this task for the glory of God.

The biblical doctrine of creation is unique.  Even the other monotheistic religions do not understand creation in Trinitarian terms the same way that Christianity does.  We should not be surprised or discouraged by the controversies and debates about creation.  Nor should we expect them to go away.

God is the author of creation.  A. H. Strong gives an excellent definition of creation: “By creation we mean that free act of the triune God by which in the beginning for his own glory he made, without the use of preexisting materials, the whole visible and invisible universe.” (Strong: 1907, 371)

1.       God created the world out of nothing (Rom 4:17; 11:3). Theists have only three options available: God made the world out of himself, other than himself, or out of nothing.  We affirm creatio ex nihilo.

2.       God alone is eternal; creation began in time. Space and time are elements of creation.  “God is not ‘in’ either; nor is he bound by either as we are” (Packer: 1993, 21).  Augustine had a curt reply to anyone who dared to ask what God was doing before he created the world. “He was preparing hell for those who pry into such mysteries” (Confessions 11:12).  He argued that the question has no meaning—there was no “before” the events of Genesis 1:1.

  “Before the mountains were brought forth,
   or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”--Ps 90:2ESV

3.       God is distinct from creation.

 “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
         And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
 They will perish, but You will endure;
         Yes, they will all grow old like a garment;
         Like a cloak You will change them,
         And they will be changed.
 But You are the same,
         And Your years will have no end.”  Ps. 102:25-27 NKJ   

 4.       God did not create out of necessity or out of any sense of lack.  God, from all eternity, has been a perfect fellowship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He has always and perfectly possessed all excellencies, and if God had chosen never to create it would not have detracted from his glory. So why did he create?  The creation of the world is a completely gratuitous act on the part of God.  We exist by God’s grace and his good pleasure.

 5.       God did not have to create this particular world. (Rev 4:11b).  This world exists purely by the will of God.  God freely chose to create this world.  Because we, His image bearers, were created by a free God, our freedom is a possibility too.

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”—Rom 11:36 ESV

 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they existed and were created.”—Rev 4:11 ESV

Strong argues, “There is such a thing as free will, and free will does not, like the deterministic will, run in a groove.  If there be free will in man, then much more is there free will in God, and God’s will does not run in a groove” (Strong: 1907, 390).

6.       God created a world that is consistent with him. What type of world did God create?  God is both great and good.  Correspondently, he has created a world that is consistent with His nature (i.e., the greatness of creation; Ps 19) and with His character (i.e., the goodness of creation; Gen 1:31).

 “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
         And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth…
For He spoke, and it was done;
         He commanded, and it stood fast.” Ps. 33:6,9

 “The LORD by wisdom founded the earth;
      By understanding He established the heavens;
      By His knowledge the depths were broken up,
      And clouds drop down the dew.” Prov. 3:19-20 (cf. Prov. 8:22-31) NKJ 

Calvin was right when he called the universe “the theater of God’s glory.” (Calvin, Institutes, 1.5.8)

7.       God is sovereign over the world. “In the ancient Near East people knew all about authority.  Among them, the power of even tribal or national leaders was nearly absolute.  And in a variety of ways in Genesis 1, God is pictured as the Monarch, the royal one whose sovereignty extends by right and by power over the whole of his creation.” (Bartholomew and Goheen: 2004, 34).

“Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,”—Acts 4:24 ESV

8.       God continues to be actively involved with the world. God is simultaneously transcendent above and immanent within creation.  When we speak of God’s transcendence we mean that God is distinct from and greater than creation.  Yet at the same time the Bible affirms God’s immanence within creation.  He is omnipresent, and he is thoroughly and meticulously involved in every aspect of the universe. (Acts 17:25-28).  God is transcendently above the world, so he is able to save it.  Since he is immanently within the world, he cares enough to save it.

“Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
         You established the earth, and it abides.” Ps: 119: 90 NKJ

This speaks of God’s providence and purpose.  Our Lord providently sustains, governs, and guides this world.  He does all this lovingly and ultimately for His glory.  Today, let’s rejoice as we affirm the Apostle’s Creed, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth…”

]]>Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:19:02 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/03/what-about-the-other-great-religions-of-the-world.htmlWhat does the Bible teach concerning those who follow other belief systems such as Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism?  Perhaps another way to frame the question is to ask, "What is the relationship of the major religions to Jesus Christ?"  In the words of our Lord, "Who do men say that I am?" (Matt 16:13) 

The following is an excerpt of a post I published in Sept 2008.  It gives six principles to keep in mind when considering the other religions of the world.

1. The other religions are not preparations for the Gospel.  Some inclusivists, particularly within Roman Catholic circles, argue that the major religions of the world are sincere responses to the general revelation in nature, and as such prepare the adherents for when the Gospel eventually arrives.  However, this is not the way the Bible presents the other religions (1 Cor 10:20-22).  Simple question: why is the 10-40 window located where it is?  What is it about that region that makes presenting the Gospel such a difficult slog?  Answer: it is the region of the world’s other major religions.  There is no evidence that Islam, Hinduism, or Buddhism prepares or inclines its followers to the Good News.  Just the opposite; their followers are the most resistant. 

 2. The other religions are not alternative avenues of grace.  Yes, there is a significant amount of ethical teaching in the religions of the world.  Their founders and followers are humans who reflect the image of God, even as fallen, so a certain morality should not be surprising.  However, what is missing is any true notion of grace.  Clark Pinnock has claimed that a number of religions contain enough truths to teach its followers to trust in the mercy of God for salvation.  In a helpful article Win Corduan examines the religions Pinnock extolled and concludes, “I cannot think of one teaching of a major non-Christian religion that, given its own formulation rather than one imposed on it, is actually competent to open a person to the grace of God within its own framework” (p. 48). 

3. The scandal of particularity will always be an offense.  The opposite of pluralism is not exclusivism; the opposite of pluralism is particularism.  The world has been and always will be scandalized by the notion that God called a solitary man, Abraham, in order to bring about a chosen people, Israel, in order to reveal His only begotten Son, Jesus, Who alone accomplished the redemption for the world.  The Cross indicts the world, not only of its sin but also its self-righteousness, especially the self-righteousness of religious pretensions.  But “blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Luke 11:6).

4.  How one frames the question of the fate of the unevangelized greatly affects how we deal with it.  All of us, at one time or another, have struggled with the fate of the unevangelized.  If salvation is so crucial, then why did God chose such an ineffective delivery system as the Church to propogate it?  Wouldn’t it be better if, say, each Sunday angels appeared in the sky and proclaimed the Gospel to every living human being?  What about the multitudes who perish without the Gospel?

What is bothering us is that it appears only a small percentage of humanity has even had the opportunity to be saved.  Or have they?  Allow me to attempt to reframe the question of percentages.  Like most evangelicals, I believe that life begins at conception.  I also believe that those who die in infancy go to heaven.  With those two thoughts in mind note that, according to Malcolm Jeeves and R. J. Berry, in the normal course of a pregnancy only about 80% of all fertilized eggs actually implant in the mother’s womb, 49% are still alive one week later, the number drops to 44% by the sixth week, and only 36% are delivered (Science, Life and Christian Belief, 1998, p. 161).  As they put it, “Survival to birth is not the norm; it occurs in only a minority of conceptions…”  Then, historically speaking and particularly in underdeveloped countries, only 50% of children born have lived to be old enough “to distinguish the right hand from the left” (Sanders, No Other Name? 1992, p. 288).  So only half of the 36% concieved, i.e., approximately 18%, ever reach the age of accountability.  Incredibly, over 80% of all humans conceived never see their fifth birthday.  The bottom line: more than 4 out of 5 persons who have ever existed have gone to heaven!  God has allowed only a remnant of the elect to reach the age of moral responsibility.  This fact does not answer every question or remove every qualm, but it casts the mercy of God in a different light.  It allows us to make a very bold statement: Even though most who achieve adulthood will not be saved (Luke 13:22-24), the vast majority of all humans who ever existed will spend eternity with God (Rev 5).

5. Our Lord is the Lord of the harvest.  I am satisfied with the Molinist argument that God has ordained a world such that every one who would say “yes” to Christ will, in fact, have the opportunity to do so.   This permits us to similtaneously affirm God’s universal salvific desire (2 Pet 3:9) and the essentiality of the Gospel in such a way that also affirms the sovereignty of God.  The Lord of the harvest knows what He is doing.      

6.  We cannot let the question of the fate of the unevangelized detract us from our marching orders.  Around the time our Lord was giving the Great Commission, Simon Peter wanted to know what was going to happen to John.  Jesus answered him, “What is that to you? You follow Me” (John 21:22).  Similarly, we have our orders.  We are to give ourselves to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  As for the unanswered questions, let us remember He is the One Who decided to leave them unanswered.  What is that to us?  Let us follow Him. ]]>Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:30:07 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/02/god-is-red.htmlLiao Yiwu, though not a professing Christian, has done the church a wonderful favor.  Yiwu, a Chinese journalist and dissident who was imprisoned by the government for four years for his writings, has written a history of Christian missions in China told from the perspective of the Chinese.  The title is God Is Red: The Secret Story of How Christianity Survived and Flourished in Communist China.   He interviewed a number of elderly Chinese Christians, and each chapter tells their respective stories.  They recount the arrival of missionaries—which for most was the first time they ever encountered a westerner.  Their descriptions of the missionaries reaffirm one thing we already know—we really did send our best and brightest.   Repeatedly they describe the missionaries as smiling, patient, gracious, bold in preaching the gospel, and possessing really big noses (I’m not making this up).

These great saints tell about the gospel taking root and churches being planted in places like Dali and Chengdu, in both rural and urban settings.  They also tell what happened after the missionaries arrived.  For the better part of the 20th century, Chinese Christians endured awful ordeals.  They recount tales of the savagery, rapes and murders inflicted by the Japanese when they invaded during WWII; the civil war that followed in which the Communist won; the starvation and persecution that resulted when the communists implemented the Great Leap Forward;  and the murderous insanity of Mao’s Cultural Revolution.  At times God Is Red reads like a modern Foxes Books of Martyrs.  One elderly lady recounted the last conversation she had with her son, a pastor, just before his execution:

“I’m going to be gone soon. Don’t be sad. I’m not afraid of death. While I was locked up in jail, I’ve been carrying a miniature Bible. I smuggled it in with me. I’ve been praying in my heart. I know that I won’t be able to escape death. People in the region have charged me with many crimes even though they don’t even know me. I’m innocent and their charges are false. I’m not going to admit guilt. But I’m not going to appeal either. I know it’s useless. They will ship me back to Pufu to have me killed there. I’m glad that I’m going back to Pufu. I have my Bible with me. I will be buried in the place where I used to work and preach. Mother, we are all going to die someday. Don’t be discouraged by my death. Continue with your faith.” (2168, Kindle)

The horrors, the terrors, the misery, and the victories and triumphs—reading their stories affected me deeply.  Yet in the end, this is a happy book.  The joy that these Chinese brethren possess in Christ comes through in page after page.

If you are going to read only one book this year, then I recommend that God Is Red be that book.

]]>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:47:29 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/02/grudem-on-young-earth-vs-old-earth.htmlWayne Grudem appears to be as tired as I am of fights between young-earth creationists and old-earth creationists.  In his Systematic Theology, he states:  

“How old is the earth then?  Where does this discussion leave us?  [Davis] Young’s arguments for an old earth based on many kinds of scientific data from different disciplines seem (to the present writer at least) to be very strong.

“Although our conclusions are tentative, at this point in our understanding, Scripture seems to be more easily understood to suggest (but not to require) a young earth view, while the observable facts of creation seem increasingly to favor an old earth view. Both view are possible, but neither one is certain. 

"Given this situation, it would seem best (1) to admit that God may not allow us to find a clear solution to this question before Christ returns, and (2) to encourage evangelical scientists and theologians who fall in both the young earth and old earth camps to begin to work together with much less arrogance, much more humility, and a much greater sense of cooperation in a common purpose.

"Progress will certainly be made if old earth and young earth scientists who are Christians will be more willing to talk to each other without hostility, ad hominem attacks, or highly emotional accusations, on the one hand, and without a spirit of condescension or academic pride on the other, for these attitudes are not becoming to the body of Christ, nor are the characteristic of the way of wisdom, which is ‘first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity,’ and full of the recognition that ‘the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace’ (James 3:17-18).”--Wayne Grudem: 1994, 307-08

To that I just say amen, and amen.--kk ]]>Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:34:48 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/01/for-this-child-i-prayed.htmlBelow are a few notes from last Sunday's sermon on Hannah's Prayer found in 1 Samuel chapter 1.  To hear this sermon, click here.

Children are a gift from the Lord.  But God has a purpose for each and every gift He gives.
Hannah wants a baby, but Israel needs a deliverer.  God is not merely in the baby giving business. God is in the business of redeeming humanity. God doesn't simply want to bless you - He wants to make you into a blessing.

Hannah's prayer was:
A definite prayer (give me a son)
A sacrificial prayer (I will lend him back)
A persevering prayer (she continued praying)
A heartfelt prayer (spoke in her heart)
An unreserved prayer (poured out my soul)
A transforming prayer (her face was no longer sad)

God is in control. In the darkest of days, in the worst of situations, in events that are bewildering to us, God is sovereign and still has a plan.  If we seek His face, we get to join Him in the great drama that is the advancement of the kingdom of God.

]]>Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:29:41 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2012/01/a-h-strongs-tongue-in-cheek-exploration-of-the-best-of-all-possible-worlds.htmlAt the turn of the 20th century, Augustus H Strong (1836-1921) was the premiere Baptist theologian among northern Baptists, and he remains one of my favorites to read. This morning I was reading his discussion of whether or not this is the best of all possible worlds, and I came across a number of quotes that he had collected (Systematic Theology, 406).  How one answers this question, Strong opines, often determines whether he is an optimist or a pessimist.  He then gives several remarkable quotations. A sampling: 

 When Henry Ward Beecher was asked whether or not life was worth living, he replied, "Depends very much upon the liver.  Optimism and pessimism are largely matters of digestion."

A student gave his reasons for rejecting the best-possible-worlds notion: "I would kill off all the bed-bugs, mosquitoes and fleas, and make oranges and bananas grow farther north."

Strong has several quotes relating to mosquitoes.  He says, "The lady who was bitten by a mosquito asked whether it would be proper to speak of the creature as 'a depraved little insect.'  She was told that this would be improper, because depravity always implies a previous state of innocence, whereas the mosquito has always been as bad as he now is.  Dr. Lyman Beecher, however, seems to have held the contrary view.  When he had captured the mosquito who had bitten him, he crushed the insect saying: 'There! I'll show you that there is a God in Israel!' He identified the mosquito with all the corporate evil of the world." 

Who knew that Victorian theologians had such a sense of humor?

]]>Sat, 17 Dec 2011 20:33:22 -0500http://www.theologyforthechurch.com/1/post/2011/12/gods-indescribable-gift.htmlLast Sunday I preached a message from 2 Corinthians 8-9 entitled God's Indescribable Gift.  This passage is especially appropriate for this time of year because it speaks to us about the importance of giving in relation to God's "indescribable gift" to us of His son, Jesus.  This is our reason for giving - because God gave.  Giving is godly.

Tomorrow at Central Baptist we will be receiving our Lottie Moon Christmas offering for international missions, as will be thousands of other SBC churches during this Christmas season.  May God be honored by the generous and joyful giving of his children, and may our gifts bear much fruit for the kingdom of God. 

Merry Christmas!

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