Degrees of Doctrine

The Pyromaniacs are on a roll!

When it comes to disagreements between Christians, we must categorize our differences. Baby baptizers cannot meet with adult baptizers (would babies only be baptized every other week? Alternating with teaching about how the Bible describes credo-baptism as the right way?) One church cannot say we should dedicate both Sunday and Saturday as the one day for God.

But, these groups should be agreeable. Certainly not denying that one is not a Christian, simply for disagreeing.

There is an excellent list of Scriptures at the Team Pyro link. I would add Matthew 22:36-38. Jesus did not say all commandments are equally important, although there, it was more about two commandments summarizing the rest.

Controversy Again

As I mentioned before, everything at the Pyromaniacs site is really good.

I am trying to get caught up on my TeamPyro feed, and came across another good post on controversy (something they excel at :).

For those who don't know the history, today's Evangelical has evolved from earlier "Fundamentalists" (back when having a foundation was considered a good thing, rather than an abomination).

The Fundamentalists are to be respected for their stand on Biblical truth, especially in a time when the mainline Protestants were collapsing due to infection by modernism.

At the same time, it is important to hold fast to what is true. Not just to react against what is false. And to let minor things be minor.

ESC and Lung Cells

It is interesting to observe how hopeful journalists are for developments with embryonic stem cells, while adult stem cells are being used now to help people...

From Science Daily:

"The technique... could provide an alternative to lung transplants"

What is this fabulous technique that will be helping people tomorrow?

"This study demonstrates that hESC can differentiate into lung epithelial-like tissue without specific growth factors or embryoid body formation"

Oh, it just shows that stem cells can develop into adult cells. No treatment, no time line, no clinical trial.

Also, no mention that these cells will be incompatible with patients, having come from different people.

Catholic and catholic

Internet Monk has a special perspective on Evangelical and Catholic relations - his wife has converted to Catholicism (not to mention his blog is overrun by Catholics trying to convert him! :).

In this light, he has published a five part interview with Catholic apologist Bryan Cross. I would love to dig in line by line, but I am a little (a lot) overwhelmed.

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
  

Michael also has some closing words.

For part 1, I was surprised to see the weight he gives to philosophy. I was reminded of Colossians 2:8:
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ."

He also has a very odd view of the Gospel:

"For this reason, unity is at the very center of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because the unity of God and man in Jesus Christ is at the center of His gospel, in the greatest union of all time, God united to man in the incarnation of Christ."

and an odd absorption with "unity":

"So the unity and catholicity of the Church are together a sign to the world that the One whose Name we bear as Christians was from God"

Justice

I've been listening to John Macarthur on "The Christian and Government". He makes some excellent points, as always.

The Biblical notion of crime and punishment is that every crime has a price which must be paid. Thieves must return what is stolen (and then some). You have "eye for eye and tooth for tooth". This provides some disincentive (although sinners always sin, so total prevention is not possible).

The key is that justice must be well defined and swift. The greater the separation between the crime and the execution of judgment, the greater the injustice.

Our modern system has evolved from Biblical principles, but has lost these key Biblical truths. It has also been under attack by atheistic principles.

For the materialist, a human being is a stew of chemicals, bound to react according to the environment. Notions of "responsibility" or "culpability" are lost. Justice is not about paying a price, but seeking to inject some correcting factor into this stew. This is perfectly represented by this Slashdot comment.

In response to:

"Is personal responsibility compatible with atheism?...If we are nothing more than a chemical being, then where does personal responsibility come into play?"

"Yes. I hold both these beliefs. The justice system is not about blame, it's about keeping criminals safe from society and (in my mind) rehabilitating them."

Note the inversion of the standard. The justice system is not about keeping society safe from criminals, but the exact opposite.

Happy Halloween

This is late for Halloween, but on topic.

Halloween is "All Hallow's Eve", the night before "All Souls Day", the day Catholics pray for the dead.

Some Evangelical Christians have problems with Halloween, but I don't really see it. The idea that it is in any way connected to paganism (despite the claims of neo-pagans) is really silly. The modern practice was created by suburban (nominally Christian) moms who wanted fun and candy for their kids, and supported by candy companies. I can't prove that, but it makes a lot more sense than imagining neo-pagans in the 50's and 60's (during the height of tension with atheistic Communism).

I do have a problem with prayer for the dead:

"If any man see his brother sin a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." 1 John 5:16

Some might say this is a description of mortal and venial sin. But the concept of different categories of sin is not well supported in Scripture (there are different punishments for sin, and the sin against the Holy Spirit).

The simpler explanation is that "death" simply means "death". If you see a brother sin, and live - pray for him. If your brother dies, don't pray for him.

Why?

Because there's no point: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). Your brother has gone to judgment, his case cannot be considered any longer.

Perhaps there is tradition in such prayers. Or they comfort us. I think such a thing can be done in a theologically sound way (assuming their life did not show fruit of repentance):
"Father, we pray for our dearly departed that, in their last moments, they might have come to a knowledge of sin, and trusted in You."

Or for a known Christian:
"Father, we thank you for the life of our dearly departed brother. We thank you for the testimony of their life, and for the reward they have now received."

Observatory Data

I keep saying I am going to learn more about astronomy, but the biggest barrier is data (I don't have a telescope, and the light pollution is really bad).

Apparently, there is now a lot of data available online. Very cool.