Living or Dying in the "Gray Zone"

Peter Singer, the famed (or infamous) "ethicist" from Princeton University has another wonderful meditation out on life and death.  Singer is somewhat of a hero to some and a demon to others for his views on the termination of babies who have severe problems at birth and perhaps up to two years of age...only if the parents "want to" of course.  Singer is a utilitarian at heart and in his thinking. By that I mean he is a consequentialist in terms of his ethical reasoning.  He makes decision about right and wrong based on his understanding of whether suffering will be limited and happiness extended.  Now you may ask "how does one know the future and what a decision will or will not bring?"  Welcome to the wonderful world of consequentialism.  Let me give you some examples in a dialogue:

Lifescape 1

Doctor No: Your baby's chromosomes are abnormal, you will have a child with down's syndrome.  What would you like to do?

Parent Happy Me: [thoughts] this means lots of trouble for us, lots of money we will have to spend to care and raise this child - that will quell our happiness and quality of life.

Doctor No: Most children with downs life very painful lives and die very young.  What would you like to do?

Parent Happy Me: [thoughts] Well, that child will suffer, will not be very happy...after he will not be "normal" and bullies will pick on him.  He will not have high self-esteem because people are mean.  I think we want a do-over.

Lifescape 2

Doctor No: You baby is severely deformed and mentally retarded.  He will probably only life a few years and will need constant medical attention from the highest of professionals.  We are not sure if he will be in pain or not, but his quality of life will not be anything like a normal human being.  What would you like us to do?

Parent Happy Me: [thoughts] This is very hard, what will our lives be like with this child.  But what is the right thing to do?  We need some expert advice

Captain Singer Ethical Crusader: Well, it may be ethical to "end the suffering" of severely challenged human like creatures if it will alleviate suffering and promote the welfare of the parents, and not burden society's resources.

Parent Unhappy Now: Do you mean kill the baby?

Doctor No: Well, kill is a very loaded term, we like to say alleviate suffering for the common good.  To help society with unwanted burdens and make everyone's life better.  In reality, this is a very good thing you are doing for all involved.

Parent Sick to Their Stomach: We just don't know what to do...

Now Dr. Singer is weighing in on another potential problem we are seeing due to the advance of neonatal care and intensive units.  The survival of babies severely premature.  It is coming more common that children are surviving birth into the lower twenty week range (the range where abortions often take place).  Dr. Singer has written an op/ed piece over at the Council for Secular Humanism about one such astounding case (which people this is good by the way) of a girl named Amillia:

In February, newspapers hailed “miracle baby”Amillia, claiming that she is the earliest-born surviving premature baby ever recorded. Born in October at a gestational age of just twenty-one weeks and six days, she weighed only 280 grams, or ten ounces, at birth. Doctors did not expect Amillia to live, as previously no baby born at less than twenty-three weeks had been known to survive. But, after nearly four months in a Miami hospital’s neonatal intensive-care unit, and having grown to a weight of 1,800 grams, or four pounds, doctors judged her ready to go home.

These cases are problematic for Singer and like minded utilitarians.  You see, the care just to attempt and save one of these little ones is: 1) very expensive to society 2) will be very hard on parents and their happiness 3) should many not even be attempted in Singer's opinion.  So Singer's solution to this "problem" we face is to highlight research from out of the land of Australia which proposes a "gray zone" where doctors (see Doctor No above) should consult the parents on their "options" whether to treat the baby or not.  Now, we in no way can save every child - of course some will die with or without this care.  But what is troubling is Singer's disdain for the sentiment in America, that we ought to try and save everyone, despite the cost.  Some revealing portions of his essay.

In the United States, although the American Academy of Pediatrics states that babies born at less than twenty-three weeks and weighing less than 400 grams (14.2 ounces) are not considered viable, it can be difficult to challenge the prevailing rhetoric that every possible effort must be made to save every human life.

Emphasis added

So trying to save even the most hopeless cases is based only on rhetoric (empty, vacuous thinking, that has no basis in Singer world).  The essence of his reasoning is found in this paragraph.  I will highlight much of the sloppy thinking and crystal ball future predicting nonsense of some utilitarian reasoning:

In these circumstances, what should doctors—and society—do? Should they treat all children as best they can? Should they draw a line, say at twenty-four weeks, and say that no child born prior to that cut-off should be treated? A policy of not treating babies born earlier than twenty-four weeks would save the considerable expense of medical treatment that is likely to prove futile, as well as the need to support severely disabled children who do survive. But it would also be harsh on couples who have had difficulty in conceiving and whose premature infant represents perhaps their last chance at having a child. Amillia’s parents may have been in that category. If the parents understand the situation, and are ready to welcome a severely disabled child into their family and give that child all the love and care they can, should a comparatively wealthy, industrialized country simply say, “No, your child was born too early”? Bearing these possibilities in mind, instead of trying to set a rigid cut-off line, the workshop defined a “gray zone” within which treatment might or might not be given, depending on the wishes of the parents.

So here we are again - in the gray zone of life and death decisions which Singer says lands "on the wishes of the parents."  However, this is not very accurate.  We spent a week in the Neonatal Intensive care with our son Thomas in August, and I saw these very children. Tiny, precious, human persons.  In these scenarios the parents listen to the doctors. The parents are at one of the most vulnerable and most influenced places in their lives.  Saying it is "up to the parents" is a bit misleading as the parents will very much be influenced by the counsel from doctors and ethicists on these situations.  The question is which worldview will be brought to bear? The one who sees that all life is of equal value and dignity and worthy of our time and effort to love an nurture?  Or the one who thinks certain humans should survive based on their mathematical "good for society" calculations.  Some are amazed when they read of the eugenics movement which was common among intellectual elite less than 100 years ago in western culture.  We should not be surprised, as the seeds of that same thinking are alive and well today. It is found in the gray zone - a world created by people who desire to determine what kinds of persons shall live or die.  

(HT - thanks to Tim Dees for pointing me to the essay)

5 Reasons - 5 Ways

Ken Samples of the Science/Faith organization Reasons to Believe offers five philosophical reasons that God exists.  The presentation is sound and uses many standard a posteriori arguments for the existence of God.  The visuals are average, perhaps a little too many "white guy looking Jesus" pictures, but overall this is a solid and helpful 10 minute video. 

Not sure if he provided "5 ways" in honor of St. Thomas, but for those who have not read the 5 ways before, here is your homework assignment. 

The Gospel Coalition

In times throughout history the church of Jesus Christ has labored to clarify its doctrine and ministry in the midst of various cultures and controversies.  Today there is a working coalition which is meeting to unite theological convictions and missiological concerns for the confessional evangelical church es in America.  It is mostly made of up of people with Reformed theological conviction and a robust missiological compassion for the word.  It unites many of the passions of my own soul, so indeed I rejoice at its occasion.

This group of men has united under the banner of The Gospel Coalition and states its purposes in the preamble of their foundational documents.  The following is from this introduction entitled The Gospel for All of Life:

We are a fellowship of evangelical churches deeply committed to renewing our    faith in the gospel of Christ and to reforming our ministry practices to conform fully to the Scriptures. We have become deeply concerned about some movements within traditional evangelicalism that seem to be diminishing the church’s life and leading us away from our historic beliefs and practices. On the one hand, we are troubled by the idolatry of personal consumerism and the politicization of faith; on the other hand, we are distressed by the unchallenged acceptance of theological and moral relativism. These have led to the easy abandonment of both biblical truth and the transformed living mandated by our historic faith. We not only hear of these influences, we see their effects. We have committed ourselves to invigorating churches with new hope and compelling joy based on the promises received by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

In the foundational documents there is a robust confessional statement along with a theological vision for ministry.  The concerns in the later document touch many of the important issues facing the church in our day.  Epistemological issues relating to truth, issues dealing with contextualization and culture, how we read Scripture, and the uniqueness of the gospel and gospel centered ministry.  The focus on issues of justice, integrating faith and work, as well as the church living in culture as a counter-cultural community provides much needed wisdom for our day.

The full text of the foundational documents will be available on the web site soon. I commend it for your reading.   I concur that the effect of reading this has indeed brought about the intent of the authors - new hope and compelling joy based on the promises of God in Christ has taken root.

iPhone Phobias

 

(Photo from Mac Life) 

There are a couple of interesting articles on the coming iPhone (MacIdolater, cease worship now) I read this week.

• First, Information Week's Alexander Wolfe posted his top 7 iPhone Questions Steve Jobs Doesn't Want you to Ask
• Second, Mac Life asks a question that sends shivers down any Mac fan's spine - iPhone, Will it be the next Newton?  For those unfamiliar with tech history, the Newton can be studied here.  Basically Newton was technology before its time and it never really caught on - it was very cool, but did not sell so well.  It was too big, too expensive, and the handwriting recognition didn't work so well at first...but it did open a category that the PalmPilot stepped into in the late 90s to make some cash.

Anyway, the iPhone has buzz, but whether it will see longevity and market penetration remains to be seen.  My concerns:

• No removable storage can be added 
• Cingular network is Slllllooooow with data
  
• No removable/replacable/extra battery, which sucks if..
  
• Battery life may be weak
  
• Price very high (though Mac people will pay)
  
• 8mb is pretty small storage for iPod freaks and you can't stick a mini/microSD card in it because...well, no removable storage.
• Lack of tactile keys for texting - you have to look right at the screen to text/e-mail
  

My prediction is that it will sell many of these out the door, but it may underwhelm the owners.

Oh My Goddess

This is an interesting article on the recent (though not new at all) resurgence of goddess worship in our times.  If you have heard any buzz about interest in the "sacred feminine," the goddess within, etc. this is a good read.

The Goddess Unmasked - What every woman should know about the "sacred feminine"

Koons moves over as well

Robert Koons, professor of philosophy at University of Texas at Austin, has also just converted to Roman Catholicism - See his post at Right Reason - It is interesting to see how the new perspective on Paul has contributed to many peoples "re-vision" of justification by faith alone.

Dr. Koons, like Beckwith, is a trained philosopher (a very good one as well) - I am sure many Protestant thinkers may point the finger wholesale at the discipline of philosophy - I hope this is not the case.

POC Bundle 5.19.2007

Technology

• Palm Treo 755 is reviewed over at PalmInfocenter.  I have looked at smartphones for years...really.  I had the first PalmPilot in 1996 and used to follow the handheld market like a freak.  But none of the smartphones seem to have all I want - getting better, but they still cost a bundle.  Anyway, the new Treo is out.
• Cool looking new Dell Display
• This is a funny list of nightmare client requests from a web designer.  If you do web sites, you will feel a camaraderie in reading this one.
• Al Gore uses a Mac - how do this make you feel?

On Science

• Cool new possibility for hydrogen production for fuel cells in automobiles.  It would be great some day to grab a bucket of pellets made out of aluminum and gallium and throw them in the "tank" - then recycle the byproducts...Especially if they could some day get it to be less than 3 bucks a gallon.

The Church

• Joshua Harris, yes that Joshua Harris for those who grew up in youth groups, has an article up by Isaac Hydoski giving counsel for Christians and online dating.  I think it is worth checking out for single folks hanging out online.  Here is the link.
• Lauren McCain - one of the women shot at Va Tech last month was interviewed a few weeks prior to her murder.  The video is online here in flash - it is copyrighted so don't try to rip it off.

Gospel and Culture

• My little ditty on gender according to Scripture and Culture is now up on The Resurgence. If you are new to the Resurgence, book mark it.  It is a great resource.  

I Just Had an Epiphany

Eric Mason and The Ambassador are planting a church in Philadelphia.  I have been hearing the Ambassador for some years now through the works of the Cross Movement, now these guys have put together a sick video presenting the core values of Epiphany Fellowship

A shout out to the Epiphany fellas - great job representing the King... 

Scientology Smackdown

The "church" of Scientology is once again the subject of some investigative journalism.  The BBC has just produced a documentary on the movement that has made some sparks fly already.  See the following for the story and a link to a video where a BBC reporter goes a bit British on a Scientology spokesman.

Also YouTube has some of the video portions of the documentary directly...if you ever wondered who the men in black really are, you may just find out watching this documentary:

• Part 1 - A little under 10 minutes
• Part 2 - Right at 8 minutes
• Part 3 - A little over 10 minutes
• Part 4 - Just over a minute
  

Last summer I lectured on Scientology in Peru.  If you are interested in my brief speaking outline, drop me a comment and I'll e-mail to you directly.

The Word of God - The Roman Catholic View

Gregg Allison, professor at Southern Seminary,a personal friend and mentor, provided some clarity recently on the Roman Catholic view of Scripture and the revealed word of God. 

The following is a response to a question from Andreas Kostenberger, a fellow theologian.

Dear Gregg:

I am writing to see if you can clear up an issue for me about which there seems to be some confusion out there in the aftermath of Dr. Francis Beckwith’s departure from the ETS. Some have repeatedly made the argument in recent days that Roman Catholics could sign the ETS statement because, while they may hold to other sources of authority besides the Bible, they, too, only consider “the Bible alone” as “the word of God written.” In my view this may be true with regard to the Magisterium and ex cathedra statements, but not with the Apocrypha. Assuming that “the Bible” spoken of in the ETS doctrinal base is the 66 books of the Protestant canon, would it not be true that the reference to “the Bible alone” would rule out Roman Catholics since they consider other books besides the 66 books (i.e. the Apocrypha) to be the Word of God written? I would greatly appreciate it if you could shed any further light on this.

Cordially,

Andreas Kostenberger

Response from Gregg Allison:

Andreas,

I am including in this e-mail the entire second chapter of the Vatican II document entitled “Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation” (Dei Verbum, November 18, 1965). [NOTE: instead of including the second chapter here, a link to Dei Verbum is provided below.] This is the authoritative Roman Catholic statement on divine revelation, and chapter 2 addresses the issue at hand.

In my opinion, we should not assume that Roman Catholics can readily affirm the expression in our doctrinal basis that “the Bible alone … is the Word of God written,” because such an expression is not how Roman Catholics view this issue. They affirm that the Word of God is Tradition and Scripture.

Note the following (with my emphases): “Sacred tradition and sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the Word of God, committed to the Church” (section 10).

Again (from section 10): “But the task of authentically interpreting the Word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living teaching office of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This teaching office is not above the Word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on. …”

The reason for this intimate union of Tradition and Scripture is spelled out in section 9: “Hence there exists a close connection and communication between sacred tradition and sacred Scripture. For both of them, flowing from the same divine wellspring, in a certain way merge into a unity and tend toward the same end. For sacred Scripture is the Word of God inasmuch as it is consigned to writing under the inspiration of the divine Spirit, while sacred tradition takes the Word of God entrusted by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, and hands it on to their successors in its full purity, so that led by the light of the Spirit of truth, they may in proclaiming it preserve this Word of God faithfully, explain it, and make it more widely known.”

In my opinion, Roman Catholics should find the wording of the ETS doctrinal basis strange at least, for it does not view the Word of God as consisting of both Tradition and Scripture. The statement “the Bible alone … is the Word of God written” is a woefully inadequate statement about what Roman Catholics believe about the Word of God, and I would seriously doubt that informed Roman Catholics would sign it.

On your second point - the canon of Scripture - I think you are right on target. Certainly, the founding theologians and biblical scholars of the Evangelical Theological Society, and those who formulated the doctrinal basis of our Society, were Protestant evangelicals who, when they made the statement about “the Bible,” made reference to the Protestant Bible that contains sixty-six books and does not contain the apocryphal writings.

If authors’ intent means anything, then the ETS statement concerning “the Bible” means that those sixty-six books constitute “the Word of God written.” Roman Catholics cannot agree with this, because for them “the Bible” refers to the seventy-three books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, 1 and 2 Maccabees are included) with expanded editions of Esther and Daniel.

Thus, that to which the ETS statement concerning “the Bible” refers, and that to which Roman Catholics refer when they use that term, are different matters. This is a second reason that I would seriously doubt that informed Roman Catholics would sign the ETS doctrinal basis.

I hope this helps.

Gregg

For further reading, here is a link to Dei Verbum.

 HT - Theologica

iPhone-Schmiphone

The Microsoft guys are getting a bit funny in poking fun at the iPhone...

For those Apple people who love to bash on Microsoft...check out their fiscal 2007 profits

From the Yahoo Biz article: 

I have written extensively about Microsoft's problems. But last week, I got a stunning reminder about the company's power. It takes Microsoft only 10 hours of business to exceed Red Hat's entire quarterly profit. Skeptical? Check out the math, and nine other facts about Microsoft's most recent earnings report. Microsoft last week announced quarterly revenue of $14.4 billion and net income of $4.93 billion. In other words, Microsoft's daily net income is about $55 million. That's $55 million in pure profit every 24 hours. Do some quick math and you'll learn it takes Microsoft only about ...

• 10 hours or so (yes, hours!) to exceed Red Hat's (NYSE: RHT - News) quarterly net income of $20.5 million.
• four days to exceed Research In Motion's (NasdaqGS: RIMM) quarterly net income of $187.9 million.
• four days to exceed Starbucks' (NasdaqGS: SBUX) quarterly net income of $205 million.
• one week to exceed Nike's (NYSE: NKE - News) quarterly net income of $350.8 million.
• two weeks to exceed McDonalds' (NYSE: MCD - News) quarterly net income of $762 million.
• two weeks to exceed Apple's (NasdaqGS: AAPL) quarterly net income of $770 million.
• 18 days to exceed Google's (NasdaqGS: GOOG) quarterly net income of $1 billion.
• 23 days to exceed Coca-Cola's (NYSE: KO - News) quarterly net income of $1.26 billion.
• five weeks to exceed IBM's (NYSE: IBM - News) quarterly net income of $1.85 billion.
• 10 weeks to exceed Wal-Mart's (NYSE: WMT - News) quarterly net income of $3.9 billion.

That is a lot of cheese coming from the big ugly Washington company. Personally, I have become such an Office 07 fanboy, that I actually like Microsoft again.

Pablo Escobar - Desperado of Dope...

Today there is another Fact of the Day Installment from Power of Change guest author Tim Dees:

--------------------------------------------------------------

PABLO

Quick, who was the 7th richest person in the world in 1989?  According to Forbes magazine, it was Pablo Escobar, the Columbian drug dealer.  In 1989, Escobar's Medellín cartel had reached the peak of its profitability, bringing in $30 billion a year and cornering 80% of the cocaine market.  But who was this man, and how did he become so successful? 

Pablo Escobar began work as a small-time hood in Medellín, the town of his birth.  He began to amass an enormous cocaine empire.  His reputation became international when he killed Fabio Restrepo, a well-known drug kingpin.  Restrepo's men were then informed that they were now working for Escobar. 

Escobar couldn't have made it as long as he did, however, without significant support from government leaders.  To do this, he used a two-fold policy of bribing or killing everyone who stood in his way.  He once killed three presidential candidates in the course of one election, and his influence in Columbian society was wide and deep.  Even now, Escobar's cousin is the top advisor to Columbia's president, Álvaro Uribe.

There seemed to be no limit to the amount of carnage Escobar could get away with.  He bombed a plane, raided the Columbian Supreme Court, and was involved in a bloody zero-sum war with his chief rival, the Cartel de Cali.  But all this killing didn't hurt Escobar's public image, especially in Medellín.  Like many Columbian drug lords, he enjoyed enormous popular support, and he redirected much of the cartel's revenue into public works projects. 

Things changed for Escobar in 1990, when Columbia began extraditing drug offenders to the United States.  In the US, drug lords wouldn't be able to wield the same influence as they did in Columbia, and sentences would be much harsher, often including life imprisonment.  As leverage against extradition, Escobar began kidnapping prominent Columbians and killing those who supported extradition.  One of his hired assassins chased one man all the way to Budapest, and his kidnappers would often pull people out of cars in rush hour traffic and hold them for months or even years.

With the threat of extradition looming, Escobar eventually turned himself into the authorities in exchange for not being extradited.  He was put into a prison that was more like a private resort, and from that prison he continued to conduct business and was even spotted outside the prison's walls on a number of occasions.  Some reports suggest that he even murdered two rivals while they were on a business visit.  When the Columbian government decided to move him to a higher security facility, he escaped.

His escape launched a massive manhunt, that included everyone imaginable: United States Delta Force agents, right-wing militias, vigilante squads financed by the Cali cartel, and the Columbian military.  With this unprecedented use of manpower, Escobar's time was short.  In 1993, he was cornered in Medellín and killed in a shootout with the Columbian authorities.

Theistic Battle Royal

When one thinks of the great debates in Western culture about the existence of God, perhaps Copleston and Bertrand Russell's 1948 debate might come to mind. Even the more recent tussles between William Lane Craig and his interlocutors perhaps. Yet recently, two additional titans of philsophical prowess took to the playing field last night.

Here is the description from the New York Times:

You could tell from the background music that played beforehand – alternating recordings of James Brown and Gregorian chant – that this was going to be an unusual debate.

The question under debate (“Is God great?”) and the speakers — two men who are often depicted in harsh caricatures by their critics — might have caused some to expect something like a circus. Perhaps surprisingly, it turned out to be the public intellectual event of the evening, a bit like Bertrand Russell vs. C. S. Lewis.

Taking the atheist position was Christopher Hitchens, the journalist and author of a new book arguing that “religion poisons everything.” In defense of God was none other than the Rev. Al Sharpton, a man of the cloth who is perhaps even better known for his political and civil rights activism than for his training as a preacher.

A very strange and interesting reading can be found over at the Times. Though I prefer CS Lewis' moral argument, Rev Al seemed to try and make an argument for theism from the existence of moral values.  Go get em AL! But just in case anyone is wondering if the Reverend is a Christian, you can read this quote and decide for yourself.

I would say that many people, I among them, in our own lives have had experiences that make me believe that there is a God. And make me believe that my seeking God and seeking the guidance of a supreme being is real to me. I’m not going by Moses, I’m not going by Peter, I’m not going by the man that you said was a legend, Jesus of Nazareth. … I’m not here to defend Scriptures. I didn’t write those Scriptures. I live my life, and in my life the existence of God has been confirmed to me in my own personal dealings and in my own faith being vindicated and validated. That has absolutely nothing to do with Scriptures, whether they are right or wrong.

One final note and comment on this battle of philosophical and theological giants. Hitchens seemed to offer a very accurate statement in the following:

Mr. Hitchens added, “I didn’t say that God was misused. I said that the idea of God is a dictatorial one to begin with. A belief in a supreme, eternal, invigilating creator who knows what you think and do and cares about you, watches over you while you sleep … is an innately horrific belief.”

One hears his thinking that "belief in God's wrath/hell is horrific" but it is interesting that he finds God's omniscience and omnipresence "innately horrific."  In fact, if we are sinners in need of God's grace his statement is very accurate.  Indeed, if God does see the mind and hearts of people, it is a horrific thing to see ourselves in light of God's holiness and justice.  A word from Hebrews 4 is needed:

12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Thankful to Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come...to use Rev Sharpton's own words.  I do want to "go by Jesus of Nazareth" - for in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

(HT - Tim Dees) 

Beckwith Returns to Rome

Christian philosopher Dr. Francis Beckwith just returned to the Roman church.  What makes this interesting is not that a protestant converted to catholicism as this happens in both directions every day.  What makes Beckwith's case interesting is that he is the current president of the Evangelical Theological Society a primary academic society of evangelical theologians.  Dr. Beckwith was raised Roman Catholic and did his PhD work at a Roman Catholic Institution (Fordham), so in some sense he is returning to his roots.  What has confounded some was his reasoning for return.  You can read his account on the blog Right Reason, where he is a regular contributer.

Carl Trueman over at Reformation 21 has a charitable response where he questions the basis Beckwith gives for his decision. Catholic bloggers and apologists (Armstrong, Akin) are quite pleased, protestant response is mixed...from opposition, to friendly dissent, to lament. Doug Groothuis' comments on Dr. Beckwith's site is indicative of the feelings of many.

The unfortunate reality is that none of the reasons Beckwith gives for converting to Roman doctrine seem to come directly from the teaching of the Bible.  Most evangelicals would not even give time to understand the doctrines of the reformation and could not interact with our dissent from Rome.  I know many evangelicals who are enamored with Rome due to its intellectual tradition and the appearance of unity in "one church" - Evangelical churches are not a hot beds for thinking and wrestling with deep theological and philosophical questions...so the thinking man wanders away.

Yet the richness of Christian reflection is very present in both Protestants and Roman Catholics past, but the levity of most evangelical churches today is unbearable to many.  In my own struggles with the unbearable lightness of contemporary evangelicalism, I have found fertile soil in those who thought deeply in the Protestant tradition (Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Hodge, Spurgeon, John Piper) and enjoyed the fruit of Christian thought in the pre-Reformation Catholic philosophers.  Yet becoming a loyal subject of Rome is something I see as a great mistake.

We quickly forget (and many never even know) that the reason there is a "Roman" church is a story where the gospel was mingled with the civitas of a great ancient empire - and in that soil the bishop and political power mingled as one.  Europe then was under the grip of an ecclesiastical hierarchy which grew progressively wayward from the teaching of Scripture. When in hopes of reform, the church's own sons and daughters questioned its doctrine and practice in light of Scripture, many were tortured, poisoned and burned.  The history of the reformation is vastly undertold today in both public and Christian education.

There is much to commend in Catholicism - but to measure the doctrines of any group of people one must compare its teaching to a standard of truth. Protestants hold that the teaching of Jesus and the apostles - found in Holy Scripture - should be the standard by which we judge all such teachings.  Here I will stand - joyfully - I can do no other. 

Best wishes to Dr. Beckwith in the good work he does in the academy and public sphere.  He will continue to be an ally in some arenas...yet I cannot help but regret his return to Rome.  

Uncommon Descent

For those of you who may not be aware of this site, I wanted to highlight it.  Uncommon Descent is a collaborative blog put out by William Dempski and his intelligent design peeps. Dempski has always been an interesting guy to me as he is highly trained (PhD in Philosophy, another PhD in Mathematics, and even slipped in an MDiv while he was at it) and he is quite bold in speaking on stuff. He always seems to be starting some sanctified trouble somewhere...

A few interesting posts to wet the appetite:

• Gigantic Bacteria has 300 Times More DNA than Human Cells
  
• Michael Behe comments on Richard Dawkins - the bull dog atheist from across the pond
• Darwin dissed by doctors, and a design revolution continues at MIT - interesting
• Another Icon of "Bad Design" goes down - a brief discussion on the retina of the vertebrate eye
  

 A good feed to subscribe to to keep up with the discussion.

POC Tech Bundle 5.4.2007

This is a spooky cool concept out of R&D at Mikeysoft.  Digidesk of the future - make sure to watch the video if you have a minute.

Logos Bible Software for the Mac is progressing nicely 

Figs, Flocks and 401ks – A Meditation on God’s Provision for Joy

As we come to the close of the ancient prophecy of Habakkuk we arrive at one of the most beautiful and poetic passages in Scripture. Habakkuk has seen the coming judgment upon Judah and wrestled with his God about the coming days. He has been reassured both of the righteousness and justice of God’s plan which will in no way clear the guilty Chaldeans of their treachery and God’s faithful preservation of a people for himself who will come out on the other side of the coming disaster. His questions have been asked, his concerns raised, his passion poured out and he has heard a great reassurance from the living God. What is left to do? Should he go buy bullets and shotguns to prepare for the end times of Judah? Should he rally the army and try to protect his nation? An interesting thing happens here at the end of the book. Habakkuk contemplates the coming reality and welcomes it in with worship. Lets look at his beautiful poetry in chapter 3, verses 17-19.

17Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, 18yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. 19GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places. To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments.

For us this requires a little reflection to grasp fully as we are a people who find their daily provision from the Publix or Kroger grocery store (or in the case of some of the single guys, frequent trips thinking outside of the bun at Taco Bell). So journey with me back into ancient Judah for a moment and feel the force of this poem. The people of Jerusalem lived in a city, but their lives were coupled more closely to land and livestock than we think we are today. In this poem Habakkuk progresses through various aspects of life coming unglued, a progressive desolation of all of life from its joyful delicacies down to the very things without which we would die. Let me write a poem for us that describes in modern terms what the ancient reader would hear.

Though Baskin Robbins should close, there be no wine at the party and nothing safe to drink, there be no gas in the car, no job, no medicine for our illnesses, no clothes for our children and no food left anywhere for us to eat...yet I will rejoice in the LORD I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Do you feel that? He is saying that if everything in life becomes chaos, all comforts, all joy, all things are wrecked and ruined...he will rejoice. What has happened to this prophet during this vision he received from God. He begins with questions and complaints before God and he ends in worship. I think there is something profound that happened in him which we need to understand.

The Uncertainty of Circumstances

All of our lives are a series of choices and events, relationships and changes. As much as we like to think we can control it all we just can’t. We do have a huge part to play in the way things go in our lives and our choices do shape our reality. Yet we must remember we do not control all things–in fact attempting to do so is a great burden and usually ends up jacking up people around you. Even in light of this truth we are so prone to try and find our deepest joys in our circumstances. Now don’t get me wrong, I love certain circumstances in my life and consider them deep blessings from God. I love what I do, I love my family, I like having decent health, I love laughing with friends at Cross Corner Bar and Grill, and I really enjoy listening to podcasts on my iPod. Yet all of these things are not guarantees in life. It all will some day pass away. The great Christian philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo1 once wrestled with where we could find our supreme good, our greatest joy in life. His line of thought was that our hope, our greatest good, cannot be found in this shipwrecked world of suffering. If we place our hope in the good of our health, it can be lost. If our greatest hope is in our wealth, the value of our 401k, this too can be easily lost. If our hope is placed in the good of home and family, loved ones too can be lost and even taken from us. If our hope is placed in safety and security, our world is one where people are conquered and stuff is plundered. Our supreme good would have to be found in another place than in this current shipwrecked and fallen age. Indeed, desire and attachment placed in temporal things and circumstances is an unsure love which can lead to despair and suffering. Ephesians teaches me that deceitful desires are part of our sinful nature and 1 John is very clear that the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–are not from the Father but are from the world. In placing our ultimate hope in the things of this world we could never write the poem which flowed out from Habakkuk’s walk with God. He had an anchor for his soul’s joy which was of a different sort and it was based in the constancy of God.

The Constancy of Jesus

In James Montgomery Boice’s excellent commentary on the prophecy of Habakkuk, he reminds us of the great promises of God. In reflecting on God’s promises he wrote the following:

God’s mighty past acts in history [and I would add, our stories] amply demonstrate that he is able to save those who look to him infaith. But he has promised to save his people and therefore will save them. The God who makes promises stands by his promises. The God who makes oaths keeps them.2

He then goes on to quote some of the great promises of Jesus to each of his followers–I’ll share them here as well for your own meditation:

Matthew 6:25-34 (ESV) 25“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

John 14:1-3 (ESV) 1“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.

John 14:25-27 (ESV) 25“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV) 18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV) 5Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

I would be amiss if we did not transition away from God’s promises to us, to the very treasure of the gospel…namely God himself. Habakkuk could have no expectations of coming temporal blessing – of figs, flocks or 401ks. Yet he tells us he will take joy in the God of his Salvation. Too many times we get caught loving the gifts more than the giver. Too many times when the gifts are not present we forget that we still have Jesus himself with us. John Piper in his recent book, God is the Gospel brings us a great reminder of that wonderful treasure for unsinkable joy.

When I say that God is the Gospel I mean that the highest, best, final, decisive good of the gospel, without which no other gifts would be good, is the glory of God in the face of Christ revealed for our everlasting enjoyment.3

Habakkuk ends the entire book by sending his song and poetry to the musicians for he knew that it was time to sing. God had spoken, God had revealed himself in sovereign, faithful glory. Habakkuk would live by faith and demonstrate that with a song in his heart. Even in sorrow, the soul that gazes upon the beauty of God will be able to sing. Inversion–as we continue to seek our lives and satisfaction in the goodness and greatness of God we will be ever more free to serve others in his name. To enjoy telling others about the Jesus that saves our butts from sin, death and hell, to enjoy loving kids and families in need, to enjoy serving on Thursday night Gathering teams, to welcome strangers, to be in and lead community groups, to give some of our vacation time to take the gospel to other countries, to walk obediently with God in the midst of a flood of temptations, and to become men and women who change the world. Yes, only with Jesus as our treasure will we be able to live upside down lives which overcome evil with good. Jesus has a mission before us, it is costly, it is wonderful, it requires our lives. Yet in the middle of it all we will never lose the greatest treasure which is eternal – our reconciled relationship with God who purchased us through the death, burial and resurrection of his own Son. This God, the Father who ordained us to be rescued by Jesus, the Son who enacted and obediently took the cup of God’s wrath on himself for our sins, the indwelling Spirit who comforts us and gives us power to serve….this God, never forsakes his kids. So with our good friend Habakkuk, I call on you to scream out: YET I WILL REJOICE! And then put your hands to some kingdom work alongside your friends.

Never forget the lessons he has taught us in the Old School–we will need them as we journey in the way of Jesus on mission with him in this world.

Reid

Notes:
1. Richard N. Bosley and Martin Tweedale, eds., Basic Issues in Medieval Philosophy, 1999 Reprint ed. (Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press, 1997).512-518.
2. James Montgomery Boice, The Minor Prophets, 2 vols., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006). 432–Emphasis in original.
3. John Piper, God is the Gospel, (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 2005) 13. Emphasis in original

Energy Drinks for Jesus?

 

I like Red Bull and Rock Star - Who Knew there was a Faith Based Alternative?

1in3Trinity Launches First
Faith Inspired Energy Drink

1in3Trinity brings a bold attitude to an existing market encouraging everyone who purchases their products to live out their faith.

Southlake, TEXAS—September 1, 2006, Faith-inspired company, 1in3Trinity is proud to announce their latest product extension to their signature, branded line of Christian clothing and accessories.  In response to a growing market, 1in3Trinity has launched the first faith-based energy drink under the label 1in3Trinity Energy Drink.

“We are hopeful that 1in3Trinity will change the energy drink landscape,” says Dawn Pencil Marzka, Director of Business Development. “Not only are we offering a great tasting beverage, but an opportunity for the consumer to extend a positive message into the community. We really feel that 1in3Trinity energy drink offers positive energy with every sip!”

The premier 1in3Trinity Energy Drink is a perfect companion for today’s active Christian lifestyle, providing benefits not only for the consumer, but for spectators as well.  In an eye-catching aluminum can, the company has an opportunity to convey a positive and unique message in an innovative and distinctive way to not only the drinker, but also to those in which they come in contact. Each drink carries a full-bodied taste with an essence of pomegranate and grape. Lightly carbonated, with only 10 calories and an array of B vitamins and vitamin C, 1in3Trinity Energy Drink is sure to be one of most refreshing energy drink on the shelves – literally!

”We now have an opportunity to reach one of the largest generations to hit the marketplace since the Baby Boomers – Generation X and Y - with dynamic products and a value-added message,” shares President and Co-Founder, Paula Masters. “Studies show there lies a shift in values on the part of these new discerning consumers. Today’s young market is making it clear to companies hoping to win their hearts that they will have to learn and think like they do, understanding that faith-based values carry great importance to this civic-minded consumer,” says Masters.

1in3Trinity has a strong vision and is committed to contributing a percentage of our profits to youth ministries around the world.

1in3Trinity energy drink will soon be available in select convenience stores, retailers and coffee Café’s, but is currently available on the companies own website.

Lower calories than Rock Star as well. But I like Rock Star...am I am sinner if I do not choose the 1in3Trinity energy drink? But I really don't know what to make of this line: "We really feel that 1in3Trinity energy drink offers positive energy with every sip!" I am tempted to mock this so I will close this post.

Virtual Church in Second Life

A few weeks back I ran a short post in entitled Should a Church Not Meet in Person? In that short post I was sort of kidding around about just going to church in Second Life. Well...I spoke to soon. Here is church in Second life.... 

 

Apparently you can sit, raise your hands, or just walk around and watch in Second Life Church.  You can be your own individual avatar - do your thing unencumbered by others.

A few questions that arise for me...what are you guys' thoughts? 

• Can our avatars obey the command of Scripture in Hebrews 10:24, 25?  If not does this help Christians directly disregard this command?
• Can our avatars be baptized, partake of the Lord's Table "together" with others? 
  
• Is this a natural extension of geographically dispersed video preaching churches?  I am not talking about campuses within the same geography - but campuses in multiple states, countries, or video with no campus at all.  Is it OK to watch a video church alone in your pajamas if it is OK to go to video church "with others?"  Maybe there is no connection, maybe there is?
  
• Does Hebrews 13:7 - Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith...need to mean "look at  your pastor's blogging habbits, go and do likewise?"  OR "observe how they  talk about loving their wife and kids...then do likewise?"
• How do Internet churchers bear each others burdens?  When someone has a baby, do they send Amazon.com links to parenting books, write up a blog of encouragement, look at the family pics on Flickr and smile?  I am not saying we should not do these things - we should, but wouldn't it be better to be able to bring a meal, babysit the older kids in the family, do a little laundry for the new mom?
  

In defense of this church (maybe) they do still "suggest" that face-to-face is an OK thing to do...maybe once a year.

Again, I am all for the full use of technology and geek gear in the church. Podcast stuff, vodcast stuff, blog stuff, communicate, connect, etc.  But replace embodied worship, connection, communion, and meeting with one another?  This seems goofy.  I am not even saying there should not be a church in Second Life world where people hang out, but I am saying that this should not BE someone's "church." In fact, a church is a gathered embodied assembly of people who follow Jesus Christ.  It is not a scattered people watching a video, chatting and posting on a blog. 

Missional contextualization does not mean becoming the culture...it means moving within it natively but as a distinct people under the gospel.  For me this means that we still like the hug...and assembling together.  Part of our prophetic voice has been lost in a zealous, pragmatic bog lacking theological reflection.

POC Bundle 4.29.2007

Technology/Pop Culture

I am a big fan of the Transformers...these are funny headphones...I wouldn't wear these though.

 

Pop Culture/Gospel and Culture

 

Dog the bounty hunter describes his faith - he loves Jesus...but doesn't seem to think anyone else really needs him...a little sad. Dog still cracks some heads
, but it might not hurt to read some more Bible.

Just for Fun 

A funny picture Engadget used for an article on a government sniper program...Get em kitty:

 

Technology 

As much as the Macintosh fun bunch wants to say how bad Vista is, it sure does suck all the way to the bank.  Here is a quote from a Business week article on the hot selling Windows Vista.

Revenue in Microsoft's (MSFT) Client Division, consisting primarily of Windows sales for PCs, hit $5.3 billion, a 67% jump over a year earlier. That includes $1.2 billion in deferred revenue from presales of Windows Vista, money paid by customers before the quarter started but not counted in results until the product shipped. But even without that spike, the group's sales climbed 17%. In other words, Vista sales growth topped Microsoft's estimates of overall PC unit sales growth, which came in between 10% and 12%. That's largely because 71% of customers opted for the high-priced premium editions of Vista.

Now I know Mac folks may say. This is just because Vista is installed on my PCs which are sold worldwide...not because people like it.  Yeah, but we seem to overlook that it is on most PCs sold worldwide.  Like that doesn't matter?  Sales are likely to increase as many will wait to get a new PC before upgrading.  I know that is my plan.