After we spent a little time on some positive reports of God’s grace, and then a few minutes on some negative developments of more rebellion and insanity coming out of Disney, we dove into a fully discussion of tradition, the canon, and finally looking at a series of Tweets by Steve Meister on the table of contents of your Bible as a form of “inescapable tradition.” Over 90 minutes today.
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Today we dove into a section of John 10 (with a few interruptions for commentary on the weather outside my unit) and then looked at some elements of Aquinas’ commentary on the same text. Then we read an article that contained hagiography concerning Thomas and considered the kind of thinking that lies behind such perspectives.
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This morning Dr. Frank Turek of CrossExamined.org posted a short video clip from one of his many public speaking engagements. You have to give Frank credit, he goes out there and takes the questions. That is appreciated. But the inconsistencies in the answers are why we have often had to comment on what is being said. In this video he responds to an audience question (which itself contained errors of fact and thought) by stating what we might call the “standard” synergistic objections to Reformed theology. So we provided a rebuttal, along with a reiteration of the fact that we would be happy to “cross examine” Frank, and be cross examined by him, in formal, public debate. Many people who saw a tweet I posted suggesting such a debate said they would really like to see that happen. I am doubtful, but, you never know!
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James White, April 8, 2022April 8, 2022, Abortion, Christian Worldview, Homosexuality, Mormonism, Personal, Road Trip, The Dividing Line Never dreamed in the early 1980s I would someday be doing a live “webcast” (of all things!) from Salt Lake City, but here we are! Discussed the Jackson-Brown issue in light of the Christian worldview and many other related issues. Also listened to Brandan Robertson twist John 11 into a homosexual-affirming pretzel.
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James White, April 5, 2022April 5, 2022, Personal, Post-Evangelicalism, Reformed Baptist Issues, Road Trip, Textual Issues, The Dividing Line, Theology Matters, Thomism Today’s program came to you live from Las Vegas, Nevada (where it is quite windy today!). Our first Road Trip DL in a while, but we won’t be home for about three weeks, so, get used to it! Addressed some comments from Dan Wallace about the Father “forsaking” the Son on the cross (the old Psalm 22 quotation issue), even looking at some textual critical issues related to the account in Mark. Then I addressed the issues that came up after the last DL relating to my exchange with Pastor Steve Meister and the whole philosophy/theology discussion going on in our day. We might be able to get a program in on Thursday, but it is a travel day, and it is more likely that we will be able to do one on Friday.
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A potpourri of topics for our last DL in studio for most of April. Had a little something for the homeschoolers about Pluto’s age, some commentary on the acquittal of the Lutheran Christians in Finland, a good deal on today’s call by the Biden Regime for surgery for “transgender children,” etc. Then we transitioned into a theological discussion based upon Dr. Waldron’s fine essay, posted today, on sola scriptura and the Confession, which can be found here. Finally, if you would like to help with the trip I begin on Monday, remember you can give to the travel fund here.
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Covered a number of topics playing off of comments made by Brandan Robertson regarding the resurrection, the Bible, etc. We then talked a little bit about the discovery of an exceptionally ancient inscription in Israel that is highly relevant, and finished up looking at some quotes from Klaus Schwab’s chief scientific advisor, Yuvul Noah Harari.
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The rush of insane “believe this mass delusion or we will silence you!” stuff going on in our world caused me to reflect on the question, “are ancient writings really able to equip us to deal with modern challenges?” You will have to listen to discover the answer!
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Reflected on the shelling of the Irpin Biblical Seminary as I taught within its walls a number of times, so seeing it on fire from Russian shelling was saddening indeed. Then we discussed the current issues relating the to Culture of Death and its promotion of homosexuality, transgenderism, etc.
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The trend toward apostasy (aka, “deconstruction”) in the CCM area continues unabated. This should hardly surprise us: the vast majority of those involved in the field are never in the same church more than once, hence, the idea of stability, sanctification, grounding in theology and doctrinal truth, is a rarity. My friend John Cooper warned about this years ago, and continues to sound the alarm even now. Chris Llewellyn is lead vocalist for the Irish Christian band Rend Collective. The band has a number of excellent songs with solid, scriptural content.Recently Llewellyn has been vocalizing more than lyrics. For those with ears to hear, he’s been using the language of deconstruction. And that always leads, eventually, to something like this:This graphic is from Llewellyn’s Instagram Stories page. Let’s do a quick run through.First, kvministries is spot on in the provided graphic. William Thomas is a man, on every rational, logical, scientific, moral, and spiritual level. Every cell in his body would reveal XY chromosomes. His natural testosterone levels would be many times that of a female with XX chromosomes. His lung capacity is much greater than a female. His bone structure is much heavier, his connective tissues denser. So the graphic is correct: this is a man who “won” the women’s swimming championship. Now, my six year old granddaughter could tell you this is a picture of a man. So the quotation from Orwell is spot on, and, in fact, accurate (the citation is from the end of chapter 7, and actually leads up to the even more famous line, “Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows”). We are truly facing what Orwell so clearly foresaw: a time when the ruling elites, the Party, demand that we reject the evidence of our eyes and ears, the reality of objective truth around us. There is an objective truth about what makes someone a male, and objective truth about what makes someone a female, but today, if you dare state these truths, you can be “cancelled.” So this brings us to the comments by Chris Llewellyn. It is quite true that we can lay aside the fairness in sports for a moment, as that is a secondary issue to the foundational one. The first claim is, “Calling a trans woman a man is hateful.” To which I simply have to respond (assuming, as I must, that this is a conversation between two men who claim to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ), “Why?” The claim assumes the reality of something called “a trans woman.” I do not believe any such thing exists, and what is more important, neither did Jesus. His teaching on the matter is plain and clear (in another video Llewellyn questions the reality of plain and clear teachings in Scripture) as recorded in Matthew 19:4-6. The entire idea of “transitioning” is mythical. It cannot happen. You can utterly mutilate the human body, surgically, and destroy it from within with injections, but none of this will make you something or someone you were not created to be. Will Thomas was created a man, and he cannot “transition” into a state of being that is other than the one created for him by his Creator. The stories of those who have found this out the hard way are only multiplying, though, of course, the Culture of Death in which we live seeks to suppress those realities. So why would speaking a biblically consistent truth be “hateful” in Llewellyn’s mind? Because he is clearly not thinking within the parameters of a Christian worldview defined by belief in the consistency of divine revelation in Scripture. He is allowing the world to define his terminology and categories, and as a result he is literally coming to the conclusion that to speak as truthfully and bluntly as Jesus did makes us “hateful.” I have news for Chris: telling Will Thomas he is a woman is what is hateful: hateful to him and his well being, hateful to those around him, hateful to the culture, hateful to reality, and most importantly, hateful to the One who created him to be a man. When you embrace the world’s parameters and definitions, you end up reversing the truth and believing a lie. Just as Jesus is the source of life, the culture of death must seek to rob us of the light Christ provides. There is light and life for those who will repent and believe and reject the culture of death’s claims. You cannot, however, try to play the middle. It is Christ, or it is chaos. There is no middle ground. So a Christian must speak the truth when the world insists we join them in the deceptive lie, in the fantasy world they have created. It is not unkind, it is necessary. It is the adult thing to do. And when the world is praising the perversity of rebellious men and women, we must, with clarity and force, point out that the man in the women’s bathing suit is a man who can still use the urinal. And even if he chooses to take care of that problem, that only makes him a mutilated man, not a woman. These are realities all adults understood only fifteen years ago. It is sad we must speak of them now, but the adults often have to repeat things to the children.Finally, we must note the repetition of the anti-Christian line at the end: “History won’t be kind to you.” Why do I call this an “anti-Christian” line? Simple: Christians believe Jesus defines history and, in the end, He wins. History isn’t something that “treats” you one way or the other. Jesus said all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him upon His resurrection from the dead. All of history has been, is being, and will be, defined by His power, His purpose. So to turn history into some power that you must fear is anti-Christian. What we should fear is what Christ will say to us, how He will view our actions, and our thoughts. And Llewellyn should remember that it is Christ will who judge the living and the dead by His holy and righteous law in the last day. And the one who made us male and female will not treat kindly those who rebelled against His creative decree.
