Category: Recommended

yep, I recommend this link, article or whatever it is

Happy Birthday from the Texas Baptist Underground

~ Bob Hayton ~ 5 Comments

Happy Birthday to Me!

Okay. I just celebrated my birthday on Wednesday, May 3. My wife informed me that I was 9496 days old, by the way. Anyway, today I found out about a great birthday gift I received–sort of a blogging birthday gift. For a long time now, I have enjoyed and respected James Spurgeon’s posts on his blog devoted to fundamentalism called The Texas Baptist Underground. I have linked to that blog almost from the inception of my blog. Anyway, on Wednesday, James added six new links to his blog and two of them were to my blogs–my main blog as well as my new KJV Only Debate Resource Center blog. Now James did not know it was my birthday, but I thanked him for the gift anyway!

While I am on the subject, let me recommend James’ new book, The Texas Baptist Crucible: Tales from the Temple. It is the published version of a compilation of stories that James published on the internet under the title “Tales from the Temple”. The Temple would be Longview Baptist Temple, and the stories were of James’ days at Texas Baptist College (a ministry of LBT). The book was published by a company specializing in helping individuals self-publish their books, and so it is a little costly–starting at around $24.95. But believe me, it is worth every penny. I am gobbling the book up as you read this!

The stories are fascinating reading, but they teach a sobering message. They point out the worst in extreme fundamentalism, but do so in a graceful and healthy way. While laughing at his own troubles, James’ tells his own story in the hope of disclosing the doctrinal and practical errors which abound in certain sectors of fundamentalism. For me, reading James’ book helped me to see how some of the same ungodly leadership tactics, misplaced emphases, and wrong attitudes about ministry were present (albeit in a less blatant form) in my own experience in extreme fundamentalism. James’ experience was extreme, mine was not, yet many of the root problems were identical.

I encourage my readers to get this book and read it thoughtfully. It will entertain, yes. But it will also enlighten. Ponder your own experiences in light of James and see anew what the errors of extreme fundamentalism can produce. Be warned and move away from the error into a life of grace. The encouraging thing about James’ book is that he did not bail out on God when faced with the problems he endured. Rather, he continued in his faith and therefore is able to see God’s hand at work in his life and encourage others in similar situations to follow the Lord and His Word to such a degree that they are willing to test their own leaders and church by His teachings.

Oh, and lest I forget, let me challenge you fundamentalist readers of mine to get this book. Read what an ex-IFB thinks of you and see if there is any truth to it. Don’t be afraid of the truth. Honestly evaluate your own beliefs and practices. When you place yourself outside of outside scrutiny and Scriptural evaluation, you have placed yourself in a dangerous position. Check out James’ blog, as well as mine. Take the haughty smirk off your face and be willing to see if there is any truth in what ex-IFBs are saying. You may find some truth at least, and be equipped to change a little to better line up with God’s Word. Isn’t that what you are all about anyway?

The Redemptive Historical Hermeneutical Approach to the Book of Proverbs

~ fundyreformed

I just finished reading another excellent post on redemptive historical hermeneutics by my friend Nathan Pitchford. He has written an excellent article dealing with the interpretation of the book of Proverbs for Reformation Theology Blog. In the post, he argues for the personified Wisdom being seen as redemptive Wisdom and pointing to Christ Himself, while the “strange woman” represents the world system opposing Christ later known as the whore and Babylon of Revelation besides merely the actual enticement of any prostitute or adulteress. He also argues against a moralistic view of the Proverbs, rather encoraging us to view all of the proverbs in the light of the gospel of Christ. Let me provide his first paragraph here, and then encourage you all to go read the article, here.

“The two outstanding characteristics of the Proverbs with which I associate my childhood, neither legitimate but both having a pervasive influence in my surrounding circles, are fragmentation and moralism. The former of which gave rise to the latter: as long as the individual proverbs were seen as disconnected and de-contextualized, that is, as long as they were seen as a series of random thoughts, it was easy to make such character qualities as honesty, industry, and diligence the foundation and fountainhead of the Christian life. When will God be pleased with me? When I am honest and industrious. How do I encounter God’s blessings? By being honest and industrious. And so the reasoning ran. The more foundational question, “How can I, a depraved sinner, hope to become honest and industrious?” , if acknowledged at all, was glibly passed off with an exhortation to try harder. I found all of this exceedingly confusing, as it appeared to contradict everything that was said when one was speaking of the gospel — but considering it a necessary and appropriate shift when dealing with a corpus of “practical” material, I managed by compartmentalizing my conception of Christianity to muddle along without serious reservations, albeit equally without any precision of thought concerning justification, sanctification, and the relationship between the two.”[Read the entire article!]

Announcing…The KJV Only Debate Resource Center!

~ fundyreformed ~ 2 Comments

Announcing...

Announcing…a new resource center for the KJV Only Debate. I have put together a blog (functioning more like a website) devoted to the KJV Only Debate. I hope it will become a portal where one can find all the best resources on the issue along with simple, straightforward explanations of the terms and main points of the debate. I also hope to present both sides of the debate offering links to the more reasoned pro KJV-only material.

If you click on the banner below, you will see the site and what I have compiled so far. It is not much, I know, but I believe it represents the best of the best. Just so you are aware, notice that this is linked to from my sidebar as well.

 

The King James Only Debate Resource Center, click to enter

 

The reason I mention this here is that I would like some help! My readers may be aware of other books, websites, and helpful articles worth posting. Bible version debate forums you know of, and any other relevant info (historical stuff, etc.) would be helpful. Just go ahead and leave comments here, or feel free to email me. And again, remember, I would love to have info from the more rational/reasonable KJV-only side as well. I have not yet listed any pro KJV resources but plan to, as I figure out just how I will design the site. (Hey, if anyone has site-design ideas, I would appreciate them as well!)Thanks, and God Bless!

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7

More on Redemptive Historical Interpretation of Scripture

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Lately I have been thinking alot about hermeneutics. I have been contemplating the merits of the redemptive historical interpretation of Scripture. (Learn what that means here, in a previous post.) The article by my friend Nathan Pitchford, linked to in the post mentioned above, points out that the literal, grammatico-historical hermeneutic of the Reformers is different that that of today. And the reason this is the case, is the growth of rationalism due to the pervasive influence of the Enlightenment. (Be sure to read that post, I have mentioned!)

Anyway, last week I heard a presentation by someone on hermeneutics which dealt specifically with the parable of the Good Samaritan. The speaker was teaching that we should not allegorize the parable at all, but that it only conveys a main basic point that Christ was attempting to draw from it. Yet in his presentation, (I suppose to show how this allegorizing kind of interpreting can get out of hand), he quoted many different leaders throughout church history, and only John Calvin did not give an allegorical view of this parable. The first person to push for the interpretation this guy was advancing was in the late 1800s and was a German intellectual. This presentation seemed to push me the other way, totally! It sure seemed to illustrate how rationalistic thinking has changed our hermeneutics. Now granted there have been some extreme examples of rampant allegorization, but by and large a Christ-centered hermeneutic has been employed throughout church history. I cannot bring myself to conclude that the “enlightened” modern (and post-modern) world has finally been able to recover sound hermeneutics, and that the Holy Spirit was somehow unable to bring Christ’s church to unity in a true and sound hermeneutic until He was helped by the Enlightenment.

In thinking through this issue, I came across a good (and brief) article which gives a “how to” plan for interpreting Scripture (specifically OT Scripture–which is where the differences of opinion are strongest, today). As you will see when you look at it, this article does not throw out many of the advances made in interpretation today, particularly greater understanding of the different genres and forms of literature the Bible contains, etc. These insights are very helpful for interpreting the text correctly. However, it stresses that we must compare the teaching of each OT passage with all of redemptive history, particularly the gospel of Christ. Only then can we learn all that God intends for us with this Scripture. The article is called, “How a Christian Can Read Any Old Testament Passage” and is by Robert A Lotzer. [He draws from Beale and Greidanus among others.]

Stay tuned, for more posts on this topic. I think it is as important as any topic I discuss here. May God bring us all to a better understanding of and a clearer apprehension of Christ through His Word.

The Best Argument for Calvinism: Rom. 8:28 – 9:24

~ fundyreformed ~ 6 Comments

I had always heard people say that Calvinism is based on logical implications not required by Scripture. Basically, it was argued, Calvinists have gone beyond what Scripture clearly teaches to come up with their positions. Anyone who agrees with this assessment must grapple with this passage of Scripture: Rom. 8:28-9:24. Why? Because it is the single best argument for Calvinism–and it is simply Scripture.

From my experience, most people choose to ignore this passage. Chapter 9 practically never gets preached on. And the average Christian just turns his brain off when reading this. Or if he is disturbed by the passage’s seeming contradiction with his theories of the atonement and man’s free will, he quickly meditates on his understanding of John 3:16 and goes on his way. Some do deal with this passage, but they so blatantly come to it with their preconceived notions as to what Scripture already does teach, that they cannot simply sit at the feet of Romans 9 and learn.

The article I am about to link to, is a good and simply written exposition of this passage. I encourage all to read it and let Scripture speak to this debate. In my own experience, I have found that it is the non Calvinist who does not let the Scripture speak. They are the ones who depend upon logical arguments for their position. There are scores and scores of passages which plainly teach the various truths which Calvinists singularly affirm. As many have said before, the Calvinist really does affirm everything a non Calvinist affirms about the gospel and God. Yet they affirm more, because they are compelled by Scripture to do so.

So, here is the article, An Overview of Romans 8:28-9:24, compliments of Reformation Theology Blog. Do not let others do your thinking for you. Read and study, and let Scripture be the authority for you on this issue.

∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7