Tom Wright: The Bible and tomorrow's world

Bp Wright's Lambeth walk talk is here.

My theme today has obviously been designed to go with today’s Indaba group work on our use of the Bible. This is an opportune time, as our Conference quickens its pace, to reflect on how we use scripture, not least how we Bishops use scripture as part of our vocation, as in the main theme of this Conference, to be ‘bishops in mission.'

Jim Skillen pages

I have now launched the Jim Skillen pages on All of life redeemed. There are a number of links to Jim's papers on the web and also a copy of his Political Science Reviewer essay on Dooyeweerd:

'Philosophy of the Cosmonomic Idea: Herman Dooyeweerd’s Political and Legal Thought' The Political Science Reviewer XXXII pp.318-380. [With permission of ThePolitical Science Reviewer, which can be accessed here]

If you unfamiliar with Skillen's work check out Bruce Wearne's annotated bibliography of Jim's work.

Jim is the is the president of the Center for Public Justice and is author of numerous books on politics.

Calvin College Public lecture mp3s ...

... are available featuring:

• John Polkinghorne Can a Scientist Believe in a Destiny Beyond Death?
• Alvin Plantinga Science and Religion: Why Does the Debate Continue?
• Owen Gingerich The Divine Handiwork: Evolution and the Wonder of Life
• Richard Swinburne God and Morality

[HT EPS Blog]

H G Stoker now on CD

A collection of the academic publications of South African reformational philosopher H G Stoker is now available on CD. Full details are here though they are in Afrikaans. Only a few articles on the CD are in English.
The cost is 100 rand .

Hendrik Gerhardus Stoker (1899-1993) was born in Johannesburg and taught at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education from 1925 to 1970. He served on the board of the journal Philosophia Reformata; very little of his work has been published to date in English. During 1942-43 he was imprisoned for his anti-English and pro-German stance. In 1957 in 'The case for apartheid' he advocated separate universities for whites, coloureds and blacks.

New website for The Association for Reformational Philosophy

Dooyeweerd's Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee now online

Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee Deel 1



Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee Deel 2



Wijsbegeerte der Wetsidee Deel 3

Flew on Dawkins

There is no a god - Flew speaks out: Professor Anthony Flew reviews the God Delusion

Oliver Barclay's misconception of Reformed Christian philosophy

The Reformed Christian philosophy of Dooyeweerd and Vollenhofen was introduced at this time [late sixties and early seventies] from Holland, but it was not able to arouse more than a passing interest in most people because of its difficulty, and because of the lack of interest in philosophy both in Christian circles and in the country as a whole. It also seemed to some, myself included, to put philosophy above theology and thereby to avoid the necessity of going to the Bible first of all and last of all.

Oliver Barclay Evangelicalism in Britain 1935-1995 (Leicester: IVP, 1997)

A University for the People

Subtitled: A History of the Institute of Christian Studies by Robert E. VanderVennen. I'm looking forward to reading this one. Available from Dordt College Press.

Understanding Evangelical Media ...

... is a book due out very soon edited by Quentin Schultze and Robert H Woods Jr (Inter Varsity Press, 2008).

There is also a website, replete with resources and information, to accompany the book here and a blog: Understanding evangelical media.



Quentin is professor of communication at Calvin College, and is involved in faithcrafting - providing help for Christians to write and publish good non-fiction.

Available in the UK from:
Book depository
Amazon.co.uk
Eden and Wesley Owen don't seem to have it in stock yet.

Bibliography for a Christian approach to technology

Books

Ian Barbour 1992. Ethics in an Age of Technology (The Gifford lectures 1990-91) (London: SCM) 

Examines the ethical challenges that technology confronts us with.

Andrew Basden 2008. Philosophical Frameworks for Understanding Information Systems (IGI Publishing) 

Develops a Dooyeweerdian approach to information systems - essential reading!

Andrew Basden 2017. The Foundations of Information Systems; Research and Practice. London: Routledge.

Bert Cusveller, Maarten Verkerk and Marc de Vries 2011. The Matrix Reformed Science Fiction, Technology and Christian Philosophy. Sioux Center: Dordt College Press.

Albert Borgmann 2003. Power Failure: Christianity in the Culture of Technology. (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2003)

Brue, Ethan J. Derek C. Schuurman, Derek C. and VanderLeest, Steven. 2022. A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers. Downers Grove: IVP.

How can designing and using technology actually be a way of loving God and our neighbors? Veteran engineers and teachers Ethan Brue, Derek Schuurman, and Steve VanderLeest provide a field guide for fellow explorers working with technology.

Church of England BSR Cybernauts Awake

John Dyer 2011. From the Garden to the City: The Redeeming and Corrupting Power of Technology. Kregel.

Jacques Ellul 1965. Technological Society (London: Jonathon Cape) 

A pessimistic view of technology. Sees technology as a product of the fall. An important work nonetheless.

Allen Emerson and Cheryl Forbes 1990. The Invasion of the Computer Culture (Leicester: IVP)

An examination of some of the key questions the computer culture has forced upon us. They also offer practical ways that computers can be used without being seduced by the bad. This should be required reading for all Christians who use computers! 

David H. Kim et al. 2016. The Wonder and Fear of Technology. Center for Faith and Work

Allan Jiggins 1988. Human Future: Living as Christians in a High-Tech World (London: Scripture Union, 1988)

A useful introductory book.

David Lyon 1986. The Silicon Society (Tring: Lion)

An insightful Christian critique of the computer culture.

Stephen V Monsma, (ed). 1986. Responsible Technology: A Christian Perspective. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. 

An indispensable book. If you only read one book on technology it should be this one!

Carl Mitcham and Jim Grote, eds. 1984. Theology and Technology: Essays in Christian Analysis and Exegesis (New York: University Press of America)

Has an extensive annotated bibliography, as well as containing useful articles by Ellul and Egbert Schurmann among others. 

Parker Rossman and Richard Kirby 1990. Christians and the World of Computers: Professional and Social Excellence in the Computer World (London: SCM) 

A study book; each chapter comes with suggestions for study and reading.

David Pullinger 2001. Information Technology and Cyberspace: Extra-connected living. (London, Darton, Longman & Todd)

Hendrick van Riessen The Society of the Future (Presbyterian and Reformed, no date)

Derek Schuurman 2013. Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture and Computer Technology. IVP.

 Byron Borger has a review/ summary of the book here.

 A website to support the book is here. My review is here. 

Egbert Schuurman

1977, 1983 Reflections on the Technological Society. Toronto: Wedge Pub.

1980 Technology and the Future -- A Philosophical Challenge. Toronto: Wedge Pub

Not an easy read but well worth persevering with. Presents a Christian critique of Junger, Heidegger, Ellul, Meyer, Weiner, Steinbuch and Klaus.

1987 Christians in Babel. Jordan Station: Paideia Press.

1990 The Future: Our Choice or Gods Gift? Exile Publications, Wellington, New Zealand.

1994, 1995 Perspectives on Technology and Culture. IRS Press, South Africa/ Dordt Press, USA.

1995 The Technological Culture between the Times -A Christian Philosophical Assessment of Contemporary Society. Dordt Press.

2000 Faith and Hope in Technology. Toronto, Canada, 2003.

2005 The Technological World Picture and an Ethics of Responsibility: Struggles in the Ethics of Technology. Dordt College Press.

Schuurman writes from a reformational perspective; his books are essential reading for all those who want to see what a Christian approach looks like.

Schultze, Quentin.  Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Quentin J. Schultze and Robert H. Woods Jr. (eds) 2008. Understanding Evangelical Media. IVP.

Robert A. Wauzzinski 2001. Discerning Prometheus: The Cry for Wisdom on Our Technological Society. London: Associated Press.

Chapters in books

Egbert Schuurman:

   1984 A Christian Philosophical Perspective on Technology. In C. Mitcham and J. Grote (eds), Theology and Technology, New York: University Press of America, pp. 107- 123.

   1987 The Modern Babylonian Culture. In P. Durbin (ed.) Technology and Responsibility. Dordrecht: Reidel, pp. 229-243

  1992 Crisis in Agriculture: Philosophical Perspective on the relation between Agriculture and Nature. In F. Ferr (ed.) Research in Philosophy and Technology -- Technology and the Environment London: Jai Press, pp. 191-213;

Articles 

Charles Adams

  1980. "Engineering in Reformed perspective." Pro Rege 9 (September): 9-21.

  1991. "Automobiles, computers and assault rifles" Pro Rege 19(3) (March): 1-7.

  1997. "Formation or deformation: modern technology and the cultural mandate." Pro Rege 25(4) (June): 1-8.

  1997. "Galileo, biotechnology, and epistemological humility." Pro Rege 35(3) (March): 1-19.

  1995. "Transcending technophilia and technophobia: a Reformational perspective on technology." Christian Educators Journal 35 (October): 2-3.

  2013. "Teaching technical engineering courses from a Christian perspective: Two examples." Pro Rege 41 (March): 1-11.

Willis Alberda 1984. "Norms for an information age." Pro Rege 13:22-28.

Andrew Basden

  1999. On the ontological status of virtual environments

  1999. A new framework for sustainability

  2001. Beyond emancipation

  2001. A philosophical underpinning for IT evaluation

  2002.The critical theory of Herman Dooyeweerd?

  2002. A Philosophical Underpinning For ISD

  2003. with A. Trevor Wood-Harper A Philosophical Enrichment of CATWOE

  2003.Enriching critical theory

  2003. Levels of guidance

  2004. Emancipation as if it mattered

  2004. On Appealing to Philosophy in Information Systems

  2005. Enriching humanist thought

  2006. Information systems as a life-world

  2007. 'Fresh light thrown on the Chinese room'

  2007. A brief overview of Dooyeweerd's philosophy

  2007. Frameworks for understanding IS and ICT

  2008. Understanding everyday experience and use of Facebook and games

Elwood Bass 1974. "Science, technology and society - a historical perspective." Pro Rege 2:  11-18

Steve Bishop 'Towards a Christian approach to technology' Spectrum 23 (1991) 9-15

Steve Bishop 'The religious dimension of technology' RE Today 10 (3) 1993

J. D. R. de Raadt. 1998. A New Management of Life. Toronto Series in Theology (Vol. 75). Lampeter: Edwin Mellen.

Ken Funk 2007. "Thinking critically about technology" PSCF 

Calvin Jongsma 1985. "Responsible technology: the challenge of our age." Pro Rege 13: 7-11.

Vanden House 1997. "In the beginning was Information." Pro Rege 25(4) (June): 19-28.

David Lyon 1997. "Spiders, flies and the Internet." Pro Rege 25(4) (June): 9-17.

David Lyon 1985. 'From Pacman to Homelink: Information technology and social ethics' Faith and Thought vol. 111 (1) (April 1985) 12-21

Paul Marshall 1986. 'Modern technology: idol or divine gift?' Evangelical Review of Theology vol. 10 (1986) 258-69.

David Pullinger 2004. Information technology: the ethical task.Gospel and Culture Newsletter. 21 (2004) 

Russell Maatman 1984. "The validity of science and technology." Pro Rege 13: 14-21..

Byron Newberry 2005. "The Challenge of Vocation in Engineering Education," Christian Scholar’s Review 35(1): 49-62.

David Pullinger 2003. The impact of information technology on human identity The Bible in Transmission Summer 2003 

Derek C. Schuurman 

        2007. "Forming a Christian view of computer technology." Journal of the Association of Christians in the Mathematical Sciences (ACMS).
        2012. "Technology has a message." Christian Educators Journal 51(3): 4-7.
                "A summary of a Christian perspective on computer science"

        2017 "Technology and the Biblical Story", Pro Rege, Vol. 46, No. 1, September 2017, pp. 4-11.
        2017.  "Modern Devices and Ancient Disciplines", Faith Today, November/December 2017, pp. 39-41.

Egbert Schuurman:

  1979. Technology in a christian-philosophical perspective (ICS - republished in (1984))

  1980. Futurology or eschatology Vanguard 10 (1): 8-11

  1983. Information society: cultural impoverishment or enrichment

  1993. Technicism and the dynamics of creation. Philosophia Reformata 58: 185-191.A confrontation with technicism as the spiritual climate of the WestWestminster Theological Journal 58 (1): 64-84.

  1997. Philosophical and technological problems of technicism and genetic engineeringPhilosophical and Ethical Problems of Genetic Engineering Techne, Electronic Journal of The Society for Philosophy and Technology, vol.3, no. 1,1997.

  2000. Beyond the empirical turn: responsible technology

  2002. The ethics of technology: technological worldview, pictures, motives, values and normstechnology paper presented at Ecology, theology and Judeo-Christian ethics conference

Technology, genetic manipulation, and the future [excerpts from "The Future: Our Choice or God's Gift?"] Public Justice Reports

  2005. The ethics of responsibility paper presented at IS2005 Ethics: Person, Practices and Society Conference

  2006. "Struggle in the ethics of technology." Koers 71(1):155-173.

Steven H. VanderLeest 2006. 'Teaching Justice by Emphasizing the Non-neutrality of Technology', JECB 10 (2) 2006:111-128

Quentin J. Schultze 2004. 'Faith, Education and Communication Technology' JECB 8 (1) 2004: 9-21

Wayne Tinga 1985. "Computers and robotics." Pro Rege 13: 2-10.

Organisations

• Christian Engineering Society
• ISCAST

Blogs

• A theology of technology
• Engineering at Dordt
• Technically speaking
• Transforming Vision: Connecting theologia & techne
• tech.soul.culture
• Deus ex machina
• The frailest thing

Websites

• Macht's Philosophy of technology website. A list of online technology articles
• Society, Religion and Technology Project (Church of Scotland)
• Faith, Science and Technology (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)
• Science and Christian Faith: Technoculture and the Future (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary)
• Institute for Religion, Technology and Culture. A website in development by a Canadian pioneer in the relation of theology and information technology.
• Technology and Christian 'Values'. Last updated in 1999 but contains some useful materials.
• A Christian Perspective on Computer Science (Redeemer University College) A very useful list of resources 
• Companion website to Derek Schuurman's book - has links to many useful articles and resources

See also Byron Borger's list

Creature discomforts

Theo Plantinga - articles on-line

Calvin College have a number of articles by Theo Plantinga on-line:

AffiliatedGlory

All Men are Brothers? A Chilling Prospect
Anti-Americanism and Canadian Identity
Assigning Blame in History: The Case of the Holocaust
Birkerts and the Decline of Reading
Bless You: Reflections on Benevolance and Benedictions
Christianity and Visualism
Commemorating Schilder: Have We Learned Anything Yet?
Creation and Novelty
Difference, Modesty, and Sexuality
Farewell to the Rickshaw: Reflections on Autonomy and Automobiles
Giving God a Helping Hand -- and All the Glory, Too
He Who Has an Ear: Reflections on Lecturing to the Impaired
Hot Button Ethics: Reflections on Harassment, Imposition, and Autonomy
Insurance Insurance: A Cartesian Dilemma
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs
Just Say No: Reflections on a Referendum
Making Room for Ahimsa
Marriage as an Honorific Estate
Mission Accomplished? Some Dangers in Past-Participle Thinking
Narrative Reticence: The Case of Henry Stob
Never Say No: Reinventing Life from a Wheelchair
New Age Thinking and Worldview Attribution
Not Nobody: A Brand-Name Approach to Identity
Please Contact Myself
Pluralism in Education and Health Care: Are There Limits to Open Mindedness?
Protestantism and Progress
Punishment as Public Spectacle
Raw Facts and Wilted Knowledge: An Essay in Practical Epistemology
Redeemer's Charter Change: Why Did It Take So Long?
Subscribers Needed
Taking and Giving Credit
The Inscrutable God and His Detailed Law
The Real Meaning of Kant
The Scoffer and the Believer: Toward a Christian Philosophy of Food Selection
The Truth about the Truth: Reflections on Denominational Exclusivism
There Shall be One Law
What My Hands Have Done: Reflections on Agency
Whatever Happened to Samizdat?
When the Robots Rule
Where Would We Be Without Punishment?
Who Cares? Am I My Brother's Keeper?
Why Dundas Matters
Will the Boys Become Men?

The "new" digital Themelios is out

Newly added to Google reader

I have recently added the following blogs to my google reader - they are worth checking out, not least because the first four link to all of life redeemed - a sign of good taste!

• Omega Project
• Vowell movements
• Write like no one's reading
• Biblical studies notebook
• Stuart Basden

Theo Plantinga (1947-2008)

With Sadness Redeemer shares the news of the death of Dr. Theodore Plantinga

Monday, July 07, 2008

Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department. Dr. Plantinga died peacefully at his home in Dundas on the evening of 4 July.

It is with deep sadness that Redeemer University College announces the death of Dr. Theodore Plantinga, Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department. Dr. Plantinga died peacefully at his home in Dundas on the evening of July 4, 2008 . Visitation will be held in St. James Anglican Church from 6:30 – 8:30 Tuesday evening (137 Melville, Dundas), and a memorial service will be held there on Wednesday at 1 pm.

He will be greatly missed.

What is ICS?

The Shack

The Shack
William P. Young
Windblown Media, 2007
9780964729230
www.theshackbook.com


It’s perhaps something of an understatement to say that this book has caused something of a stir. For a book originally written for the author’s children, with no real intent to publish it further it has sold a lot of copies. On 6 July 2008 it was number 5 in amazon.com’s bestseller list. It hasn’t as yet made such an impact in the UK ranking ‘only’ 671st best selling book on amazon.co.uk. It isn’t available on the book depository site yet.

The story focuses, as Mark Driscoll puts it, on ‘Mack in the Shack’. Mack’s daughter is abducted and apparently cruelly killed in a shack. As a result Mack suffers from a great sadness. One day he receives a letter supposedly from God asking him to meet at the shack. The remainder of the book tells of Mack’s transformation on meeting God as Trinity. The Trinity is portrayed as three persons: ‘A large black woman’ called Papa, ‘A small, distinctively Asian woman’ whose voice sang; ‘this wiry-looking was maybe of person of northern Chinese or Nepalese or even Mongolian ethnicity. It was hard to tell because his eyes had to work to see her at all’ (p 85), and Jesus ,‘He appeared Middle eastern and was dressed like a laborer, complete with tool belt and gloves’ (p 84). It is this depiction of the Trinity that has caused such a theological stir and accusations of heresy.

Despite selling so well – or perhaps because of – there have been a number of objections to the theology lying behind it. One of the most vociferous is Mark Driscoll. Driscoll describes the book as being about the Trinity – it’s not; although the Trinity appears a lot. It is the story of a wounded person being transformed by the love of God as revealed through a trinity.

Driscoll has four main objections. In what follows I will make a 'knee-jerk' response to his points.

1. It makes a graven image of God
To show God the father as a human being is wrong – it is ‘graven imagery’. If this were the case then what about C S Lewis’s Narnia series, God/ Jesus is portrayed as a single lion, is that too a graven image. And what about the descriptions of God in the Bible? Isn’t Young doing the same as them? He hasn’t constructed some metal monster, or even a painted image does this mean that any art that depicts God is breaking this command?


2.It’s goddess worship – God appears as a black woman called ‘Papa’.
God reveals himself as a father, we should worship him as father claims Driscoll. But yet God does sometimes reveal himself in feminine terms: cf Is 49:15 and El Shaddai – the all sufficient one – shad is translated 24 times in the OT as breast, a mother’s breast is all sufficient for her children. Humans are also created in the image of God male and female.


3. Modalism
There is some truth in this accusation – at times the Trinity is depicted in modalistic terms. Particularly the point where Papa reveals the nail scars on his/her hands. Young commenting on this say he had in mind 2 Cor 5:19. Though this is a misinterpretation of this scripture.

The view of the trinity in The Shack is more tri-theism (the idea that there are three separate Gods) than modalism.


4. The Trinity is in a circle of relationship
Driscoll is showing his theological colours here- he seems to accept the concept of subordination within the Trinity. Young does not as this quote shows:

Papa speaks: ‘Mackenzie, we have no concept of final authority among us, only unity. We are in a circle of relationship, not a chain of command or ‘great chain of being’ as your ancestors termed it. What you are seeing here is relationship without any overlay of power. We don’t need power over the other because we are always looking out for the best. Hierarchy would make no sense among us.’ (p 122)

Subordination is a doctrine that maintains that there is a hierarchy within the Trinity. It was popular among Platonist church fathers such as Origen, it fitted in with the great chain of being. Subordinationism is making a comeback among evangelicals in recent decades (eg in Grudem’s Systematic Theology). Primarily, I suspect to provide a basis for the complementarian model of the family. Not surprisingly complementarins are not happy with The Shack; egalitarians seem to like it, it is for sale at Christian for Biblical Equality site.

A rejection of subordination is not however heresy! See for example the work of Kevin Giles who maintains that subordination is a deviation from orthodoxy.



Most of the objections against The Shack I suspect would evaporate if basic hermeneutical principles were used. What type of literature is The Shack? It is certainly not a systematic theology or a monograph on the Trinity! It is a work of fiction, a novel. What is its primary focus? It is not to teach us about the Trinity, it is to show the love and grace of a triune God. I suspect that if 99% of all Christian were asked to describe how they understood God as Trinity they would fall into some error, be it modalism, tritheism, sabellianism, arianism or …. .

Since reading The Shack I have had more discussions with people about the Trinity than in the last decade! That can’t be a bad thing. Love it or hate it The Shack can’t be avoided – flawed as it is it can be the basis for excellent basis for theological discussion.


Further discussion can be found here

Mark Driscoll from You Tube
Al Mohler (against)
Tim Challies's review (against)
Regent College (moderate for)
Beholding him video review (part 2 here)
The Shack review - accuses The Shack of universalism

A response to some of the heretical accusations is here by Wayne Jacobsen

Interview with Young
and here

What do your (NT) commentaries say about you?

Here are a list of my NT hard copy (ie books) commentaries - I've been sorting my bookshelves. I've not included the commentaries on the whole Bible. There are some glaring omissions - wot no pastorals?!
I wonder what the list says about me?

If money were no object - if only! What recommendations would you make?


Matthew
France

Mark
Cranfield
Ryle
Myers

Luke
Marshall
Wright (SPCK …for Everyone)
Creed
Ryle
Caird

John
Barrett
Hendrikesen

Acts
Blaicklock

Romans
Bruce
Cranfield
Dunn
Black
Hodge
Sanday and Headlam

1 Corinthians
Barrett
Morris
Hodge (& 2 Cor)

2 Corinthians
Tasker
Barrett

Galatians
Bruce
Guthrie
Grayston (with Philipians)
Calvin (with Eph, Phil & Col)
Cole

Ephesians
Hendriksen

Colossians & Philemon
Moule
O’Brien
Wright

Philippians
Martin

1 & 2 Thessalonians
Bruce


1 & 2 Timothy
Titus
Hebrews
James
None for the above

1 Peter
Cranfield
Grudem

2 Peter
1-3 John
None for the above

Revelation
Farrer
Morris
Beasley-Murray
Ladd
Swete
Keener
Kiddle
Walvoord
Hoeksema

Work – a Bible study

The purpose of this Bible study is:
• To hear what the Bible has to say about work
• To start to develop a Christian view of work; and
• To help each other to become more Christian in our work

Points to consider
1. Why do we work?

2. Is God concerned about our work?

3. Which of the following are work and which are not? Why?

Cleaning the bathroom
Reading
Counselling
Watching TV
Praying
Sleeping
Washing dishes
Stamp collecting
Gardening
Surfing the Internet
Blogging

4. Are there any jobs more important than others?

5. Are there any jobs more ‘spiritual’ than others?


Genesis 2:2
Psalm 8:3-6
Psalm 90:16,7
Does God work?

Genesis 1: 27-28
What does imaging God involve?

Genesis 2:15
Is work a result of the fall?


Genesis 3:17-19
What effect did the fall have upon work?

Exodus 20:9
Has the fall removed the privilege of work?

Isaiah 28:23-26
What help can we expect from God in our work?

Proverbs 6:6
2 Thess 3:10
Is it sinful to be unemployed?

Proverbs 31:10-31
Are there any jobs that a man/ woman can do that a woman/ man cannot

Rev 14:13
Is 65:22-25
Will we work on the new earth?
Will there be any jobs we won’t need on the new earth?

Final points to consider

1. Are there any jobs a Christian should not do?

2. Should we be fulfilled in our work? If we are not what can we do about it?

3. How can we be more Christian in our work?

4. How can we support each other in our respective work?

John's Gospel wordle-d

Matthew's Gospel wordle-d

Luke's Gospel wordle-d

Luke's Gospel (ESV)

Mark's Gospel wordle-d

Mark's Gospel (ESV)

Harry Van Belle pages

I am pleased to announce the launch of the Harry Van Belle pages on All of life redeemed. Harry taught psychology at Redeemer University and at King's University College , Canada, before his early retirement in 2000.

He is a prolific writer and the site has links to many of his papers on topics as diverse as the history of psychology, psychotheraphy, trauma studies, Christian counselling, ethnic studies, communication theory and biblical meditations.

Two new books from B J van der Walt

Below are the details for two new books from Bennie van der Walt. Bennie is a South African Christian philosopher-theologian. He was professor of philosophy and director of the Institute for Reformational Studies at the Potchefstroom University. At present he is a research fellow in the School of Philosophy of the North-West University in South Africa.

A list of his publications in English is available here as well of details on how to order the books.

The Eye is the Lamp of the Body

B J van der Walt
The Eye is the lamp of the Body: Worldviews and their impact
ISBN 987-1-86822-55-2
305 pp; pbk; R120 ($25)












CONTENTS
Preface: Dr. Tukunboh Adeyemo Centre for Biblical Transformation, Nairobi, Kenya)

1. Introduction: Windows on the world

SECTION A: THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS

2. How to view and read God's revelation, the basis for an integral Christian worldview
3. The popularity, history, structure , value and dangers of a worldview
4. The uniqueness of a Reformational worldview
5. The historical background of postmodern view on normativity and on a Christian worldview

SECTION B: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

6. Traditional African worldview and culture: a reason for the extreme
7. Antheunis Janse van Biggekerke (1890-1960): morning star of a Reformational worldview
8. The Christian worldview of Archbishop (emeritus) Desmond M. Tutu; (1) a general review
9. The Christian worldview of Archbishop (emeritus) Desmond M. Tutu; (2) his view on being human and on society
10. The Institute for Reformational Studies (1962-1999) as a Christian worldviewish organisation; its relevance for future Christian actions

Anatomy of reformation

B J van der Walt
Anatomy of Reformation: Flashes and Fragments of reformational Worldview

Third edition reprint (July 2008).

This was first published in 1981, a second revised edition appeared in 1991.

CONTENTS
1. Christ: conservative, revolutionary, ascetic, or …
2. Christ and the religious order of his day.
3. Christ and the social order of his time.
4. Christ and the political situation of his day.
5. The new way of reformation.
6. John Hus: a reformer in his own right.
7. Ulrich Zwingli: his message for South Africa today.
8. John Knox: the Scottish reformer who feared no man.
9. Sixteenth century models for Christian involvement in the world.
10. Renaissance and Reformation: contemporaries but not allies.
11. The intellectual decor of the Reformation; special reference to Calvin.
12. Church reformation: permanent call.
13. Out of love for my church; on the reformation of a reformed church.
14. Not of the world but in the world; the calling of the church in the world.
15. Church mission or Kingdom mission? The kingdom perspective in our missionary endeavour.
16. Flee from the idols!
17. The idolatry of ideologies.
18. The evangelical, revolutionary and reformational views of social change.
19. The calling of government and citizen; where do we stand in South Africa at this stage?
20. Integral Christian scholarship; looking into the heart of a Christian university.
21. God's hand in history?
22. Norms, means and ends; a reformational approach to economics.
23. The consistent problem-historical method of philosophical historiography.
24. The will of God; how the Holy Spirit directs us in the taking of difficult decisions.

The unforgiving servant (Mt 18)

Slides from my talk on the unforgiving servant in Mt 18.

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all of life redemeemed update

I have recently added the following to the all of life redeemed site:

Andrew Basden 2008. Understanding everyday experience and use of facebook and games

Albert Weideman 2008. Constitutive and regulative conditions for the assessment of academic literacy.

D. H. TH Vollenhoven Het Calvinischme en de Reformatie van de Wijsbegeerte Ch 2 (pp 22-48) (in English)

D. H. Th. Vollenhoven 'The foundations of Calvinist thought' - lecture delivered in 1934 at Dusseldorf

D. H. Th. Vollenhoven 'Lecture notes on Kant' from the syllabus 1958-59; translated by Bill Rowe (1977)

Kingdom living – Matthew 18: The unforgiving servant

Kingdom living – Matthew 18: The unforgiving servant
St Mike’s 6.30 pm 22 June 2008

The context of the parable of the unforgiving servant is the whole of Matthew’s gospel.
The Gospel was written initially for the Jews.
It is structured in five main parts:

Birth and Preparation (ch. 1-4)
1. Sermon on the Mount (ch. 5-7)
Narrative Section: Deed Ministry: Miracles (ch. 8-9)
2. Mission of the Disciples (ch. 10)
Narrative Section: Teaching and Preaching in Galilee (ch. 11-12).
3. Kingdom Parables (ch. 13)
Narrative Section: Healing in Galilee (ch. 14-17)
4. Church Discipline or Communal Rule (ch. 18) – this is the section we are looking at now
Narrative Section: Membership in the kingdom (ch. 19-23)
5 Eschatology (ch. 24-25)
Narrative Section: Passion and Resurrection (ch. 26-28)

It was aimed at Jewish readers hence Matthew avoids using the phrase the ‘kingdom of G-d’ and uses instead the ‘kingdom of heaven’ though the terms are interchangeable.

There are just over 340 mentions of the word ‘kingdom’ in the scriptures, 190 in the OT, and 54 in Mt, 19 in Mark and 43 in Luke. The kingdom is obviously important to Matt and he constantly uses parables to explain something of the kingdom. Which brings us to Mt 18: 21 ff and the parable of the unforgiving servant’. What I want to do first is to look at the background to this parable before looking at what it might mean to us.



The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
Peter no doubt thought that he was being generous – the Rabbinic consensus was that the brother could be forgiven a repeated sin three times; on the fourth there is no forgiveness.
Peter thought that he was being large-hearted and generous! (Lev 26:21) But

22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Jesus ups the ante! Forgiveness is not limited by frequency or quantity. Forgiveness must be unlimited. He tells this parable to show the consequences.

23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.
The king Jesus envisages here would almost certainly have been a Gentile king. Probably, a nearby Egyptian king, at a time before the Roman conquest. The servants were his upper-class slaves who acted as his tax collectors. They would be allowed to collect taxes for him but they could do it by making a little profit.

24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.
This was about 20 years wages for a labourer between £400,000 - £1,000,000.

25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

This was perfectably acceptable! Excuses weren’t allowed!

26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
This was a standard promise – but in the light of the extent of the debt it is unlikely he could pay it back. The kings at the time were renowned for their ruthlessness. You don’t mess with them!

27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
This was almost uncertainly unheard of! Jesus was subverting the ideas and concepts that this first-century hearers would have of ANE kings. Why? The answer is Jubilee – this is the underlying message of this parable. Practice Jubilee. The jubilee was a time that occurred every 7 x 7 years – it was a Sabbath year of Sabbath years. Every one returned home, the land was restored to them, slaves were set free and debts were written off – it was good news indeed! AD 26 was a year of jubilee, the year that Jesus announced his kingdom manifesto in Lk 4 as the favourable year of the Lord – another term for jubilee. This writing off of the debts the hearers would have understood straight away as jubilee – here was a pagan king practicing something the Jews should have been doing but weren’t!

28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’

Denarii = a day’s wages for a labourer or foot soldier –many many times smaller than the debt of the first servant! Here is someone who has jubilee done to them and in turn doesn’t practice it himself. He has had grace, mercy, forgiveness and release shown to him in great measure and couldn’t bring himself to share it with others.

29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’

This second servants words also echo the first words, the first servant must have realised what he was doing. He had experienced incredible grace but wasn’t able to extend that to others. That is living dysfunctionally, that isn’t kingdom living.

30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.

Great wisdom here – how could someone in prison earn to pay the debt back? This first servant really is messed up! Unforgiveness screws you up!

31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.
They were distressed not only because of the unfair treatment, but because the actions of the first servant might mean it might reflect badly upon them.

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
Understandably, the king is angry – not only has he lost the revenue from the second servant the first put into prison but also his inability to show mercy, again it reflects badly upon the king.

33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
The difference between grace and mercy – mercy is not getting what we deserve and grace is getting what we don’t deserve.

34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.
Basanistas = torturers, not merely jailers. Torture was forbidden under Jewish law but the Gentile kings did practice it.

The king acts with compassion and mercy and yet punishes with ruthlessness. Grace and justice embrace.

Here’s the rub!
35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

An echo of the Lord’s prayer: forgive us our sins as we have forgiven. Interestingly Mt uses debts and Luke debts and sins.

Jesus spoke in Aramaic probably used the term khaba which means both sins and debts.

It would be easy to spirtualise this away and just regard it as forgiveness of sins, but debts are also included – this is a theme of the sabbath year and jubilee, sins are forgiven, slaves are set free and debts are written off.

Jesuit theologian John Haughey:

"We read the gospel as if we had no money, and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the gospel."

God is concerned about what we do with our money – forgive us our debts. Don’t get into debt!

Why this emphasis on forgiveness? – forgiveness can bring release and restoration; two major jubilee themes.

Let’s look at this forgiveness.

First some things it is not:

1. Forgiveness is not ‘never mind’
– things need to be addressed and confronted, too many churches have piles of rubbish under the carpets! Let’s not be one of them. Being forgiving doesn’t mean that injustice and sin doesn’t have to be confronted – the verses immediately before this parable show us how to confront sin.

2. Forgiveness is not weakness
Forgiving doesn’t mean we tolerate wrongdoing. It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t address injustice. You are forgiven – but don’t do it again.

3. Forgiveness is not easy – it may depend on your personality!
It can be difficult, painful and hard – but it does transform, it’s worth it!


4. Forgiveness is not forgetting
Who say you have to forget? Forgiveness is not forgetting. Nowhere in the scriptures does it tell us we have to forget – but we do have to live as if it never happened. In the parable the king forgave his servant, but when he showed unforgiveness to another, the king still remembered what he had done.


What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is a letting go, a cancelling of a debt. The Greek word used is aphiemi, it literally means to ‘send off’, ‘to release’ good jubilee terms!

1. Forgiveness is a choice
Forgiveness is a choice not a feeling!
When we have been hurt or wronged – we need to recognise it.
Realise we can’t change it – we can’t reverse it.
But then we have a choice live with the pain or release it through forgiveness.

2. Forgiveness is giving up revenge
We don’t have a right to get even! Revenge can be sweet, but it is not right!
Rom 12: 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

Oscar Wilde: “Always forgive your enemies--nothing annoys them so much.”

3. Forgiveness brings freedom

The story has been told of a former inmate of a Nazi concentration camp who visited a friend who shared the ordeal with him. "Have you forgiven the Nazis?" he asked his friend. "Yes." "Well, I haven't. I'm still consumed with hatred for them," the other man declared. "In that case," said his friend gently, "they still have you in prison."

That story points out this reality: ultimately, forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. Bitterness and anger imprison you emotionally. Forgiveness sets you free. Lewis Smedes writes:

The first person who gets the benefit of forgiving is always the person who does the forgiving. When you forgive a person who wronged you, you set a prisoner free, and then you discover that the prisoner you set free is you. When you forgive, you walk hand in hand with the very God who forgives you everything for the sake of his Son. When you forgive, you heal the hurts you never should have felt in the first place.

4. Forgiveness is a process
Forgiveness may take time – it is a journey. We may have to keep on forgiving some. Lewis Smedes tells this story:

I once was in a rage at a police officer in the village where I live for abusing my youngest son for no good reason. I stomped about my house for several days in a fury of anger at the officer. I knew I would be miserable unless I forgave him. But I did. I did forgive him. I forgave him by going into my study and getting on my knees, and saying, "Officer Maloney, I forgive you. In the name of God, I forgive you."

About a year later I saw this same office drive by in a patrol car and I had to do it all over again. Only it was easier the second time. Then, a few years later, I heard that he had been fired from the force for abusive conduct. Hearing that tasted sweet as honey to me. I secretly smacked my lips with vengeful satisfaction. Then I realized I needed to forgive him one more time. Which I did. And, who knows, I may have to do it a few more times before I’m over it.

What happens if you feel you can’t forgive?

I need for justice ... It’s too hard .... I’ve been hurt too much ....

You have a choice forgive and set yourself free or don’t forgive and keep yourself imprisoned.

Father forgive …
God has forgiven us - we didn't say sorry, we didn't make the first move

Ask the Lord to help, take the first step - choose to forgive, don't wait for the feelings

Ask for a revelation of God love and forgiveness to you; the unforgiving servant didn’t realise how much he was forgiven so he couldn’t forgive others – ask God for that revelation.

ASBO Jesus 494

ASBO Jesus

Christian and Humanist Foundations for Statistical Inference - Andrew Hartely

Christian and Humanist Foundations for Statistical Inference: Religious Control of Statistical Paradigms

Andrew M. Hartley

Resource Publications (Wipf and Stock Publishers): Eugene OR, 2008.

xii + 126 pp; $18.00 pbk.
ISBN 10: 1-55635-549-1
ISBN 13: 978-1-55635-549-3

Andrew Hartley poses the question 'Does the Christian faith have anything distinctive to say ... about the foundations or practice of statistics as a science?' His answer is a resounding yes. In this book he shows us how. As he does so he exposes the dogma that statistics is religiously neutral as being a religious belief. If such a claim seems intriguing or even outrageous, then this book is for you.

He maintains that statistics has for the most part been controlled by non-Christian, humanist beliefs. His desire is to see the Christian faith integrated with statistics; hence the descriptive, if not snappy, title of the book.

Hartley claims to write for a wide audience, yet the mathematical equations may put off many arts students, which is a pity as they would benefit from this excellent introduction, as Hartley writes clearly and explains the difficult mathematics well. Though there were one or two places I had to re-read and read slowly!

Hartley begins by looking at four different paradigms within statistics: direst and indirect frequentism, subjective and objective bayesianism.

He then provides a brief overview of Dooyeweerd's philosophy - the philosophy of the law idea (PLI). This includes the religious control of any and all sciences, the modal aspects - their irreducibility and inter-aspect coherence - and the role of religious groundmotives.

He looks in more depth at one religious groundmotive, the nature freedom motive. This has two main poles: the nature or science ideal and the personality ideal. The former emphasises nature and the latter freedom. He sees how these apply to the statistical paradigms. The nature ideal (over)emphasises and absolutises the mathematical aspects of reality, this is seen in direct frequentism and objective bayesianism. These paradigms tend to be the most dominant because, as Hartley states, many statisticians have first placed their trust in mathematicism: reality is reduced to quantitative functioning. The subjectivist approach fits into the personality ideal and indirect frequentism fits well with this framework. Indirect frequentism absolutises the role of subjective elements, the individual scientist becomes the 'last word concerning the credibility of a hypothesis' (p. 76).

The only paradigm that could provide a Christian basis is then subjectivist Bayesianism. This is then examined, in chapter 7, to see how well it does comport with a Christian worldview. Subjective bayesianism makes no claims that scientific hypotheses 'must follow solely from quantitative data' and it holds to the 'coherence of inter-aspectual meaning' (p 82). Hartley identifies some possible conflicts between the PLI and subjective bayesianism but these are not insurmountable. Though he rejects the other three paradigms as being inconsitent with a Christian perspective, he does note that they could be implemented non-reductively and their results may 'approximate subjective bayesian conclusions' (p106).

There is a useful six-page glossary of key statistical terms and Dooyeweerdian terms and an eight-page bibliography. Unfortunately, there is no index.

This brief book is not an easy read, nevertheless it demands and repays careful attention. It should be required reading for all statisticians, mathematicans and scientists. It provides an excellent role model for the application of Dooyeweerd's philosophy to a subject and has shown how religious belief control statistical inference. Statistics is not religiously neutral. It isn't the last word on Christianity and statistics - as Hartley notes in his conclusion, where he identifies other areas for reflection and investigation (p 111) - but it is an important step towards it. It is a pioneering book and will provide the basis for much needed research and discussion.

Available from:

• Wipf and Stock
• amazon.com
• amazon.co.uk
• book depository
• Hot Book sale
• ibs.it

Wordled

From Wordle

ICS essays

Stuart Basden has posted his essays he wrote for his Institute of Christian Studies classes. Lots of great food to chew over.

Jon Swales declares himself a neo-calvinist

... check out his reasons. I was particularly persuaded by reason 4.