By philhigley | November 28, 2008
Last year I read The Cambridge Companion to Jonathan Edwards, which, I must say, was a very appealing and informative read. The book was incredibly diverse with Edwards subject matter in virtually every field of study. This book is clearly scholarly and academically committed, and yet practically fresh regarding recent Edwards studies. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to get a handle on the plethora of ways in which Jonathan Edwards has affected the history of intellectual thought in both philosophy and theology.
Recently, however, I came across The Princeton Companion to Jonathan Edwards. Upon reading through this book, it seems evident that Princeton has indeed outdone Cambridge! Namely, it has outdone Cambridge due to the fact that this book has aimed to address the classical theological and philosphical criteria of Jonathan Edwards life from the world’s foremost Edwards scholars, including Minkema, Niebuhr, Plantinga Pauw, Hyun Lee, Brown, John E. Smith, and many more. The clear advantage of this book is that Princeton went all out, commissioning elite Edwards scholars from various fields to come up with a splendid and well balanced perspective of “America’s greatest theologian and philosopher,” as Robert Jenson has aptly said. Thus, the strength of Princeton over Cambridge is in the area of Edwardsian scholars and their commitment to studying his thought both professionally and pastorally. In sum, then: I highly recommend the Princeton companion for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of America’s greatest mind to date (arguably with the exception of Alvin Plantinga, philosophically speaking).
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By philhigley | November 28, 2008
The following comment by the Vatican is very interesting. I thought it was especially profound given our current market situation. I really don’t have a problem with quoting Ratzinger as a theological authority figure. As far as I can tell, he’s an extremely gifted theologian—and he considers himself Augustinian—which is always a plus, hehe.
Nov. 20 (Bloomberg) — Pope Benedict XVI was the first to predict the crisis in the global financial system, a “prophecy” dating to a paper he wrote when he was a cardinal, Italian Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti said.
“The prediction that an undisciplined economy would collapse by its own rules can be found” in an article written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who became pope in April 2005, Tremonti said yesterday at Milan’s Cattolica University.
German-born Ratzinger in 1985 presented a paper entitled “Market Economy and Ethics” at a Rome event dedicated to the Church and the economy. The future pope said a decline in ethics “can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse.”
Pope Benedict in an Oct. 7 speech reflected on crashing markets and concluded that “money vanishes, it is nothing” and warned that “the only solid reality is the word of God.”
The Vatican’s official newspaper, l’Osservatore Romano, on the same day criticized the free-market model for having “grown too much and badly in the past two decades.”
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By philhigley | November 25, 2008
Here’s a cool etching from Durer on the Apocalypse. He did an entire set of these on wood. He would etch them backwards so that when they were in a paper press, they would come out opposite. Pretty amazing! Unfortunately, however, some of the etchings have been destroyed. Either way, I like his artistic perspective regarding the Book of Revelation. He is my favorite artist. (Note: I meant to make the pic extra big!)
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By philhigley | November 20, 2008
Below is a passage from one of my favorite works of deuterocanonical literature.
Ειπεν δε αυτω ο αγγελος ου μεμνησαι των λογων ων ενετειλατο σοι ο πατηρ σου υπερ του λαβειν σε γυναικα εκ του γενους σου και νυν ακουσον μου αδελφε διοτι σοι εσται εις γυναικα και του δαιμονιου μηδενα λογον εχε οτι την νυκτα ταυτην δοθησεται σοι αυτη εις γυναικα. και εαν εισελθης εις τον νυμφωνα λημψη τεφραν θυμιαματων και επιθησεις απο της καρδιας και ηπατος του ιχθυος και καπνισεις και οσφρανθησεται το δαιμονιον και φευξεται και ουκ επανελευσεται τον αιωνα του αιωνος. οταν δε προσπορευη αυτη εγερθητε αμφοτεροι και βοησατε προς τον ελεημονα θεον και σωσει υμας και ελεησει μη φοβου óτι σοι αυτη ητοιμασμενη ην απο του αιωνος και συ αυτην σωσεις και πορευσεται μετα σου και υπολαμβανω óτι σοι εσται εξ αυτης παιδια. και ως ηκουσεν Τωβιας ταυτα εΦιλησεν αυτην και η ψυχη αυτου εκολληθη αυτη σφοδρα.
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By philhigley | November 13, 2008
By the time I was born, the Great Depression was only a memory. It was an extremely vivid memory, though, for the adults in my extended family. Their ongoing sense of uncertainty, rooted in their experience of economic disaster, was given expression regularly in a sentence that was typically appended to any serious comment they would utter about financial matters: “But, of course, you never know!” That sentence had the status of a kind of liturgical response in ordinary conversations. My grandmother would tell her neighbor that my grandfather might be getting an hourly wage hike at the factory where he worked—“but, of course, you never know,” she would quickly add. Business at my two uncles’ auto repair shop seemed to be picking up—“but, of course, you never know.” Maybe, just maybe, my parents would say, our family would have enough money saved up to take a week’s vacation in the Adirondacks next summer—“but, of course, you never know.”
That sentence did not manage to get embedded in my own financial discourse, nor have I heard it much from others who came after my parents’ generation. But I have no doubt that it, or some equivalent expression, is coming back. We have been learning the “you never know” lesson in a dramatic fashion in recent months. And this learning experience has been a traumatic one.
I once wrote an essay in which I was mildly critical of what I called “pious agnosticism.” This is an attitude that makes so much of God’s mysterious workings in human history that believers decide not to try to influence the course of events—especially when it comes to working for justice and peace. We may think that some apparent social practice is so evil that we must work to change things, but it may be that God is using that practice for his own mysterious providential purposes to bring about some good—“you never know.”
I still think that that kind of pious agnosticism is often a serious defect. But I am becoming a little more of a pious agnostic myself, in at least two ways. One is that I am now aware that when it comes to economic history, I have been too uncritical in accepting the myth of progress. From here on in, if and when we experience some better days in the financial markets, I will remind myself often that “you never know.” But I will also try to nurture the faith that there might even be some providential good in what has been happening. It looks like we are in for some bad times financially—but you never know, maybe the Lord will use this for some greater good. It may even be that we are being given an opportunity to think more deeply about what human flourishing is all about. It may also be that we are being taught something about what it means to trust more deeply in God’s mysterious purposes. At least all of that is a possibility. You never know.
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By philhigley | November 7, 2008
The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer. With great yearning the imprisoned apostle Paul calls his “beloved son in the faith,” Timothy, to come to him in prison in the last days of his life (1 Tim. 1:2). He wants to see him again and have him near. Paul has not forgotten the tears Timothy shed during their final parting (2 Tim. 1:4). Thinking of the congregation in Thessalonica, Paul prays “night and day…most earnestly that we may see you face to face” (1 Thess. 3:10). The aged John knows his joy in his own people will only be complete when he can come to them and speak to them face to face instead of using paper and ink (2 John 12). The believer need not feel any shame when yearning for the physical presence of other Christians, as if one were still living too much in the flesh. A human being is created as a body; the Son of God appeared on earth in the body for our sake and was raised in the body. In the sacrament the believer receives the Lord Christ in the body, and the resurrection of the dead will bring about the perfected community of God’s spiritual-physical creatures Therefore, the believer praises the Creator, the Reconciler, and the Redeemer, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the bodily presence of the other Christian.
—from Life Together
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By philhigley | November 5, 2008
1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all– this was attested at the right time. For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Below is a good and short article to read, written by Sarah Pulliam of christianitytoday.com
Joel Hunter Prays with Obama Before Acceptance Speech
Evangelical pastor Joel Hunter prayed with president-elect Barack Obama on the phone before Obama gave his acceptance speech last night.
Hunter declined to go into details, but said he prayed with Obama and Otis Moss Jr., retired pastor of Olivet church in Cleveland.
“It was a very sweet time. It was just a very meaningful time that you could tell meant a lot to him. Sen. Obama has done a great job with keeping us in consistent conversation and it really is a good signal that he wants us to be a part of the conversation.”
After Hunter prayed at the Democratic National Convention, he declined to give media interviews until after the election. I spoke with him this morning, and he said, “Between the convention and the election, it’s just raw politics, so any moral points you try to make are taken as partisan. That’s why I go quiet.”
Hunter is hopeful that evangelicals will have a voice in the Obama administration.
“I think we’re going to be invited into many conversations. He is a consensus-oriented type of leader. We need to be able to respond to those invitations to those given. Part of our role is to speak truth to power. That certainly is part of our role. The most effective way of doing that is not to be so narrow and combative. It’s to be part of the conversation. It’s not to back down on any moral convictions that we have. By the same token, we’ve got to understand that we can be much more effective in getting our point across and realizing our goals if that prophetic language comes with a degree of understanding and respect.”
Hunter pastors a church in Florida, where a gay-marriage ban passed last night.
“The moral agenda is not going to change. The outcome is a firm statement, at least from the folks in Florida, that we want to protect marriage as between a man and a woman. By the same token, we have to be careful that we can still treat with respect and some sympathy those who want to build a legal relationship.”
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By philhigley | November 3, 2008
Considering our current political climate, I thought Mouw’s perspective on leadership (below) was insightful. I think people get way too caught up in politics, almost to the point of making politics into an idol and worshipping it, so to speak. I remember a long time ago, when I was only a little kid, that Bill Clinton had won the election. At that time, I remember one of my family member’s saying that the end of the world was coming—and this particular person was being serious! Anyway, I think that people need to look up in times like these and remember that God has his hand on the whole situation. As a result, we need not worry if our particular party doesn’t win, and neither should we play pin-the-tail on the Antichrist in the same situation. Instead, we may look to leadership within the church to make good decisions, give good advice, disseminate godly wisdom, and also preach the everlasting gospel. I think that’s a tad bit more important than worrying about Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama.
But be that as it may, remember that the faith we place in objects, whether it be politics, political figures, religious figures, theology, social justice, or imagine this, GOD; remember, faith is only as good as the object we place it in. I place my faith in Jesus the Christ. Who, or what, do you place your faith in? That said, it’s ok to be political, but just don’t make it an idol, and don’t use it to make personal attacks on half the country’s population (yes, I’m thinking about that horrible “letter from the blue states to the red”). Instead, follow God with all of your being and love one another and He will direct your path. Ok, I’ve said too much, but read below for Mouw’s blog…
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By Fuller President, Richard Mouw
In an interview the other day I was asked where some of the “unknown” leaders are right now—folks whose leadership is thus far a well-kept secret, but are people who the rest of the Christian world should know about.
Instead of naming names, I talked in general terms about a whole generation of presently “unknowns.” While I spend most of my time at Fuller, I also make many visits to college and university campuses, as well as to other seminaries, both in North America and elsewhere. I am extremely optimistic about what the emerging generation of Christian students are going to bring to the global church. They are creating a new agenda. They are enthusiastic about worship. They care deeply about the issues of justice, peace, and the care of creation. They are passionate about leading people to Christ. They have deep convictions, while also having a strong commitment to engaging in dialogue with folks from other faith communities. We are soon going to see a new spirit of leadership in the Christian community as these emerging leaders take over!
But we also need to wait for another kind of “unknown” leader to show up. I was once asked by a magazine what I thought was the most important religious event of the previous year. I gave the kind of example they wanted, but I also added a further thought. It may be, I said, that the most important religious event of the previous year occurred in a bedroom at three o’clock in the morning in an inner-city apartment, when a young black woman, struggling with complex issues in her life, got down on her knees and yielded her will to Jesus Christ—and in doing so set herself on a course that would bring about amazing things for the cause of the gospel.
I am excited by the new generation of soon-to-be leaders in the Christian community. But I am even more excited by the thought that the Spirit is raising up leaders right now who are unknown to any of us but who are being prepared for leadership by the One who is at work also—and perhaps even especially—in the secret places.
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By philhigley | October 31, 2008
C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory said the following:
There are three ways of taking the command to turn the other cheek. One is the Pacifist interpretation; it means what it says and imposes a duty nonresistance on all men in all circumstances. Another is the minimising interpretation; it does not mean what it says but is merely an orientally hyperbolical way of saying that you should put up with a lot and be placable. Both you and I agree in rejecting this view. The conflict is therefore between the Pacifist interpretation and a third one which I am now going to propound. I think the text means exactly what it says, but with an understood reservation in favour of those obviously exceptional cases which every hearer would naturally assume to be exceptions without being told….That is, insofar as the only relevant factors in the case are an injury to me by my neighbour and a desire on my part to retaliate, then I hold that Christianity commands the absolute mortification of that desire. No quarter whatever is given to the voice within us which says, “He’s done it to me, so I’ll do the same to him.”
— “Why I Am Not a Pacifist” (The Weight of Glory)
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By philhigley | October 29, 2008
“See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Eph 5:15-16
Time is very precious because, when it is past, it cannot be recovered. There are many things that people possess, which if they part with they can obtain again. If a man has parted with something he had, not knowing the worth of it or the need he might have of it, he often can regain it—-at least with effort and cost. But it is not so with respect to time. Once time is gone, it is gone forever; no pains, no cost will recover it. Although we repent ever so much that we let it pass, and did not use it well while we had it, it will mean nothing. Every part of time is successively offered to us, that we may choose whether or not we will make it our own. But there is no delay. It will not wait on us to see whether or not we will comply with the offer. But if we refuse, it is immediately taken away, and never offered again. As to that part of time that is gone, however we have neglected to use it well, it is out of our possession and out of our reach.
—Jonathan Edwards
There is coming a day when all will wonder what they could have done better with the time that was given them; the people they could have said “I love you” to, or the ones they could have said “I forgive you” to. Take JE’s perspective on time seriously. If you have anyone you need to reconcile a relationship with, then don’t wait, don’t waist anymore time. Go and reconcile the relationship and forgive that person, or perhaps accept their forgiveness. If you have any goals that you’ve been putting off, then don’t wait, but go out and do them.
It’s kind of cliche, but life is indeed short. The analogical example is limited but consider that a person in their right mind would never throw money in the trash or invest in fools gold. Why then would we treat our time any different? At least one can make money; but, they can’t make time!
Don’t wait…
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