Deep thoughts on Blue Letters

You may remember this gem from "Deep Thoughts" by the Handey-Man himself:

 

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself.   "Mankind."  Basically, it's made up of two separate words - "mank" and "ind.”   What do these words mean?  It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

      --  Jack Handey

 

I have read the Blue Letter Bible study helps to great benefit as well as their commentaries.  They have an article on the major Protestant theological systems

which they list as follows: Calvinism, Arminianism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.  What was Calvin's position on unity in the church?  Read it and weep:

 

Some fault may creep into the administration of either doctrine or sacraments, but this ought not to estrange us from communion with the church.  For not all the articles of true doctrine are of the same sort.  Some are so necessary to know that they should be certain and unquestioned by all men as the proper principles of religion.  Such are: God is one; Christ is God and the Son of God; our salvation rests in God’s mercy; and the like.  Among the churches there are other articles of doctrine disputed which do not break the unity of faith…. Does this not sufficiently indicate that a difference of opinion over these nonessential matters should in no wise be the basis of schism among Christians?

   -- John Calvin 

Jacobus Arminius, or Jacob Harmensen, died in 1609.  Jacob's father died early and he was adopted by Theodore Aemilius who later died in Jacob's teen years. 

When Arminius was around 15 years old, Rudolf Snellius (Snel van Roijen), a professor at Marburg, took on the fatherly role.  I did not meet my real biological father until I was sixteen years old and took on his name at that time.  So, in some Alt-History we might have several tags for Contra-Calvinism:

   Arminiusers

   Harmensenites

   Aemiliusism

   Snellists

   Roijenites.

Arminius made this fascinating statement:

 

In this state [man's fallen condition], the Free Will of man toward the True God is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed and lost.  And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace.

   -- Jacob Arminius

 

Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam wrote Of Free Will: Discourses or Comparisons (De Libero Arbitrio Diatribe Sive Collatio) in 1524. It is mostly known as The Freedom of the Will.  Martin Luther's response is found in The Bondage of the Will where we read this:

 

You who make it out, that the human will is a something placed in a free medium ... you make both God and the devil to be at a distance, spectators only, as it were, of this mutable and “Free-will” ... it must either be, that the kingdom of Satan in man is nothing at all, and thus Christ will be made to lie; or, if his kingdom be such as Christ describes, “Free-will” must be nothing but a beast of burden, the captive of Satan, which cannot be liberated, unless the devil be first cast out by the finger of God.

   -- Martin Luther

Church of England rector John Charles Ryle (d. 1900 @ 83 yo) studied the  Classics and had aspirations of a political future.  Ryle became the first bishop of Liverpool thanks to a plug from Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli.  Ryle had a firm opinion on God's sovereign grace:

 

We should observe ...the sovereignty of God in saving sinners.  We read that our Lord says to his Father, “You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” [Lk. 10:21] ... The truth here is deep and mysterious.  ... We can merely acknowledge that the words of our Lord Jesus Christ supply the only answer which mortal man should give: “Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”  Let us, however, never forget that God’s sovereignty does not destroy man’s responsibility.  That same God who does all things according to the counsel of his own will always addresses us as accountable creatures, as beings whose blood will be on our own heads if we are lost.

  -- JC Ryle

 

#Calvinism #Arminianism #Lutheranism #Anglicanism #JohnCalvin #JacobArminius #MartinLuther #JCRyle #Erasmus #FreeWill #SovereignGrace

#DeepThoughts #JackHandey #BlueLetterBible #ChurchOfEngland #Anglican

William Tyndale and Socialism

William Tyndale became a Catholic priest in 1521, but learned the true gospel at some later point.  In 1525, he met Martin Luther and completed his translation of the New Testament into English which was illegal at the time.  Tyndale was choked and burned at the stake in 1536 after spending 500 days in a dungeon.  His last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."  Miles Coverdale continued Tyndale's work and the "Matthew Bible" came out in 1537.  Six copies were put in Old St. Paul's Church where, in front of huge crowds, one after another would publically read until his voice went out!  Tyndale's prayer was answered in short order.

 

Sir Thomas More wanted nothing more than to see Tyndale burned for his efforts. Tyndale, who spoke eight languages, produced two editions to the New Testament and translated two thirds of the Old Testament into English.  You can learn the details of the Tyndale/More debate here.  From Tyndale's The Obedience Of A Christian Man (1528) we read his attitude towards his persecutors:

 

Christ is the cause why I love you, why I am ready to do the uttermost of my power for you, and why I pray for you.  And as long as the cause abides, so long lasts the effect: even as it is always day so long as the sun shines.  Do therefore the worst you can to me, take away my goods, take away my good name; yet as long as Christ remains in my heart, so long I love you not a whit less, and so long are you as dear to me as my own soul, and so long am I ready to do you good for your evil, and so long I pray for you with all my heart: for Christ desires it of me, and has deserved it of me.

 

Now, what's the connection to Socialism?  Socialism leads to Communism which lays down the hammer on Christians ==> Soviet Russia and mainland China today.  Here is an excellent video on the dangers of Socialism. [1]  Will our country become Socialist?  Will serious persecution of Christians become a real thing in the USA?  Will you become a political prisoner within your lifetime?

 

Consider this timeline chart for Venezuela's downward trod from Free Markets to Socialism:

In the early 1990's Venezuela was quite prosperous.  Now, some Venezuelans are so desperate that they are eating cats and dogs.  Here is a pic of Cuba today:

Who can command things to happen

without the Lord’s permission?

Does not the Most High

send both calamity and good?

Then why should we, mere humans, complain

when we are punished for our sins?

  (Lam. 3:37-39, NLT)

 

 

Notes:

1) There is a positive reference to an LDS document in one spot of the video.  For another view of the teachings of the Elders of Salt Lake see my prior post:

https://adamslostdream.blogspot.com/2012/01/planet-kolob-chariot-of-gods.html

 

** Special thanks to James White for recently highlighting the life of Tyndale.

500 Years of the Reformation (What Do You Know About Luther?)

Tomorrow we celebrate the beginning of the Reformation when Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door.  He was baptized when he was one day old on the feast day of St. Martin of Tours (d. 397 AD) and so was named Martin.

St. Martin actually met Caesar Julian (Julian the Apostate) while in the Roman army.   Martin refused to fight and told the emperor "I am the soldier of Christ: it is not lawful for me to fight."  He was charged with cowardice and jailed, but later was released.  Where did this happen?  In Worms, Germany‼  Truly, the Lord is in control of history (Is. 46:10).  Another Martin opposed authority boldly with gospel truth in Worms.

The Renaissance, printing and nationalism all helped make way for the Reformation.   The end of the Little Ice Age helped spread Luther's views to Northern Europe.

Luther's wife Katie had an interesting way of getting her point across:

She was solicitous of her husband and guarded his times of prayer and study, nursed his infirmities, mothered his students, cheered him in dejection, and worried about him when he travelled. They helped each other focus on God, despite life’s troubles. One day, when Luther was depressed, Katie put on a black dress. Luther asked her: “Are you going to a funeral?” “No,” she responded, “but since you act as though God is dead, I wanted to join you in the mourning!”

Erwin Lutzer wrote Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation and says this in the book (p. xiv):

Here is an audio piece by Max McLean where her describes the Diet of Worms and performs Luther's "Here I Stand" speech.  Truth for Life (Alistair Begg) has put out a great booklet on the 5 Solas of the Reformation:

1. Sola Scriptura: by Scripture alone

2. Solus Christus: by Christ alone

3. Sola Gratia: by grace alone

4. Sola Fide: by faith alone

5. Soli Deo Gloria: glory to God alone

What are some of the consequences of the Reformation?  The Pilgrims and Puritans came to America in search of freedom for their faith.  Methodists John Wesley and George Whitefield (d. 1770) had a tremendous impact on the spiritual health of our nation.  Thus, 1517 let to 1776 and the Constitution.  In 1904, the German sociologist Max Weber wrote The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism arguing that hard work and saving your money has a Reformed heritage.

A number of academics have made the argument that the Reformation gave impetus to modern science.  Reijer Hooykaas, who wrote Religion and the Rise of Modern Science, said this:

Modern science arose when the consequences of the biblical conceptionof reality were fully accepted.  In the 16th and 17th centuries science wasled out of the blind alley into which it had got through the philosophy ofAntiquity and the Middle Ages.  New horizons were opened.  The pictureof the world as an organism was replaced by that of the world as amechanism.  It is not generated but made; it is not self-supporting, but itneeds maintenance.

Speaking of science, what did the reformers think of the age of the earth?  Luther held that this planet was around six millennia old.  Hugh Latimer (d. 1555) was martyred by fire for his Reformed faith along with Nicholas Ridley.  Latimer famously told Ridley “we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out.”  Latimer said that "all learned men" accepted a young earth of around 6,000 years. [1]  John Calvin said that "... the duration of the world, now declining to its ultimate end, has not yet attained six thousand years." [2]

Be sure to get your copy of YES - Young EarthScience today.  It protests against Old Earth Fallacies (OEF) and contends for a youthful world from history, philosophy and science.

Reformation Resources (Books):

The Anatomy of a Hybrid by Leonard Verduin (Church-State issues)

The Torch of the Testimony by John W. Kennedy (Bible-believers through history)

The Anabaptist Story by William Roscoe Estep

Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas 

Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther - Roland Baintan

Reformation Resources (Videos):

Martin Luther - Heretic (BBC)

Martin Luther (1953)

A Man Named Luther

Luther - the Life and Legacy of the GermanReformer

Notes:

1)  quoted in “A Brief Overview of the Exegesis of Genesis 1-11: Luther to Lyell” by David Hall in Coming to Grips with Genesis ed. by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury (Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008), p. 55.

2)  quoted in "Luther, Calvin and Wesley on the Genesis of Natural Evil" by Thane Ury in Coming to Grips with Genesis ed. by Terry Mortenson and Thane Ury (Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2008), p. 406.