Bully's Blog

or The Fiction of Prelapsarian Babies

“A paedobaptistic sociology is a misrepresentation of the Gospel. It conflates the cutting of Adam with the crushing of the serpent.”

The most biblical, thoughtful and consistent paedobaptists (the Federal Vision), believe that the failure of America’s baptistic culture can be remedied through a biblical application of paedobaptism. The answer to modern individualism is a coherent Christian sociology. I agree with that. What I disagree with is their insistence on a Covenant sociology that was made redundant at Pentecost.

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Sacred Geometry and Marked Men

Chapters 35-36 bring us to the end of this structural analysis of the book of Numbers. The position of this final cycle is in red.

Overview of Numbers

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Snakes and Chains – 2

“They shall take up serpents…”

Thoughts on the Covenantal significance and serpentine nature of biblical “leprosy.”

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]
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“When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.” (Acts 28:3)

One interesting facet of biblical symbols is their identification by “use” and “motion.” Objects that have no link in the natural order of things can be tied together through their use in a similar purpose in the work of the house of God. This is not entirely strange. Diverse things which have no relationship in the natural order are brought together by man for use in “housework.” For the Author of the Bible, nature is “plastic.” This factor is one reason why the Bible is strange to modern ears and minds.

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

We have reached the sixth cycle of Numbers, which seems to include chapters 30-34. Seeing as it has been a while since we looked at Numbers, here’s the overview again, with this next cycle in red.

Overview of Numbers

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Scientism’s Credibility Crunch

One day, perhaps in a century or two, the word “Scientist” will be a term of derogation used to describe the cultists of the 20th century. Many things that the “Scientists” believed will be causes for ridicule. Their work has brought unimaginable benefits, but, like the alchemists, when they promised gold their grand claims were eventually exposed as fraudulent.

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Read a very helpful introduction to the reasons for a preterist interpretation of the Revelation by Msgr. Charles Pope. HT: Micah Martin.

Currently in the Liturgies of daily Mass we have been reading the Book of Revelation. It is commonly read at the end of the liturgical year, for it bespeaks the end of, and passing qualities of all things of this world.

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Shedding Blood in the Dark: The Liturgical Shape of Skyfall

[This post contains detailed spoilers.]

James Bond: Everybody needs a hobby.
Silva: So, what’s yours?
James Bond: Resurrection.

In the late 60s and early 70s, the structures of traditional Western storytelling were deliberately omitted from “thinking” films. Bleak narratives reflected the randomness of life without faith. Movies were becoming formless and void.

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or Thirty Pieces of Silver

“A Christian culture is a culture of opportunity because it is a culture that flows from the Covenant.”

The Bible Matrix is found throughout the Bible. It is the shape of Creation but it is also the shape of Covenant. It is the process of promise and fulfilment. We see it in Eden. We see it in Canaan. Every Covenant is a mission, a tour of duty, resulting in a safe place to live, a home of abundance, peace and glory. It should be no surprise to Christians that it is also the process that underpins economic growth.

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Those who “freed science from Moses” rejected true science.

One of the most underrated aspects of theology is the importance to God of legal witness. Not only is it rarely spoken about in evangelical circles but it is rarely mentioned as an answer to the scientistic objections of the day.

[This post has been refined and included in Sweet Counsel: Essays to Brighten the Eyes.]
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