Dec
16
2010
“Then Jesus told them: You can be sure that tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.” (Matthew 21:31-32)
James Jordan teaches you to observe the universals in Scripture. I believe one of the most important is the Totus Christus pattern, head and body, and its counterfeits and distortions.
As mentioned around here a couple times (sorry, a couple of times. I’ve been reading too many Americans), the curse upon Adam concerned his head, and his responsibility to provide for and protect the body. The curse upon Eve concerned her body, her role in producing offspring. Both curses were a limited form of barrenness.
But what of the relationship between head and body? James Jordan writes:
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2 comments | tags: Abortion, Altar of the Abyss, Covenant curse, Covenant Theology, Doug Wilson, Genesis, James Jordan, Marriage | posted in Biblical Theology, Quotes, The Last Days, Totus Christus
Dec
8
2010
or Takes One to Know One
We saw Voyage of the Dawntreader last night. Biblical themes and symbols abound. Of course, the story follows the Bible Matrix formula, but the message of a courageous Maturity via Testing at God’s hand, in such a visual form, was striking, especially for young people. All the characters are transfigured by the end, particularly Eustace, whose cowardice and courage were really the heart of the proceedings. Narnia is foolishness to him, but a time in the wilderness gives him a different Spirit. He moves from the unbroken natural, through brokenness, to a humble, spiritual wisdom that judges rightly between good and evil.
The final scene encapsulated everything I have been trying to communicate concerning baptism. It pictures the reception of saints into government as enrobed heavenly elders, God’s council of wise men who sit at court with Him as Great Prophets, co-Mediators.
Although only one character “passes across” into Aslan’s country, all the saints “pass through” in their return home as human argosies of wisdom and understanding. Wise distinctions and tough decisions must be made before the crystal walls and gates.
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Comments Off | tags: Baptism, C. S. Lewis, Crystal Sea, Doug Wilson | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology
Nov
15
2010
“Screw the truth into men’s minds.” – Richard Baxter
Doug Wilson, (in an interview a while back concerning Collision, I think), spoke about “copiousness.” It is the Christian’s practice of picking up striking thoughts and illustrations from reading, and from life, for future use. He advocates keeping a Commonplace book to jot things down.
“Keep a commonplace book. Write down any notable phrases that occur to you, or that you have come across. If it is one that you have found in another writer, and it is striking, then quote it, as the fellow said, or modify it to make it yours. If Chandler said that a guy had a cleft chin you could hide a marble in, that should come in useful sometime. If Wodehouse said somebody had an accent you could turn handsprings on, then he might have been talking about Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland. Tinker with stuff. Get your fingerprints on it.” [1]
He describes an incident that makes this book (or blog or mental practice) sound more like keeping caches of ammunition near at hand. Continue reading
2 comments | tags: Chesterton, Doug Wilson, Ecclesiastes, Hermeneutics, Revelation, Spurgeon, Tabernacles | posted in Apologetics, Biblical Theology, Christian Life, Quotes
Oct
19
2010
or Correspondence Will Be Entered Into
The recent Australian federal election resulted in a hung parliament, with the balance of power held by a small number of elected independents. Not being forced to toe the party line, each of these men is free to stand for the needs of his own electorate. This can certainly slow down the process of government in the courts of men, but not in the courts of God.
As Christians, we are taught to toe the party line. This is a false piety. Our Father actually loves a lively, argumentative parliament. The process of maturity is supposed to bring us to the point where we are wise judges whom He can include in His government (pictured in baptism), standing on the crystal sea as joint heirs with His Son, Great Prophets whose very words change history.
Back room deals and bargaining with God are an abuse of prayer. Or are they? Not when those disputing with God are men whose hearts are like those of the Father. Abraham and David did it. God’s desire is that we should be like them. Continue reading
1 comment | tags: Abraham, Ascension, David, Doug Wilson, John Bunyan, John Piper, Parenting, Prayer, Psalms | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, Christian Life, Quotes
Oct
12
2010
Smoke and Mirrors
Instead of being qualified to carry the flaming sword and take dominion over the world,
“You will chase your enemies, and they shall fall by the sword before you.” Leviticus 26:7
he moved outwards into the world, but without access to the mountain of God. Adam was still under the sword. He was outside the fruitful field of Covenant with God, and all other relationships were distorted. His Covenant with his wife, and his delegated Covenant with the Land. Continue reading
Comments Off | tags: Abel, Cain, Circumcision, Doug Wilson, Exodus, Genesis, Leviticus, Noah, Peter Leithart, Sinai | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology
Oct
4
2010
Beyond Binary
“In my Father’s house are many mansions…”
There are various covenants in the Bible, just as there are in human life. Covenants are the way God does things.
He calls a representative,
…..delegates His authority,
……….gives the mission,
……………allows time for it
……….to be accomplished,
…..assesses the outcome
and throws a party.
If the outcome is good, the delegate and his mission subjects are invited to the feast. If the outcome is bad, the delegated head and his corrupt body are the meat on the table. And the Holy Ones rejoice over their doom. There is always an outcome, a reckoning, a succession, an “offspring.” Continue reading
Comments Off | tags: Covenant Theology, Doug Wilson, Genesis, James Jordan, Postmillennialism, Tabernacle, Trinity | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, Creation, Quotes
Sep
30
2010
Cooking as Eschatology
But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence.
NOTE: THIS POST HAS BEEN REMIXED AND INCLUDED IN GOD’S KITCHEN.
Thanks to Doug Wilson’s recommendations of it, one of the books I took to hospital was The Supper of the Lamb by Robert Farrar Capon. It is a mouth-watering fusion of cookbook and theology, pushing the idea of multi-disciplinary insights to the outer limit. But then, we moderns don’t have such biblical horizons, do we? We refuse to see the world as the Bible reveals it to us.
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1 comment | tags: Daniel, Doug Wilson, Esther, Food laws, James Jordan, Leviticus, Noah, Robert Farrar Capon | posted in Apologetics, Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, Christian Life, Creation, Quotes, The Restoration Era, Totus Christus
Aug
24
2010
or Mutton Dressed Up as the Lamb
Doug Wilson recently made a distinction between what usually passes for hypocrisy in Christian circles, and the kind practiced openly by the self-righteous:
One of my central pastoral responsibilities is that of keeping Christians away from hypocrisy, of the kind described in the New Testament. But this task, not surprisingly, is often misunderstood — and the reason it is misunderstood is that there are always lots of people who don’t want to be kept out of that kind of hypocrisy, and misdirection is that name of the game.
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Comments Off | tags: AD70, Doug Wilson, Esther, Haman, Herod, Hypocrisy | posted in Biblical Theology, Quotes
Aug
9
2010
An Exhortation to Be A Fruitful Tree
Tabernacles was the final annual feast, a Godfest to be thrown by Jews as a ministry to Gentiles. At the Feast of Clouds [1], every household temporarily became a new house of God, a “local branch” of the Tabernacle, a “priesthood of all believers.” Of course, we see this fulfilled in the book of Acts. Just as we see Paul exhort the Ephesians (Gentiles!) to put on the mediatorial body-armour of the High Priest, [2] his final exhortation to the Roman Christians alludes to not only Israel’s feasts but Israel’s priesthood. Pretty much every church he established was a “booth” made of natural Jewish branches and ingrafted Gentile branches. [3] At Pentecost, the same cloud that received Jesus filled the house. [4] Now every household of faith was a Tabernacle, a glorious cloud with a government of human angel-elders. [5] In the Bible’s literary structure, a recurring motif at Tabernacles is good fruit, godly offspring. God wants more than just a covering of leaves. As in Eden, future generations hang upon wise government.
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8 comments | tags: AD70, Add new tag, Atonement, Doug Wilson, Feasts, Genesis, Laver, Literary Structure, Paul, Roman Catholicism, Romans, Systematic typology, Tabernacles, Temple | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, The Last Days
Aug
2
2010
or The Art of Noise
Must be wizards week!
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (NKJV) Hebrews 4:12
But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (NKJV) James 2:18
The firmament was a veil to hide God’s throne from Man until he was ready to see God face to face. Of course, we see types of this throughout the Bible, Job, Jacob and Moses being notable examples. But no man had seen God until after Christ ascended and was presented as Facebread.
Your face is a veil of flesh that hides your brain, the source of your intentions. Your head is a microcosm of the Tabernacle at one level, and your entire body at another. You are a Garden and a Land.
Deceivers mask their true intentions with facial expressions and body language. Good spies can even pass a lie detector test. Between their true intentions and the flesh that is supposed to be communicating it, there is a deliberate disconnect. As in the Garden, it is the mind of a beast speaking with the eyes and mouth of a man.
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Comments Off | tags: AD70, Cain, Doug Wilson, Martyrdom, Oswald Chambers, Psalms, Tabernacle, Veil, Worship, Zechariah | posted in Bible Matrix, Biblical Theology, The Last Days