Safe Haven

Today was my first day back at seminary. It's a conservative evangelical seminary of some repute, committed to the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (with no real gripe against other confessionally Reformed documents). I doubt anyone can see my own doubts about Reformed Theology or Protestantism in general. [Well, now they know, idiot.--ed.] Yeah, well. I'm jazzed about my professor for Psalms and Wisdom Literature; I was mad that his Wikipedia entry is threatened with deletion for lack of notability. He's "BA" as my brother would say. I've made friends with some prospective Catholic priests, and their laments about modernism overtaking some of their teachers sadden me. I know if not for that thorny problem of visible communion with the Catholic Church, they would be ridiculously blessed by him, as we are. I don't know whether to root for this or not; obviously, if I did, I would place myself in communion with the successor of Peter. That may ...

I feel always a little bit betrayed when I consider that one alleged proof-text of double-imputation: 2 Cor 5:21: "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (ESV) That "might become" seems fairly significant, no? But don't jump to any hasty conclusions. [grabbing BGAD lexicon] Um, I did not find a verse reference for the exact form in the Greek, but the subjunctive after the "in order that" strongly implies the "might." Anyway, it most assuredly does not say, "possess the righteousness of God". It says "in order that we might become the righteousness of God." As in, we are not currently displaying it. Same problem in Romans 1 and 3: However full our forgiveness and security may be, the text really isn't talking about an alien righteousness; it's talking about the character of God shown forth in us as a whole. In fact, it may be significant that the...

I need to follow up on what I said yesterday; I thought I covered my bases in terms of my intention not to speak with any binding or wide-ranging authority. In addition, though I was discussing something important, I surely felt some parts would go down easier when leavened with a little humor (the success of which you are free to dispute). And I definitely am not trying to shut down discussion among different groups of people (various groups of women, or men and women); in fact, the opposite is the case. But I definitely needed to say what I said. I'm open to disagreement, correction, and whatever else. That post, however, was my view of things as a relatively young, single, pseudo-evangelical with an admittedly big mouth and a keyboard. My small yet quickly arriving sample size of correspondence on that piece is of two kinds: 1. "How dare you hate on 'Lost'! It's the greatest show ever made/on today/I've ever seen!" And my only comment on that is that yo...

Having no other authority than that which I might assign to myself, and in truth, whatever is granted by my entry into the baptismal font of the Triune God, I feel compelled to discuss an issue of great importance to this generation: modesty. I have no wish to bind the consciences of my fellow believers beyond what the law of Christ requires, and that which is appropriate for my influence and station. But it is worth discussing. I begin with an illustration. Two twenty-something Christian women come up behind you or I; one turns to another well within our earshot and says, “Girl, you look cute today.” Simple words, indeed. Nothing inherently threatening or overtly wicked about any of them. And I cannot say that I myself have fled sexual immorality in every case of testing, as the Bible commands. But what I can tell you is that when I hear these words, I run. I don’t turn and look. I don’t see if I know them. I just run. In fairness, if a girl says this to her other girl friend, there i...

“Hannah And Her Sisters” This post is named after a Woody Allen movie. In honor of Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Feingold, a Thomist Catholic scholar friend of some note, to whom I have affectionately affixed nicknames, such as “The Hebrew Catholic Jack Collins” (high praise indeed) and “The Hebrew Catholic Woody Allen,” it is so named. [Don’t lie to everyone; you did it because you have/had a childhood crush on Barbara Hershey.—ed.] Guilty as charged! “Beaches” tears me up at the end. [Homophone Alert: I was trying to use the present tense of “torn up” when I realized that they both suffice; I tear up at that movie, and it tears me up. In any case, while I have you here on an aside, I should note that I figured out something about crying in this culture between men and women I think I should share. Tons of men cry; some men have been taught that crying equates to weakness, (which is absurd and unhealthy) so even the healthy ones have some sort of Crying Threshold, where if they cross it, thei...