The Long War
Against Propositional Truth - excerpts from a presentation by John Piper
Some
aspects of the
Loving
Christ includes loving true
propositions about Christ and his work, the truths of God's revelation. The content expressed in propositions
identifies and describe which Christ I depend on, whether it is the Christ of
the Bible or not. Replacing propositions
about Christ with the mere word "Christ" leaves the statement vague and subjective,
open to misuse. It is the same battle Athanasius fought with Arius in
the 4th century [Lessons from…Athanasius http://pop.eradman.com/] and Machen with modernism (liberalism) in the early 20th. Francis Schaeffer spoke and wrote extensively
on the subject of propositional truth, reason, and epistemology. He even coined the phrase "true
truth" to refer to historically and factually accurate objective
statements.
Since
the beginning in
What
was it if not particular content
that Paul spoke of to the Ephesian elders? Acts
20:26b-27, "I am innocent of the
blood of you all [proposition] for I did
not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” [reason]. Paul
committed the ministry of earnestly shepherding the flock of God (v.28) to the elders, which were to pick
up where he left off. The focus of this
shepherding is to protect believers
from teachings that twist the
apostolic doctrines (v.29-30) which are the grounds
of unity and purity in the body.
Rom.6:17, "…you…have
become obedient from the heart to the standard [pattern] of teaching to which you were committed."
2 Tim.1:13-14,
"Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from
me…guard the good deposit entrusted to you."
At
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1. "The
student of the NT should be primarily a historian. The center and core of all the Bible is
history. Everything else that the Bible
contains is fitted into a historical framework and leads up to a historical climax. The Bible is primarily a record of
events." J. Gresham Machen's opening statement of his inaugural address,
entitled HISTORY AND FAITH, as assistant prof. of NT
at Princeton Theological Seminary, 1915.
He was confronting modernism as it attempted to divorce Christianity
from history.
It seems to
me that Christians miss fundamental things when reading the Bible. We miss things that are so foundational
because we were never trained to think, either to identify and question
presuppositions or to learn the rules of logic.
These most critical thinking
skills are not taught in public school or even in most Christian schools.
I would add that the lack of fundamental
understanding is largely a lack of mental discipline. As fallen humans we are fundamentally lazy
in our evaluation and response to the world around us. For some the idea of "busy, busy,
busy" would absolve them of any accusation of slothfulness, but it does
not. I'm convinced that we don't know
how to think because we're content to react. E
Our thinking
is really sloppy in that (1) we don't start from that foundational point
and (2) our reasoning has gaps. In other
words, we fail to begin at the beginning, the necessary presuppositional
underlayment of our thinking.
Most people are not aware of their framework or the reasons for it. Since we are not aware that our starting
point is not the beginning, we do not consider what the beginning is and why it
must be what it is. With every omitted
foundational principle and gap comes the danger of crossing over logical
boundaries in the way we reason.
There are many topics among Christians
that are considered complicated and divisive, but that are really very simple
if one looks past the particular difficulty and meditates on the heart of the matter. The whole topic of divorce is a good example of this.
If you're reading your Bible carefully you cannot come to any other
conclusion except that God hates divorce, and that it's only because of our sin
that it exists. Once we understand that,
we know that God's desire is forgiveness and reconciliation. The next three paragraphs expand on this
pretty well. E
Char and I
have often talked about presentations, books, or articles whose conclusions
we agree with, but whose reasoning leading to
them brakes down and is inconsistent with their conclusions. [You can't get
there from here arguing this way. see http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/01/getting-theologically-humiliated/] When
someone does this, he is doing more than just thinking poorly, he is teaching
people faulty methodology - the wrong way to reason. As a result, people become insensitive to
proper logic and subject to being swayed by faulty logic which can turn the
truth around [see Teaching in Contradiction http://pop.eradman.com/].
I agree, but would extend that by adding
that instead of simply bad thinking, you get bad thinking + muddy
thinking. The introduction of bad logic
makes the process and the conclusion confusing and subjective. E
Often these
fundamentals of "beginnings" and “logic”
are necessary implications rather than direct statements in Scripture. For example, when the Pharisees tested Jesus
on the matter of divorce (Mt.19:3-9), Jesus answered by pointing
out the implications stemming from God's intent in making mankind as man
and woman. In Genesis 1 & 2, the contrast between man and God is more than
the difference between the creator and his creation. It is seen in the nature of each - God who is
"Us" (a complete,
independent and unified plurality) and Adam who is "alone." The aloneness
of man is the only thing in God's creation that was "not good." Eve is the counterpart God made for Adam to
complement him. Husbands and wives are
so joined "till death do us part" because it is only for this life
that this union exists.
Further,
marriage as a permanent bond between a man and a woman is metaphorically used
to describe God's union with His people.
The completion of man, who would once again be alone after death, is in
union with Christ. All who are in Christ
become joined and together are the bride of Christ (Eph.5:25-27, 31-32) awaiting the marriage of the Lamb (Rev.19:7-8; 21:9-10; 22:17). This image completes the picture of God's
love described in the Old Testament as His love for
Another reason people think wrongly or
muddily is that they don’t want to believe the alternative.
Fundamentally, error stems from sin. A will that is not submitted to God
resists the truth and will refuse to accept even the most complete and
convincing argument. My roommate and I got into a discussion about heaven and
whether he will still be married to his wife. I read the passage to him, “for in heaven there is neither marriage
nor giving in marriage” but he flat out said,
“I won’t believe that”. Though he may not be a Christian, even we do this as
Christians. At PHC when I was studying different philosophers and authors, I
encountered several individuals who, for all I could tell, understood the
gospel completely but were simply unwilling to accept it. [In The God Who is There, Francis Schaeffer spoke of
the point at which philosophers could find no answers to the big questions
using normal (classical) logic. When they reached a point where they had to
either return to God or abandon their reason, they abandoned the standard
method of reasoning.] What is true for the
gospel as a whole is also true for its parts. The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of understanding. As we approach Scripture we must come willing to be
transformed by its teachings. For my roommate, I think it comes down to not
having a big enough view of God to understand what heaven is about—he thinks
that because we call it “paradise” it will be everything he desires most, and
what he desires most (right now) is his wife.
Kevin
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As
the preceding paragraphs illustrate, there is a continuity of thought and a
starting point.
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2. Considering the Bible
or issue itself, not my experiences or feelings about it.
3. Because Christians
tend to adopt the attitudes and ways of thinking of the culture they have been imprinted
with (as in the US and the area of the country, and the particular subculture
of the church they were raised in, or attached themselves to), they often
aren't sensitive either to what God says or to how He feels about certain
things (marriage, giving, meditation, etc.).
In other words, as a group they perpetuate error - theological and methodological as well as
moral and methodological [how they handle situations, as in ignoring, rationalizing and
neglecting ethical issues by failing to hold one another accountable].
I think you're onto something there...the
desire of God is something that Christians should not suffer great division
over. The vernacular may change, but His
sovereignty, love, holiness, and justice should be common to all who call him
Lord. Eric
New
converts start off in the condition of having been and being molded by the
world. Transformation from within is
a process and the means is, in part, the "renewing of the
mind" (Rom.12:2). Renewing our
minds has to do with rebuilding the framework that forms our interpretive
grid through learning from the Scriptures, "renewed in knowledge"
(Col.3:10). It involves a change in our
whole being - believing, thinking, desiring, living. Being "renewed
in the spirit of your mind" (Eph.4:23) is in contrast to "the futility of their mind, having
their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of
the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart"
(v.17-18). It is hearing Christ and
being taught by Him because "truth is in Jesus" (v.21).
Renewing
our minds also has to do with what we focus on that keeps us straight
and our longing for God strong, "set
your mind on things above" (Col.3:2).
"To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is
life and peace" (Rom.8:6).
These passages are discussing how we can live [unto
Christ] in the corrupt world and not
be of it (ie, part of it – influenced; defeated by incorporation).
RENEWING
OUR MINDS BY
Last
weekend we visited Char's folks in
Acts 17:11 gives a clue as to how
to proceed. Paul delivered the same
Gospel about Christ he did elsewhere. "Now these Jews were more
noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all
eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." In other words, they compared particular teachings of Paul about Jesus being the Christ
with specific passages in the Old Testament.
Even though they had never been taught or thought of the Scriptures in
this way, many came to faith in Christ (v.12). The Spirit of God worked a change of heart
and mind through their efforts to learn the truth.
Most
growing churches eventually develop the problem of maintaining all kinds of
programs and neglecting [moving away from] things that are most fundamental [Christians really do
want to learn, see http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/01/a-theology-of-indifference/comment-page-1/#comment-16168]. Fundamentals
tend to get left behind and purposes
skewed in the growth/progress of a ministry.
Therefore, prudence calls for fundamentals and purposes to be identified
[and
clarified]
and that list as well as ministry practices need to be reexamined
[recalibrated] yearly in light of
them and in light of current and emerging assaults against the truth.4
Doctrinal ignorance and error abound in the church and new
strains (often the resurgence of old errors) assault it constantly [one reason a thorough
knowledge of church history is important, especially for the leadership]. Each of us has been influenced and absorbed
or picked up specific interpretations of Scripture, ways of thinking about it,
and predispositions toward it. We are
not of the same mind with regard to certain aspects of various teachings or
practices and we are loosely connected.
Yet, despite the differences [in our ways and incorporated in our thinking], by reading and
discussing Scripture together through the means of comparing the different
views [or
aspects of them, bits and pieces - not whole theological systems] with the Scriptures,
we open the possibility of forming a stronger union. This is a radically different approach than that usually
taken either to enable people to deal with Scripture or to bring into the open
and clarify differences in understanding.
It is usually handled by indoctrination [through teaching and
preaching],
which assumes correctness on the part of the instructor(s) [one of the reasons
there are so many discrepancies in the first place]. Typically, the whole question of incongruity
of belief within a church body is not directly confronted because of fear of causing divisions. But poor Bible reading/study skills,
ignorance, and error are widespread and the divisions already exist [see, Machen on Science; Cultural Mandate http://pop.eradman.com/]. There is no reason for the people of Christ
to fear exposing doctrinal issues to the light of the Scriptures [as long as force of
personality or strength of conviction are not used to drive and overwhelm
people].5
It is one area that cleaning up our own house will equip us to
better repel the barrage of error against us.
There can be no common purpose until there is substantial purity and
unity within the church community.
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4. This
raises the question, "Exactly how do we evaluate current
ministries?" High attendance and
enthusiasm are not necessarily accurate gages of effective ministry.
5. This approach is
intended for people who do not have a developed theological framework
and need help and encouragement in reading and understanding the Bible as part
of the overall goal of refocusing their hearts.
Though more difficult, it could be useful even for those with strong
theological convictions if done in the right spirit. Notice that our primary means is not
indoctrination, but observation.
We are not piling on passages to strong-arm people into our viewpoint or
putting people on the spot to defend a position. We are identifying perspectives and bearing
them in mind as they are touched upon in an overall reading. We are not trying to teach through the
passage, jump all over the Bible to prove a point, or deal with a lot of issues
each session, just a few. Correction
is always a delicate process, but just because it must be done carefully is no
reason for not making the effort.