You shall not make for yourself a carving

James Jordan points out another use of the word “carving” or pesel, in addition to Exodus 20:4, “You shall not make for yourself a carving”

there is another “carving” or pesel in the book of Exodus: the Ten Words, which God carved with His own finger. The verb “hew out” in Exodus 34:1 & 4 and Deuteronomy 10:1 & 3 is the verbal form of same word.

(Rite Reasons 34, ‘The Second Word II: Seeing & Hearing; Exposition’ August 1994)

Perhaps we are to meant to get the point that we are to worship God according to His Word, not according to any man-made word or law. In governing our worship, as in every area of life, God is the only ultimate law-giver. We are bound to God’s covenant word and we are not to attempt to rewrite it. We are not to substitute anything else for the Word of God. It is through God’s Word that we are to relate to Him.

Hanged on a tree

James Jordan writes that:

The Bible says that Jesus was crucified on a tree, which was probably a real tree. Roman soldiers did not normally dig holes and use posts when they had real trees around. The cross Jesus carried was the cross-piece.

(Emphasis added) Rite Reasons 57 'The Second Word V: On Images and Art, Part 1' May 1998

Pictures of Jesus

Professor John Frame defends the legitimacy of pictures of Jesus in The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R, 2008) p484ff, which is just as well as it means we wont have to smash our stained glass windows after Sunday morning's sermon on the second commandment.

Of course pictures of Jesus are not to be worshiped, nor indeed somehow used as a means of worshiping Jesus, as some may have claimed the Golden Calf was a means of worshiping Yahweh.

Pictures of Jesus might help us to hold on to his true humanity
-->. At least, if all the other characters are depicted in your Children's Bible and Jesus is not, there is a danger of some kind of wierd docetism. There is little danger that our kids will worship their picture books. Jesus was a genuine, visible, touchable, flesh and blood human being, God come in the flesh, and therefore pictures of him are appropriate.

Of course, pictures of Jesus are necessarily somewhat speculative. We can assume he looked like a semitic man (not blonde-haired and blue-eyed), but we don't know in detail what he looked like. The same is true of all the other characters in your Children's Picture Bible and most of those on our stained glass windows too.

Frame points his readers to: -->Jeffrey J. Meyers, “Vere Homo: The Case for Pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Niceville, FL: Biblical Horizons, 1993). The link he gives seems to be broken. A PDF file can be found at:http://ruberad.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/vere_homo.pdf   (link updated Aug 2014)

Biblical Worship?

It’s interesting to find a Reformed professor making statements like this from John Frame:

Most everything in Lutheran and Anglican worship, even things Presbyterians most object to, such as vestments, processionals, and incense, arise from theological reflection, including a biblical rationale.

The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R, 2008), p465

UK's No. 1 Idol?

Brian Edwards suggests that:

The National Lottery has become probably the number one idol of the United Kingdom at the present time, with thirteen million people 'playing' each week. The mocking of Isaiah against the idols of his day would be no less scornful of those who need to invest ten pounds each week for twenty-thousand years to be reasonably certain of winning the Jackpot! This 'Saturday night idol' has duped even sections of the evangelical church into considering it right to share in the Lottery grants. When our principles are adapted by the lure of greed we are worshipping Mammon - whatever its current name might be.

Brian H. Edwards, The Ten Commandments For Today (Epsom, Day One, 1996, revised edition 2002) p88

I'm not sure I'm convinced the National Lottery is our top idol, but equally I don't know what is. Any ideas?

(Also, I don't know what odds Edwards has in mind for "reasonably certain".)

(And another thing: I'm not persuaded its necessarily a sin to buy a lottery ticket or receive a grant.)

Idols

Once men's idols were metal. For us, more often, they are mental.

Either way, the human heart remains an idol-factory.

Man-sized God

So often we want a manageable man-sized God.

Man-size tissues are pretty big, as far as tissues go, but a man-sized god is a pathetic little god who is too small for us.

Men and women actually need God-sized God.

The amazing thing is that in Jesus, God became man-sized, as it were, while he also continued to fill the universe and uphold creation itself, even as he walked about within it. Jesus is not a god we can put in our pockets, but he is God revealed to men as a man, a God men could touch and handle and known.

Frequency of Communion

G. W. Bromiley says:

The general view of the Reformers was that, considering scriptural precedent and the purpose and meaning of the sacrament, it ought to be administered each week, or monthly at the very least…. The Church of England maintained a weekly ante-communion, but could not insist on more that three communions a year as a rule of membership;

Sacramental Teaching and Practice in the Reformation Churches (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1957) p74

On Lay Presidency

Or rather, not.

G. W. Bromiley writes:

The action [of the Lord's Supper] presupposes a minister…. It has always been recognized in the church that no one ought to administer Holy Communion without proper authorization. Since the sacrament has never been regarded as so absolutely necessary as baptism, no exceptions have been made to this rule. The Reformation churches agree that while there might be exceptional circumstances as in the case of castaways, the minister alone should be in charge of the administration, though he may be assisted by elders in the distribution…. He [the minister], and he alone, has the task of administering the means of grace to the people…. The minister acts as the servant of Christ and of the people…. (p76)

… while it is good Reformed doctrine that only the minister should dispense the word and sacraments, it is not absolutely necessary that each communicant should receive the bread and wine directly at his hands. (p79)

… the true minister of the sacrament is Jesus Christ Himself by the Holy Spirit… (p80)

Sacramental Teaching and Practice in the Reformation Churches (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1957)

Jesus preached at the Last Supper

In thinking about the relationship between word and sacrament, it is a new thought to me that it might be argued on the basis of the Johannine farewell discourses that Jesus "preached" at the Last Supper.

G. W. Bromiley provoked this idea:

As in the case of baptism, it is thought necessary that Holy Communion should be brought into direct relationship with the word. The sacrament as a visible word needs the audible word to declare its meaning and make explicit its summons. Thus the service of Communion will include not merely a reading of the account of the original institution, but also other Scriptures, exhortation, and preaching [footnote: Cf. the Johannine discourses at the institution]. The inveterate tendency in some churches to divorce the sacrament from the word, or at least from the living word in the form of preaching and translated Scripture, is an obvious indication that the real meaning, purpose, and power of the sacrament are not yet perceived.

Sacramental Teaching and Practice in the Reformation Churches (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1957) p77

Historicity of the Resurrection

Some quotes plundered from the interweb on the evidence for the resurrection:

Thomas Arnold, headmaster of Rugby school and Regius Professor of Modern History at

Oxford University, wrote: "I have been used for many years to study the history of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them; and

I know of no fact in the history of people which is proved by better and fuller

evidence… to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign that God has

given us, that Christ died and rose from the dead." (quoted in Michael Green, The Day Death Died, IVP, Leicester, 1987, p.15)

In the 1930s a journalist, Frank Morison, was convinced that miracles did not

happen though he admired the character of Jesus, and set out to write a book disproving the resurrection. When he studied the evidence, he wrote his book: "Who Moved the Stone?" and with great honesty entitled the first chapter: "The Book that Refused to be Written." (Michael Green, Man Alive, IVF, London, 1967, pp.54-55)

Lord Darling, formerly Lord Chief Justice of England, wrote: "The crux of the

problem of whether Jesus was or was not what he proclaimed Himself to be, must

surely depend on the truth or otherwise of the resurrection. On that greatest point

we are not merely asked to have faith. In its favour as a living truth there exists such

overwhelming evidence, positive and negative, factual and circumstantial, that no

intelligent jury in the world could fail to bring in the verdict that the resurrection

story is true." (quoted in Michael Green, The Day Death Died, IVP, Leicester, 1987, p.15)

Sir Edward Clarke, a High Court Judge, said: "As a lawyer I have made a prolonged

study of the evidence for the events of Easter Day. To me the evidence is conclusive,

and over and over again in the High Court I have secured the verdict on evidence

not nearly so compelling. As a lawyer I accept the Gospel evidence unreservedly as

the testimony of truthful people to facts that they were able to substantiate."

Bishop Westcott, one of England's greatest New Testament scholars, said: "It is not too much to say that there is no single historical incident better or more

variously attested than the resurrection of Christ." (quoted in Michael Green, The Day Death Died, IVP, Leicester, 1987, p37)

Do You Want To Get Well?

Some jottings for a sermon on John 5:1-15, which should appear on our church sermon page in due course:

A real historical event

A sign recorded to teach us (20:30-31) – expounded in v16ff

A picture of the human predicament (v3)

Israel’s predicament – 38 years (v5) – cf. Dt 2:14 time in wilderness – waters / Jordan – 5 colonnades / books of the Law

Superstition (vv4, 7)

Jesus sees and knows and has mercy (v6) – Bethesda (v2), ? “House of Mercy”

Supernatural knowledge? 1:48; 2:24-25; 4:17-18

“Do you want to get well?” (v6, v14) – on Jesus’ terms? If it means a changed life?

Jesus can heal the most hopeless, helpless (v7) and undeserving (v11, v13, v14, v15)

Contrast the healing of the official’s son (4:43-54)

Jesus commands the impossible and his word gives power (v8) Instantaneous and complete healing (v9)

A mini-resurrection (vv21, 24-25) – the Son gives life

A God-like work of New Creation (2 Cor 4:6; 5:17; v18)

The blindness of man-made religion (v10, v12) – legalism, pettiness (Mt 7:3-5; 23:24; Mk 2:27-28)

The deeper problem of sin (v14; v29; cf. 9:1-3; Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor 11:30; 1 Jn 5:16; Mk 1:32-38; 2:5)

So what? hope, faith, gratitude, changed life

Yum yum

Mrs Lloyd and I finished off our Christmas cake yesterday. I thought it was remarkably abstemious that we should make our Christmas cake last till February, even if only just. However, in Mrs Lloyd's parents' house, I understand, it is largely reserved as a Sunday afternoon treat and is sometimes made to last till Easter. I'm wondering when we can get going on a Simnel cake.

Jesus Just Visiting Hell?

Here are some notes I prepared for our homegroup leaders who are soon to lead one of our studies on the Apostles' Creed where we consider the clause "he descended to hell / the dead". (I was heavily influenced by Wayne Grudem in Systematic Theology).

The phrase “he descended into hell” is not found in the earliest known versions of the Apostles’ creed. It first appeared in AD 390 when it was understood to mean simply that Christ really died and was buried. The Greek form of the creed has the word “hades” which can mean the grave / place of the dead not just hell. The phrase reappeared referring to hell in AD 650.

We may say that Christ suffered hell on the cross as he bore the punishment for sin, though that does not seem to be the meaning in the Apostles’ creed (because of the word “descended” and because it is placed after Jesus’ burial).

Even if Jesus did go to hell after his death (which I don’t think he did!) we’d certainly want to say that he was just visiting! He finished his saving work on the cross (Jn 19:30). Hell could have no claim on the sinless Son of God. It is best to think that when Jesus died his Spirit went directly to be with his Father in Paradise (Lk 23:43, 46). Heb 9:24-26 speaks of Jesus entering heaven on our behalf, rather than hell. After his death Jesus’ body remained in the grave while his spirit was in heaven and then on Easter Sunday his body and soul were reunited at his resurrection (as ours will be on the great final day).

Some people have found support for the idea that Jesus descended into hell in Acts 2:27 (KJV/AV has “hell” for the Greek hades, OT sheol, grave / death), Rm 10:6-7 (abyss, depths or grave is a better translation here, though Paul is saying we should not ask that question!), Eph 4:8-9 (though this verse is probably speaking of Jesus coming to earth not going to hell) and 1 Pt 4:6 (though the dead here seems to mean those who were alive but are now dead, as the NIV takes it). It is probably best to think that 1 Pt 3:18-20 refers to Christ speaking (by the Spirit) through the preaching of Noah to the people of Noah’s day when they were alive, who are now spirits in prison in hell (see also 1 Pt 1:11; 2 Pt 2:5) though some think that Christ did go to hell and proclaim his victory to the fallen angels / demons (cf. ? the sons of God of Gen 6:1-4).

When we say the Apostles’ Creed, it is preferable to say that Jesus descended to the dead rather than to hell.

New Songs For Churches

Someone recommended RESOUNDworship.org as an exciting free resource for churches. Their stated aim is to provide local churches with fresh worship songs containing strong, Biblical lyrics supported by singable, contemporary music.

Best Week of the Year!

If you'll be between the ages of 11 and 14 this summer or if you know someone you will be, you might like to take a look at our new website:

www.bestweekoftheyear.org.uk

We're putting on a great Christian holiday in the first week of August.

Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans

Following on from GAFCON, individuals or groups who agree with the Jerusalem Declaration and the goal of the FCA can now sign-up for membership at http://www.fca.net/.

Christian Education

It's possible that the subject of Christian Education may come up at our parenting course this evening so, in addition to this previous quotation from John Fame, I've prepared the following jottings:

Some Bible texts

Ephesians 6:4 – “Fathers, … bring them [your children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 6:2, 6-9, 20-25

Gen 18:19; Dt 4:9-10; 11:19; Ps 1:1-2; 78:4-8; Prov 22:6; Mt 18:5-6; Jn 14:6; 2 Cor 10:5; Col 1:15-18; 2:3-8; 1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 3:14-17

Some principles

Bringing up our children (including education) is primarily the responsibility of parents – not of the state (nor even of the church) though it may be shared or delegated

There is no neutrality – God is the maker, sustainer, ruler, evaluator of all things – everything finds its meaning, purpose and destiny in connection to God - Everything is connected and is ultimately related to God

The universal Lordship of Christ – e.g. Christ is the Lord of history, arithmetic, biology, geography

The authority, sufficiency and relevance of Scripture – the Bible is our ultimate authority on everything on which it speaks – the Bible thoroughly equips us for salvation and godliness, for a life that pleases God (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Some quotations

Some quotations from R. J. Rushdoony on schooling:

“Our choice of schools indicates our faith. If God is left out of every area of life, or virtually every area, then we subscribe to the death of our God, or at least his basic irrelevance to the world.”

“Education in its essence is always the transmission of the basic faith and values of a culture to its young. Education is thus in essence always a religious concern.”

“The unspoken thesis is that the child who is not in touch with the state school staff and children is not being prepared to face the “real world”. … For all such people, reality, the basic reality we are all supposed to keep in touch with, is the world of anti-Christianity, of humanism, and immoralism. We are not supposed to “deprive” our children of their time in the sewer.”

G.K. Chesterton said: “Every education teaches a philosophy; if not by dogma then by suggestion, by implication, by atmosphere. Every part of that education has a connection with every other part. If it does not all combine to convey some general view of life, it is not an education at all.”

John Gresham Machen said: “I can see little consistency in a type of Christian activity which preaches the gospel on street corners and at the ends of the earth but neglects the children [of the Christian family] by abandoning them to a cold and unbelieving secularism.”

Doug Wilson says: “… God expects parents to provide for any protect their children. It is truly odd that one of the most common charges made against parents who provide a Christian education for their children is that they are “sheltering” them. What is our nation coming to? Parents sheltering children!

Because pluralism (with regard to worldviews) is a false theology (it is institutional agnosticism), Christian parents are required to protect their children from this lie.” (Standing on the Promises, chapter 7, ‘The Necessity of Christian Education’, Canon Press, 1997, p96)

Voddie Baucham Jr says: “We cannot continue to send our children to Caesar for their education and be surprised when they come home as Romans.” (Family Driven Faith) - thanks to Blog of Dan for that

For further provocation see: http://davidpfield.com/other/homeschool.pdf - from which I stole some of the above

Putting Parenting To Bed Film Excerpts

We've been using the Good Book Company parenting course by Ann Benton (2008) called Putting Parenting to Bed: Uncommon Sense for Modern Parents.

I just thought it might help someone to know how far into the films the recommended clips are, so here's what it said on the front of my DVD player:

(1) Parenthood - scene 6 - 2200

(2) The Sound of Music - scene 22/23 - 10750

(3) Dead Poets Society - scene 7 - 10336

Need a theological research project?

John Frame says:

So far as I know, nobody has ever made a serious theological study of the level of error that renders a church apostate, or to put it differently, the kind of theological differences that are tolerable or intolerable within a church body. I commend that study to theologians younger and more astute than I. I see this as a daunting task. Perhaps it is not possible to determine such levels objectively.

The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R, 2008) p435