seeing in a mirror dimly

A great interview with John Frame on the Problem of Evil:

http://theologica.blogspot.com/2008/08/interview-with-john-frame-on-problem-of.html

John Frame has been a significant influence on me, and I really have appreciated his brilliant mind and am grateful to God for his writing ministry. If you’re looking for a serious contemporary systematic theologian to read who engages brilliantly with current and ancient theology and philosophy, he’s your man! Here’s a bit of background on him, from Between Two Worlds:

John Frame (b. 1939) is professor and chair of systematic theology and philosophy at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida, where he has taught since 2005. He previously taught for thirty-one years at Westminster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and was a founding faculty member of Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California. He has earned degrees at Princeton University (A.B.), Westminster Theological Seminary (B.D.), Yale University (M.A., M.Phil.), and Belhaven College (D.D.). His website lists (and hosts many of) his voluminous publications and includes a blog.

He has written on the problem of evil in at least the following publications:

1. 1994: “Apologetics as Defense: The Problem of Evil.” Pages 149–90 in Apologetics to the Glory of God: An Introduction. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed.
2. 1995: Cornelius Van Til: An Analysis of His Thought. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed. [See pp. 83–86.]
3. 2002: “The Problem of Evil.” Pages 160–82 in The Doctrine of God. A Theology of Lordship 2. Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed.
4. 2008: “The Problem of Evil.” Pages 141–64 in Suffering and the Goodness of God. Edited by Christopher W. Morgan and Robert A. Peterson. Theology in Community 1. Wheaton: Crossway.

From Francis Schaeffer’s No Little People:

“We must remember throughout our lives that in God’s sight there are no little people and no little places. Only one thing is important: to be consecrated persons in God’s place for us, at each moment.”

I’m probably in a small minority of bloggers who actually aren’t taking too much notice of the US Presidential race. But, I was reading the liveblog of the McCain/Obama meeting with Rick Warren at his Saddleback church. Within a matter of seconds I was pleasantly surprised that in between all the ‘God-pronounced’ judgments on the candidates, one bloke had the humour to proclaim to the cosmos what food he liked:

“One woman carried a large picture of an aborted fetus that said “Barack Obama Change This.” Others read “Obama Mama” and “Enough Dead.” The requisite Ron Paul and Ralph Nader supporters made an appearance. Two people held three signs that read “God Hates Obama,” “God Hates McCain” and “America is Doomed.” And one man, inexplicably, held a sign that said “I Like Burritos.”“

Haha! Good on him!

I’ve recently read through Michael Horton‘s excellent book, God of Promise (2006) in which he discusses the covenantal structure of the Bible. Of particular interest to me were the continuity and discontinuity of the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants, and the question of how do God’s commandments (OT and NT) apply to Christians.

Horton’s covenantal theology is based on good exegesis of Scripture within a biblical theological context, conversing with historical theology (Augustine, Irenaeus, Cocceius, Perkins, Ursinius, Beza just to name a few!) along the way. He interacts with all the who’s who of covenantal research also: from Mendenhall, Kline, Vos, and von Rad through to O. Palmer Robertson and N.T Wright. All up, there’s no wonder that Jim Packer endorsed it as a ‘masterful survey of the covenantal frame of God’s self-disclosure’.

Horton explains that to determine the role of the law in the new covenant, we must distinguish between the three uses of the moral (the cermemonial and civil laws pertain exclusively to the Mosaic theocracy) law:

1) The Civil use of the law. “Sometimes in Scripture the law is regarded as a curb to criminal behaviour. Even a pagan emperor known for his persecution of the church can be called ‘God’s servant,’ as in Romans 13… Because this law is known at least in a framentary way by unbelievers, it can cause evildoers to think twice in the light of civil penalties.”

2) The Pedagogical use of the law. The law shows up our sin, and drives us to Christ. “It is in this sense that Paul says [Romans 7:7-13] even though it brings only bad news and death because of our sin”

3) The Normative use of the law; that which provides norms for the Christian life. “No longer capable of condemning us, the law sees us in Christ as those who have fulfilled it, and instead of standing over against us, it is written on our heart. The law becomes a delight even though we continue to offend in though, word and deed.”

I could go on, and perhaps I will! The continuity and discontinuity between the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenants is quite a key issue I think, so I might post about that soon! But all in all, this book is a short, but excellent read for anyone grappling with the biblical-theological shape of the Bible!

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the great Russian novelist, playwright, historian–a man of truth and courage–is dead at the age of 89.

His famous and controversial Harvard commencement address can be read online: A World Split Apart.

Undoubtedly many commentaries and tributes to come, putting the man and his vision in context.

(H/T: Between Two Worlds)

Here is an excellent segment from A World Split Apart:

Not a Model

But should someone ask me whether I would indicate the West such as it is today as a model to my country, frankly I would have to answer negatively. No, I could not recommend your society in its present state as an ideal for the transformation of ours. Through intense suffering our country has now achieved a spiritual development of such intensity that the Western system in its present state of spiritual exhaustion does not look attractive. Even those characteristics of your life which I have just mentioned are extremely saddening.

A fact which cannot be disputed is the weakening of human beings in the West while in the East they are becoming firmer and stronger. Six decades for our people and three decades for the people of Eastern Europe; during that time we have been through a spiritual training far in advance of Western experience. Life’s complexity and mortal weight have produced stronger, deeper and more interesting characters than those produced by standardized Western well-being. Therefore if our society were to be transformed into yours, it would mean an improvement in certain aspects, but also a change for the worse on some particularly significant scores. It is true, no doubt, that a society cannot remain in an abyss of lawlessness, as is the case in our country. But it is also demeaning for it to elect such mechanical legalistic smoothness as you have. After the suffering of decades of violence and oppression, the human soul longs for things higher, warmer and purer than those offered by today’s mass living habits, introduced by the revolting invasion of publicity, by TV stupor and by intolerable music.

All this is visible to observers from all the worlds of our planet. The Western way of life is less and less likely to become the leading model.

There are meaningful warnings that history gives a threatened or perishing society. Such are, for instance, the decadence of art, or a lack of great statesmen. There are open and evident warnings, too. The center of your democracy and of your culture is left without electric power for a few hours only, and all of a sudden crowds of American citizens start looting and creating havoc. The smooth surface film must be very thin, then, the social system quite unstable and unhealthy.

But the fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started. The forces of Evil have begun their decisive offensive, you can feel their pressure, and yet your screens and publications are full of prescribed smiles and raised glasses. What is the joy about?