On a More Serious Note
I have noticed something as I have done a bit of surfing through the blogeshere. There appear to be a lot of blogs written by young, apparently very earnest and sincere guys. Most of them are pretty young (my age and younger which makes sense considering we are talking about cyberspace) and they are writing from what appears to be a primarily Reform perspective. A lot of them have been strongly influenced by the ministries of men like John Piper and R. C. Spoul. These men in turn have been strongly influenced by the the Reformers (Martin Luther and probably to a greater extent John Calvin) and also Puritan writers and preachers (the creme-de-la-creme being Jonathan Edwards). I can understand the attraction. Piper and Sproul and others like them are intelligent, articulate, and godly teachers and apologists. I have benefitted from reading them and am glad there are men like them out there. In turn I believe we also owe a lot to the theological heavyweights of the past.
Having said this, I do have some concerns. I can't help but wonder if at times some of the appeal of this particular theological bent is as much intellectual as it is spirtual. It involves a lot of complicated arguements and deep thought. Sometimes I wonder if the simplicity of the Gospel gets obscured in all the scholarly jargon. There also at times appears to be a bit of spiritual smugness, a sense in which some of these well meaning young scholars think they have discovered a sphere of truth that the rest of us haven't been insightful enough to find. A final concern is that it seems that they have a huge dependence on their human mentors. When I read them it appears they quote Edwards more than they quote the Apostle Paul.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 it say, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth." Later in chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 it says "All Scripture is inpired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adaquately equipped for every good work." As we study and seek God's truth, by all means let's see what insights we can glean from godly and wise men both past and present but lets not neglect to rely even more on what the Scripture simply says for itself .
Having said this, I do have some concerns. I can't help but wonder if at times some of the appeal of this particular theological bent is as much intellectual as it is spirtual. It involves a lot of complicated arguements and deep thought. Sometimes I wonder if the simplicity of the Gospel gets obscured in all the scholarly jargon. There also at times appears to be a bit of spiritual smugness, a sense in which some of these well meaning young scholars think they have discovered a sphere of truth that the rest of us haven't been insightful enough to find. A final concern is that it seems that they have a huge dependence on their human mentors. When I read them it appears they quote Edwards more than they quote the Apostle Paul.
In 2 Timothy 2:15 it say, "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the Word of truth." Later in chapter 3 verses 16 and 17 it says "All Scripture is inpired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness so that the man of God may be adaquately equipped for every good work." As we study and seek God's truth, by all means let's see what insights we can glean from godly and wise men both past and present but lets not neglect to rely even more on what the Scripture simply says for itself .
posted by Heavy G at 11.4.06
10 Comments:
Great post. Very convicting. It is important to go to the scripture and not to your favorite reformer.
If this space is not to be used on a more regular basis, we will be within our rights to reclaim it and offer it up for public use. Thank you.
*ahem*
I remember Bible classes at Rincon. Sitting atop the fireplace in the Benicia campus. You never seemed to have any sort of trouble expressing your opinion. has something changed? A little writers block? no?
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...etc
This is why Proverbs says never to make a promise. You promised to be a better blogger....BROKEN!!!
JEfe, We miss you. Are you still out there?
Jeff,
This is your conscience. You must blog or else!!!
You should change the name of this blog to Reluctant Blogerist.
Just a thought here... I am not quite sure I agree with your assessment of perspective of the "reformed" bloggers you are reffering to. Here's why
First of all the appeal of the reformed perspective is not merely because of it's intellectualism. What appeals to us from Sproul, Piper, Edwards, Owen, Spurgeon, etc. is that they deal with the Scriptures. They bleed the scriptures. One cannot help but read them and be immersed in the Word of God.
You wonder about the simiplicity of the Gospel getting obsured in all their "jargon." The gospel couldn't be more clear in their writings. Actually I wonder if we have used the "simplicity of the gospel" argument so much that people don't even search the Scriptures because the gospel is so "simple." That's when the Reformed Doctrines like Predestination, Depravity, and Perseverance (not to mention the other two) are so vigorously fought against by fundamentalist who are all for simplicity but often are biblically illiterate.
I buy this perspective (not in whole, with limitations) and the men who have articulated it so well, because it always points me back to the Scriptures, and challenges me to bleed the Bible.
Thanks for the comment Jeremy. My intent in this post was not to dismiss these teachers or those who read what they have said. In fact I think clearly statd bit my admiration and appreciation for them. I just think that all of us need to be careful in our pursuit of biblical truth that we don't pay more attention to what men say about it than to the Scriptures themselves. Whether I call myself a Disponsationalist, Calvinist, Fundamentalist, or whatever I need to make sure that above all I am a Biblisist.
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