Experience of the week

I took a very hard test last week on the doctrine of God. We were asked to list and define the attributes of God. One of these attributes was God's Will. The text we used was by Wayne Grudemn and I disagree with how he defines God's Will and I have discussed this with my prof. However, for the test, I forgot exactly how Grudemn defined the term so I put "Will: yup, God has one." Needless to say, I felt badly about being somewhat disrespectful towards God and not taking the test seriously so I apologized to my prof. about the answer I gave. When I got the test back there was no mark against me for the answer I gave. I went up to the prof. and told him I didn't think I got the grade I deserved. I pointed out what I wrote as my answer and he said, "Oh that, I just figured that you knew what that was so I didn't mark it against you."

Wondering about life and where I am going right now. Thinking about converting to orthodoxy; still need to think it through. Here follows some of my reasons.

Historical claims:

As my friend Dr. Brook says, "It's like the church got a divorce. You have mom and the dad" to which I replied, "and all the bastard children." [1] Orthodoxy claims that they have changed very little over the past 2,000 years and arguments of apostolic succession are very compelling to me. If the claim is, "look, we says such and such and we have always said such and such," it lends credence to arguments from a historical standpoint. Some new ways of approaching the biblical text may be flawed because they do not take into account things that are outside scripture but are not contrary to it.

Sola Scriptura:

Seeing scripture as the sole normative authority over our lives for faith and practice seems wrong. It is good intentioned but incorrect. What those that say that "scripture is the sole normative authority" seem to be getting at is that scripture is the word of God and is authoritative over our lives. I do not disagree with that, but just because scripture is authoritative does this mean that it becomes the sole authority? I think not.

1) When God speaks, it is authoritative. God spoke to the prophets and they spoke to the nations claiming "thus says the Lord..." The prophets claimed these things before it was scripture. Romans 1:18 claims that God speaks to us through creation, thus creation reveals God to us. If God is speaking to us through creation, it is authoritative.

2) By whose authority is scripture to be recognized as the sole authority? If scripture claims it, would that not be circular or at least pointing back to God and therefore self contradictory? If is self-evident I certainly do not find it to be so and I do not think there is much historical basis for believing such.

3) Our metaphysic with such things as logic, reason, ideas of being, ect. may preclude the notion of scripture being the sole authority. Scripture cannot contradict logic such that circle-squares become possible or 2+2=5. These things are impossible by definition.

I foresee an objection, "these things are true, but they must be judged according to the scriptures." This is true to an extent, but not in the way that it is implied. If logic, reason, creation, and scripture all come from the same source, they cannot contradict one another. However, just because things that I claim cannot contradict scripture and I can judge things by scripture, it does not mean that I am committing myself to the claim the scripture is the sole authority by which all things are judged.

To end, if it is the case that scripture is not the sole normative authority then there is room left open for things such as tradition and the authority of the church being normative authorities for faith and practice. These things must work in conjunction and not be contrary to one another. We need to know what scripture tells, we need people to tell us what scripture says and means. I see no contradiction between these two claims.

[1] ADDENDUM: This originally said, 'As my friend Dr. Brook says, "It's like the church got a divorce. You have mom, dad and all the bastard children." I would like to be clear that I am misrepresenting what Dr. Brook stated. I think that Dr. Brook's point here was to say that we cannot choose not to go to church. I was making the point that there are way too many protestant denominations, over 20,000 in the United States alone.

My heart would fain

See her eyes, her face,

To behold her beauty just once more.

Gone, she's gone

As my eyes forever darken;

Radiance lost, the Evening Star fallen

Alone in the dark

Memories will serve as memories serve

As unto a picture of a picture

Google has math problems

Surrealist Text Message Conversation

matt: Because my cognitive processes are with the butter screaming at the flowers

nameless joey: What about the plasticine porters with looking glass ties?

matt: They were sitting at the window sil backing themselves into the regress of cats consuming eggs

nameless joey: None of that matters when you consider that the only duck who can recite lightning doesn't care to have tea with the Queen, sniffling without repose

matt: Repose you say? The lady walking beneath the chateau is the perfect example of one hundred percent the opposite of starfish

nameless joey: Ah, but books that lie are no better than a rug beneath an unwilling moon who cannot absorb the knowledge of what is not to come, and must prevent unhappenings

(After a little while)

matt: It's too cold for my pants

nameless joey: Your FACE is too cold for your pants… but why would you wear pants on your face anyway?

matt: Because of the blistering heat upon the trees of my blue youth

nameless joey: Are we starting this again? Precociousness exhibits far too great a peril to the allies of modern convention to be disregarded and strewn among its idle rivals

matt: But the cheese is like a lady waving the flag of her hair in the sink of brown

nameless joey: Unless she hasn't considered that which she projects unto her dreams of fate; namely, the insistence upon that which is illuminated to pure zeal

matt: As she moves to take a drink, you find yourself looking in the break of carpet in which the best ads are found

nameless joey: But it cannot be guaranteed that her folly will not stand in the way of a goal long since forgotten; thrown to the dragons unending. She knows your secret wish

matt: As she moves to take a drink, you find yourself looking in the break of carpet in which the best ads are found

nameless joey: Holy duplicate text, Batman!

matt: And what is my secret wish, pray tell?

nameless joey: I don't know. I'm not the thirsty hair-flag lady.

FIN

A question about better states of affairs and salvation

I would like to look at Piper's idea of Christian Hedonism and then look at it in light of Calvinism:
Piper states, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." I don't know if this is necessarily true, but let us just suppose for a minute that it is. If I were completely satisfied in God then he would be glorified in me to the highest possible degree. Now it seems as if it is logically possible for everyone to be saved and to be satisfied in God completely. It follows therefore that if everyone were completely satisfied in God then he would be glorified in everyone to the highest possible degree.

If Calvinism is true then it is the case that some have been elected to salvation in Christ and elected to become satisfied in God thereby glorifying God in themselves. Now, it seems as if it is a better overall state of affairs if everyone were elected to salvation in Christ and satisfaction in God than if God only elects some to salvation in Christ and satisfaction in God. If some are saved and others are not (either by direct decree or the passing over of the non-elect), then it follows from the above statements that God is not being glorified in us to the highest possible degree.

Now, I think that I can predict a response: but God is also glorified by enacting justice upon sinful creatures. This is completely true, but is it not better for man to be saved than to be condemned? I am NOT saying that God must save us. God, in His great grace and mercy has decided to save us from our sin (and I am sure grateful for it). God must enact justice upon our sin, but he can also save us from our sin through the work of Christ. If God is the complete arbiter of our salvation (by this I mean the God as the choosing agent in salvation where the human agent has no say whatsoever), then he is actively choosing the lesser state of overall affairs.

Again here is what I am not saying:
1. God must save us.
2. Man can save himself.
But what I am getting at is that it is obviously better to for man to be saved than for him not to be saved. If Calvinism is true, why isn’t everyone saved? Does God save individual men arbitrarily? There seems to either be some sort of irrational component to salvation or contradiction under Calvinism.

Voyages of Lomion (Tolkien fan fiction)

A chance encounter with Kanafinwë:
When I was a young boy of the age of nineteen my grandsire, Prince Elensar, took me out of the safety of Rivendell and into the wild wastes of southern Eregion. He and I wandered far. Our journeys eventually brought us to the forests of Eryn Vorn. Uncouth men were living there but we avoided them. I remember we were resting for a few days where the Baranduin meets the sea. It was there that I had an encounter that I will never forget:
I was lying upon the shore enjoying the music of the sea when I heard another voice melding harmoniously with it; the song was mournful and powerful. I searched for the second voice and I saw that a weary, bent old man with a long grey beard was walking along the shore and singing to himself. As I noticed that he was coming my way I hid among some rocks and watched as the old man approached. It was then that I noticed something odd about him; his voice was quiet and was almost drowned by the sea, but it never increased in volume as he approached. He was singing quietly to himself and held his hand as if it pained him.
The old man stopped near the rocks where I was hiding and faced the sea. He dropped to a low hum and just stood there for several minutes. He turned around, looked directly at me and said kindly, “I see you child, there is no need to hide… and there is no need to reach for that knife either.” He smiled. His voice was powerful, I tried to resist its command, but I could not. It was then that I saw the old man’s eyes; they were full of an ancient sorrow. I realized that this was no mere man but an elf bent and aged by sorrow. I came out of hiding.
He sat down upon a rock and faced the sea, holding his hand in pain. “You can join me if you wish, and I will tell you a story.” I sat at his feet and listened to his story: He recounted the story of the First Age and the war of the Noldor against Morgoth. He recounted the tales of sorrow and kinslaying and the total defeat of the Noldor. After he finished he sat silent for a long while.
He spoke silently to me, “The oath of Feanor, in part, is still at work. The Doom of Mandos is still at work. We are still reaping the dark seeds that Morgoth has sown an age and a half after his downfall.” He looked at me and smiled sadly, “Do not fall to the traps that we fell. The line of Feanor is nearly spent. His sons are dead; the children of his children have fallen into obscurity; Celebrimbor has perished and his works are tainted. Annatar Thaura has deceived the Noldor just as his master before him. Love not overmuch thy work of thy hands. Love not overmuch thy realms and dominions. These have been our downfall in Middle-earth.”
He rose to his feet and caressed his hurt hand. The old elf continued down the beach humming a mournful, yet lovely tune. He stopped and spoke once more, “Remember compassion and temperance; we are not the Eldar so that we can rule and dominate over lesser kinds. We are the Eldar so that we can guide and prepare Men to take our place once we are gone… Love not overmuch thy works of thy hands…” He sighed and said at a whisper, “It is a lesser well learned…” while glancing at his hands. And then he continued down the beach and began the saddest song I have ever heard:
I remember the Holy Light,
and you were mine, my love.
I remember the dreadful night,
oaths were sworn and love forsaken
Though I’ve lived, I’ve been searching
Namárië! Nai hiruvalyë Valimar!
Nai elyë hiruva! Namárië!
Harnannin athan nestad bân
Telperion a Laurelin.
In edhil sí awarthar Dhûn
Farol i viriath corin
The thing made became the thing served;
Ai nae úamdir dâr.
Taeg hammad thín gâr viriath;
Norn e dad i hîr,
…
And his voice was lost to me…
After a while, I too rose. Elensar stepped from the shadows among the rocks. “It is time we returned to Rivendell and to your studies.”
“Who is that, Grandfather?”
“He is one who can never again return to Valinor. He is what the oath of Feanor became.”
We set out for Rivendell that evening.