Danger: "Becoming satisfied with the blessing in its provisional form"

"Heavenly—mindedness is spiritual—mindedness. This pervades like an atmosphere the entire epistle (of Hebrews). We have already seen that even in the promised land the patriarchs remained tent-dwellers. God had a wise purpose in thus postponing for them personally the fulfilment of the temporal promise. Although Canaan was a goodly land, it was yet, after all, material and not of that higher substance we call spiritual. While capable of carrying up the mind to supernal regions, it also exposed to the danger of becoming satisfied with the blessing in its provisional form.

That this danger was not imaginary the later history of Israel testifies. In order to guard against such a result in the case of the patriarchs God withheld from them the land and its riches and made of this denial a powerful spiritualizing discipline. By it they were led to reflect that, since the promise was theirs beyond all doubt, and yet they were not allowed to inherit it in its material form, that therefore it must in the last analysis relate to something far higher and different, something of which the visible and sensual is a mere image. Thus the conception of another sphere of being was introduced into their minds: henceforth they sought the better country. Not as if the things of sense were worthless in themselves, but because they knew of something transcendent that claimed their supreme affection. Their tastes and enjoyments had been raised to another plane. The refinement of grace had been imparted to them. For bodily hands there had been, as it were, substituted spiritual antennae, sensitive to intangible things. They had come to a mountain that could not be touched and yet could be felt." -- Geerhardus Vos, Grace and Glory, p. 120

The humanist kind of "Christian": "the gospel is shared, not imposed"

Much as those in the emerging church seemingly like dissing modernity and humanism, their "alternative", when it's all said and done, sounds like morphed humanism. Here are some excerpts from Eddie Gibbs' latest book "LeadershipNext": "Postmodernists question the mis­guided self-confidence of modernity with both insight and humor. Much that was once assumed to be true is now being reexamined. Truth claims are questioned, and the motives of those who make such claims are scrutinized. Postmodernists believe that the assertions of the modernists are little more than attempts to exert power. Within the cultural context of radical plural­ism, 'truth' is merely a subjective or community-based assertion, but it is not universally binding: 'That is fine for you, but it is not true for me.' In fact, the bolder and more expansive the claims made, the greater the suspi­cion. 'Big' stories, that is, overarching metanarratives, are rejected as at­tempts to invalidate the 'little' stories that shape and claim the allegiance of another individual or group. Big stories that provide an explanation of life and that demand the total allegiance of 'true believers' are assumed to be controlling devices or power grabs.

"One consequence of this suspicion is that many pre-Christian post-moderns reject the gospel when it is framed in propositional statements. A more promising approach is (1) for an individual to begin with his or her own story of Gods grace at work, and (2) for that story to be reinforced by the witness of other people who have different backgrounds, temperaments and life experiences. We should introduce the gospel not as a sequence of propositions but as a series of significant 'little' stories, which make up most of the Bible, leading to the story of Jesus himself, including the kind of life he lived and the statements he made about his mission and his identity.

"Thus the gospel is shared, not imposed, as a story worthy of serious consideration. By telling the stories of our own experience in relation to the biblical stories of the people and events spanning two millennia, and by recounting the impact of the gospel on the lives of countless individuals from a variety of ethnic, intellectual and socioeconomic levels, we can begin to address the postmodern suspicion about the gospel.

"In the current cultural climate, credible gospel communication does not impose an absolute but proposes an alternative. Any attempt to share the good news that gives the impression that the witness has wholly packaged the message and has a ready response to all previously unanswered questions will be regarded with suspicion and treated with ridicule. Authentic wit­nesses do not have the 'whole story' but bear testimony to what they have grasped and have been obedient to in their own lives. This is why individual witness is limited and needs to be filled out by the corporate testimony of the church. That testimony must be continuously enriched, celebrated, re­enacted and corrected from the Big Story that unfolds in the two Testaments that make up Scripture.” One further important element needs to be added, namely the need to listen to the witness of those who follow Jesus in cultures other than our own, particularly those who have lived under dehumanizing poverty and persecution.

Postmodernity speaks the language of 'perspectivalism,' (can you say "John Frame"? crb) which asserts that what you see depends on where you stand. It is true that this presents a challenge to the absolute truths of the gospel, but that challenge can be addressed by presenting the good news from a variety of perspectives. The collective witness of the church is reinforced by the testimony of people from across the centuries and around the globe."

Gibbs follows these comments with quite a few propositions of his own, some which might stand up to biblical scrutiny, others which don't. But one must ask, "If Gibbs is comfortable making absolute statements regarding the historicity of Christ and his resurrection (which he does do here), how is it 'authentic' to 'share' the gospel without making absolute propositions?" At best, this kind of engagement with the postmodern is nothing more than the very modern "bait and switch" method of evangelizing the lost. At worst, it's disingenuous by withholding critical information from the postmodern about Christianity. If the gospel does indeed include the absolute and propositional, then it is patently false to suggest that "credible gospel communication does not impose an absolute". At some point in the "conversation", if the gospel is absolute, then that absolute *will be* imposed.

While leaving propotional statements at home might seem an inconsistent approach to postmodernism, it surely is in keeping with Gibbs' premise that the conversation must *begin* with the individual's story, which is then bolster by the corporate's story. Such a suggestion is inherently humanistic, the very ideology Gibbs ridicules, because the *story* is only as truthful as the person telling it. The person and their story become the standard by which God's grace is measured, thus recapitulating (albeit inadvertantly) the serpent's lie in the garden.

I have to agree with James MacDonald, who said recently that we'd be better off spending less time studying the culture and more time preaching the word. John the Apostle lived in a no less pluralistically pagan culture than we live in today. Yet he began his apologetic with: "In the beginning was the Word". We're foolish if we think we can improve on John's apologetic.

Indulgences: "Pious Frauds"

Pope Offers Indulgences to World Youth

On his first visit to Germany since becoming Pope, Joseph Ratzinger used the occasion of World Youth Day to pull indulgences fom the closet, the practice that was the flashpoint for Martin Luther and the Reformation.

Ecumenical News International reports that "the decision of the Catholic Church to grant special indulgences, or a remission of sins, for the first time in such circumstances to young people who attend the gathering, had failed to provoke as much controversy as the practice normally does. "

But the presence of indulgences at World Youth Day didn't go unnoticed. ECI also quotes the Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, who is president of the Conference of European Churches and of the French Protestant Federation. de Clermont told Ecumenical News International: "This decision surprised us. It shows the diversity of positions within the Catholic Church...Benedict XVI the theologian needs to clarify a number of points...One wonders if the granting of indulgences is compatible with the Joint Declaration signed by the Lutheran World Federation [and the Catholic Church]."

What's remarkable about this statement is that the LWF isn't exactly the most conservative of the Lutheran groups. But there must be some things even liberal Lutherans won't tolerate... the sale of indulgences. Unmentioned by de Clermont was that during the dialogue between the LWF and the Roman Catholic Church, the Joint Declaration was all but dead until Ratzinger gave his approval.

Phillip Pullella of the Reuters News Service reports that "the Vatican said the pope had agreed to allow "special indulgences" in connection with his trip to Cologne from Aug. 18-21 for the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Youth festivities. The Church teaches that those people who do not go straight to heaven after death must first do some time in purgatory, a sort of unpleasant waiting room. Indulgences are remission of temporal punishment — suffering in this life or the next to purify a soul of sins that have already been forgiven in confession. Indulgences, generally granted for doing good works, can reduce time in purgatory, which the late Pope John Paul said in 1999 was not so much a physical place but a state of mind marked by the absence of God.

Pullela also points out that one difference between Benedict's indulgences and those that were available during the Reformation is that today's indulgences are not "sold", but "earned": "Indulgences were one of the main controversies that sparked Martin Luther's Reformation in the 16th century, when they were sold instead of earned or prayed for...A decree issued by Cardinal James Francis Stafford...said plenary indulgences would be granted to people who are not in a state of sin and participate 'attentively and with devotion' to World Day of Youth events in Germany...Those who do not go to Cologne for the pope's first foreign trip could receive 'partial indulgences' if they prayed fervently while the pope is in Germany to ask God to help young people strengthen their faith..."

Pullela notes that the Catholic Catechism claims that the plenary indulgence that was offered at World Youth Day "can remove 'all of the temporal punishment due to sin' while a partial indulgence removes only part of it. Indulgences can be obtained for oneself or for those departed souls already suffering in purgatory. But there is no help for people in hell, who are condemned for eternity."

Assist News Service quoted the chairman of the Evangelical Alliance, Rev Peter Strauch, who was "irritated by the euphoria surrounding the Catholic mass event shown even by evangelicals. Despite clear ethical guidelines by the Catholic organizers and an emphasis on the spiritual life evangelicals could not ignore unbiblical aspects like indulgence, Mariology and intercession for the deceased."

Strauch apparently was not alone in his discomfort with what unfolded at WYD. "...the leader of mainline Protestant Denominations, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, told reporters, the pontiff made it clear that he is not intent on bringing Protestants 'back to Rome'. Neither does the Pope regard Protestant 'ecclesiastical communities' as churches in the proper sense. Huber sees a special need for new theological discussions about 'indulgences'...Pope Benedict XVI promised participants of the World Youth Day total indulgence, provided they confess their sins, repent and receive Holy Communion."

A female Lutheran "bishop" was also perturbed: "The Protestant Churches regard this as an unbiblical practice. Sins could never be erased by human effort, only through God’s grace and faith in Jesus Christ, said the Lutheran Bishop of Hanover, Margot Kaessmann, in an interview with the evangelical news agency “idea”. In her view, basic differences dating back to the reformation have re-surfaced during the World Youth Day. Not only did she find the practice of indulgence irritating, but also the strong focus on the person of the Pope. Similar Protestant mass events relied more on the active participation of all Christians."

If we have liberal Lutherans questioning anew the meaing of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between the LWF and the RCC, what *should* this mean for evangelicals who wistfully suggest the Reformation is *done near* over?

Of course, this isn't the first time in recent years that the indulgence has been resurrected. John Paul II granted indulgences to Catholics in 2000 if they travelled to Rome and passed through the Jubilee Door.

Given Pope Benedict is attempting to take the church back to its past (pre-Vatican II?), Protestants need to refresh themselves in their past, such as taking a cue from John Calvin:

"Our opponents pretend that to make satisfaction (for sins) those indulgences supply what our powers lack. And they go to the mad extreme of defining them as the distribution of the merits of Christ and the martyrs, which the pope distributes by his bulls. These men are fit to be treated by drugs for insanity rather than to be argued with…the fact that indulgences have so long stood untouched, and in such unrestrained and furious license have retained such lasting impunity, can truly serve as a proof of how deeply men were immersed for centuries in a deep night of errors. Men saw themselves openly and undisguisedly held up to ridicule by the pope and his bull-bearers, their souls’ salvation the object of lucrative trafficking, the price of salvation reckoned at a few coins, nothing offered free of charge. By this subterfuge they saw themselves cheated of their offerings, which were filthily spent on whores, pimps, and drunken revelries. But they also saw that the greatest trumpeters of indulgences hold them in most contempt; that this monster daily runs more riotously and lecherously abroad, and that there is no end; that new lead is daily put forward and new money taken away. Yet with the highest veneration they received indulgences, worshiped them as pious frauds by which men could with some profit be deceived." -- John Calvin, The Institutes of Christian Religion (Book III, 5:1)

God's love for us: "Never Began"

"Love, and not the least religious love, seeks to eternalize itself, and that backwards no less than forward. In the unlimitable round of His timeless existence we have never been absent from nor uncared for by Him. A greater wonder as an object of the divine interest is Ephraim not yet than Ephraim no more. The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began. What we are for Him and what He is for us belongs to the realm of eternal values. Without this we are nothing, in it we have all. Ours is the paean of Paul: 'For we know that to them that love God all things work together for good . . . for those whom He foreknew [that is, eternally loved] he also predestinated to be made like unto the image of his Son . . . for I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord' (Rom. 8:28, 38, 39)." -- Geerhardus Vos, Jeremiah's Plaint and Its Answer