Civic Law: Why It Matters To Christians
God’s law is external to us and internal in us all at the same time. On the one hand, it is external to us. God, quite apart from our opinions and objections, has clearly revealed His law in His Word. And regardless of cultural sentiments, sensibilities, or sensitivities, and oftentimes in direct opposition to these, God’s Word stands. As the prophet Isaiah declares, “The word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). On the other hand, God’s law is also internal in us. In Romans 1 and 2, the apostle Paul discuses how those who do not have God’s external, revealed law, as given in Holy Scripture, nevertheless know right from wrong. This is his conclusion:
When Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to the gospel, God judges the secrets of man by Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16)
Thus, even if someone is not a biblical scholar, he can still know right from wrong and righteousness from wickedness, for God has gone to the trouble of sketching and etching His law on every individual’s heart. This is why, when we fall prey to immorality, an innate twinge of guilt wells up inside of us.
In doctrinal parlance, we call the sketching and etching of God’s law on each human heart the doctrine of “natural law.” Because human beings are created by God, human beings know, by nature, what God’s law requires.
The theological principle of God’s natural, moral law, and the way it is sketched and etched on every human heart, has long been foundational in understanding our nation’s legal, civic law. Traditionally, in order for a person to be convicted of a crime, they have to be found to have a mens rea, a Latin legal term meaning “a guilty mind.” Under our nation’s legal system, it is generally assumed that a person must know he is committing a crime in order for him to be found guilty of that crime. This is why if a dog, for instance, mauls a postal worker, though we may put the dog down, we do not put the dog in jail. For he does not have “a guilty mind.” He does not know that what he has done is wrong. But this principle of mens rea is changing.
Yesterday, in The Wall Street Journal, Gary Fields and John Emshwiller published an article titled, “As Federal Crime List Grows, Threshold of Guilt Declines.”[1] They note, “What once might have been considered simply a mistake is now sometimes punishable by jail time.” The authors go on to explain that in order to convict a person of a crime, prosecutors no longer have to prove that a defendant has a mens rae. One especially disturbing incident cited by the authors involves the 1998 case of Dane A. Yirkovsky. While doing some remodeling work, Mr. Yirkovsky found a .22 caliber bullet underneath a carpet, which he subsequently put in a box in his room. Though he did not think he was doing anything wrong, because he had a criminal record, federal officials contended that possessing even a single bullet violated a federal law prohibiting felons from having firearms. He is currently serving a fifteen-year sentence.
Part of the problem, Fields and Emshwiller note, is the rapid proliferation of federal laws. The article states:
Back in 1790, the first federal criminal law passed by Congress listed fewer than 20 federal crimes. Today there are an estimated 4,500 crimes in federal statutes, plus thousands more embedded in federal regulations, many of which have been added to the penal code since the 1970s.
With so many new laws on the books, it’s no wonder people can commit crimes utterly unaware that what they’re doing is illegal! And these days, it doesn’t matter whether or not a person is aware that what he’s doing is illegal. A person can be tried and convicted quite apart from the principle of mens rea.
Why should Christians be concerned with the deterioration of mens rea? Because it marks the divorce of our nation’s civic law from God’s internally inscribed natural law. For decades, our legal codes were generally tied to overriding and undergirding moral concerns, internally ingrained into humans by their Creator. Even something as seemingly morally arbitrary as the speed limit was connected to a moral concern – that of human safety. But as our civic law has become more and more divorced from its moral counterpart, our civic law now permits things like abortion, something that clearly defies moral law, for it involves the deliberate taking of a human’s life in the name of human choice. When this kind of activity is permitted by civic law, it not only makes civic law confusing, because it has no natural rhyme or reason but is instead bureaucratically and politically driven, it also diminishes natural, moral law. For when something permitted by civic law contradicts natural, moral law, people often use the civic code to bludgeon and silence their consciences which testify to God’s natural, moral law. This, in turn, radically alters even Christians’ attitudes toward basic moral and ethical issues. For example, in a survey conducted by the Barna group, researchers found among people aged twenty-three to forty-one, 59 percent thought cohabitation between unmarried persons was morally acceptable, 44 percent considered sex before marriage to be morally permitted, and 32 percent thought abortion was a moral option for an unwanted pregnancy.[2] Our civic permissions are changing our God-given moral sensibilities.
Finally, when people rebel against God’s natural, moral law, they walk down a road, even if this road is paved by civic permissions, to deep pain and suffering. And this should break our hearts and, kind of ironically, trouble our consciences.
Civic law that contradicts moral law is immoral. And because God has inscribed His moral law into the natural, and thereby universal, realm, we, as Christians, should lovingly and steadfastly stand up for that which God has given, even when our civics contradict it. It’s only natural.
[1] Gary Fields & John R. Emshwiller, “As Federal Crime List Grows, Threshold of Guilt Declines,” The Wall Street Journal (September 27, 2011).
[2] Cited in David Kinnaman, UnChristian: What A New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity And Why It Matters (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007) 53.
ABC Extra – Rejoice! Don’t Rage
Anger does strange things to people.
A couple of years ago, a country song came out called, “I Pray for You.” In this song, the artist recounts a recent breakup with his girlfriend. It was tough, but even with all the pain and heartache she caused him, he says he still prays for her. And, according to the song, this is what he prays:
I pray your brakes go out runnin’ down a hill,
I pray a flower pot falls from a window sill
And knocks you in the head like I’d like to.
I pray your birthday comes and nobody calls,
I pray you’re flyin’ high when your engine stalls,
I pray all your dreams never come true.
Just know wherever you are, honey, I pray for you.[1]
Do these lyrics strike anyone else as wholly inappropriate? Whenever I would hear this song on one of our local country stations, I always had to change the station. The bitterness and resentment which comes seething from this song was just too much for me.
No matter how unfortunate the lyrics to this song might be, they do give us a window into the havoc anger can reek in a person’s heart and soul. Anger does strange things to people.
In our text from this past weekend, we read about the anger the religious leaders directed against the apostles: “They were furious and wanted to put them to death” (Acts 5:33). As I mentioned in ABC, the Greek word for “furious” is diaprio, which means “to saw in half.” The religious leaders are so angry with the apostles, they want to lay them on the sawmill and cut them in two. This is the stuff of which horror movies are made! In Luke 6, the religious leaders become angry with Jesus because He has the audacity to teach it is lawful to do good deeds on the Sabbath, even though the Sabbath calls for rest: “They were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might to do to Jesus” (Luke 6:11). In this instance, the Greek word for “fury” is anoia, from the word nous, meaning “mind,” fronted by an alpha privative negating the nous which follows it. Thus, to be anoia means “to lose one’s mind.” The religious leaders are so filled with fury, Luke says they can’t think straight! They have lost their minds!
Yes, anger does strange things to people. This is why the apostle Paul calls us to put off anger in Ephesians 4: “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4:26-27). We should not allow anger to rule and pervert us the way it does ancient religious leaders and modern country stars.
So how do we break the vice anger can so quickly get on us? In ABC, I spoke of alternate responses to anger. Rather than getting angry, we can love, we can steadfastly resist evil while not bludgeoning evildoers, we can be patient, and we can even rejoice. Perhaps it is this final alternate response that is most mystifying. Rejoicing in the face of evil that should rightly make us angry hardly sounds reasonable or desirable. And yet, this is precisely what Scripture urges: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:2-3). We ought to respond to trials – even those brought forth from evil circumstances – with rejoicing. But do not overlook why we are to rejoice in these trials: “the testing…develops perseverance.” In other words, it is not the evil trials themselves in which we rejoice, but that which the trials produce in us, namely, perseverance. Finally, then, we rejoice not in evil, but through evil. For God works through evil things to bring about His great good for us and for others.
Finally, rejoicing is a much more powerful tool against evil than is anger. Anger simply decries the inequity of wickedness. Rejoicing, conversely, puts wickedness on notice: Wickedness can be laughed at because wickedness will not win! It has been conquered by Christ on the cross, it is used by Christ to develop perseverance in us, and it will be utterly destroyed at Christ’s return on Last Day. Wickedness does not stand a chance.
So what enrages you? What angers you? Because Jesus wins, take some time to rejoice today. After all, His victory is worth your joy.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!
[1] “I Pray for You,” Jaron and the Long Road To Love (Big Machine Records, 2010).
ABC Extra – I Didn’t Invent The Truth And Neither Did You
The former anchor of World News Tonight, the late Peter Jennings, once said, “There is no one absolutely essential truth for all people…Every time I look at a coin, I instinctively want to look at the other side.”[1] This statement, proffered by a prominent and well-respected news anchor encapsulates for many the truth about the truth. A truth, according to many, resides ultimately in the minds and hearts of those who believe it and cannot be universalized or externalized to all people in all places in all times. This position on truth is popularly known as post-modernism. To quote the famed French philosopher Jean-François Lyotard’s definition of post-modernism, “Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.”[2] In other words, a grand, unifying, universally true narrative that gives meaning to life, such as we find in the Bible, is not possible in post-modern thinking, nor is it desirable. Everyone has their own personal narratives – their own personal truths.
With the onset of the new millennium, this take on truth has thankfully waned. In some ways, its ebbing was inevitable, for its central tenant is internally incoherent. When Peter Jennings claims, “There is no one absolutely essential truth for all people,” one almost wants to chide him with a friendly chuckle and ask, “So is the fact that there is no one absolutely essential truth for all people an absolutely essential truth for all people?” One cannot escape the fact that post-modernity’s claim against universal truth is itself a claim of a universal truth! In addition to being internally incoherent, this stance against universal truth is also impossibly impractical. It is a stance that cannot be argued for because there is no essential truth over which to argue! Thus, people who hold this view are finally left with nothing to say and no position for which they can persuasively argue because their position, by its very nature, must be contextualized ad infinitum into extinction.
Even though the absurdity of the popular version of post-modern position on truth has been well documented, this does not stop many from using the “no universal truth” argument against those with whom they simply do not care to have a discussion. “Well, that truth may work for you,” a common cop out goes, “but it doesn’t mean it works for me. You have your truth. I have mine.” Rather than presenting a well-reasoned rebuttal to a point with which one disagrees, this statement retreats into an ad hominem excuse for whatever one might think or however one might act.
From a Christian perspective, the problem with the “personal truths” of post-modernity is their insufferable self-centeredness and arrogance. To think that one individual could be the arbiter, holder, or creator of truth, even if only for themselves, should make even the proudest person wince at least a little. In this regard, post-modernity seems to be a tragically logical consequence of the rugged individualism for which Americans are so famous. Furthermore, to deny people a “metanarrative,” or a grand story, into which they can fit makes life awfully grim. After all, for all of post-modernity’s incredulity toward metanarratives, metanarratives remind us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. As Christians, we believe that we are part of a broad, sweeping story of redemption and love, revealed unambiguously for us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. This is the truth Christians believe and confess! Finally, post-modernity is a direct affront to the Gospel because while the Gospel always and only looks outward to Jesus for the truth of salvation, post-modernism can only look inward for personal opinions.
Truth is bigger than you. Truth is outside of you. Truth is given to you by Christ and revealed by Holy Scripture. And happily, you will find that, believing the truth of the Gospel, this truth will work for you because Christ will be working in you, even unto salvation. No personal truths needed.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!
[1] Peter Jennings, “In Peter Jennings’ Own Words” (8.8.05).
[2] Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. G. Bennington and B. Massumi (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1984), xxiv.
ABC Extra – The Me I Want To Be
Everybody wants to be somebody. That’s the premise of our new series, “The Me I Want To Be.” Some people want to be successful. Some people want to be good-looking. Some people want to be famous. Some people want to be smart. All people want to be loved. Everybody wants to be somebody. However, as I mentioned this past weekend in ABC, who we want to be does not always match up with who we actually are. If we are overweight, we want to be thin. If we are thin, we want to be bulkier. If our lives are solemn and simple, we wish they were more exciting and successful. If our lives are exciting and successful, we yearn for solemnity and simplicity. Who we want to be does not always match up with who we actually are.
Of course, there is no shortage of products and gimmicks that promise to bridge the gap between who we are and who we want to be. Do you want to be stronger? No problem! Just do P90X and drink plenty of Muscle Milk. You’ll be thin, trim, and tough in no time. Do you want to get into a different career field but need more education? No problem! Just apply to the University of Phoenix and you can take night and weekend classes at one of their local campuses or online. And what’s more, you’ll have your degree in only two years! Do you want to be a better person? No problem! Just watch the O! Network, take in a few episodes of Dr. Phil, and get a subscription to Psychology Today. You’ll be better than ever before you know it.
In his book, The Quest for Holiness, Adolf Köberle[1] reflects on people’s quest to bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be. But Köberle’s quest considers not only effort humans make to bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be for themselves, but the effort humans make to bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be before God. Köberle desires nothing less than a way to bridge the gap between the sinfulness of man and the holiness of God. But what way might this be? Köberle outlines three ways.
The first way people try to bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be before God, Köberle says, is through moralism. Moralism consists of people leveraging their good works, words, and will to try to bring themselves closer to God. Köberle writes of moralism, “The attempt is made to compel God’s favor by moral fervor” (5). The second way people try to bridge the gap, Köberle says, is through intellectualism. Intellectualism, rather than finding its locus and focus in good works, seeks to cultivate a sharp mind. Those who follow this way think, “If I simply learn enough about the Bible and about God, then I can ascend to Him by means of my insight and intellect!” Köberle offers this definition of intellectualism: “In the act of thinking a direct contact is established between the human and divine spirit” (13). The third way people try to bridge the gap between who they are and who they want to be before God, Köberle explains, is through emotionalism. The liberal theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher was perhaps the most famous proponent of emotionalism, maintaining, “This is the level on which religion stands…its feelings.”[2] Thus, emotionalism presumes to pave a path to God by feeling close to Him.
So which of these paths to God succeed in taking us from who we to who we want to be before God? None of them. Even our best works are tinged with evil intentions. Moralism cannot pave the way. Even our loftiest thoughts are nothing when compared with God’s wisdom. Intellectualism cannot pave the way. And even our most affectionate moments toward God are quickly cooled by the cares of this world. Emotionalism cannot pave the way. None of these paths succeed in taking us from who we are to who we want to be before God.
Truth be told, there is no way in which we can take ourselves from who we are to who we want to be or, even more importantly, who God calls us to be. For when we try to bridge the gap between who we are and who we want to be by our own efforts, we succeed only in separating ourselves from God rather than drawing close to God because we become arrogant of our own abilities. Köberle explains:
Legalistic Pharisees who boasted of their place with God, zealous scribes who desired to be a light to those walking in darkness, intellectual Sadducees, politically clever rulers who possessed a quite up-to-date wisdom, enthusiastic disciples, eager crowds of pilgrims who riot in the pious emotions of the rich ritual of the great holy days, they all despise, hate and put to death the Servant of God…By their actions they all reveal the bankruptcy of humanity whose most intensified piety accomplishes nothing more than the derision and rejection of God in God’s name. (46)
When we seek to build a bridge between who we are and who we want to be before God, we become so enamored by our own impressive bridge building prowess that we forget to whom we are building are bridge. We forget about God. And then, when God builds a bridge to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, we feel threatened in our own bridge building efforts and kill the Son of God.
The only way to be who we want to be and who God calls us to be, then, is to forgiven by Christ. Nothing else will do. The person you want to be is found not in your own efforts, it is hidden in the cross.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!
ABC Extra – It’s Good To Be Old
Recently, I read a news report concerning a rash of scams in Grand Prairie, Texas. According to the story, crooks offer to sell folks iPads and MacBooks in the parking lots of local area shopping centers and convenience stores. The asking price? $300 for one of the products or $500 for both. Considering a MacBook starts at $1,000 and an iPad starts at $500, this deal is too lucrative for many to pass up. However, as the old saying goes: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. And this was certainly the case in this situation. After unsuspecting buyers purchased MacBooks and iPads, upon opening the packaging, they found out that it contained only a block of wood, cleverly painted and disguised to make it look like a Mac device. As I read this report, I especially appreciated the final line of the police release, which noted: “The public should be advised that it is unwise to purchase anything from the trunk of a car, no matter how good the deal seems.”[1] True indeed.
Unfortunately, scammers are always on the lookout for those who are greedy, gullible, or distraught. Last week, a cable news show featured some massive scams that took advantage of 9.11 victims shortly after the attacks. Sadly, the elderly seem to be an especially favorite target of scammers. Earlier this year, ABC News ran a story on what it called “The Imposter Grandchildren Scam.”[2] In this scam, a con artist contacts an elderly person by phone, claiming to be a grandchild who is in some sort of serious trouble – be it a car accident, or being stranded in some foreign country. The supposed “grandchild” then begs for financial assistance, asking the elderly person not to tell his or her parents. Unfortunately, many elderly people have wired cash to what they thought was their grandchild, only to find out later that they had been scammed. Con artists who prey on the elderly do so because these people can be especially easy targets because they are often easily confused.
This past weekend in worship and ABC, we talked about the glory of aging. Solomon celebrates the elderly in his Proverbs: “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life” (Proverbs 16:31). Because aging and being aged is a good thing according to Scripture, we are to show respect for the elderly, as Moses reminds us: “Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:32). Schemes and scams that prey on the elderly, then, are wholly inappropriate and sinful.
As I talked about in ABC, our culture does not have a high view of aging. To be young is much preferred to being old. And yet, Scripture speaks of the elderly with special affection and calls upon us who are younger to treat those who are older with respect and dignity. Is there an elderly person who has played a special role in your life? Take some time this week to write a note, make a phone call, or even stop by for a visit and express your thanks to them. For these elderly people are gifts from God and deserve our thanks.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!
[1] Jordan Golson, “Buying an iPad in a Parking Lot is a Bad Idea,” (August 29, 2011).
[2] Susanna Kim, “Imposter Grandchildren Scam the Elderly for Big Bucks,” (March 29, 2011).
ABC Extra – Shattered
Last Sunday, I was pulling out of my garage to come to church. As I was backing out, still half asleep, I all of a sudden heard this loud “CRACK!” My head snapped to attention and I looked to my right to realize my driver’s side mirror had scraped up against the garage door frame. My garage frame was fine. My mirror was not. Half of it got shattered by the encounter. Apparently, the warning, “Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear” really is true. I had misjudged just how close my side view mirror and my garage frame really were…and it cost me.
This past weekend in worship and ABC, we tackled the topic of pride. As I mentioned in ABC, there are two different kinds of pride. On the one hand, there is positive pride. This pride flows from our creation in God’s image. Because we are created in God’s image, we owe each other respect and dignity. Such human dignity is positive pride. But then, on the other hand, there is also negative pride. And negative pride is when human dignity gives way to human arrogance. It is when the insistence that all human beings ought to be treated with respect and dignity gives way to the insistence that some human beings ought to have their egos stroked and their self-images inflated.
Because the Scriptural authors are keenly aware that humans tend toward arrogance rather than dignity, the vast preponderance of biblical references to pride are in its negative sense. This is certainly true when Solomon writes, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). “Negative pride,” Solomon warns, “comes with a high price – destruction.” The Hebrew word for “destruction” is shabar which, as I discussed last Sunday, describes a “complete collapse” or a “shattering.” Pride eventually and inevitably leads to a shattered life.
It is important to note the preposition Solomon uses to link pride with destruction: “Pride goes before destruction.” The Hebrew word for “before” is lipne which can be used in both a temporal as well as a spatial sense. In other words, if a person is prideful, destruction can and does indeed catch up with them chronologically. A person is prideful, and destruction then ensues. But pride and destruction are also close spatially. Indeed, the preposition lipne is often translated as the phrase, “in the face of.” Thus, prideful people stare destruction right in the face. They are closer than they might think to having their lives shattered.
Just like a side view mirror can be shattered in a close encounter with a garage frame, a person can be shattered in a close encounter with pride. This is why we are called to flee from it – because pride destroys. So you don’t want to get too close to it. You don’t want to stare it right in the face. Just verses before Solomon’s famous words concerning pride and destruction, he offers this sharp warning: “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished” (Proverbs 16:5). When we insist on living proudly, God will not let us stand. He will humble us in our sin.
The Hebrew word for “pride” is ga’on, referring to someone who is “exalted” or “lifted up.” This is why Solomon writes, “A haughty spirit goes before a fall.” For a person who ga’ons himself will not be able to maintain his position of exaltation. He will fall. Conversely, God’s promise to those who humble themselves is that He will do the ga’oning for them – He will “lift them up” (James 4:10). And being lifted up by God is a much more secure position than doing the lifting up yourself. So wait for God to lift you. For when He does, it will be unto eternal life. And that’s enough to lift even a troubled soul in a humble – and sometimes humiliating – life.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Prieto’s
message or Pastor Zach’s ABC!
Weekend Extra – Don’t Settle for All-Natural
In 1802, British Christian apologist William Paley published what has become one of the most famous arguments for the existence of God. He wrote:
“In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for any thing I know to the contrary, it had lain there forever…But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer which I had given before…For its several parts are framed and put together for a purpose.”[1]
This argument is classically called “the argument from design.” The argument runs like this: When we look around at the irreducible complexity of our world, we cannot help but wonder about the origin of our stunning surroundings. For someone certainly had to knit together this vast and intricate universe! And that “someone,” Paley argues, is God.
In his argument, Paley appeals to what is known as “natural revelation.” Natural revelation describes the human ability to discern God’s existence by means of basic reason. And basic reasons deduces, when confronted with a remarkable creation like ours, that there is indeed a Creator! Thomas Aquinas explains natural revelation thusly: “There are some truths which the natural reason is able to reach. Such are that God exists, that He is one, and the like.”[2] John of Damascus describes natural revelation similarly, but adds that we not only deduce God’s existence by our reason, but know of God’s existence from our very creation: “The awareness that God exists in implanted by nature in everybody.”[3]
Scripturally, the doctrine of natural knowledge is asserted in Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voicegoes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4)
The verbs in verse 1 are striking. “The heavens declare the glory of God…” The verb “declare” is often translated as “number.” The glories of God are infinitely numbered by the heavens! After all, every star is a testament to its Creator! “The skies proclaim the work of His hands…” The verb for “proclaim” in Hebrew is nagad, meaning, “conspicuous.” In other words, God is not hidden by His creation, He is plainly revealed through His creation for anyone who cares to see! This is natural revelation.
As wonderful as natural revelation is, it only goes so far. For although natural revelation can tell us there is a God, it cannot tell us who this God is. Indeed, the Thomas Aquinas quote I cited earlier is only the second half of the quote. The whole quote reads: “There is a twofold mode of truth in what we profess about God. Some truths about God exceed all the ability of human reason. Such is the truth that God is triune. There are some truths which the natural reason is able to reach. Such are that God exists, that He is one, and the like.” Aquinas knows that human reason can only get you so far when it comes to the divine. In fact, human reason won’t get you very far when it comes to the divine! Martin Luther explains why:
All heathen known to say that much of God as reason can know from His works, i.e. that He is a creator of all things, and that one should be obedient to Him etc. We know, however, that they don’t yet have the true God, because they do not want to hear His word, which He has revealed about Himself from the beginning of the world to the holy fathers and prophets, and at last through Christ Himself and His apostles.[4]
Luther here makes a critical distinction between natural revelation and biblical revelation. Natural revelation can declare the glory of God. But only biblical revelation can tell someone about Jesus and His sacrifice. Natural revelation can reveal God’s power. But only biblical revelation can comfort with God’s grace. This is why the Psalmist does not leave us stuck in the realm of natural revelation. He continues:
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is Your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. (Psalm 19:7-12)
The Psalmist moves from God’s glory in creation to God’s forgiveness in Scriptural revelation. He asks the Lord to forgive his sins.
The sunny days. The starry nights. The majestic mountains. The gentle breezes. The lazy rivers. In all of these we see God. But only in Scripture do we hear God. For in Scripture God declares to us His intention for us. And His intention is one of salvation. Praise God that we can not only see His handiwork, but read His Word![5]
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
message!
[1] William Paley, Natural Theology (London: J. Faulder, 1809) 1-2.
[2] Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, 1.3.2.
[3] John of Damascus, De fide Orthodoxa, 1.1.
[4] Martin Luther, WA 51:151 (Roland Ziegler, trans.).
[5] For a nice discussion of natural revelation, see Roland Ziegler, “Natural Knowledge of God and the Trinity,” Concordia Theological Quarterly, vol. 69:2 (April 2005) 133-154. Many of my thoughts in this blog are indebted to this article.
Weekend Extra – Agnostic No More!
Agnostoi Theoi. This was the inscription that graced one of a countless number of altars in the city of Athens in the first century. It means, “To an unknown god.” Theoi means “to god” and we get our word “agnostic” from the word agnostoi. Though the Athenians of the first century built many altars to the gods they knew – Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Helios and, of course, Athena, the patron goddess of Athens – the Athenians wanted to leave no god un-worshipped. And so they built an altar to a god they might have missed.
The Athenians were agnostic – at least when it came to the god for whom they had built this altar. But the apostle Paul refuses to leave the Athenians content in their agnosticism. He says:
What you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:23-24, 30-31)
“Your agnosticism,” Paul says, “is not acceptable. The God you call ‘unknown’ is not unknown at all! He has a name – Jesus Christ!”
Importantly, Paul also says this God has “made the world and everything in it” and “is the Lord of heaven and earth.” Zeus was the god of the sky. Poseidon was the god of the sea. Hades was the god of the underworld. Helios was the god of the sun. Athena was the goddess of Athens. Jesus is the God of…everything. This makes Jesus far greater than any of these other gods. Indeed, finally, all of these other gods are not only lesser, they are not even truly gods! Paul says to the Athenians, “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious” (Acts 17:22). The Greek word for “very religious” is deisidaimon. This word can have either a positive connotation, meaning “devotion,” or a negative connotation, meaning “superstition.” Though Paul is probably appealing to the positive sense of the word out of courtesy, finally, the Greek pantheon of gods is nothing more than superstition – and a dangerous superstition at that. The word deisidaimon contains the word daimon, the Greek word for “demon.” Scripturally speaking, because there is only one true God (cf. Deuteronomy 6:4), all other gods are not gods at all, but demons. It will not suffice, then, to be merely “religious,” worshipping whatever god may suit your fancy. For there is only one true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Every other god is a delusion of Satan.
This past weekend in worship Pastor Tucker spoke about the mission trip a group of seventy-seven Concordians took to Crownpoint, New Mexico, a Navajo Indian community nestled in the high hills of the desert Southwest. On the bus ride there, one of our college studnets spent a good deal of time in conversation with one of our bus drivers who was very spiritually confused. He spoke about everyone from Mohammed to Jesus as if they were all essentially the same. The god he worshipped was not specific or defined, but unknown. Blessedly, our student made known to him the true gospel of Jesus Christ. He followed the lead of the apostle Paul.
How about you? Will you follow the apostle’s example? Our world is full of far too much agnosticism. But people can be transformed from ambiguous agnostics to defined disciples of Christ by the gospel. Make the gospel known to someone who needs to hear it!
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Tucker’s
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God and the Debt Crisis
It was a rough day on Wall Street. On Friday, Standard & Poors downgraded United States debt, taking it from its time-honored AAA rating to AA+, with a warning that another downgrade could be in the making. Today, the markets reacted as the Dow Jones plunged 632 points and closed below 11,000, its worst one day loss since December 2008. Though I’m no financial analyst and would never deign to give anyone counsel concerning our fiscal future, right now, the economic horizon of our country does not look particularly bright to me.
The current debt crisis has invoked a fair amount of personal reflection concerning the ethics of managing money. From greed to irresponsibility to politics to entitlements, there is much to be said concerning our pecuniary predicament. But it was an article in The Huffington Post that led me to some new and sober analysis on how we, as Americans, view our finances. The article was titled “Why Atheism Replaces Religion in Developed Countries” and was written by Nigel Barber, who holds a Ph.D. in Biopsychology. Barber’s thesis runs thusly:
Atheists are more likely to be college-educated people who live in cities, and they are highly concentrated in the social democracies of Europe. Atheism thus blossoms amid affluence where most people feel economically secure. But why?
It seems that people turn to religion as a salve for the difficulties and uncertainties of their lives. In social democracies, there is less fear and uncertainty about the future because social welfare programs provide a safety net and better health care means that fewer people can expect to die young. People who are less vulnerable to the hostile forces of nature feel more in control of their lives and less in need of religion.[1]
Barber’s argument, then, is this: The more money you have, the less religion you need. Religion is for those who cannot secure their futures via monetary means.
There are a couple of things that strike me as odd about Barber’s argument, not the least of which is its conflict with much of the empirical evidence. According to Barber, money and religion compete with each other in an inverse relationship. The more money one has, the less religion one needs. But many studies do not bear out this assertion. Take, for instance, the percentage of atheists in our nation throughout the years. In 1944, 4% of our nation’s citizens were atheists. In 1964, it dropped to 3%, remaining steady through 1994. In 2007, it crept back up to 4%.[2] Over the course of sixty-three years, through good economic times and bad, the percentage of people who self-identify as atheists has remained remarkably consistent. Indeed, the economic vitality of our country seems to have no effect on the religious sensibilities of our people. Moreover, because our nation is one of the most economically prosperous in the history of the world, one would expect to see a much higher percentage of self-declared atheists. But this is not the case. Statistically, atheists make up a small segment of our population, regardless of our economic state.
The second thing that strikes me as odd about Barber’s argument is his massive assumption that all human desire can be reduced down to a single need: the need for security. Barber’s argument runs like this: Our foundational need is to feel secure. And we will get the security we so earnestly desire one way or another. Some superstitious people get security from religion. Enlightened people, invigorated by their economic prosperity, receive security from money and the government that doles and dishes it out. But is this really true? Can money, managed by the government nonetheless, really offer the kind of security human beings desire and need? If our latest financial crisis is any indication, it cannot. Finding refuge in money is like finding security in a house of cards. The slightest jolt can send it crashing down.
Additionally, is the need for security really the only fundamental need human beings have? What about the need for purpose in life? Atheism, with its commitment to a closed and sterile universe, cannot offer the transcendent purpose that human beings seem to innately desire. Bertrand Russell, the famous British atheist philosopher, explains with clinical sobriety the view atheism has of the universe and of human beings:
In the visible world, the Milky Way is a tiny fragment; within this fragment, the solar system is an infinitesimal speck. And of this speck our planet is a microscopic dot. On this dot, tiny lumps of impure carbon and water, of complicated structure, with somewhat unusual physical and chemical properties, crawl about for a few years, until they are dissolved again into the elements of which they are compounded.[3]
Is it any wonder Bertrand didn’t make it as a motivational speaker? But Bertrand is simply honest enough to admit what so many atheists have fought so vigorously to sugarcoat and excuse: The inevitable philosophical concomitant of atheism is fatalism. If atheism is true, that means we are born, we live to struggle against the evolutionary goads, and then we die. That’s it. Our lives are merely blips against the backdrop of a cold, and ultimately triumphant, evolutionary system.
This is why atheism will finally never carry the day. Atheism will never carry the day because human beings want their lives to count for something – something bigger than money, something bigger than accomplishments, and something bigger than even this life itself. And only God can meet this want. And it seems only reasonable to recognize that if only God can meet this want, then maybe there is a God who has placed this want in human beings in the first place. Doctrinally, we call this the natural knowledge of God. And all human beings, yes, even atheists, have this knowledge – even if they fight this knowledge.
All of this leads us back to our debt crisis. The economic future of our nation is indeed frightening, but it is not surprising. After all, stocks and bonds, debt limits and balanced budget amendments simply cannot offer what God offers, no matter what Nigel Barber may assert. For capital cannot offer comfort and hope. Only God can offer that. That’s why so many in our nation continue to trust in God – through this crisis and the crises to come.
[1] Nigel Barber, “Why Atheism Replaces Religion in Developed Countries,” The Huffington Post (July 26, 2011).
[2] Matthew Hutson, “One Nation, Without God,” Psychology Today (September 1, 2009).
[3] Bertrand Russell, Sceptical Essays (London: Routledge Classics, 2004), 19.
ABC Extra – Keeping Your Cool
When it counts, I am cool, calm, and collected. When my mother-in-law passed away earlier this year, I did my best to make sure everything was covered for my family. When a dear woman wept in my office as she recounted the grievous way she had been sinned against, I offered the most sober solace I could muster.
When it counts, I am cool, calm, and collected. But then I lose my car keys…and my demure demeanor crumbles. “Where could I have put those stupid things?” I grumble as I stomp around the house, making sure everyone within a fifty-foot radius of me knows exactly how incredulous I am. “This is ridiculous! I set something down for one second and it up and disappears.” Melody, of course, tries to provide some perspective for my not so precarious plight. “It’s no big deal, honey,” she says. “They have to be around here somewhere!” But I am inconsolable. “No!” I retort. “I’m already running late to this appointment. This just makes things worse!”
In our text from this past weekend, Solomon writes, “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense” (Proverbs 19:11). “Having good sense means having a long fuse,” Solomon says. Apparently, then, minor annoyances can cause me to check my good sense at the door. I can get far too frustrated far too fast. I not only react, I overreact. But it ought not be this way.
In the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word for the phrase “slow to anger” is macrothymeo. This is a compound word made up of macro, meaning “big,” or “long,” and thymeo, meaning “an outburst of passion or wrath.” I remember thymeo’s meaning by thinking of a thermometer. Like a thermometer, our anger can get hot and boil and bubble over. To be macrothymeo, then, means to take a long time to get hot under the collar. It means, to borrow a phrase from bestselling author Richard Carlson, to “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
But all too often, I do sweat the small stuff. And my guess is, you do too. In fact, maybe it’s not so much the small stuff that you sweat, but the big stuff. Maybe someone has cheated you out of what is rightly yours. Maybe someone has hurt you in a profound way. Maybe someone has sinned against you and the damage feels irreparable. It’s at times like these when we can be tempted to let anxiety and anger take over. And such anxiety and anger seems justified enough. After all, anger at sin seems not only acceptable, but called for! But Solomon says that a wise man “overlooks an offense.”
How could Solomon say such a thing? Is he encouraging us to just let sin slide? No. But he is encouraging us to let God take care of sin for us. The apostle Paul explains it like this to a group of pagans in Athens: “In the past God overlooked ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed” (Acts 17:30-31). Even as God overlooks the ignorance of unbelief out of His grace, we are called to overlook the offenses of others against us by God’s grace. Now this does not mean that God will not judge the world for its sin. He will. But judgment will be carried out not by you, but by “the man He has appointed.” And that man is Jesus.
Finally, God “overlooks ignorance” not because he does not care about sin, but because He is giving those who are ignorant of Him time to repent and trust in Him. As the apostle Peter says, “Our Lord’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:15). This is why our God does not immediately judge sin and sinners, including you and me. This is why our God is “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15). Like our God, may we too be slow to anger.
Want to learn more? Go to
www.ConcordiaLutheranChurch.com
and check out audio and video from Pastor Josh’s
message!
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