DeTrinitate | Page 25 of 28 | Writings and Reviews

Trump, Manifest Destiny, and Canada

November 17, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever.

– Thomas Jefferson

Welcome Images. Without Modification. License

Some Christians in the USA have viewed this election cycle as if the nation’s existence depended on November’s vote count. If the wrong candidate won, the USA would go into decline, causing Christian freedom and/or witness to shrivel. In effect, the election would either continue or curtail the USA’s manifest destiny.

But the worry of many US Christians is unfounded. The election of an immoral candidate will not destroy the USA’s economy or its place as a world power. The hypothetical demise of the USA (something I would never wish for!) would have zero impact on God’s kingdom.

How to Complain Christianly

November 16, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

The Psalms also teach us to talk to God, to pray. They teach us how to complain to God and to praise God. How to accuse God, how to honour God. How to lament to him, how to thank him.

Many of us probably feel comfortable praising and honouring God, but it feels intuitively wrong to complain, accuse, or lament to him, and yet the Psalms often teach us to do just that.

We need to be very careful here, because simply telling God how you feel in all its ugliness can be a recipe for darkness, despair and God’s displeasure. The Psalms avoid these dark paths, and they instead lead us down a road of sorrow, reconciliation, and praise. They supply divine words to our distasteful experience. By speaking the words of the Psalms to God, we are really using words supplied by the Holy Spirit to work through our relationship with our Father. [Read more…] about How to Complain Christianly

The Problem of Praise

November 15, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

One thing I have asked of Yahweh, and I will seek after it. It’s that I might sit in Yahweh’s house every day of my life to gaze at the beauty of Yahweh and learn in his temple.

– David in Psalm 27:4

The Psalms constantly command readers to praise God, yet doesn’t this make God out to be a unsatisfied narcissist? The Psalms also seem to make praise something of a transaction: do this and I will praise you, yet doesn’t this make God like the pagan gods of old? Such questions, however, betray a misguided perspective of the idea of praise. [Read more…] about The Problem of Praise

How to Feel Emotions Christianly

November 14, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

By Phillip Cappe without change. Click picture for license. — By Phillip Cappe, without change. Click picture for license.

Have you ever wondered if there is a Christian way to feel? All of us experience deep seated anger, depths of depression, and delights of joy. Sometimes we let emotions overwhelm us without giving it a second thought. Yet there is a distinctively Christian way that we should experience these emotions. It is the Psalms that teach us how to handle times of joy and sorrow.

The early Christians understood this. Consider the words of Saint Athanasius in his Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms: “These words become like a mirror to the person singing them, so that he might perceive himself and the emotions of his soul” (§12). When he reads the Psalms he sees himself as if looking into mirror, reflecting back to him the emotions of his soul. When the Psalmist cries, Athanasius sees his tears; when the Psalmist shouts with joy, Athanasius sees himself smile. [Read more…] about How to Feel Emotions Christianly

Tom Wright and Tom Schreiner On the Cross

November 13, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

Tom Wright and Tom Schreiner recently participated on a Christian radio called Unbelievable? They discuss Wright’s new book The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus’ Crucifixion, and they disagree somewhat sharply on how to emphasis the wrath of God and the idea of penal substitution in the Bible. To listen to the this fascinating discussion, click here.

4 Bad Reasons to Avoid Reading Old Books

November 12, 2016 by wagraham Leave a Comment

It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones.

C. S. Lewis

Picture by Albert Bridge — By Albert Bridge without alteration. License.

In his introduction to Athanasius’ On The Incarnation, C. S. Lewis engages in something of an apologetic for reading old books. Lewis felt reading old books was essential, even though the wisdom of reading old books is not always self-evident. But it is a good idea to read old books, and you should value reading them for they will benefit you in numerous ways.

There are a number of bad reasons to avoid reading old books, which you should never use as an excuse to avoid reading old works of literature. I list four of them here, quoting Lewis liberally to make the point. [Read more…] about 4 Bad Reasons to Avoid Reading Old Books