Feb 20, 2021 | Parents and Family
In my first post I addressed part of this misunderstanding, that “there is absolutely no correlation between faithful (or reasonably faithful) work in this with the outcome of personal faith.” The “work” is a reference to raising our children in the faith. The concern of my critic, and I think this is true for others who agree with him, is that I believe, “If you do X, then Y should result.” And I replied, You’re darn right I do! I want to be perfectly clear in this post as to why I think having a reasonable expectation of results is the biblical position, that whenever you do X, no matter what X is, it is reasonable to expect certain results. It could be raising children in the faith, it could be tending a garden, building a house, practicing to hone your art or craft, building a business, getting a degree, anything X human beings do. Can we be absolutely certain of or Guarantee results, or that we are in control of the results? Of course not! But to say that because of this it follows that we can’t then have a reasonable expectation of the results, or be confident that we can produce results is, well, unreasonable. And unbiblical. (more…)
Feb 14, 2021 | Uncategorized
I’ve given an overview of the misunderstanding, so I wont’ repeat it. I’ve taken what I think are the main points of disagreement by one critic who does a great job of distilling concerns some Christians have with what they think I’m arguing in the book:
As parents who have done everything we can to catechize, take our kids to church morning and evening, do evening devotions, etc., I can say: Only the Lord’s work prevails. Yes, hiding the Word in their hearts is key. But there is absolutely no correlation between faithful (or reasonably faithful) work in this with the outcome of personal faith. I fear that your approach, makes parental guilt a more oppressive burden. The Holy Spirit is God. He alone can regenerate hearts. I know that you say this. The means of grace are the means of grace, but the Spirit works through them when and where he pleases. I just worry that your approach is more, “If you do X, then Y should result.” I fear that’s more harm than help—for parents and children.
There is error here mixed with truth, and I want to be careful how I unpack it, but first I will address a criticism I’ve received that bears on my credibility. I was told in so many words that I believe what I believe because it just so happens that we’ve raised three children who have grown into adulthood and have not abandoned the faith. If any of them had, so the argument goes, I would not think the way I do. I can’t refute a hypothetical, but since I’ve affirmed that we can’t guarantee anything and are in control of nothing, the point is moot, an excuse not to engage my arguments. I will address exactly what I mean by these two affirmations of denial in due course. (more…)
Feb 12, 2021 | Parents and Family
When we lived in Illinois we had gone to a church for a number of years that was large and typically Evangelical, but not Reformed. That was frustrating for me, a couple years before we left for Florida I started looking for a church that preached the doctrines of grace, as they’re called, and embraced Calvinism. I found such a church, New Covenant Church, and it so happened that the pastor is a fellow Italian-American, Chris Castaldo, who takes great pride in his Italian heritage. We hit it off when he learned of my last name, and he was a good friend while we were there. I was writing the book at the time, and he said he’d love to read it when it was published. It took forever, it seems, but he got the book and read it in only a couple days, and was very kind in his praise. He said he’d like to ask me a few questions, and post that at the church’s blog, and you can find that here.
Feb 6, 2021 | Explanatory Power
In my last post I discussed the explanatory power of Christianity, why it better explains reality as we experience it than any other religion or worldview. I wasn’t able to address why it isn’t only Christianity as a worldview that makes sense of everything, but specifically the gospel. Let’s start with our own consciousness. There are many common threads to how human beings encounter themselves and the world, but none as common as conscience. We, at almost every moment of our existence, encounter the notion of right and wrong, good and evil, and that none of us measure up to the standard, whatever we think that is. Because the moral law is built into the universe and into our beings, nobody lives up to their own standards, let alone those of a holy God. I don’t often quote Immanel Kant approvingly, but he got it right when he wrote in the Critique of Practical Reason:
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not seek or conjecture either of them as if they were veiled obscurities or extravagances beyond the horizon of my vision; I see them before me and connect them immediately with the consciousness of my existence.
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Jan 29, 2021 | Explanatory Power
Ideas for blog posts often seem to come when I start praying in the morning. As has been my habit for almost seven years, every morning I wrestle my way through a text of Scripture and write my thoughts in my uncreatively named Walk Through the Bible blog. Contemplating the word of the living God, the Creator of all things, can’t help but inspire, so thoughts bubble up as I pray. Then I stop, say to myself, I have to write that down! Such is the subject of this post. I’ll explain why that may have happened with this specific thought at this specific time, but it goes back to a quote from C.S. Lewis I put on the cover of my book, and one of the most powerful apologetic (defense of the truth claims of Christianity) sentences I’ve ever encountered. It’s no surprise it came from the pen and mind of Lewis:
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
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