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anathaniel
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Country: Canada
State: Ontario
Metro: Mississauga
Gender: Male
Interests: Reformed theology, political science and economics provide sufficient intellectual stimuli. I have recently become enamored of Austro-libertarian thought.
Expertise: I have a mathematical mind; solving word problems is as straightforward as factory work to me (after a bit of practice I get the hang of it). This is probably why I come off sounding dry.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Banking/Finance
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
7/7/2005
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| Ever since Tom introduced me to the White Horse Inn, I've listened to its weekly broadcast ever since, and it never ceases to amaze me.
I recommend that you listen to their latest broadcast entitled "Shallow Waters". In it, they discuss the strong correlation (if not causation) between the decline of faith in North America and the shifting of emphasis away from catechetical indoctrination and onto psychological and emotional experience. I won't say any more lest I spoil it for you.
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| Genesis 9:7: "And you, be fruitful and multiply, teem on the earth and multiply it."
Matthew 28:19: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."
Question: is Matthew 28:19 a New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament commandment to "multiply"?
I'm throwing this out here to see what others think.
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| "It is a well-known
phenomenon that, the less people care about the pure doctrine, the more
religious they become and the more value they ascribe to special
events."
I saw this quoted on another blog and I decided to reproduce it here because I liked it so much.
Perhaps the clergyman who said it didn't even realize what specifically he was onto: namely, that biblical and creedal illiteracy in addition to ignorance of systematic theology (in short, the typical evangelical emphasis on "heart knowledge" at the expense of "head knowledge") comprise the symbiotic wellspring of annoying religiosity and superstition.
I'm not certain of who said it, but I believe he is currently a pastor in the Canadian Reformed churches.
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| Does anyone remember the uproar caused on these message boards by a few fringe Reformed laypersons when they presented their beliefs to us? It seems like whatever momentum they caused they have since lost. Also, it has ended not with a bang, but with whimper.
For those of you who don't know what Kinism is, it's (to put it simply) the belief that God has mandated that each race of man be separate from one another. Kinists attempt to demonstrate this by interpreting the Babel narrative to mean that if all races of man united, they would do so under one ideology and attempt - in a Promethean feat of strength - to usurp God's rightful place as Lord over creation. God prevented this by confusing their languages and dispersing them their separate ways - and what God hath put asunder, let no man unite.
While Kinists are adamant about not being "racists", the evidence indicates otherwise.
First, most of them exist in a faction within southern Presbyterianism who believe that the Confederacy, which represented the pinnacle of Western Civilization, should be tangibly restored. They justify this through historical revisionism (e.g. "slavery wasn't all that bad"). Two questions come to mind when I hear this: first, if slaves were treated so well, why did so many of them flee to Canada using an "underground railroad" for fear of being caught? Second, if the Confederacy was indeed the feat of enlightened statecraft the Kinists say it was, why did it last for only four years? Why could they not get any other country in the world to recognize them? Surely this would be a simple task for the greatest country on Earth.
Second, they say that while all races "have a right to exist", the white race has a sole claim to building and maintaining civilization, and the extent to which it is diminished within society is directly proportional to the decline of civilization and ultimately the devolution of the human species itself. Thus, the "white race" represents humanity's conscience. One can only conclude from this that this race has a divine right of kingship over every other. How one could conclude otherwise is beyond me.
Anyway, I'm glad that Kinism has not spread beyond the lunatic fringe who endorse it. I'm glad it has bucked the trend of heresies spreading far, wide and deep before they are expunged.
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| Does the Bible condone a practice that modern civilization has decreed to be barbaric? For those who lack a thorough understanding of the matter, this has been a difficult subject to address. I believe this article provides a good foundation for treating the issue more fairly, albeit its treatment by no means furnishes a complete understanding on the subject.
At this point - this is merely a postulation on my part - I believe one of the reasons why slavery existed in the Ancient Near East and not today is because their society did not share the same level of scientific and technical knowledge that we do today. Their more primitive economy produced and allocated resources far less efficiently. In many cases, families didn't even have access to markets and what they produced was sufficient only to feed themselves. Slavery was necessary to increase productivity without increasing production costs. Thus, a surplus could be created at no added expense to sell on a market. Any accumulated capital from retained earnings could then be re-invested into the family farm (by, for example, purchasing farm implements) or used to increase consumption.
Slavery does not exist today because we have no need of that institution. Capital-intensive industries are capable of producing far more at a cheaper price than the ancient Israelites could have ever dreamed. We also know that well-educated and motivated individuals are needed to operate those machines and conduct research into further improving their productivity and efficiency. Slaves simply lack that level of education and motivation, therefore the rate of return on hiring slaves would pale in comparison to purchasing capital equipment. To put it bluntly, computers and machines are the new slaves.
I don't want to say too much at this point, but once again, this is mere speculation, at least for now.
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