Collage of deToqueville

Here are some quotes from the first part of deToqueville's Democracy in America. From this, you can see the general direction of his thoughts.

Amongst the novel objects that attracted my attention during my stay in the United States, nothing struck me more forcibly than the general equality of conditions.

The equality he speaks of here does not seem to be the modern American idea of 'all men created equal,' but rather the simple lack of a nobility, and the conditions that engenders.

[This tendency toward equality] is the most uniform, the most ancient, and the most permanent tendency which is to be found in history.

...at this point he gives a summary of 700 years of feudal French history.

In perusing the pages of our history, we shall scarcely meet with a single great event, in the lapse of seven hundred years, which has not turned to the advantage of equality.

Whithersoever we turn our eyes we shall witness the same continual revolution throughout the whole of Christendom.

The gradual development of the equality of conditions is therefore a providential fact, and it possesses all the characteristics of a divine decree: it is universal, it is durable, it constantly eludes all human interference, and all events as well as all men contribute to its progress.

The whole book which is here offered to the public has been written under the impression of a kind of religious dread produced in the author's mind by the contemplation of so irresistible a revolution, which has advanced for centuries in spite of such amazing obstacles, and which is still proceeding in the midst of the ruins it has made.

Another wonderful hymn

A while back I posted the lyrics to my favorite hymn of all time. Following is another of my favorites.

There's a sweet, sweet spirit in this place,

And I know that it's the spirit of the Lord;

There are sweet expressions on each face

And I know they feel the presence of the Lord.

Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet Heavenly Dove,

Stay right here with us Filling us with Your love,

And for these blessings we lift our hearts in praise,

Without a doubt we'll know that we have been revived

When we shall leave this place.

Preparing for Worship

Yesterday was a particularly poor day for me. I had the nameless blahs and a headache and felt in no way worshipful. I couldn't even begin to tell you what the pastor said in his sermon. And it's not like it's his fault for failing to engage me in the sermon. I failed to get myself ready to hear what he said.

It's not the first time I've heard that, "prepare yourself for worship," but what does that mean anyway? How do I get myself ready? Is there a how-to guide for that?

Here are a couple of resources I came across with a Google search...

http://blog.togetherforthegospel.org/2006/12/packer_and_swin.html

http://www.calvin.edu/worship/worshipers/preparing/

Starting DeToqueville

Last night I started reading Democracy in America by deToqueville. Interesting book. The first (introductory) chapter reminds me of The Prince. I'd recommend reading these two in parallel:

• Chapters 1-3 of The Prince
• Introduction to Democracy in America

I'll try to have some commentary on these here soon.

Westminster on Scripture

So, I said a while back that I wanted to see what the various historical confessions had to say about biblical authority. Here's Westminster:

...Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men unexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of His will, which is necessary unto salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal Himself, and to declare that His will unto His Church; and afterwards for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which makes the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased...
.
The authority of the Holy Scripture, for which it ought to be believed, and obeyed, depends not upon the testimony of any man, or Church; but wholly upon God (who is truth itself) the author thereof: and therefore it is to be received, because it is the Word of God. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scripture. And the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, the majesty of the style, the consent of all the
parts, the scope of the whole (which is, to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, the many other incomparable excellencies, and the entire perfection thereof, are arguments whereby it does abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God: yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man's salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word: and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general
rules of the Word, which are always to be observed.

Now Westminster is not gospel, but it is, so far as I can tell, a faithful summary of the Gospel, and here it is basically saying that you cannot prove the infallability of the Bible. Of course, we believe that the bible is authoritative, inspired, inerrant, and infallable, but convincing someone of that is purely an act of the Holy Spirit. That is, an act of God himself. Some folks will believe these things about the Bible and some folks won't and the difference is wholly in who the Holy Spirit induces this belief. Where did the authors of Westminster come up with this understanding of the authority of scripture?

However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1st Corinthians 2:9-16; NIV)

Of course, this is not the only passage that leads us to believe that the Bible is authoritative, inspired, inerrant, and infallable. Such passages are scattered throughout the whole, and it is not always the denotated meaning of the passages, but the tone, or connotation of the Bible. The Holy (meaning 'uniquely') Spirit of the thing. (as in the saying 'Spirit of the Law').

My favorite hymn

My favorite hymn/praisesong (from Psalm 51:10f):

Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart oh God
And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away
From thy presence oh Lord
Take not thy Holy Spirit from me

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Bloodshed follows bloodshed

Today RC Sproul was preaching from this passage on the radio:

Hosea 4 (NIV)
Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: "There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There is only cursing, lying and murder, stealing and adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed. Because of this the land mourns, and all who live in it waste away; the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying. "But let no man bring a charge, let no man accuse another, for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you. So I will destroy your mother-my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The more the priests increased, the more they sinned against me; they exchanged their Glory for something disgraceful. They feed on the sins of
my people and relish their wickedness. And it will be: Like people, like priests. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds. "They will eat but not have enough; they will engage in prostitution but not increase, because they have deserted the LORD to give themselves to prostitution, to old wine and new, which take away the understanding of my people. They consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God. They sacrifice on the mountaintops and burn offerings on the hills, under oak, poplar and terebinth, where the shade is pleasant. Therefore your daughters turn to prostitution and your daughters-in-law to adultery. "I will not punish your daughters when they turn to prostitution, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery, because the men themselves consort with harlots and sacrifice with shrine prostitutes—a people without understanding will come to ruin! "Though you commit adultery, O Israel, let not Judah become guilty. "Do not go to Gilgal; do not go up to Beth Aven. And do not swear, 'As surely as the LORD lives!' The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow? Ephraim is joined to idols; leave him alone! Even when their drinks are gone, they continue their prostitution; their rulers dearly love shameful ways. A whirlwind will sweep them away, and their sacrifices will bring them shame.

This should scare the hell out of us. All of us - not just one faction. Not just the other guys who don't agree with us politically. All of us.