Ordo Salutis

The Ordo Salutis (literally "order of salvation") is a theological idea that in the salvation of a man there are definite events that take place, and that they take place in a certain order. Of course, there are differing opinions amongst theologians as to how many events and what order, but this is not just a thing that theologians made up to have something to think and write about. The Ordo comes directly from Romans 8.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28f; NIV)

So, according to Paul, the order of salvation goes:

• foreknowledge
• predestination
• calling
• justification
• glorification

Some theological types add a step here or there or separate Paul's steps into multiple steps - all generally justifiable through other bible verses. Here is a discussion of the various forms of the Ordo.

But the thing that is really useful here is the assurance it gives of one's salvation. If you think about it, If you can feel any of these steps or processes at work in your life then you know the previous ones must have happened and the later steps are still to come.

Not me!

You know what is a funny phenomenon? Bias in how we perceive prejudice and evil. Most everybody is willing to admit there is evil out there, but we tend to place it elsewhere.

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For instance, it is pretty easy to find someone to express the opinion that America's public schools are dismal failures (except my school).

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A while back I read a blog by an author from Boston talking about hatred and prejudice in Mississippi and I commented and pointed out that there are hateful, evil people everywhere. As an example, I pointed to a news artcle about a recent hate crime in Boston. This blogger insisted that this was just an isolated case of individual crazy people - not systematic, institutionalized prejudice like in Mississippi.

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A couple of years ago a study was published in which a large group of cardiologists were asked if they thought there were ethnic or gender disparities in patient care. Not surprisingly, more African American and female physicians admitted that there was bias in the health care system - but guess what... They almost all said it happened somewhere else - "not in my practice."

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Well, guess what? Evil is everywhere - and it is not just the other guy's problem!

This is a pretty cool, if somewhat obscure quiz

What Scottish Presbyterian Church would you feel at home in? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Disruption Free Church You score as 'Disruption Free Church'. You think that the spiritual independence of the Church is vital, but you do not disapprove of Establishment Disruption Free Church 78% United Presbyterian 68% Reformed Presbyterian 68% Auld Kirk 55% Free Presbyterian Church 45% 18th Century 'Moderate' Auld Kirk 40%

The pope's preface

The pope's preface in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth, contains a great lesson in itself, as well as telling the reader where the author is going with the book. One of the neatest lessons in the preface is contained within the following quotes from the text. This is what the pope calls canonical exegesis.

If you want to understand the scripture in the spirit in which it was written, you have to attend to the content and unity of the scripture as a whole.

This Christological hermeneutic (method of interpretation) which sees Jesus Christ as the key to the whole scripture and learns from him how to understand the bible as a unit presupposes a prior act of faith. It cannot be the result of a purely historical method.

The really neat thing to me is how it mirrors the Westminster confession in its discussion of scrpture. See esprcially, Chapter 1, paragraphs 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9. The pope and the westminster divines were saying the same thing about understanding the bible - that it is a spiritual activity ad that it must be a holistic thing, taking into acount all of scripture. This canonical exegesis is what Westminster is talking about when it says that the infallible rule of interpretation of scripture is scripture itself (WCOF I;9)

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The pope goes on to debunk the idea that the divinity of Jesus was a relatively late creation historically speaking. The idea that Jesus and his apostles did not see Jesus as divine, but at some point later on the Church created this idea to consolidate its power. The pope brings up the fact that Philippians, which is known to have been written within about 20 years of Jesus' life, contains a fully-developed Christology:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:6-11; NIV)

So, how did such a fully developed Christology, consistent with all of the rest of scripture, come about within 20 years of the events if it was merely a manufactured myth? The pope answers...

Isn't it more logical, even historically speaking, to assume that the greatness came at the beginning and that the figure of Jesus really did explode all existing categories and could only be understood in the light of the mystery of God?

Amen, pope-man! Testify, brother!

Lamour's Education of a Wandering Man

Education of a Wondering Man is such a lovely, rambling autobiography of Louis Lamour that I can hardly tell where to begin. It is a prolonged reminiscence of books that influenced Lamour throughout his life and his remembrance of the varied times and places in which he read them. Lamour was such a fanatical reader that he averaged greater than 100 books a year from the 1930's until his death - and most all of that either nonfiction or 'high' literature. The man was voracious!

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But it is not just a bunch of lists of "I read this, then I read that." It is an treatise on how to educate oneself through reading. Lamour's lack of use for our modern idea of schooling was obvious. It was almost an unschooling book rather than a self-education or homeschooling book.

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Lamour also comes across in this book as the ultimate champion of secular humanism. he cites ideas that pretty much all of humanity's problems can be solved through better education - and that through reading. This verges on a transcendence type idea in this book.

Personally, I do not believe that the human mind has any limits but those we impose ourselves...I do not believe that man has even begun to realize who he is or what he can become...

Several times throughout the book, I got to wondering what such a well-read man thought of the bible, or what his relationship to Christianity was, when all of a sudden, he answered that directly. He appeared to place all religious texts on the same level as other literature. I can't find the quote right now, so I'll paraphrase...

I have read the Christian Bible several times and found it instructive. I have also read the Koran and it was useful too.

While I obviously don't agree with these ideas there is a lot that is instructive in the book. It is a charming memoir of a mind-bogglingly well-read man. The tone of the book is that of slow, patient, patronly instruction. I'd recommend reading it.

If you're interested in picking up a copy, please check out my Amazon store...

Jesus of Nazareth

I am reading a wonderful book by the new pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger). The book is titled Jesus of Nazareth and it is surprising, at least to me, in a lot of ways. First of all, the mere fact that the book exists is surprising to me. I can't remember former popes publishing in popular, mainstream venues. But then again, I probably just don't know about all the other popes and the books they've written.

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As you start into the book, Ratzinger makes it clear that anyone in the world is welcome to disagree with him on the topics discussed in the book, so long as they disagree in good will. A pleasant nod to papal fallibility.

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The book keeps coming back around to what appears to be its central topic The historical fact of Jesus - that Jesus is who the bible says he is - not who the liberal modern scholars say he may have been like (or what they would like him to be like).

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The combination of the following things make for a very good read and a refreshing biblical theological message.

• Ratzinger, one of the best-trained theologians in the world with the complete backing of the Roman Catholic Church and the virtually unlimited scholarly resources making a conservative statement about the historicity and reliability of the Holy Bible's account of our savior's life.
• The willingness of the head of the Roman Catholic church to engage the rest of the world in a theological conversation from a position of, if not equal standing, at least collegiality. The tone of dialogue rather than of infallible papal bull.
• The ecumenical tone of the book. Ratzinger quotes C.S. Lewis (Episcopalian) and makes positive or at least neutral references to scholarship coming out of the eastern Church. This book has a tone of catholicism (with a little-c) rather than Catholicism (with a Capital-C).
• Neither last nor least, the wonderful, educational homilies related to Christ's life.

Highly Recommended. I can't wait to get back to it. It's one of the few theological books that reads like a novel without being watered-down pap. If a theology book can be a page-turner this one is.

Can't we just stay here in Gilead?

Yesterday I thought both sermons (morning and evening) were excellent. Lane is doing a series in the mornings of what the bible has to say to us about elders and deacons. In the evenings he is going through the beginning of Joshua, using that as a concrete example of a church leader. Both series are excellent (I wish he'd publish his sermons on the web in MP3 or PDF format - hint hint) but I'm really looking forward to the talks on Joshua.

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Yesterday evening he worked through Joshua 1:10 and following:

And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, "Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, 'Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.'"
And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, "Remember the word that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, 'The LORD your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.' Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise."
And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you, as he was with Moses! Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous."

In the first part of this passage, Joshua was telling the people to get ready to take a leap of faith. They had no visible means of crossing the Jordan but they were to prepare to cross it within three days. "Get ready for a miracle and get ready RIGHT NOW!" The point that Lane siphoned out of this is a good one, "Be ready to move when the LORD moves."

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The second part of this really stands out to me, and always has. The two-and-a-half tribes had whined to Moses in Numbers 32, "Please let us stay in Gilead. Don't make us cross over the river. We've had it with this awful pilgrimage and we're fine right where we are." Needless to say, Moses was frightfully wroth. He told them they were lazy (just like their no-good parents) and that there was no way they were going to sit on their butts on this side of the river while their brothers were fighting the Canaanites on the other side of the river. They struck up a deal with Moses that they'd help their brothers fight over the river if they just didn't have to move their stuff any more. I personally understand this after having moved 6 times in 5 years. I might have sat on the shores of Gilead and whined too.

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Anyway, Moses died and left Joshua in command and he held the two-and-a-half tribes to their deal they'd made with Moses. As awful as war is, and as bombarded as we are these days with the apparently inept workings of our leaders in our current war, This passage really stands out to me in favor of the idea of Just War Theory. There are times and situations when it is inexcusable to sit in safety and comfort when our brothers are in trouble across the river. In such case we have to get off our butts, take up swords, and go across the river to help our brothers. Then when we have secured our brothers' lands we can return to our comfort.

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Now, of course in the above passage, you might argue that these were true blood relatives - family members that Joshua was commanding the two-and-a-half tribes to fight for. But if you don't think we should go across the river to help folks that are not our own people, read Luke 10:25-37.

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The really neat thing about the third part of this passage is that the people are encouraging Joshua just like God Himself encouraged Joshua. They tell him to be strong and courageous. "Don't worry, Joshua. It looks tough but you're God's man and we will follow you. Be strong! don't worry!" Compare Joshua 1:6, 7, 9, and 18.