The End of Biblical Modernism?

For years skeptics have assailed the scriptures with assertions that the dates, places, and people involved in biblical record were fabrications and fictitious bedtime stories designed to scare little children into behaving.  The motivation behind these scoffing skeptics has always been to discredit the Bible so as to elevate humanity to the level of God.  The so-called “enlightenment” produced unrealistic optimism among humans.  Purportedly, humanity had arrived at an age where such myths were no longer needed; we could solve our own problems, and master our own destiny – without God and the Bible!  Before such a mindset could be implemented, the ancient records of God’s interactions with men had to be discredited; religious modernism was born.

With religious modernism came an attack upon the miracles recorded in the Bible.  The skeptics told us that miracles were obviously fictitious because the regular laws of nature prevented such things like miracles from happening.  Moreover, it was believed that God would not intervene in the events of the world to enact miracles because He was “above” such things.  That the claim against miracles was based upon the philosophical presupposition of empiricism/materialism was ignored, and today, the walls of this philosophical fortress are crumbling.  In 2010 Oxford University Press published the book “The Waning of Materialism.”  The book sets forth the philosophically rigid and technical case against the idea that matter is the only thing that exists.

Along this same line of thought came the Biblical minimalists.  These were figures who said that people such as Solomon and David never existed; the kingdoms of these men were never real; ancient Israel was simply a loosely organized agrarian society with a minimal population, and what we have in the Bible regarding David and Solomon are more closely akin to the tales of King Arthur and the knights of the round table than historical truth.  Of course, under the presuppositions of Biblical modernism, everyone who is anyone adopted these views and set them forth as the truth.

It is with much satisfaction, then, that those of us who never bought into Biblical minimalism have watched archaeological events in the past ten to twenty years unfold.   In the latest Biblical Archaeology Review, there is an article titled “The End of Biblical Minimalism” by Yosef Garfinkel.  The article is a compendium of evidence against the theories set forth by the biblical minimalists.

Among other things, the author points out the discovery of the Tel Dan stela in 1993 which references specifically the “house of David.”  This discovery led to a reevaluation of some of the lines on the Mesha Stela, which also speaks of the “house of David.”  Additionally, the article highlights the numerous radiocarbon dating efforts that have transpired over the past twenty years as more and more archaeological sites from the period of David and Solomon have been unearthed.  The evidence shows that the Biblical chronology is accurate.  Another area of controversy was whether or not there were “urban centers” (multiple fortified cities) as the biblical record indicates.  Excavations at the fortress of Khirbet Qeiyafa have solidly answered this question.  Once again, the Bible is vindicated.

Another argument set forth by the minimalists was that the people of that day and age did not have the education necessary to sustain a scribal population, which would have been necessary given the Biblical narrative.  This objection was overcome with the discovery of the Qeiyafa ostracon, a piece of pottery found in 2009 with writing on it.  The writing was analyzed and discovered to be a document of high quality and caliber such as would be produced by a scribal community.  It is proof positive that the capabilities for composing the biblical narrative existed during the times of David and Solomon.  Additionally, some very interesting jar handles with finger and thumbprints were discovered.  The fingerprints on these jars were the central government’s way of approving these jars as accurate measures for taxes, similar to today’s department of weights and measures stamp you see on the gas pump.  Such jars prove that urbanized civilization was prevalent in 10th century B.C. Judah, exactly as the Bible says.

With more and more archaeological evidence coming to bear upon the Bible, it continues to withstand the onslaught of the skeptics.  Such discoveries continue to corroborate the biblical account and bolster our faith in the word of God.  As biblical minimalists retreat and concede in the face of the overwhelming evidence, we look forward to the day when Biblical modernism is also relegated to the ash heaps of history.  As we are encouraged by these events, nevertheless we continue to proclaim, “Let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4).

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Are you Ready for Heaven?

“I don’t enjoy coming to church.” How often do people use these words or others like them to express their feelings? It may be that others have not used these words, but they have felt them. Think about the implication of these words.

If I really am bored in worship, then how on earth could I enjoy being in heaven? I have little idea about what our activities will be like in eternity, but the Bible does give glimpses into some activities around the throne. In Isaiah chapter six, the prophet described what he saw in the vision. He saw the Lord sitting on a mighty throne with heavenly beings flying around the throne. “And one cried to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” Heaven is a place where God is praised. Think about this. How long would it have been before you got bored being there?

John’s vision of heaven is found in Revelation chapter four. He sees four living creatures around the throne. “And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” Look carefully at what is said, “They do not rest day or night . . .” Heaven is a place of praise. How long would it have been before you got bored being there?

John then sees others sitting on thrones around God’s who leave their thrones, remove their crowns and fall before that mighty throne. They “. . . cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things and by Your will they exist and were created.’” In the next chapter, John sees a host of angels—ten thousand times ten thousands and thousands of thousands—singing praises to the Lord. Heaven is a place of praise. How long would it have been before you got bored being there?

In chapter fifteen, John sees a multitude of those who were victorious over evil. “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the saints!’” Someday, all the redeemed will be in their position. Lord, hasten that day! What a day of rejoicing that will be! Heaven is a place of praise.

Now, if you find other things more enjoyable and exciting than worshiping God, just how happy would you be in heaven? If worshiping God is boring, and you have a casual attitude toward attending worship, how happy would you be in heaven? Heaven is a place of praising God. How happy would you be when we’ve been there 10,000 years, knowing we have no fewer days to sing God’s praise than when we started?

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John Calvin’s Predestination

John Calvin’s Predestination; A Perversion of Scripture

“John Calvin was a French protestant reformer. His doctrine on predestination teaches that there are two classes of people in the world. Those who have been predestined by God before the foundation of the earth to eternal damnation and those that have been predestined to eternal life. Calvin taught that there is nothing one can do to be saved because God has already decided who is going to be saved and who is not going to be saved… Thus, we have the damnable heresy of predestination. This doctrine is at the core of Calvinism and its influence is widely felt throughout much of “Christendom.”

~Brother Jack McNiel; Predestination; http://churchofchristarticles.com/blog/administrator/predestination

Brother McNiel has it exactly right. With all due respect, John Calvin’s personally-perpetrated perversion of the biblical idea of predestination is so incredibly far-fetched and biblically-contradictory as to be almost utterly unthinkable. To even begin to believe that God chose everyone who was going to be saved, as well as everyone who was going to be lost, long before they were ever even born, and that there would be absolutely nothing on earth that they could ever even hope do to influence or change that decision/sentence one iota one way or the other, so completely contradicts so many bible verses as to defy even the most minute and uninformed of imaginations.

Just consider for a moment… If such an utter travesty of biblical teaching were even remotely true, then why on earth would we need the bible with all of its instructions telling us how God wants us to live in order to inherit eternal life anyway? I mean, after all, those already “ear-marked” for eternal life before they were born could live any defiant and despicable way they wanted to, as they could not possibly lose their salvation anyway (according to Calvin, but once again, certainly not according to Christ – see: Galatians 5:4; Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-31; 2 Peter 2:20-22). And as for any of those who might choose to live the most righteous, holy and upright of earthly lives possible out of a love for God and His commandments, what iota of eternal good would it possibly do them if they were already “ear-marked” for eternal destruction?

And additionally; if the bible is true – and it is (Psalm 119:160; John 8:31-32, 17:17), and if God had His way and had not given each and every one of us the free-will-required choice to either love and obey him or to hate and deny Him, then He would have “ear-marked” and sentenced NO ONE to eternal destruction but EVERYONE to eternal life! So He said in His holy word! Note:

“The Lord is… not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 – emphasis mine – DED).

Under the Calvinistic concept of a pre-birth, irreversible selection/rejection process by Providence, John would have had no reason to write his gospel any more than we would have any need of any biblical instruction to point us to God because our eternal destination would have already been signed, sealed, delivered and decided long before we drew our first breath. Verses like John 20:30-31 would be a waste of time and space:

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

John told us very clearly and concisely that he wrote his gospel so that those who read it could learn about Jesus, and that those who subsequently chose to believe in Him because of what they read therein, could then have access to eternal life through Him (See: John 3:16, 36; 8:31-32; 11:25-27; 14:1-6; and also I John 5:13).

No, Calvinism’s doctrine of predestination is a completely contradictory version – and even per-version – of Christ’s N.T. teaching through his divinely-inspired apostles, and O.T. teaching through God’s divinely-inspired prophets and patriarchs (2 Peter 1:16-21; 3:1-3), who always taught that we human beings are not endowed with some irreversible earmark for either earthly or eternal salvation or destruction, but that those are options determined solely by our own educated but freewill choices (See: Deuteronomy 28 and Joshua 24 for example).

Calvin’s perverted predestination doctrine is – in this writer’s humble opinion – just exactly the type of heresy referred to by Peter in places like 2 Peter 2:1-3, and 3:14-16. And I would conclude this paragraph with Peter’s final recorded words of warning which follow immediately on the heels of those verses cited above (and which also clearly state that one can indeed “fall” and be “led away,” based on their own personal decisions and choices as well):

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:17-18).  

And so, to the topic at hand. Having discussed what Calvinism teaches in regard to “predestination,” what exactly does the word of God actually say about it? The word “predestined” occurs in four verses in the New Testament, twice in Romans 8, and twice in Ephesians 1. Let us now explore these two texts in-depth…

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).

The first thing we notice in this text is the first word, “For.” Whenever you see the words “for,” or “therefore,” in any bible text, it is absolutely imperative to understand what the “for” or “therefore” is actually, ‘there for!’ It is there because the author wants you to understand without exception, that what he is about to say is invariably linked to, and based upon, what he just said. He is saying, “Because of this, or based on that, then this…” In other words, anything God says relative to “predestination” in this particular passage, must be explained and understood in light of the immediate context of those “whom He foreknew” from the immediately preceding passage! Those whom God “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” are those “whom He foreknew” would what, from verse 28? Those who would “love God” (See verse 28)! Those whom God knew in advance would choose – in and of their own free will – to love Him (and whether or not we love God or anyone else is completely and entirely up to us – it’s our choice. Love is always a choice {John 3:16, 14:15}; otherwise, it’s not love, its oppression and slavery), THESE He “predestined” to be conformed to the image of His Son; THESE He called, justified, and glorified. But it’s not as if they were originally somehow divinely earmarked for eternal salvation and there was absolutely nothing on earth they could do about it one way or the other; in fact, just the exact opposite is true: whether or not they became one of those “predestined” for these blessings began when they made the 100% personal free will choice to either love and obey God, or hate and reject Him to begin with! And to any and all of those who would make that personal, freewill choice based on the evidence of the written word, God has already predestined to receive those blessings – but it all begins with them and their choice!

Simply illustrated, let’s say that one of our members drives the church van. Every Sunday morning and evening as well as Wednesday evening, he drives around and picks up some of our teens whose parents don’t attend, a few of our elderly, and basically anybody who wants and needs a ride to services. Everybody knows where that van is going and why. It is going to the church building. This has been predetermined. This is the purpose of the journey. This is the journey’s culmination and destination. It has been predetermined by the elders of the church that anyone who chooses to get on that van is predestined to be at the church building for services – but it’s still the choice of every single person in town as to whether or not they get on board. It’s completely up to them. Otherwise, if the elders, in their godly love for lost souls, could somehow override every townspersons freewill, they would predestine or “earmark’ everyone in town to be at services! But their predestinating in advance, everyone who gets on board that van for bible study and/or worship at the church building, in no way negates the fact that each person’s destination is completely determined originally, by their own personal decision and action to either get on board or not!

The same can be seen in the Ephesians one passages on predestination. Whom did God predestine to adoption as sons (vs. 5)? And whom did He choose He would bless before the foundation of the world with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (vss. 3-4)? Simple: Each and every single one of those who would personally and of their own freewill choice, choose to believe in, be placed in, and be faithful in, Christ Jesus (Vss. 1-14). Any person who would personally choose to get on board and “into” Him (just like with the “church van” illustration above) God predestined for a very blessed journey to an extremely glorious destination! But that initial decision was, is, and always will be, 100% up to them.

Now; some in the past have cited Pharaoh as a case in point for Calvin’s concept of predestination. They would tell us that because “God hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (Exodus 7:3, 13; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:8), Pharaoh had no choice and was therefore “predestined” for destruction despite anything he might have said and/or done. Some have also sincerely sought to make a similar claim when it comes to Judas Iscariot over the years, based on passages such as Acts 1:16, which states that Peter, after Judas hung himself, said “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.” Those who would seek to defend Judas on the charge that God “predestined” him to betray Jesus based on this and similar passages, I believe, are perhaps confusing the term “predestination” with “foreknowledge” – and there is a huge and telling difference! There is a colossal difference between knowing in advance someone is going to choose to do something, and compelling them to do it. God has the distinct advantage of knowing all things ahead of time – including how we are going to react and respond in any given situation. It’s like us seeing a movie multiple times and knowing the ending. Just because we can tell someone else who hasn’t seen the movie how the characters are going to respond, certainly doesn’t mean that we are the ones who make them respond in such a fashion. God knew how and what Judas was going to do centuries before he was ever born – but that doesn’t mean that God forced him to do it or that Judas had no choice. Remember, Peter said that Jesus was “…delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23); but God still held those people who had done so, accountable for their actions because they had personally chosen to do so (Acts 2:37-38).

Pharaoh’s situation is very similar. God said He would harden Pharaoh’s heart – but He said this BECAUSE he knew Pharaoh himself would make the freewill choice to harden his own heart early on. In fact, Pharaoh is reported as having chosen to do so by his own, God-given free will (Please see: Exodus 8:15, 32; and 9:34. And as you read Exodus 9:34, please keep in mind the definition of sin from James 4:17). God knew the future, and therefore knew he would. God simply helped Pharaoh along after the fact, to do what He knew Pharaoh would decide to do at the first, in his own heart anyway.

And here’s the all-important bottom line lesson in that for us. Although God does not take away our own, personal, individual free will, but allows us to believe and choose whatever it is that we decide we want to, once we have made that decision, God will – not because He has chosen for us, but because He loves us enough to respect our decisions and wants us to have whatever it is we have decided we want, even if it is against His best efforts and intentions for us – help us to have that which we have chosen…

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).

He goes on to say in the next two verses that those who are “chosen,” became part of the chosen, when they chose to believe the truth of the gospel.

In conclusion then, keep in mind: “The price was paid, the blood was shed, the gift is free, but the choice is yours.” God did not ever predestine any person, at any time, before they were ever born, for either salvation or destruction. God leaves that choice completely up to us. He provided His Son for our sins and His word for our instruction. Whether or not we choose to believe, and accept, and obey what God has provided both for and to us, by believing, repenting, confessing, and being baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38; Galatians 3:26-27) and then abiding in Christ where all the blessings are (Romans 8:1; Ephesians 1:3-14), is solely and completely up to us.

All of those who will choose His way, He has predestined for many great and wonderful blessings. Conversely, all of those who will choose to reject His way, He has predestined for deception and destruction – because that is exactly what they have indicated they want by their own chosen course of action. It’s all up to you – despite Calvinism. Choose wisely!

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Elijah in the Wilderness

In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah fled into the wilderness because he had received word that Jezebel, the wicked queen of Israel, had sworn to have him killed. This threat against his life came shortly after he had defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and had slain 450 of them. After that mighty feat, which God had done through him, Elijah should have realized that God would continue to be with him and would allow no harm to come to him. Yet, Elijah feared for his life and failed to trust in God whole-heartedly and as a result, he tried to run away from his problems.

In 1 Kings 19:13, we find Elijah hiding in a cave in the Sinai Desert. God speaks to him and says, “What doest thou here Elijah?” “Why are you in hiding?” seems to be the question God is asking. In verse 14 Elijah answers, “I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” What Elijah was really saying is, “Nobody else is doing anything, nobody else is as faithful as me and everybody has turned against me, so I’ll just take my things go away.”

What was Elijah really doing, when he was hiding in a cave in the wilderness? He was pouting! He was feeling sorry for himself and was sulking because of it. When I was a child and would go off and pout, my mother would find me pouting and would tease me saying, “Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I’ll go and eat some worms.” She did this to demonstrate how ridiculous I sounded, sulking over some little bit of nonsense. That is what God does to Elijah – He shows Elijah how ridiculous he sounded, thinking that he alone was faithful. God said in verse 18, “Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.”

Elijah was pouting because he thought himself to be the only one who was faithful. This kind of thinking led him to do nothing. Elijah’s sulking caused him quit working for the Lord and to sit on his hands and do nothing. His fear and despair coupled with his mistaken belief that he alone was faithful, caused this great man of God to be paralyzed into inactivity.

The same thing happens to many Christians today. The erroneous belief that no one else is being faithful has led many to become unfaithful themselves. This attitude is without excuse. Even if there were only one man or one family who was faithful, God would still expect those individuals to be working. Look to the example of Noah and his family. They really were the only faithful family left on the face of the earth, yet we have no record of them despairing and becoming despondent. Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5) for one hundred years while the ark was being built. He never converted anybody outside of his immediate family, yet we do not read of him pouting or sulking as we do read of Elijah. Noah never gave up, he never quit, and he never hid himself away in despair.

Many times faithful Christians are made to feel like they are alone. They feel that no one else is willing to work, or that they will be alone if they take a stand against error and the result is that no work is done and the truth is not defended. It is at those times that we need to place our trust in God and know that He will be with us. We will not be alone! When we feel alone, like Elijah felt, we need to realize that we are not truly alone. Somewhere else, in another town or another country, there is a faithful Christian facing the same trials and fears that we face. Perhaps, he too, feels alone. Yet the knowledge that there are other faithful Christians elsewhere gives him hope and drives him to continue in the work of righteousness.

If every faithful Christian, in every town and in every country (even if there were only one such Christian in a given location) were to be like Noah and simply do the best he can where he is and not worry over what another person is doing, or not doing, then the church as a whole would be in much better shape. If there is one thing that is bringing the church down more than any other, it is the inactivity and passivity of the faithful, who have been stricken with the Elijah in the Wilderness Syndrome. The only cure for this disorder is trust in God and perseverance. “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9).

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Identity Theft

I saw a movie on television recently about a woman who was the victim of identity theft.  Someone had opened various accounts in her name and charged thousands of dollars.  Now anyone with common sense would know that this sort of thing is illegal; and anyone who engages in such activity will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.  You see, unless you have the “authority,” it is wrong for you to do something in another person’s name.

I dare say that most people would not sit quietly while someone else made illegal purchases in their name. Yet it amazes me that so many people don’t seem to
mind doing things without authority when it comes to the Bible.  This is a bit of a double standard, is it not?  How do you think the Lord feels when things are done in His name that He did not authorize? Such activity is illegal (Matt. 7:21-23).

In Colossians 3:17 Paul said, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” The expression, “In the name of the Lord” means “by His authority.”  It does not mean that we can do anything we feel is right, as long as we do it in the Lord’s name.  (Could not murderers, thieves, etc. use the same argument?)  To do a thing “in the name of the Lord” is to do it based on what He has already authorized.  Even the Lord’s opposition
understood that “in the name of” indicated a need for authority (Matt. 21:23-27; Acts 4:7, 10).

When a person or even a church does something that Christ has not authorized it is sin.  King Saul acted without divine authority, and so God rejected him as king (1 Sam. 15:1-23).  Moses acted without authority and it cost him entrance into the Promised
Land (Num. 20:7-12).  Nadab and Abihu acted without authority and it cost them their lives (Lev. 10: 1-2).  Their examples are a warning to us (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-12).

Religiously speaking, our Lord is definitely a victim of identity theft (various man-made doctrines, unwarranted worship practices, and unscriptural hierarchies are evidence to this fact).  Jesus said, “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do
the things which I say?” (Lk. 6:46).  A check without a signature is invalid.  Friends, where is Christ’s authorizing signature for the things you do in His name?

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