Mystery solved?

There has been much outrage and bewilderment in the media these past few days about how on earth a Yemeni terrorist managed to sneak explosives through security, while flying on a one-way ticket without luggage, without a passport, and without a credit card, especially when the CIA had been warned repeatedly about this particular individual. How could all of our elaborate security apparatus fail so monumentally when crunch time came?

Of course, the most logical resolution to the mystery is the one that no one in the media will ever consider...maybe the security apparatus wanted to let him through....

After all, things have been a little too peaceful for too long, and complacent people don't make good imperialists. Read more!

Homosexuality and Catholicity, Part 2: Evangelical Hypocrisy

Whoops...I never posted the second half.

Finally, let me explain part of why I am so concerned about the typical evangelical response to this issue (though this criticism is not aimed at you).
You alluded to 2 Timothy 3, from which I shall now quote,
“For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” You quoted some commentator who glossed “avoid such people” as “have no fellowship with them, depart from their communion, withdraw from them, and come out from among them: this passage sufficiently justifies the reformed churches in their separation from the church of Rome.” If this is so, then surely we are of all men most to be pitied! For who is not a lover of self, or a lover of money? Who is not proud, or ungrateful? Who does not love pleasure rather than God? Obviously, we cannot avoid every sinner, so presumably this applies to those who obstinately cling to their sin and spurn calls to repentance. What we see with homosexuality is a serious ethical confusion--an acceptance of activities which, though our culture tolerates them, are clearly immoral. But is homosexuality the only phenomenon where we see this in the church today? No, and abortion is not the only other one. At least since World War II, a great number of conservative Christians have embraced the world’s approach to war, an unrestricted, utilitarian, “you gotta do what you gotta do” approach. Christians have even endorsed nuclear weapons, carpet bombing, and more. If this isn’t a great ethical confusion, what is? Conservative Christians have also happily endorsed economic practices and uses of money that earlier generations would have considered terrible examples of greed, luxury, and exploitation. American Christianity is rife with this kind of mammonolatry, as Doug Jones has pointed out over the past couple years; and indeed, as he has also pointed out, economic sins are more harshly condemned in Scripture than are sexual sins (e.g., notice that the chief criticism of Sodom in the Bible--Ezek. 16:48-50--is not for her sodomy, but for luxury and neglect of the poor).
If we are going to take a hard line on homosexuality--refuse to associate with them, excommunicate them, call down judgment upon them--what are we going to say about these ethical confusions of ours? “For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Mt. 7:2) If we’re really serious about righteousness in the Church, we need to be just as hard on our own sins as others, and that means that we need to be careful about using serious sin as a reason to divide a church, because there’s enough serious sin around to keep the Church dividing until judgment day.
Conservative Christians rarely seem to notice that after Paul’s harsh condemnation of homosexuality and idolatry in Romans 1, he turns to us and says, “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. Do you suppose, O man--you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself--that you will escape the judgment of God?” (2:1-4)
Yikes. Clearly Paul does not mean that the Jews he is addressing practiced exactly the same sorts of things, but theat they were guilty of sins just as serious. Are we evangelicals guilty of sins as serious as confusion about homosexuality? Maybe, maybe not. After seeing American conservative Christianity through the eyes that our brothers in Britain can see us, I really do wonder whether we’re not worse sometimes. And yet conservative condemnation of homosexuality and abortion has given us a convenient way to hide our guilt. We focus so obsessively on the sins of liberal Christianity, filling ourselves to the gills with righteous indignation, that we manage to avoid ever turning the sword of the Word on ourselves, to divide our own flesh and spirit, discerning the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Until we can learn to be just as honest about the seriousness of our failures to understand and apply Jesus’s standard of godliness as we are about those of brothers in more liberal churches, we had better tone down the rhetoric of judgment and division, of shunning and schism, lest God judge us with the measure by which we judge, and come and strike the land with a curse. Here is the beginning of my post. Read more!

Homosexuality and Catholicity, Part 1: Unity and Purity

After the presentation of the nine (or eight) theses given in the previous post, I received an email from one of the participants, which voiced concern about sacrificing righteousness for the sake of unity. This gave me the opportunity to clarify my thoughts in a lengthy response, which I shall post here in two segments. Here's the first, much longer section:

First of all, then, I think you are mischaracterizing my position when you speak of it as a willingness to sacrifice righteousness for the sake of unity. In fact, I think it is deeply problematic to articulate the problem in these terms. I do not think we should set up two poles, righteousness and unity, and play them off against each other in a kind of zero-sum game. Properly understood, neither is possible without the other. Our unity in Christ through one table, one Spirit, one baptism, is the only possible basis for righteousness--a house divided against itself cannot stand. Only as we are nourished by the common life of the body of Christ are we enabled to pursue righteousness and purity, to grow up into maturity, into the fullness of Christ. A purity of individuals or sects that holds aloof from the common table of the Body is no true purity. Likewise, unity that is not founded upon Christ’s gift of justification and sanctification to his people, which does not unite us in a common commitment to and pursuit of holiness, is not Christian unity; at best it is cooperation and compromise, which, while occasionally valuable in their proper place, cannot be the foundation of the Christian Church.


But of course, things are more complicated than this, because both unity and purity exist in the tension of the already/not yet. We certainly know this to be the case with purity. We have all been washed, we have all been sanctified, the whole Church bears Christ’s name and is robed in His righteousness. And yet, we wear the robe badly, and our own soiled garments underneath often peek through, so we must constantly strive to cleanse ourselves and one another. As we seek to grow in purity, however, we must remember that what counts above all is the commitment to strive; we are all riddled with sin in our various ways, and so the presence of actual sin in our midst, while it must never go unconfronted, is an inevitable feature of our pilgrimage. Likewise, we are not called upon to create unity--we already are one in Christ--all who have been baptized in his name, who listen to his word and eat around His table. Unity is a starting point, not a destination. And yet, of course, we cannot rest secure in this; just as we are simul justus et peccator, we are simul unus et divisus. We must patiently strive to overcome these divisions in love, and sometimes, when they are severe enough, they may be beyond our ability to overcome, but never God’s. When our efforts fail, we await God’s action to restore the alienated party to oneness of mind or else, perhaps to cut it off and kill it for the life of the body. But we must remember that this latter, fearful act of judgment is ultimately God’s, not ours; even when excommunication is pronounced, it is not so much a putting of someone outside the fellowship of the body, as a recognition that they have already put themselves outside and must therefore be called to repentance.

Probably you agree with all this, but my point is simply to say that I do not want us to act as if we find ourselves standing on some neutral ground and weighing before us two alternatives--righteousness and unity. Rather, we find ourselves already in unity, and called to maintain it and pursue it, while also growing in righteousness, a task that requires naming and rebuking the sins in our midst--something that is part of the task of unity, rather than opposed to it. Ephesians 4 and 5 seem to me to be a wonderful statement of this simultaneous reality of and call toward unity and purity in the Church. Paul demands both, and the key for achieving this is love (4:2, 16).

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So my concern is to discern what forms this pursuit of righteousness takes within a body that is inescapably unified.

Before going on, I should flesh out what seems to me an implication of us being “inescapably unified”:
“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” (1 Cor. 12:26)
That is to say, at one level, we do not have a choice as to whether to be “contaminated” by a particular sin in the Body--we already are. If certain branches of the Church are practicing or condoning serious sin, then the whole Church suffers, and the whole Church, in a sense, bears responsibility. This notion of corporate responsibility is clear in the Bible, as in your example of Israel in the wilderness, where the whole is often held responsible for the sins of the many. We can learn from the example of great Old Testament leaders like Nehemiah and Daniel, who both pray to God confessing the sins of Israel--sins which are not theirs (see Neh. 1, Dan. 9). They recognized that the whole people of God bore responsibility for the sins of the people, even those who had not personally taken part. So, I think it is first of all important that conservative Christians acknowledge our “participation” in the sins of more liberal churches, a participation that exists whether or not we remain in outward fellowship with them. This is of course not to say that “Oh, we’re all tainted already, we might as well sin boldly now.” Obviously, we can always fall more deeply into sin, and a concern to avoid being led astray may require an attenuated fellowship with serious sinners; but we should be under no illusions that we can purify ourselves of all stain by picking and choosing our brothers in Christ.

Mere fellowship with a sinner, then, does not constitute sin. Dishonest fellowship--fellowship which tries to ignore sin--does constitute sin. If I believe a fellow Christian is in serious sin, then I must (prudently, patiently, and charitably, to be sure, but firmly) let him know that I think so, but then I can, and indeed must, continue to fellowship with him as long as he is willing to let me. If he is hardened in his sin and wants nothing of my advice, our communion will likely be severed, despite my continuing attempts to reach out to him. But if he is willing to listen to me, even though he may disagree and is convinced that his actions are defensible, then I should remain in fellowship with him, and indeed, attempt to discern whether I cannot learn something from him, while still maintaining an uncompromising opposition to what I see to be sinful.

With the current chaos about homosexuality in the Church, I certainly do not want to call on Christians to put their hands over their mouths, look the other way, and pretend like nothing is wrong. That would be sacrificing righteousness for the sake of unity. By all means, we must maintain a faithful and fearless witness to the truth (though, I would add, whenever possible we must do this in charity and patience, with particular concern for the well-intentioned weaker brother, rather than unnecessarily alienating and dividing by fire-and-brimstone rhetoric). But this action, this standing up for righteousness, is not an action against unity, but is rather a call to unity in Christ in the midst of a house divided. Why then should this stand be an act of division? “Divisions will come, but woe to the one through whom they come,” as O’Donovan says. If an individual, or a church, or even a denomination, makes a stand for righteousness, then, no matter how charitably they do it, divisions will come. But let the unrighteous be the ones who break fellowship, not the righteous. Why not say, “This is Christ’s Church, and we are worshipping Christ, so by golly, we’re not going anywhere unless you throw us out!” This, it seems to me, is the general pattern of how the faithful in Israel resisted the widespread unfaithfulness of the people of God in the Old Covenant, and in the New Covenant, we are summoned to even greater charity, patience, and faith that God will defend his Church.

Now, though I feel strongly about this, perhaps there are cases where a separation is necessary. But is homosexuality really that point? I do not want to minimize the sin, but certainly, there are worse ones--blasphemy and idolatrous worship being near the top of the list.

When talking about the practice and condoning of homosexuality, it seems to me that we have to be careful about discerning two different phenomena. One is the product of a deep-seated rejection of the Bible’s authority and rebellion against God, which may manifest itself in a high-handed contempt for God’s word or else in a hypocrisy hidden underneath a veneer of piety and faith. This kind of sin is utterly destructive, and must be resisted fiercely (though still with the aim of bringing the erring brother or leader to repentance). This, I take it, is the sort of sin that Paul warns against in 2 Tim. 3 and Ephesians 5 (Titus 3, the other passage you cited, seems to be a warning not so much against the impure, as the divisive, and so would support my concerns more than yours, though, as I have been arguing, the two cannot be separated). If a Church leader has a person like this in his flock, he must discipline him; if a leader himself is like this, the leaders to whom he is accountable have the responsibility to remove him. If proper disciplinary action is not being taken, then fellow-believers may need to shun the sinner, even while still holding the promise of fellowship if repentance occurs.

Then there is the Christian who practices or condones homosexuality while genuinely desiring to serve God and build up the Church. These exist--I have met them. And it should be no surprise to us that they exist, because within our own circles, there are well-intentioned Christian leaders with huge moral blind spots (e.g., I would suggest about war and greed--more on that below). Now, with folks like this, more patience is necessary--a willingness to work toward common understanding while refusing to compromise on allegiance to Christ and His Word. If this “well-intentioned” sinner is a fellow layman, then patient instruction, dialogue, and occasionally rebuke is in order. If he is a church leader, then for one’s own sake or one’s family’s, it may be prudent to find a different church home, but the leader and his congregation should not be shunned. If you are a leader, in the position to discipline a layman or clergyman sinning in this way, then formal disciplinary action may prove necessary, but should not be your first resort. If we cannot learn to distinguish this latter kind of sinner from the former, and to address him in patience and love, with a willingness to learn and repent of our own errors, then we are not being “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (Ep. 4:3)

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It occurred to me after reading your email that perhaps there is a problem with our readiness to invoke Paul’s exhortations to shunning and excommunication in the current context. There’s two reasons. First of all, my main concern has not been to say, “How should church leaders address the sins, homosexual or otherwise, of those under their authority?” Obviously they should address them, by instructing, rebuking, and if necessary, formal discipline. This is what I would call the vertical dimension. My main concern has been to address the horizontal, and perhaps what we might call the “reverse-vertical” dimensions--that is to say, how does the believer who is not in authority over an erring brother (or the church which is not in authority over an erring sister-church) engage him (horizontal dimension), and how does he engage an erring leader (reverse-vertical dimension)? So, of course the Bishop of Edinburgh ought to do his job and refuse to ordain the homosexual curate; but, given that he didn’t do his job, what’s my job? Do I take it upon myself to “un-ordain” him? Do I still accept that he is a leader in the Church? If not, do I still accept that he is a brother in the Church? How should other churches treat him, and treat the Bishop who ordained him? How should other denominations? These are the questions that are vexing me. This is not a matter of tolerating unrighteousness for the sake of unity, but simply a matter of discerning the appropriate and lawful means to resist unrighteousness. I can strongly believe that a thief should be imprisoned, but that does not mean that I have the right to seize him, convict him, and lock him up in my basement for ten years.

Now, I do not deny that there is a time and a place for “horizontal” or “reverse-vertical” judgment, in which a believer or a congregation must withdraw the right hand of fellowship from those in gross sin, but even in such cases, should we not act with great fear and trembling, and praying that such a break of fellowship may be a very temporary meausure?

Second, however, it seems that even for those leaders responsible to exercise discipline, like Rowan Williams in the Anglican Communion, Paul’s exhortations cannot always be carried over so easily in our setting. For leaders of small house-churches, or even men like Titus or Timothy, who seem to have been responsible for overseeing quite a few churches, discipline is a personal, relational, face-to-face action. Practiced this way, excommunication can be quite effective. However, to lop off a whole branch of the Church, containing thousands of churches and millions of members, both faithful and unfaithful (the sort of action many conservatives are clamoring for today), does not work the same way. Obviously, the sheep must be cared for and protected from wolves, but turning the whole flock loose is not the way to do it. Honestly, I’m not quite sure what exactly is the way to do it, but clearly, it is complicated, and requires great discernment and patience. For this reason, I want us to be less hasty to condemn leaders who are struggling to address the problem.

Read more!

Eight Theses on Homosexuality and Catholicity

Travelling, groomsmaning, catching up with folks in Moscow, etc., have all gotten in the way of blogging in the past week. But lots of great ideas have still been flying around, especially about (what else?) homosexuality and catholicity. (I'm beginning to feel like that's all I talk about...yikes!) A friend of mine arranged a kind of reunion of old friends to chat theology, and I proposed this question for discussion: How are we to reconcile the demand for catholicity, church unity, patience amist disagreement with the widespread practice and condonement of homosexuality in the Church today? To prompt discussion, I submitted nine theses (of which one proved to be redundant, and so is omitted here):

1. Homosexual activity is a serious sin.
2. Homosexual sensibility and desire is not in itself sinful, though it is disordered.
3. Homosexual activity, like most other sins, can be practiced in well-intentioned ignorance.
4. Homosexuality can be wrongly, but well-intentionedly defended by Christians.
5. We do not contract the “infection” of a homosexual’s sin by fellowshipping with that person, or with an individual or a church who supports them.
6. We do not contract the “infection” of a homosexual’s sin by worshipping at a church supporting them, or even at which they are ministering.
7. The proper way to address homosexuality in the church is patient but firm church discipline, which may require excommunication of those practicing it or, possibly, those condoning it.
8. If the authorized leadership does not practice the discipline that they are obliged to practice, other believers do not receive the right to take disciplinary action into their own hands and unilaterally secede/declare other churches to be non-churches. They are required to rebuke in love, and pray and work for unity of mind and, if necessary, God’s judgment.

The discussion that ensued was excellent and edifying, and most present seemed willing to go most of the way in agreeing with these points. I did, however, receive an email afterward from one participant, registering some strong objections. I will probably post parts of my response to that email over the next couple days.
Read more!

Imperial Bewilderment

This book is bizarre. It’s a sort of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde book. On the one hand, it’s extremely well-written, and tells a very complex historical narrative in a lucid and compelling manner, something that is quite difficult to do. It is also very honest and up-front about the greed, oppression, and exploitation upon which the British Empire was founded, and by which it was more often than not sustained. And yet...

...the introduction and conclusion feel like they were written for another book entirely. A book that was not honest about the greed, oppression, and exploitation of the British Empire, or perhaps a book by Dick Cheney.

After telling a tale that leaves you disgusted with the evils of the British Empire (even though, to be sure, there was much good and much repentance as well), and himself admitting that these things were evil and oppressive (and indeed, trying to construct a weak defense: “Well, didn’t we gain absolution by sacrificing our empire in fighting the Japanese and Germans?”....only problem is that Britain was not trying to sacrifice her empire in fighting them, she was hoping to hold on to it.), Ferguson concludes by telling us that the Empire was on the whole a good thing, and indeed, so much so, that we’d be screwed without it, and the US needs to imitate it. Hang on a minute...what??

I’ve tried to reconstruct the logic of the conclusion, and it just doesn’t work.
See, in order to prove that the Empire was on balance a good thing for the world, Ferguson would need to show either that the countries dominated by the Empire were better off with it than they would’ve been without it, or that, though they were worse off, the dominators gained so much at their expense that, by a sort of aggregate-happiness meaure, it was worth it. The latter is of course morally reprehensible, so Ferguson doesn’t attempt it. The former, however, is extremely difficult to show, because it relies on hypotheticals...do we really know how these nations would’ve been governed if the Empire had not taken them over? No. Then we do not know how well off they might have been without it. So Ferguson has set himself a hard task, and the only evidence he offers is a smattering of fairly selective economic statistics. These fail on three counts: 1) as just mentioned, they cannot in fact prove that what in fact happened was better than what would otherwise have happened, since we don’t know what that might have been, 2) they are selective enough that we cannot be persuaded that nearly all of the colonized countries profited, only some, and even if all did, we do not know if that was due to a few people getting really rich at the expense of everyone else, or not, 3) economic well-being is only one measure of well-being. Ferguson has such an annoyingly modern econidolatrous mind that he fails to even consider that demonstrating increased GDP does not ipso facto demonstrate a better world.

Now, even if Ferguson did demonstrate that the Empire was on balance a good thing for the world, that is no argument that it was a morally good thing, or something that should be repeated, unless you’re a utilitarian. After all, as Ferguson admits, some pretty rough stuff had to be done in order to bring about this better world of free trade and globalization. Oh, but maybe that was just because they were rough folks--we could do Empire better now, without all the brutality and oppression, right? Well, Ferguson is too smart to take that route. He admits that the better world order of globalization that we now have could not have come through peaceful means--it required the sword, it required the hard iron edge of empire.

But apparently Ferguson is a blatant utilitarian. Near the very end, he cites a speech by Tony Blair shortly after 9/11, talking about the need to bring security to a conflict-ridden world and spread freedom and democracy and all that rot. And then Ferguson very shrewdly points out that what Blair is really saying, in somewhat glossed-over language, is Victorian imperialist rhetoric: “we need to go in by force and replace bad governments with ones we like better so that we can open nations up to trade with our economies.” At this point I’m cheering Ferguson on, right? Yeah, Ferguson, way to read between the lines! Way to debunk all the fancy rhetoric! Way to show Blair and Bush for the imperialist jerks they really are!

But then Ferguson is like, “Yeah, Blair has the right idea. Only problem is that he’s naive about how much military muscle it will take to do all this, military muscle only the US has. And the problem with the US is that they’re too afraid to use it.”

Or, to quote him precisely, “The weak still need the strong, and the strong still need an orderly world, a world in which the efficient and well-governed export stability and liberty, and which is open for investment and growth. All of this sounds eminently desirable.” The US “lacks the drive to export its capital, its people, and its culture to those backward regions which need them most urgently, and which, if they are neglected, will breed the greatest threats to its security.”

So, according to Ferguson, bring on “Anglobalization” 2.0! I can only hope the American people do not warm to the imperial project as readily as their British predecessors did, and as readily as this Oxford don seems still to do. Read more!

Digging up Dirt from the Dustbins of Reformation History

For rather a change of pace, I'm going to post up not my own thoughts, but 450-year-old thoughts from Philip Melanchthon. In my research, I came across an essay "Whether It Be a Sin to Transgress Civil Laws, Which Be the Commandments of Civil Magistrates," published in English in the 1550s, and never since, so far as I can tell. It was extremely difficult to read on the old pages and archaic font and spelling, so I decided to transcribe it so I could study and evaluate it properly. Here is the result (sometimes I left the older spellings, sometimes I didn't; I wasn't very consistent. In a couple places, the transcription is quite uncertain). I'm not going to put any of my own thoughts up now, except to say that there seem to be some glaring problems in it, in the (probably vain) hope of seeing whether anyone else will read it through and spot the same problems.

So here it is--a blast from the past:


Moral virtue requireth not only to refrain outwardly the hands, and to rule external actions, but also it requireth in the mind a deliberation and an intent of counsel. It also requireth a mind inured to hold in all ?braydes?, and to use a certain moderation to deliberate. These two things are truly required to virtues, and youth must be trained up, to understand the force and nature of either of them. Deliberation or advisement, must seek out and understand the causes and reasons of all actions, which (as it were with a bridle) draw back the furious mind into the right way, and show what is to be done.

But moral is called that facility of the mind, or equability, moderation, and stay wherewith it can refrain itself, until that it be well advised of the matter, to do that which is most right, with a certain pleasure.

Seeing then it is needful to understand the causes of honest actions, it is not enough to know the laws, but it is most necessary to the performance of moral virtue, to know what the authority of the laws be, how far it is needful to obey them. The mind being with this doctrine established, shall both think more honorably of the laws, and also understand how far forth it must obey. This judgment of the authority of laws pertaineth to moral virtue.

First I answer, that to break civil laws, or the precepts of civil magistrates is mortal sin, though there be no matter of offence; for Paul saith plainly that we must needs obey, not for fear of vengeance only, but also because of conscience, that is, that we not only fear civil punishment, but also know that our conscience is made guilty, if we do not obey. Now it is the part of a good mind to consider, how great this band of obedience and common quietness is, which God also requireth, that we obey laws and magistrates.

And if we obey not, he saith that he will revenge it. And God truly punisheth both in this life, and also after this life, as the fourth precept speaketh of punishments in this life, “if thou wilt live long upon earth, etc.,” (Ex. 20) for that precept giveth charge of obedience, that we obey not only our parents, but also all them to whom our parents do give their authority, to wit, the magistrates. And therefore many other sentences in the Scripture speake of the punishments that shall be suffered in this life. “Fear God and the king, and have no fellowship with the seditious, for their destruction that come suddenly.” (Prov. 24) And Christ saith, He which taketh the sword in hand, shall perish with the sword”; for to take a sword in hand, signifieth to take up the sword forbidden by the laws and the magistrates, that is, to be seditious, and to disobey the present magistrates. And the examples set out in the Scripture, do not only show this, but also the histories of all ages, that murderers, thieves, perjured persons, unjust judges, seditious and tyrants, are for the most part punished by God in this life. This I say unto this end, that we may know how that God requireth this discipline, to keep men in awe with fear of punishment.

This fear increaseth reverence toward the laws, and causeth some morality in our minds, when as it bridleth as it were our lusts, and inureth them to obedience. And there is no doubt, but that many grievous chances are punishments of this barbarous liberty, which many take upon them, and will not be ruled by the authority of the superiors. For the law of God erreth not, which saith, “Honor thy father and mother, if thou wilt live long upon earth.” Besides that, there is more reverence in our minds, when as we believe, that the breach of the laws is punished with eternal torments after this life, except we do repent. This sentence touching the precepts of magistrates must wisely be understand, namely, of those precepts, which bid us not to do againstt the commandments of God. We must also consider, whether it be wantonness in them which disobey, or whether some causes happen, which have some excuse. The difference whcih Gerson useth, liketh me, who discerneth laws, saying, “That some are made for necessity, such as serve for common quietness, as of theft, murder, marriages, dividing of inheritances, tributes, warfare, judgments, and such like. Some are not made so much for necessity, as for comeliness, as it is provided, that a woman marry not, before she have left mourning for her former husband.

This difference liketh me, not only because reason breedeth sundry bonds, but rather, because the mind of the magistrate is evident, which in the former matters simply requireth obedience; in other lighter matters it doth not so enact it. The mind of the lawmaker must be considered, how far he will bind, and yet in these lighter things there may be no wantonness and contempt of authority, for it is an evil example. But it is profitable as well for discipline, as the quietness of the common wealth, so to accustom our minds, that even in trifles they may regard the authority of the laws. And this we must know, that we live not to our selves, but to the common wealth. We must therefore take heed, that our examples be no public hurt. The same doth Plato most graciously write in his fifth book of laws, that he is the best and most worthy citizen, which accounteth not triumphes or any victories to be the chiefest renown in the city, but to excel others in diligent obeying of the laws.

But here the question is asked, whether the like judgment be of ecclesiastical ceremonies, which by the authority of man are ordained. I answer, that herein this rule must be observed, that in case of offence it is sin to break them, but no offense being given, they may be broken without mortal sin. For it is needful to keep this doctrine, that such ceremonies are things indifferent, and not necessary for righteousness before God, as it is indifferent to wear a gown or a cloak, etc. this rule of Paul is profitabl both to common peace and the quietness of our consciences, for it concerneth public rites, and biddth to beware of offenses, common tumults, and public disturbing of orders. Again it delivereth the conscience from many superstitious opinions, and horrible cruelty; for if good minds do thing that the observance of such orders is necessary (no cause of offense being) it will be a hard bondage.

In so great a number of rites, how oft shall our consciences fall, sometimes in fastings, in rehearsing of prayers, in keeping of holy days, of such like; many things happen to them, especisally which have business, why they cannot always observe their orders. Therefore this rule containeth a profitable moderation, which forbiddeth public offences, preserveth customs profitable for quietness, and privately delivereth the consciences from danger.

When the causes of these laws and traditions are understood, good natures will the more embrace them, then is it fit that these things be known, namely that these ordinances are appointed by the Church for good and public order’s sake, and that the Church will not privately entangel any man’s conscience. And most moral is it to love common quietness and order, good men therefore will greatly embrace these ordinances, seeing that to quietness and order they are available, and in that they are delivered from superstious opinions, and know that without danger these ceremonies may be left, no offense being given. (middle of 9)

But here it is asked, whether ecclesiastical ordinances, and the civil laws of magistrates do diversely bind. I answer, the bond is unlike; and although reasons may be asked, yet the plainest way is to judge these things by the evident and clear testimonies of Scripture. First therefore I will rehearse them, then will I add the reasons and interpretation, lest any absurdity may be taken by our opinion.
Touching obedience due to the civil laws, Paul says, we must obey, not only for fear of vengeance, but also for conscience sake. This commandment bindeth us even without matter of offence; for we must obey the authority of God, though no offence be given. But touching ecclesiastical ceremonies, Paul says, “Let no man condemn you for meat or drink, or a piece of an holy day.” And again, “Stand fast in the liberty, wherewith Christ hath made us free, and wrap not yourselves again in the yoke of bondage.” And Christ says, “That which enters into the mouth defiles not the man,” and the apostle excuses them, which break traditions.

Because it is needful that this doctrine be in the Church, that those traditions touching meat and such like are no worshipping or righteousness, but things indifferent; therefore the gospel teaches, that our consciences may not be burdened with the opinion of necessity. Notwithstanding, because this life cannot lack ordinances and ceremonies, this moderation is needful, to have them so observed, lest the doctrine of true worshipping and of the benefit of Christ should be darkened. Again, lest our consciences should be burdened with infinite vexations, which might cause shipwreck of faith; therefore, the Gospel will have us understand that these rites may be left out, without matter of offence be given, but for good order, and for avoiding of offenses, they ought to be kept. This liberty being limited by the authority of the Gospel, cannot be taken away by man’s authority.

I have showed by the testimonies of Scripture, that the binding is unlike. This is the plainest answer unto this question, but we will show the reason.

The first is taken of the efficient causes, or the right of power, and this Gerson followeth. The civil magistrate by God’s authority, hath right to make honest and profitable laws, in those matters which pertain to the defence of this corporal life and civil society, as of judgments, the penalties of offences, contracts, successions, and such like, as Solomon says, “By me kings do reign, and appoint just things.”

But ecclesiastical power is limited, so as it hath a commandment what it ought to teach, and that it invent no new worshipping, neither burden the consciences with traditions of ceremonies. For Peter says, “Why tempt you God, laying on a yoke, etc.?” And Paul, “Why make you decrees, touch not, handle not, etc.?” Seeing then that the right of either power is unlike, the laws also diversely do bind.

Second reason, of the final causes of laws. Civil laws, are the bands of common society, therefore in breaking them, charity is always hurt, for because every one ought to use his obedience, as a seal, to the defence of common quietness, also the common tributes and all his travail must thereto be applied; when this they do not, they deceive the rest, and enjoy other men’s offices, employing nothing of their own unto it, even as he which to a common banquet giveth not his money, beguileth the guests.

The example also in breaking it doth hurt, and troubleth common quietness; therefore in civil laws, respect of charity and offence is always of force. But most part of ceremonies are private, and domestical observations, the breach whereof hurteth not others. Then seeing in them is no hazard of charity, nor offence’s chance, the authority of these laws is unlike, for of these also we have spoken, that then they are necessary, neither can they be broken without sin, when as the breach breedeth offences, that is, hurteth other men’s faith and manners, or rashly troubleth the quietness of others. And although it be profitable to consider these reasons and causes, and to understand the degrees of laws; yet is it more sure plainly to give judgment out of these sentences of Scripture before recited, for the reasons have many doubts, and do not sufficietnly establish the consciene. And wise men may seek and invent many dark matters on both sides, if that we shall judge only through reasons, and not out of the Scriptures. But here young men are to be warned, that although it be needful to know, that these indifferent things are no worshipping of God; yet they must learn, that the case of offence is large, and with diligenet care they must beware of it; for in the breach of traditions two things are hazarded, discipline and tranquility, or the agreement of the common wealth. It is fit for us to understand chiefly the greatness and force of either of these, being occupied in the studies of ?leavening? and virtues.

First for discipline’s sake, there need certain ordinances, for unskillful persons, who must be accustomed to ceremonies and rites, to holy days, to certain readings, to private and public exercises, and for that cause Paul calls the law a schoolmaster; for these ceremonies are certain institutions; necessary for young years. And although the Gospel doth bring a higher doctrine, yet it will not have discipline and institution to be abolished, but it commands that men be restrained, ruled, and taught with such instructions. What profti this discipline hath, I have showed elsewhere, for God is effectual in the which are tractable to be taught and resist not his word. Wherefore the example hurteth in the breach of traditions, for the common people, which naturally hate the bands of laws, willingly follow these examples, and thereof take contempt of the whole discipline, and of all the laws. These ordinances being abolished, there can be no discipline, neither can youth and the unlearned people be taught.

Then of necessity must follow exceeding barbarousness, and destruction, whether youth and the common people cannot be instructed. How great a wickedness and murder is it, to give such examples, whereby this desolation may arise; and in the other part of offence, how much evil is it, that the quietness of the Church and commonwealth is troubled.

In this corporal life we have need of ceremonies for orders’s sake, or for decency, which for man is most seemly. For if this order be disannulled, infinite confusion doth follow. For where there is no authority of teachers, no certain times to teach, no certain teachers, no certain form of doctrine; in such confusion, neither can the Gospel be presented, neither the Church instructed. Finally, as order and content of public ordinances do join men in fellowship together; so confusion of order does separate men’s minds, breedeth horrible tumults, and endless war.

Let us then think, that in breach of traditions, the example commonly and easily spreadeth abroad amongst others. Let us consider, what evil is in an example. Wherefore lest we burden our consciences with danger, lest we hurt others, let us observe with greater care the public ordinances whatsoever. It is tyrannical to regard more what delights ourselves, than what may do good to others; for we are not born unto ourselves, but our life pertaineth unto others, especially unto the Church, that is, to the glory of Christ, to the conservation of the ministry, and the retaining of discipline for the people. These two things which are the greatest, the Church desires chiefly to defend. Herein let us show our obedience, our diligence and endeavor, for the common quietness and health of us all. Plato says, we must love our country more than our mother, because our country is a certain heavenly thing. But the Church ought to be our true country, and this truly is heavenly; for it is the Temple of God, and the congregation of the members of Christ. Wherefore this we must love, and willingly obey it, and yield much unot the profit and tranquility thereof. Paul calls traditions “beggarly elements,” which although they be beggarly, that is, small things, transitory, not eternal, they are no worshipping, they are no righteousness, yet they are elements, that is, ordinances, which this corporal life cannot want, because of discipline and good order’s sake. Wherefore those ordinances are not to be disannulled, but Paul’s counsel must be considered, who although he call them beggarly, yet he calls them elements, and so takes away the praise of righteousness, showing still that there be ordinances, which have their profit. Great is the form of discipline, there is no sweeter harmony, than good order in a commonwealth. Therefore these are called elements, that is, ordinances, which preserve that harmony.
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Waiting for the Spring

From Nate Wilson's Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl:
"Every soul waits in the wings. Every life taken in age, tired and ready, taken in youth, in shock and sorrow, taken in pain or taken in peace, every needle now hidden in shadow waits in eager silence. I see my cousin. My nephew. Many faces, forgotten by those who followed behind, known always by the author who needs no stone reminders. He is the best of all possible audiences, the only Audience to see every scene, the Author who became a character and heaped every shadow on himself...

"The last pages approaches, reached only through trials and triumphs, tears and laughter. The ending comes. But God is too big for endings, too big to work with a single narrative arc. This will be the end of Death, the end of a story that began in a garden and has played out in gardens ever since. Let us bury Death in a garden, and seal the hole with a cross. For him there will be no Spring. There is a rustling of impatience. Anticipation. Creation creaks and groans, tired of shadow, tired of Winter. The sun comes. The corn will see the morning.

"Through the long cold, I wait for the Spring. I watch for it, but I never see the moment of its arrival. The sun warms me, reminds me. Be grateful, it says. I have broken the Winter. On the south side of my house, the crocuses are up in bunches. They are the most greedy for spring, the first to notice and explode. Daffodils will follow soon.
After them will come the sailors." Read more!

Darwinian Schizophrenia

Weeks and weeks ago, I promised to write this post, in response to a provocative comment by my friend Tim Enloe. So I finally got around to making some kind of stab at it.

Darwinism is a fine example of the ambiguous foundations of modern science. On the one hand, it is generally agreed that the rise of nominalism and voluntarism, which drove a wedge between knowledge of the world and knowledge of God, helped liberate science from theology, and thus enabled the rise of natural science as we now know it. On the other hand, science had to maintain a faith in the meaningful fixed regularities of created nature, something which realism had guaranteed, but which, in a nominalist and voluntarist universe, was by no means certain. Thus science found itself in the uncomfortable position of biting the hand that fed it. So it is that we find an odd tension within modern science, which has grown as science has become increasingly secularized: on the one hand, science insists upon the law-like regularity of the natural world, and yet must also insist that things need not be as they are, could easily have turned out differently, and may yet turn out differently.

Darwinism, and the Christian accomodation to it, manifests this tension perfectly. On the one hand, Darwinism starts from the presupposition of regular processes of nature, ostensibly eschewing the voluntarist God who simply creates at a whim (deceptively too--with the appearance of age), and intervenes from time to time. Theologians who embraced Darwinism often took this oddly realist tack (as the lecturers at the book release emphasized), arguing, “Which God is greater? A God who creates a world according to fixed inherent laws and principles, or one who creates everything by fiat, via random interventions?”

And yet, Darwinism argues that all takes place by chance, and thus, while certain base chemical laws may be fixed, traditionally understood biological natures are not fixed--there is nothing intrinsically human about human beings, or canine about dogs--they just happen to be the way they are, and could very well be something else entirely. And Darwinian theology, as I mentioned in an earlier post, happily jumps on this nominalist bandwagon, asserting that the special status of human beings has nothing to do with any inherent nature, but only of an apparently arbitrary decision by God at some point in history; nor does the particular form of creation at any given time reveal God’s purposes, which must instead come only through special revelation.

So we find these hopeless theologians simultaneously arguing that we need a God who operates by fixed principles, rather than arbitrary interventions, and that our relationship with this God and knowledge of him has nothing to do with any fixed principles, but only with his arbitrary interventions. And to think that these folks hold the chairs of theology at most of our top seminaries and universities... Read more!

Pity Obama's Speechwriter...

...he had to write a speech explaining why we should continue to escalate the war in Afghanistan just a few days ago; now he's got to write Obama's Peace Prize acceptance speech for next Thursday.

Sounds like a bit above his pay scale... Read more!

Shock and Awe, Old School

One of the most helpful features of Niall Ferguson's narrative is how it gives one a new and clearer perspective on modern American imperial policies by seeing them through the lens of another empire's actions more than a century ago. Kinda like Nathan telling David the story of the rich man stealing the poor man's beloved sheep--you find yourself thinking, "Wow, that's horrible...oh wait...that's us."

For instance, Ferguson tells of how popular the Empire was in pop culture--in young adult fiction (e.g., G.A. Henty), in advertising, in newspapers and magazines--in particular, how much the public loved to read about smashing imperial victories over half-clad natives half a globe away. All of which, when you think about it, is rather pathetic...I mean, how could any self-respecting Brit feel a swelling sense of national pride and triumph by reading about British troops with machine guns obliterating hordes of Africans with spears who are trying to defend their homeland? How's there any glory in that? I mean, c'mon, pick on someone your own size.

Perhaps the most appalling example of this was the Battle of Omdurman, 1898.
Here Lord Kitchener's 25,000 British and Egyptian troops, with several batteries of Maxim machine guns, engaged a force of 52,000 Dervishes, armed with swords or primitive rifles. In a five-hour long massacre, Kitchener lost only 400 dead or wounded; the Dervishes suffered, by some reports, 95% casualties. The battle was considered a glorious triumph for British arms, a sensation in the press. And you ask yourself, "Why? Didn't they feel just a little bit awkward about fighting with such an unfair advantage?"

Until you remember the 2003 invasion of Iraq. How many Americans (including myself) were glued to the TV to watch with glee, triumph, and national pride as the largest air force in the world dropped thousands of tons of explosives on a country that had essentially zero air force, in a intentionally theatrical "Shock and Awe" campaign? Weren't we so proud of our good ol' boys for crushing a bunch of poorly armed foot soldiers in the desert? The memory made me feel a bit sick when I recalled it after listening to Ferguson's account of the Battle of Omdurman.

In fact, the parallels go much deeper. Omdurman was the culmination of an invasion that aimed to take care of unfinished business from 13 years before, when a British force sent to relieve George Gordon had never properly "revenged" his death, unseated the Arab dictator in power, or taken control of the country. Hence the national excitement after the victory. Sound familiar? (The 1st Gulf War began in 1990; the 2nd in 2003.)

A lot of valuable lessons to be learned here, though unfortunately Ferguson fails abysmally to draw them (a later post to come on this).
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