Review of Think: Life of the Mind and the Love of God (Part 2)

Continuing from my previous post, here I would like to mention a few things in Think which I found to be unpersuasive and sometimes disturbing. I realize that these points, on which I am going to comment on, are larger aspects of Piper’s theology and not the main points of this book itself. Disagreements on these points did not rob me of the benefits I derived from this book.

Also I should mention that while doing this exercise I am greatly aware that I am toddler in theology and layman with far lesser experience and maturity than John Piper, who has served the Lord for well over 35 years. Also, since I do not want to sound acrimonious, which has come to characterize much of Reformed blogosphere, I am going to address John Piper as Bro. Piper in order to always remind myself that he is my brother in the Lord and not some third person whom I delight in critiquing.

 

Review of Think: Life of the Mind and the Love of God (Part 1)

Think is a neat little book written by John Piper. As the title suggests, it is a book on thinking. More importantly, it is a book on how thinking is related to loving God – the great commandment that all Christians are called to fulfill.

In this book John Piper contends that thinking is something wholly indispensable for a Christian; but it is not an end in itself. It serves the larger purpose of loving God. And what is loving God? The essence of loving God is treasuring him above all things. All thinking is but a means to this end. This is the main thesis of the book.  The following sentence may capture the essence of the book

“loving God with the mind means that our thinking is wholly engaged to do all it can to awaken and express the heartfelt fullness of treasuring God above all things. Treasuring God is the essence of loving him, and the mind serves this love by comprehending (imperfectly and partially, but truly) the truth and beauty and worth of the Treasure” (Page 19)

 

The 5 Solas of Reformation (Part 1)

October 31 2010 was the 493^rd anniversary of what has now come to be known as the Reformation Day. On the same day in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. That event sparked off the Protestant Reformation which altered the course of Christian History decisively.

However, sadly, this event has been forgotten with the passage of time. Indian Christians, especially, have very little knowledge about it. Hardly any churches have this important day in their church calendar to commemorate it.  Many also think that since the Reformation got sparked off in Europe, it is something specific to that geographical region and is probably irrelevant to Indian Christians. However, as I pointed out, this event was so crucial to the universal visible church as a whole that it shapes our church life even to this day. All of us who identify ourselves as protestants need to know what we are protesting about. Hence it is good to remind ourselves of the real issues in the Reformation.

 

How to Choose Good Christian Books

Continuing from the previous post, here I want to give a few suggestions on how to choose good books. Before I give suggestions, I would like to define what I mean by “good” books. A “good” christian book is not necessarily one with which you will agree on everything.  A “good” christian book, according to me, is one which follows sound theology (2 Tim 1:13), at least for the most part, and presents clear and cogent arguments for its claims and conclusions . This applies even to Christian fiction and poetry (for they too convey some theology). A book may be well written, but that does not make it good automatically. Take for example Purpose Driven Life. Its a book which is well-organized. You can follow Warren’s arguments very easily. However, many of my respected teachers (and I am persuaded) deem it not good since it does not have sound theology and does not follow sound patterns of interpretation.

Now having said all this, my definition begs the questions – What is “sound theology”? Well, I believe Calvinism and Reformed Theology is sound. Not everyone will agree with me. That’s fine. Nevertheless, this does highlight the fact that you should first get convinced of what sound theology is . If you make up your mind on that you will be in a much better position to choose good books. If you haven’t, you may choose books which shed light on the questions you are grappling with. See, already we are getting into a rational process of choosing good books! So, with that said, let me move on to my suggestions.

 

Of Book Sales and Grocery Stores

Come November/December and the Christian village in Bangalore goes on a book buying spree. Reason – mega Christmas book sales. The biggest book sale of them all is the Bangalore International Christian Book Fair conducted by OM Books. Thousands and thousands of books are strewn all over the Campus Crusade Hall for people to buy. Its a sale for which people make a beeline even before the sale begins and certainly during the whole week.

However, many a times when I observed the way people buy books(me included; at least some years ago), I found a strange similarity between it and the way people buy vegetables in a grocery store! Just glance at all the books, take some of them, look at the front and the back, if you like it, put them into the basket (even the baskets in these sales look a lot like the ones in grocery store) and head to the billing counter. This is a hyperbole of course. People do take into account whether the books fall somewhere in their sphere of interest and then decide to buy it. However, many a times the reason to buy a particular book stops there. One more reason may be that its a book which is being sold in OM Book Sale; alas! it has to be good since it is found a Christian book fair, right?

 

My Child Whom I Have Begotten

As I was meditating through the book of Philemon one verse particularly caught my attention.

I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my imprisonment (Phm 1:10; NASB).

It produced a strange warmth in my heart. The reason for this is the the intimate language Paul employs while pleading Onesimus’ case with Philemon. This verse seems to echo John 3:16 since KJV and NASB both employ the word “begotten” (KJV also uses “son”). Paul’s care for his disciples was like that of a father for his son.

This does not seem to be an isolated verse where Paul uses such intimate language. As I looked through other letters of his’, such language abounds. Paul called Timothy his “beloved child in faith”(2 Tim1:2). Titus was his “true child in the common faith” (Tit 1:4). This language was not confined to individuals, he applied them even to churches. When the Corinthian church was being torn apart by sectarianism, he informed them that though they may have many guides yet they have only one father in the Gospel – he was their father in the Gospel (1 Cor 4:15). When Galatians were being led astray by the circumcision party, Paul chided them and corrected them. He later added that he “was in pains of childbirth till Christ was formed in them.” He intensely desired to be with them in order to protect them from this damning heresy(Gal 4:19-20).

 

Relinquishing Rights

The book of Philemon is a short letter written by Paul to Philemon in which he pleads with him to take back his (Philemon’s) runaway slave, Onesimus, who had now become a Christian. The way Paul goes about doing this is something exemplary and contains many lessons for us – out of which we will concentrate on one.

 

Foreknowledge and Faith

Predestination and Election are hardly topics spoken about in the Indian Church. After having come to Christ for 7 years, I have not heard a single sermon on Predestination. The topic is a taboo, apparently portraying God as unjust at best or “worse than the Devil”, as John Wesley put it, at worst. So, much of Bible’s teaching on Predestination is either totally ignored or carefully misinterpreted.

One of the proof-text of the free-will theory (or Arminianism) is Romans 8:29. This is how it reads: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers (ESV). The passage is interpreted this way: God looked into the future; saw who is going to receive his salvation by faith and who is not; predestined unto glory those who he knew (or foreknew) will receive his salvation by faith and left others to their doom for their lack of it. Therefore in the final analysis, the crucial element which decides one’s personal destiny is one’s own ability to exercise faith. This, God, foresaw and made it a basis for election.

 

Sin and the Glory of God

Sin is a reality about mankind which the Bible affirms unequivocally – which other religions fail to do, thus proving themselves to not have originated from God. What is Sin? The Bible defines sin in many places – Sin is committing iniquity (which literally means to do things in a crooked way),  acting wickedly, rebelling against God, turning away from his commandments and judgements ( Dan 9:5 KJV). Sin is going beyond what is properly allowed (Hosea 4:2 ; Lev 5:17; ESV, in other words “transgression”). Sin is accusing falsely, lying (Lev 6:3) , hating one’s brother in his heart (Lev 19:17), cursing God (Lev 24:17). This is just a sample. As you must have observed from  all the quotations mentioned above – they are all from the Old Testament. The Old Testament was very specific is defining what is sin and what is not.

 

His Christmas Story Free Download

Max McLean is a wonderful narrator of Scripture. I have been following his ministry for the last 3 years and have purchased most of his major performances. His best, according to me, is the narration of the entire Bible in the KJV version. You may listen to a sample here. NIV and ESV versions are also available. There is huge discount on all his product during this advent season. Even though the price may be a little on the higher side when converted to Rupees, it still worth the investment. For those of you who have never heard Max Mclean, there is no better time to get acquainted with his ministry than now. His Christmas Story, one of his Christmas theme narrative (comprised solely of scripture narration) is available free for download. Just register and download. You will be taken through the usual check out routine but you will not be asked to pay anything. Check it out here

 

Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul

Knowing Scripture is the best book for anyone who wants to seriously learn how to study the Bible. It is written by R C Sproul, nearly 30 years ago, but it still remains the best introductory book in this category till date. There are other books like How to Study the Bible for all Your Worth by Fee & Stuart and How to Study the Bible by Richard Mayhue and some others, but this is the best book for beginners.

R C Sproul begins with the presenting the case for studying the bible, and then moves to a Protestant concept called Private Interpretation. His main point is that the privilege for private interpretation is not a license for incorrect and shabby interpretation. He then gives simple rules on how to study the various genre of literature found in the Bible – Narrative, Didactic, Poetry, Laws, Proverbs and Apocalypse. Each of these rules are well explained and very easy to understand.

 

How To Get Your Marriage Certificate in Bangalore

After 8 months of my marriage, I finally managed to get my marriage certificate from the Government. And by God’s grace it happened without giving any bribe. So,  in order to help others I am just listing down the things you need to do in order to get your certificate.

 

Fireproof – Movie Review

In an era where speaking about out your faith in public is deemed bizaare and claiming your religious beliefs to be the only correct way is equated to narrow-mindedness, it is an uphill task to make a Christian movie which shares the Gospel unashamedly and exalts the name of Christ unapologetically. Sadly, many so-called Chrisitian movies have succumbed to these pressures of the secular world and have shied away from taking the name of the Lord. Few years ago I had watched the Passion of Christ. That movie had no leg to stand on. It tried to present Christ as a victim of human injustice rather than the Lord of Heaven and Earth. A few weeks ago I watched another movie called End of Spear which again came a cropper. It was the story of Jim Elliot (the famous missionary who died along with 4 friends while evangelizing Waodani people in Latin America) but not even once the name of Jim Elliot’s Lord was taken in the movie. The message of the movie was not Christ’s Gospel but Humanistic nonsense.

 

The Character of Epaphroditus (Php 2:25-30)

Epaphroditus is one of the lesser

known characters in the NT but

has some valuable lessons to

teach us. For those of us who do

not know him, he was a lay

member of the Philippian Church

and also their messenger to Paul

(in Rome) through whom they

sent their material offerings (Php

4:18).

During the course of his stay with

Paul, Epaphroditus fell dangerously

ill and was almost to the

point of death (v27). We get a

glimpse of his Christ-like character

in this trying situation of his

life.

Firstly, Epaphroditus was very

brave to have accepted the call

for helping out Paul, who was

accused of a capital crime. This

reason itself would have been

sufficient for most to stay away

from Paul. However, he bravely

faced this fact, traveled all the

Epaphroditus is one of the lesser known characters in the NT but has some valuable lessons to teach us. For those of us who do not know him, he was a lay member of the Philippian Church and also their messenger to Paul (in Rome) through whom they sent their material offerings (Php 4:18). During the course of his stay with Paul, Epaphroditus fell dangerously ill and was almost to the point of death (v27). We get a glimpse of his Christ-like character in this trying situation in his life.

 

Regeneration

Regeneration is an important biblical teaching also known as the New Birth (“Born Again”). Regeneration is a doctrine that is closely related to Justification. Justification is God’s legal declaration that we are righteous, on account of our faith in Christ. However, if salvation was all about justification, our righteousness will be a “mere formality” and not a reality (As R C  Sproul puts it in his book Faith Alone). We may be declared righteous but there will no real change in our nature. But that is not so.