What Paul says about koinonia reformation is healthy — wholesome. But some don’t consent to it (v. 3). The false teacher’s empty head does not keep him from being full of himself (v. 4). His heart and tongue are tangled — he has questions and verbal clashes. These produce envy, quarrels, verbal hostility, and jumping to conclusions about the motives of others. These men have bent minds and hearts and so they produce bent disputes. They think that piety is supposed to be a means of personal advancement, particularly theirs (v. 5). Get away from such people. This is a wonderful picture of the rabid revolutionary of the early nineteenth century, and it is a vivid picture of some of the people we had to deal with on our slavery controversy.
Douglas Wilson
February 2017 Monthly Archive
The Only Litmus Test
“But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
Deuteronomy 18:20–22
“No, we don’t think we’re anybody special; no Reformer ever has been actually.”
Are we in the middle of a new Reformation?
I believe that we are.
Is this megalomania on our part? — ‘Who do you guys think you are?’
No, we don’t think we’re anybody special; no Reformer ever has been actually.
Douglas Wilson
The Federal Division Part 8
“new wine” & “reformation”
“words which belong to the devil”
Of course, because life is never simple, we must acknowledge that there is a type of harsh language which dishonors God and embitters our neighbor. And we also know that there is a type of soft answer which turns away wrath. We know that many cantankerous Christians have defended their sin in the guise of Valiant-for-Truth. Far from trying to smooth these words into an easy fit for us, we must take them as they come, and simply submit to them. There are certain kinds of hard words which belong to the devil, and our speech should always be gracious and seasoned with salt.
Douglas Wilson
Frederick Douglass, c. February 1818–February 20, 1895
#HappyBdayDouglass Born a slave Feb 1818, he never knew the exact date, but chose 2/14 because his mom called him “her little Valentine” pic.twitter.com/nUyhWQ4h13
— Frederick Douglass (@FredDouglassNPS) February 14, 2017
“I know of no class of my fellowmen, however just, enlightened, and humane, which can be wisely and safely trusted absolutely with the liberties of any other class.” Frederick Douglass
The Federal Division Part 7
“prophetic rebukes . . . seasoned prophets”
“I believe that true biblical balance in such things is the fruit of wisdom, and that such balance is not usually found in hot-headed young men, who do not know what spirit they are of (Luke 9:55). Consequently, prophetic rebukes should come from seasoned prophets, from men called to the ministry of guarding the Church of God. The work should be done by men of some age and wisdom, and not by novices, firebrands, and zealots.” —Douglas Wilson Continue reading
The Sacramento Bee: “‘Evil does in fact die’, reads a scathing obituary from a man’s family”
“There was no service and no burial for Leslie Ray “Popeye” Charping. Instead, his family cremated him and put him in a barn.” —The Sacramento Bee Continue reading
“as stacked as some blonde in a tight dress”
This principle is why people do things that they are willing to brazen out. People brazen it out because brazening it out works. And this is why I intend to bring up the stacked nature of the PCA committee every chance I get, for as long as I can remember to do so. Not only will I do this, but I intend to memorialize it with as many metaphors as I can manage to come up with. That committee was as stacked as a double order of buttermilks, as stacked as some blonde in a tight dress, and as stacked as a brick house. The PCA, she’s mighty, mighty.
Douglas Wilson
The Federal Division Part 6
“Shew Me a Token”
“Athanasius is not against the entire Christian world now (contra mundum) precisely because he was willing to be in that position then.” —Douglas Wilson Continue reading
“Like Some Blonde in a Tight Dress”
Large assemblies in part must rely on their committees to do the spade work, and I am not faulting the GA for that. You can’t have high level of theological discourse within the limits that a big assembly necessarily has. That is why it is so important to get the fairness thing right before the GA — in the committee. So I am faulting those who stacked that committee like it some blonde in a tight dress, and who then try to brazen it out after the fact. “What’s this? What do you mean? Perfectly modest attire.”
Douglas Wilson
The Federal Division Part 5
“A Handy Guide for Navigating Theological Controversies”
“Folks who want me to shut up about the PCA sure aren’t acting like they want me to shut up about the PCA.” —Douglas Wilson Continue reading
2 Peter 2:12–15
“But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.”
2 Peter 2:12–15