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
Quotes
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
“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
“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
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
“blind leaders of the blind” (Matthew 15:14)
How You Are Being Groomed: An Armory for Modern Christians #5 https://t.co/S6NkScvptU
— Toby Sumpter (@TJSumpter) January 30, 2017
“evidence is abundant”
There are various theories out there on this subject, including the one that posits that I am an idiot, but this is a theory that I have not found compelling so far. Sure, the evidence is abundant enough, but it is too disorganized. Needs to be footnoted. Somebody needs to go into the archives.
Douglas Wilson
“The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome”
The Humpty Dumpty Syndrome
Who could forget the memorable interchange between Alice and Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass. At one point, Alice protests Humpty’s bizarre use of words. “When I use a word,” responded Humpty in a rather scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” Getting the better of him, Alice retorts, “The question is . . . whether you can make words mean so many different things.”After seeing how some Promise Keepers speakers and writers press Scripture into service to justify all sorts of teachings, one is left to ask Alice’s penetrating question all over again — whether Promise Keepers can make the words of Scripture mean so many different things. We call this problem the Humpty Dumpty syndrome, and it is more prevalent than most would care to admit.
Douglas Wilson
Insincerity
“The great enemy of clear language is insincerity.” George Orwell
“baptismal regeneration”
Raise your hand if you knew that the Westminster Confession taught baptismal regeneration — but more on that in a moment.
Douglas Wilson
He’s in historic company
“‘You just misunderstood me.’ Classic line used by every heretic since Arius.”
Rachel Miller
“grotesque”
Three quick points. First, the posting of this is encouraging and enabling a gross violation of the scriptural duty of keeping your promises and vows. If that scriptural point is not compelling enough, it is also a violation of the Westminster Larger Catechism. This is not just wrong; it is grotesque.
Douglas Wilson
“Is it right?”
On some positions cowardice asks the question, Is it safe? Expediency asks the question, Is it politic? Vanity asks the question, Is it popular? But conscience asks the question, Is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular; but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
