We must also guard against another temptation. When the world recently learned that Martin Luther King, Jr. was a plagiarist, those who had a vested interest in keeping him up on his pedestal immediately began talking about feet of clay, the human condition, and we all struggle, do we not? In other words, Dr. King was a scoundrel, but we will admit no evidence that supports the claim and treat as a scoundrel anyone who dares to present the evidence. When confronted, against our will, with indisputable evidence that our hero was not foremost among the saints, the automatic response is to interpret it as evidence that King had a ‘weakness’ or a ‘failing.’ But never is it called by its Biblical name — sin.
Douglas Wilson
Quotes
“the verse bluntly excludes false oaths”
While the name of God is used comprehensively to refer ultimately to God Himself, the phrase translated in vain means ‘falsely’ (cf. Is. 59:4). The word translated ‘taketh’ means ‘to bear’ or ‘carry,’ as believers bear or carry His name when they are called Christians. But of course if we cannot live in a false manner under His name, still less may we speak or swear falsely in His name. So the verse bluntly excludes false oaths. ‘Thou shalt not swear (utter) the name of God to emptiness (vanity).’ Simply put, we should refrain from appealing to the name of God to confirm or bear witness to a falsehood. When we appeal to God by means of vows, we must honor God by honoring our vows. In the eyes of God, vows are serious business.
Douglas Wilson
“the desire to hurt, annoy, humiliate, or damage someone’s reputation”
What is backbiting? It is spreading slander with the desire to hurt, annoy, humiliate, or damage someone’s reputation. It is spiteful, malicious, and false. The young widows in I Timothy 5 don’t have enough to do, and so they start wandering from house to house and ‘speaking things which they ought not.’ They are talking too much about other people’s affairs. This kind of careless speaking usually puts a spin on the real story, embellishing, exaggerating, attributing motives, complaining, and just plain making stuff up. And the truth is, God hates it.
Nancy Wilson
@kefflandt “a place to avoid”
If you’re looking for a place to avoid in 2017 (and always) here you go… https://t.co/CT4YmYOrxA
— Kevin Efflandt (@kefflandt) January 5, 2017
“Memo for the day”
Memo for the day: ‘You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.’ (Exodus 23:1)
Douglas Wilson
“consciences are seared”
The lake of fire is reserved for liars, and I take this as referring to those whose consciences are seared as with a hot iron. I believe this is speaking of men who don’t care about the truth, and are willing to advance stories that they know to be false. I don’t ever use that word lightly. One of my tasks in pastoral counseling, while trying to unsort human tangles, is to keep people from using that word.
Douglas Wilson
“The Bible teaches that every matter is to be established through two or three witnesses. . .”
Another problem of pandemic proportions is the important matter of verifying the truth. The Bible teaches that every matter is to be established through two or three witnesses. A very high standard is set for those who would accuse anyone. But in this brave new world of counseling, no one has to prove anything. Suppose a woman comes in and tells her counselor that she was abused as a child. The first question in a pastor’s mind should be, “Is this true?” In other words, he must make a decision about whether he is teaching a true victim of real abuse (the kind of abuse a policeman could tell you about), or whether he is talking to a liar, or perhaps someone who has spent too much time in the wrong section of a Christian bookstore.
Douglas Wilson
“a wretched, money-grubbing business”
Modern evangelicalism, taken as a whole, is a wretched, money-grubbing business that has sold its soul for a market share.
Douglas Wilson
“Try to imagine. . .”
Try to imagine a bookkeeper who had to give a financial accounting, but was not told how much money was involved, or to whom it belonged!”
Douglas Wilson
“one of the great privileges of our life”
P.S. My wife and I count as one of the great privileges of our life our friendship with Roy and Bev Atwood, a godly and gracious Christian couple.
Douglas Wilson
“my good friend, Randy Booth”
See the work of my good friend, Randy Booth, Children of the Promise (Phillipsburg: Presbyterian & Reformed, 1995). Randy and I got to know each other by phone as we fell down the paedo staircase together, hitting our heads on every step.
Douglas Wilson
“A beast is a persecutor; an antichrist is a false teacher”
Never Open Up Constructive Theological Dialogue With An Antichrist
Topic: Chrestomathy
“At the same time, precisely because the Church is the household of the faithful, the enemy outside hates it. One of the ways he expresses that hatred is by various attempts at subversion, corrupting the Church from within. It is simply naive to maintain that all assaults on the faith come from persecuting tyrants. Most of the threats to biblical integrity come from men who went to seminary. The beast in Scripture is a civil ruler, persecuting from outside. There have been many such beasts in the history of the Church, from Nero to Stalin. But the antichrist in Scripture is a spirit of corruption from within the body. Who is the antichrist but the one who denies that Jesus came in the flesh? (1 Jn. 4:3). A beast is a persecutor; an antichrist is a false teacher. In the scriptural categories, Hitler was a beast, but to find our modern antichrists we have to look for liberal Methodist bishops and the lesbians who love them. Now the Bible requires that the Word be brought against both kinds of threats, which is just what the apostle John did. He brought the Word against the beast in Revelation and against the antichrist in 1 John. And when that Word comes, it does not do so as an invitation to dialogue” (A Serrated Edge, pp. 99–100).
Posted by Douglas Wilson — 12/28/2005 12:45:29 PM
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“Randy Booth . . . plagiarized material . . . multiple instances . . . a number of different sources . . . negligence . . . editorial incompetence . . . gross breach of contract . . .”
“Canon Press has investigated the charges of plagiarism and improper citation in A Justice Primer, and it is abundantly clear that the editor and co-author, Randy Booth, plagiarized material in multiple instances from a number of different sources. Such negligence and editorial incompetence is a gross breach of contract and obviously does not meet Canon Press’s publishing standards. As such, we have discontinued the book, effective immediately. Refer to the author statements below for more information. We would like to specifically thank Rachel Miller for bringing this to our attention so we could take the necessary steps to immediately correct such a serious error.”
CANON PRESS STATEMENT