Jerry Johnson and AgainstTheWorld.tv on Arius.
Category Archives: Theology
The First & Last Adam
Jerry Johnson discusses typology between the first and last Adam in this week’s edition of Against the World.
C of E finally picks a new leader, some wishy-washy middle-aged former oil executive
Named Justin Welby (see here, here and here).
What do we know about him? It seems he’s ostensibly traditionalist, but simultaneously all over-the-map, really.
For instance:
He has used his seat in the Lords as a platform to challenge the “sins” of the multi-billion pound banks as much as the small-scale payday “loan sharks” he has seen at work on the North East – condemning the practice in the language of the Old Testament as “usury”.
Although educated at Eton and Cambridge and even a member of a Pall Mall club, he is seen as far from an establishment figure.
Theologically, he is unashamedly part of the evangelical strand of the Church, upholding a more traditional and conservative interpretation of the Bible than some.
But while he has, for example, publicly criticised the Coalition’s plans for gay marriage, he is not without support among liberals, some of whom believe he will prove a pragmatic and flexible Archbishop.
He is also a strong advocate of more modern styles of worship.
As Dean of Liverpool, where he almost doubled the cathedral congregation, he gave his blessing to a Halloween service called “Night of the Living Dead”, complete with a man in gothic dress leaping out of a coffin, to illustrate the message of resurrection.
To the surprise of some, he also allowed the cathedral bell-ringers to chime the Liverpool-born John Lennon’s Imagine, widely regarded as an atheist anthem.
Yet he is also an enthusiast for catholic styles of worship, has close links to Benedictines and regularly goes on spiritual retreats.
But also:
Bishop Welby is regarded by observers as being on the evangelical wing of the Church, closely adhering to traditional interpretations of the Bible with a strong emphasis on making the Church outward-looking.
Even within the evangelical community, however, there are significant differences of outlook on questions of doctrine.
The Rev Dr Giles Fraser – former Canon Chancellor of St Paul’s Cathedral and the current parish priest at St Mary’s in Newington, south London, said Bishop Welby was “the right man for the job”.
He added: “I’m quite surprised that the church has had the courage to pick someone who’s only been a bishop a short amount of time, but I am absolutely delighted that they have.
“He and I would disagree on a number of theological issues… He’s very conservative on gay marriage and those sort of things, but very strongly in favour of women bishops which is good.
And yet:
He has been less forthright about his views on homosexuality. While he has rigorously defended the Church’s right to oppose single-sex marriages, he has also been keen to accommodate opposing views expressed from a position of deeply held faith.
So, he’s theologically conservative and traditionalist, except when he’s liberal.
Likes ‘modern’ evangelical worship styles, but also Catholic worship styles, too…
Another wishy-washy, impossible-to-pin-down, all-over-the-map type.
No wonder the Anglican leadership chose him as the new Archbishop of Canterbury; he fits the type perfectly…
Is the notion of the ‘Age of Accountability’ Biblical?
No, it is not; Jerry Johnson explains why.
Tim Tebow’s ‘Wife With a Servant’s Heart’ Remarks Misunderstood Loathed, With Extreme Prejudice
This morning, I came across this amusing Christian Post piece about the latest thing Tim Tebow has said that has outraged feminists, both female and male ones.
Tim Tebow’s comments about his ideal wife – someone who’s sweet and has a “servant’s heart” – have stirred discussion on the Web, with some concluding that he wants a “hot slave,” as OpposingViews.com put it.
“He basically made it seem like he wants some hot woman who dropped straight from 50 Shades Of Grey and will do what he wants and not talk back and certainly not mention that he is currently sitting on the bench,” the Los Angeles-based website stated.
So, Tim Tebow basically says he’d like a woman who’s sweet, and not a nasty, ball-busting bitch. Not too much to ask for, a reasonable, sane person would think. Not this gossip columnist. Who is some entertainment lawyer, and a beta male, judging by this blog post of his, where it is revealed that some woman he’s on a blind date with had lied to him about who cut her hair, and where he shows his beta supplication to some actress chick who he knows has ‘friend-zoned’ him, but that even if that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t abandon his lying bitch of a date to hit on said actress since he’s a ‘nice guy’ and it wouldn’t be right to ‘disrespect’ and ‘embarrass’ even lying bitches (my term; he’s too sackless to say that) like his date. Pathetic loser.
Tebow, a devout Christian, is featured in the latest issue of Vogue magazine with the headline “Superman Returns: Tim Tebow Touches Down in New York.” He was asked what he’s looking for in a woman.
He answered, “I’ve been blessed to have an amazing mom and two amazing sisters-so they set a very high standard.
“Obviously looks play a big part. Being attracted to someone plays a big part, but there’s also so much more than that for me. It’s about finding someone sweet and kind – and that has a servant’s heart. It’s about finding a girl who likes me for me, and not because of what I do or who I am or the name.”
That sound bite has been picked up by publications with the New York Post writing, “Tebow in market for ‘servant’ woman” and jezebel.com reporting, “Tim Tebow Tells Vogue His Perfect Woman Is Hot, Kind, and Servile.”
I don’t know why Christians even bother speaking to the press about anything these days, since it’s always going to get twisted and distorted…
Did Adam & Eve Have Biological Parents?
Of course not. Jerry Johnson rips apart this absurd view, demonstrating the complete fallaciousness of it.
Does the Bible Contain Errors?
Jerry Johnson and the AgainstTheWorld.tv folks answer a young man’s objections to the Faith, and Johnson highlights the erroneous assumptions behind, and logical fallacies present in, said young man’s thinking.
Upcoming movie hopes to kickstart a North American conversation on hell
Kevin Miller, the Canadian filmmaker behind the documentary Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (among several others, but that’s the one you’re most likely to have at least heard of – about Intelligent Design and the reaction against it – good movie, I recommend it highly), has a new documentary movie out this fall, called Hellbound?, exploring the question of whether or not there is a hell. (Hat tip: Strange Herring). It looks like he has quite a theologically diverse cast assembled. I am not completely certain what to make of it, or what exactly his agenda is (notwithstanding his own comments on the matter, e.g. here) – though I have an idea… Nor am I sure what kind of light the ‘black metal’ artists amongst his cast can shed on the matter, though it may perhaps be mildly interesting to see if they are orthodox Satanists or merely philosophical Satanists. (Nor do we have any doubt what the Westboro Baptist Church members who are in the film believe about hell (i.e. that everyone but their single church is hellbound), so I’m not sure how useful their contribution is, either, but whatever…)
Anyway, Miller is coy about his own beliefs, and would naturally prefer you shell out money to go see the movie rather than form a judgment ahead of time as to if he and the filmmakers are “us” or “them”, as he puts it.
I’ve got his number, though; it’s clear to me what kind of Christian he is: one who considers it possible to be on the fence on the issue (from the CP story: ‘He has met many who argued that the Bible is clear on this subject. But his response is, “If it’s so clear, why don’t we agree?”‘; perhaps because he doesn’t like what he reads in Scripture, and also he would then have no movie to sell), and clearly, the fact that he has made a movie of this sort, which tries so hard to examine every possible POV on the subject, from all manner of different theological perspectives (based on all the different people in the cast), probably also, I will predict, not draw any ultimate conclusions, one way or another – except, perhaps, to draw the conclusion that we can’t ultimately know definitively, one way or another, whether or not there is a hell, and so perhaps the best thing we can do is all have respect for diverse opinions on the matter, and join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya!’.
Miller strikes me as having ‘emergent church’ tendencies, even if he himself might eschew such a label.
From the CP story, he came to faith in the Mennonite church, but now attends an Anglican church – many non-Old-Order Mennonites (like these, focused on the Social Gospel) are known for leftist, pacifist tendencies (due to their Anabaptist, anti-state heritage, but other than some more orthodox ones, they’ve fallen far from orthodoxy, unlike their Old Order brethren and Amish and Hutterite cousins), and Anglicans are known for accommodating a diversity of beliefs, everything from more orthodox, confessional, both High Church and Low Church, tendencies, and also ultra-liberal mainline tendencies. Where does he fall on the spectrum?
He is the kind of Christian who is willing to question Christian political orthodoxies – hence this documentary – which isn’t in and of itself proof of emergent church tendencies – after all, we Red Pill patriactionaries question Christian political orthodoxies, too – but taken together with other things, corroborates my previous assertion:
Consider this other documentary Miller has done, and this one. Like the one just linked above, they could be coming from a dissident rightist angle, but more likely from a left one; again, esp. in light of other facts.
Consider that, again, from the CP story, the idea for the movie was sparked by a book by Rob Bell, a key figure in the ‘emergent church’. Consider also that among the cast members, two who are quoted on the films website about the movie are Brian McLaren (another prominent ‘emergent church’ figure) and Frank Schaeffer, a noisy ex-Reformed now-Eastern-Orthodox leftist who rails against evangelicalism and fundamentalism; he’s the ‘black sheep’ son of the late Francis Schaeffer, devoting most of his time and energy today to bashing ‘the Religious Right’ and the Republicans (and not from the direction which we patriactionaries would bash them, but from the left, accusing Obama’s critics of ‘racism’, blah blah blah). Here’s what Franky said, which Kevin Miller felt fit to quote, as a promotional quote for the movie:
Hellbound? confronts the great national ideological divide over religion (and thus politics too) as never before. And I’m betting that 5 years from now you’ll meet former evangelicals and other former fundamentalist religious folks who trace their departure from the religious right to seeing this movie. I’ve never seen the argument made better against the angry retributive aspects of far right ‘religion.’
Kevin Miller calls cast member Brad Jersak his ‘good friend’ here, so it may be instructive to see what kind of company Miller keeps. Here‘s Jersak’s site. He attends a Vancouver, B.C. – area church pastored by his wife, Eden Jersak. (They consider children, disabled people, prodigal sons, and poor people their ‘mentors‘, whatever that means… Sounds like an emergent church, alright; focusing on the ‘marginalized’, and ignoring the majority…) Jersak edits a journal with links to Jim Wallis’ Sojourners, a leftist evangelical outfit which seems to be focused on, once again, bashing Republicans on behalf of the Democrats, and promoting gay rights, etc.
Both Miller and Jersak have ties / links to Ron Dart, a left-wing Red Tory (I’m one of the few right-wing Red Tories left, it seems). Dart appears in the movie, and according to the CP story, has interviewed Miller (and presumably published it).
Oh, and two of Miller’s six links to positive press about Hellbound? are from HuffPo. ‘Nuff said.
Birds of a feather, flock together… It should be fairly clear, from just these limited examples (and I could choose a lot more, from the cast Miller assembled, plus those who praise his film, but these will suffice), that these filmmakers come from a leftist, ‘emergent church’, conservative-bashing slant. They are ‘them’, and not ‘us’. Hell is real, as faithful Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox all know, without doubt. I’m not going to see their movie, except maybe for free at the home of a friend with Netflix, years from now, if it’s listed, and there isn’t anything better to watch then… Save your money, and don’t support ‘emergent’ heretics.
*UPDATE: I was right; I had his number all along… Those ‘emergent’ heretics are completely predictable.
