Calvinism and Pseudo Christianity

I'm proud to say that the new slides for my presentation are looking good. I'm trying to draft a logo for my website, so if anyone knows of an artist send them my way. Anyway, the new slides mainly have to do with a Christian response to why we—Reformed Piety & Ethics and Truth Defenders—do what we do, namely to witness/evangelize to people in the public square. I think these slides will at least mitigate some of the unjustified retorts that I hear from empty-headed Christians who don't know the Bible from their rear. My slides mainly deal with Biblical anthropology and Calvinism, since they are inseparable in my point of view. I mainly do a roundabout survey of N. Geisler's book, Chosen but Free, and James White response to Dr. Geisler, The Potter's Freedom.

I'm mainly touching this subject because of the constant criticisms Christians have been leveling against Truth Defenders. Because of the ignorance of the opposite side, I have sought to list some good sources that I think will be helpful in evaluating the debate with "simple" Christians who read nothing "but the Bible." I say that tongue-in-cheek pejoratively, since this statement is actually contrary to what the Bible commands, namely to show oneself approved, well-rounded and educated in every area of study—therefore illustrating the very definition of world view apologetics. It may sound offensive, but honesty is certainly the best policy here.

Sunday School Class

Day 1: Westminster Shorter Catechism at Grace Presbyterian Church

By Julio Martinez Jr.

Great discussions this morning. I got my booklet for the class and I'm glad to say that it's going to be a great class. Today we talked about the church and missiology. I had a couple questions about that, but unfortunately Ron couldn't answer them because of time constraints. I'm happy to know, however, that as Presbyterians we affirm the dominion mandate and in effect, the mandate to "Christianize" the world. To the dismay of many evangelicals, however, there is a growing "intellectual promiscuity"[1] that is plaguing the church worldwide.

Christians are dumbing down and are therefore ill-equipped for that very task, i.e., evangelization. Just this last Saturday, there were a couple of Latino Christians (allegedly Christian) who opposed the preaching of the gospel. This really caused me to scratch my head in confusion, seeing that there is ample evidence to the contrary in the Old[2] and New Testament Scriptures. (It apparently was nebulous to read the sign in front of them which states to withhold personal critiques from Christians publicly. It seems like this discipline called reading is very strange!) In effect, I have made it my aim to finish a book called "Beyond the Bounds" in order to respond to these sorts of remarks. I intend on making my findings into slides on PowerPoint. (I might just turn it into a pamphlet as well, but I digress.)

Back on point. We, the church, are now embarking on a study of the Westminster Shorter Catechism—in my view, one of the best catechisms in all of Christendom. We only covered the introduction to the class, which aimed at the telos of the class—or the general purpose of the class—which is growth in grace, understanding and stewardship, all of which define Reformed Piety & Ethics.

NOTES

[1] I wrote a scathing letter to the catholic (universal) church concerning her promiscuity and urge her to action. My letter can be found on my WordPress titled, "Intellectual Promiscuity: A Letter to the Reserved Christian." <http://jmartinez83.wordpress.com/2008/07/12/intellectual-promiscuity—letter-to-the-reserved-christian/>

[2] For the Old Testament passages, see Bahnsen's "For Whom was the Law Intended." It can be found online at http://cmfnow.com under the free articles. If you're interested in the article, just email me at jmartinez.reformed@gmail.com. I'll be happy to forward the material.

Upcoming Pamphlet

This is part of a section on a pamphlet I'm working on. Tell me how you guys like this sample.

Does the Quran seek to explain everything that encompasses life? In other words, does it seek to provide the Muslim a "life-view" of all things, like Kuyper would suggest life-views do? In the synopsis on the back of Pigthall's translation, we are told that the Quran gives the Muslim a comprehensive view of all things, namely, sociology, ethics and economics. Philosophical categories have been extrapolated from these three that would suggest all areas of life, viz., metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, and by inference, logic. A spirit of intellectual honesty would render the infidel without recourse of Muslim sentiment an unbeliever. This denial of Islam, under historical scrutiny, will not necessarily lead one to a particular view of faith since by its very nature is a negative critique; that is, it does not set forth to establish a positive view of faith, like Christianity or Judaism. (For more on negative and positive proof, refer to the end of this pamphlet for a more detailed definition.) Such a critique would even render an atheist within his or her rights a harsh denial of all Islamic claims, since by its very nature is a negative critique of Islam.

Islam’s Hypocrisy and Jihad Watch

This post was way too funny. I couldn't believe it when I read it. I took this from Robert Spencer's site, Jihad Watch. I'll post a picture of the book I'm currently reading. Thankfully, my brother and his wife loaned me the book (yes, I'm broke). If there's any book that my readers would like to peruse without reading the entire book, send me a copy and I would love to write a review.

Hypocrisy: Saudi Arabia, the country that won't allow churches or synagogues, calls for boycott of Switzerland over minaret ban That is, it is hypocrisy from a Western point of view. As far as the Saudis are concerned, Islam is the truth, its truth is self-evident, and therefore the Swiss are obligated to accommodate it in a way that the Saudis are not obligated to accommodate non-Muslim religious observance [Read more...]

Great Morning at GPC

This morning was a great Lord's Day service. Ron preached about thinking about God's Law/statutes, turning to them, and doing it hastily. The text was Psalms 119:59-60.

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments.

The sermon was mainly about ethics and the Christian, but the more obvious point that I inferred from the sermon was how we go about "doing" ethics. At that point I came to a simple conclusion—journals! I think the best way to "know" how the spiritual life is being lived is through journals. With journals, one can catalogue, inquire/ask, and read the progress, or regress, of one's spiritual maturity. Even in the text one read in the first line, "When I think on my ways…" clearly denotes an inquisitive spirit into one's spiritual well-being. So here's my diagnosis, Dr. House: USE A JOURNAL!

Podcast about Islam

Having been looking at the topic of Islam for the past couple days—I've been preparing for another dialog with Muslims who frequent my home—I came across a tweet by Dr. R. Scott Clark's Heidelblog. I followed the link and it lead me to the WHI, the White Horse Inn radio program, where the show aired recently on the topic of Islam. The story is about a man who converted to Reformed Christianity from Islam. His bio can be found on this link. To listen to the program, click here. Here is a preview of Hussein's book Crack in the Crecent.

Countless books have been written on the subject of Islam, making it a daunting task for the reader to select a good one. The lack of consensus among Islamic scholars also makes Islam a very complex topic. Therefore, it is imperative for one to read a book with a clear, concise, and coherent message in order to gain a proper understanding of Islam.

Rhetoric and Logic Applied to the Apologetic Task

The following are resources provided by
Apologetics315. These are good resources for the application of reason and rhetoric to the apologetic task. Many Evangelicals today don't appreciate the value of this kind of dialog and exhibit a sort of "faith-in-Jesus" simplicity. Now I can divert to other issues, such as a denotative explication of the forms of faith, but this is not my intention, especially since it is not the topic of discussion. For a more detailed justification for profundity in the apologetic task, I would suggest reading Christian philosophers J.P. Moreland and William L. Craig's Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview. Other works are available. If anyone as any questions, please e-mail at jmartinez.reformed@gmail.com

Rhetoric and Christian Persuasion Resources

Philosopher Peter S. Williams (with Damaris) has had a number of good audios lately touching on the subject of classical rhetoric and how it applies to apologetics. These were happened upon after reading the excellent book How to Argue Like Jesus: Learning Persuasion from History's Greatest Communicator by Carter & Coleman, which touches on similar points (The book analyzes Jesus' use of rhetoric; the elements of logos, pathos, & ethos.)