Under-Realized Angelology

I am currently reading John Frame's, The Doctrine of the Christian Life. It is Frame's 1069 page opus on Christian ethics. I have been wading through it and it has been most beneficial. As I read through, I thought I would post some interesting/challenging quotes and ideas presented by Frame.

In chapter 15 entitled, "Our Ethical Situation", Frame asks, "how does the Bible characterize our ethical environment?" He states, "there are various levels of facts that we deal with in the world. These include God, angels, human society, individual existence, and nature." Angels, I have to be honest, are not beings I often consider when making ethical decisions. Here is an excerpt:

"Part of the problem is that modern people have lost touch with the supernatural and preternatural. They have become skeptical of any world or any beings beyond those that are detectable by our senses. Christians believe in God, But they have absorbed enough of the antisupernaturalism of modern culture that belief in angels seems foreign to them. It seems that belief in God is hard enough. Why add further difficulty by bringing angels into it? And if God is sovereign, what need do we have for preternatural beings? God is the one who judges and blesses us, sometimes in extraordinary ways. Why are angels important?

But Scripture itself mentions angels over three hundred times. This suggest that we need to take angels into account in our ethical decisions. Being a modern person myself, I don't pretend to have gotten very deeply into the doctrine of angels, but I would cautiously venture the following thoughts."

The main ideas are as follows:

1. "The doctrine of angels rebukes the smallness and impersonalism of our cosmology."

2. "Angels participate in kingdom warfare. The main point here is that we should not base either our hopes or our fears on the empirical situation alone."

3. " Angels are witnesses to human salvation. Although angels participate in the redemptive drama, there is another sense in which they are spectators rather than participants. Redemption doesn't extend to them." He goes on to say, "It is our privilege to teach the angels by our words and life."

4. "The doctrine of angels is a measure of the greatness of our salvation in Christ, for salvation lifts us above the angels."

See Hebrews 2:9 and the implications of the church sharing in Christ's exaltation.

---John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008) 253-256

For a further study on angels I would recommend Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them by Peter Kreeft.

Social Work

I don't know what camp you are in when it comes to the millennial debate. If you are pessimistic or optimistic about future events however, I think we can all agree that Christian social action is needed and, probably more of it. If we start talking about Christian social action it may lead to an argument over what form our social action should take?

I grew up in fundamentalism and was later schooled in the reformed tradition, so I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the fence. There are many division nonetheless, here is a challenging quote:

"The movement in the 1970s ad 1980s toward greater Christian involvement in social issues was spearheaded, not by Reformed amils and postmils, but by Arminian premils like Jerry Falwell and Pat Roberson. This is an embarrassment for us reformed people, who like to think that we have a corner on Christian political thought and action, and tend to look down our noses at "fundamentalists" for their lack of a "full-orbed Christian world-and- life view." Of course, fundamentalists like Falwell and Robertson may have been influenced , at a third or fourth hand, by Reformed people like Rousas J. Rushdoony, Gary North, and Francis Schaeffer. But it was the evangelical premils who took the lead in the actual movements for social change, and we should give them credit. Here we see another reason why the church should reexamine its divisions. Full implementation of Christianity in out time requires the gifts given to people in all Christian traditions."

---John M. Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008), 280

Blessed Are The Mourners.

I can tell you for an eternal truth that troubled souls are always safe. It is the untroubled that are in danger. Trouble in itself is always a claim on love, and God is love. He must deny Himself if He does not come to help the helpless. It is the prisoner, and the blind, and the leper, and the possessed, and the hungry, and the tempest-tossed, who are His special care. Therefore if you are lost and sick and bound, you are just in the place where He can meet you. Blessed are the mourners. They shall be comforted.

Andrew Jukes (1815-1901)

Reflections on Lent

February 17^th is Ash Wednesday. As I mentioned before, I am not in a liturgical tradition but believe the liturgical year can be a great tool in our sanctification. As far as active asceticism goes, I don’t do so well. Lent, if observed, is a good time to implement the gospel into our lives in a palpable way. Jesus stating that those who would follow him must take up their cross and deny himself (Luke 9:23). Self-denial is not something that is embraced or practiced in our culture. We are people of gross indulgence. We are gluttons for food, television, movies, video games, magazines, and all those things having to do with leisure and recreation. We are better at gorging ourselves then denying ourselves. But the mark of the Christian is, should be, that of denial. Below is a synopsis and good reflection on what Lent is about.

“The purpose of Lent is to be a season of fasting, self-denial, Christian growth, penitence, conversion, and simplicity. Lent, which comes from the Teutonic (Germanic) word for springtime, can be viewed as a spiritual spring cleaning: a time for taking spiritual inventory and then cleaning out those things which hinder our corporate and personal relationships with Jesus Christ and our service to him. Thus it is fitting that the season of Lent begin with a symbol of repentance: placing ashes mixed with oil on one's head or forehead. However, we must remember that our Lenten disciplines are supposed to ultimately transform our entire person: body, soul, and spirit. Our Lenten disciplines are supposed to help us become more like Christ. Eastern Christians call this process theosis, which St. Athanasius aptly describes as "becoming by grace what God is by nature."

LOST

Time travel, monsters, pain, joy, ontology, relationships, peril, paradise, personal triumphs, catastrophic failures, unexplained occurrences, religion; just some of the topics you will find on my favorite show LOST. I am very much excited about Season 6, which is the last and final installment of this "time travel odyssey." Creators Carlton Cuse, Damon Lindelof, and J.J. Abrams have created, what I would consider to be one of the most intricate and perspicacious television show to date. I am not even going to attempt to recap the past five seasons. I will say if you haven’t watched them I would encourage you to do so. We will finally see what becomes of the passengers from Oceanic Flight 815. Lost Season 6 premiers Tuesday, February 2nd at 9PM EST. Below is a stirring recap:

Epiphany

Most Christians I know are not in a liturgical tradition. I personally find this grievous seeing that most Protestants have lost rich Christian holidays and the rhythm that comes from the Christian calender. The liturgical year is as follows:

"The Christian calendar is organized around two major centers of Sacred Time: Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany; and Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, concluding at Pentecost. The rest of the year following Pentecost is known as Ordinary Time, from the word "ordinal," which simply means counted time (First Sunday after Pentecost, etc.). Ordinary Time is used to focus on various aspects of the Faith, especially the mission of the church in the world. Some church traditions break up ordinary time into a Pentecost Season, (Pentecost until the next to last Sunday of August) and Kingdomtide (last Sunday of August until the beginning of Advent)."

Today is Epiphany (January 6th) or three kings day. We are all familiar with the twelve days of Christmas, at least the song. For centuries the church has agreed that there are twelve days of Christmas beginning Christmas day and ending with the feast of Epiphany. The feast of Epiphany is a feast celebrating the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. Moreover, Epiphany is the date on which Caspar,

Melchior, and Balthasar, who are variously referred to as The Three Kings, Three Wise Men, or Magi arrived from the east bearing gifts for Jesus. In the story they see the star in the west announcing the birth of the Messiah and then follow the star to see the new king. They bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:1-7).

My hope is that whatever tradition you are in that you would stop and ponder in you heart God's ultimate revelation in the person of Jesus Christ and thank him for our great salvation on this last day of Christmas.

For Want...

I just finished A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’ Engle, which is the second book in her time travel quintet. In the novel she quotes from

the proverb For want of a Nail. In the book it is used to show how a microscopic creature can affect the fate of the universe, and is the impetus for much of what takes place. Here is the proverb:

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

This is a proverb that I have been ruminating on as I begin the New Year. The idea relayed by the proverb- that my seemingly minute attitudes, beliefs, and actions could have catastrophic or constructive effects on my life. The idea in physics known as chaos theory or the butterfly effect viz., that all events are linked and affected by initial conditions.

Proverbs 4:23, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Happy New Year!