we live in what may be the most anti-intellectual period in the history of Western civilization. "Burning Hearts Are Not Nourished by Empty Heads", Christianity Today (Sep 3 1982)
In reality, it is not the Puritan mind that is suffering from an over-realized eschatology, it is surely the two kingdoms theorists who suffer from an under-realized soteriology! Salvation is limited to personal salvation and does not have the kingdom of God in view for history.Mission of God, 385
Brothers, for the sake of the truth, and for the good of your people, and for the glory of God in the world, don't confuse timid uncertainty with truthful humility. Brothers, We are Not Professionals (166)
We cannot know like God knows (archetypal), but we can know as God wants and allows and helps us to know (ectypal). Proclaiming A Cross-Centered Theology (32)
God is not at a distance from history, uninvolved and on the periphery, an interested spectator or distant 'first cause;' rather he is governing all things by his providence and wisdom.
Either God exists or he does not. There is no middle ground. Both cannot be true. No amount of philosophical trickery can hide from the greatest antithesis of them all ... We cannot leave this question for the intellectuals, scientists, philosophers and theologians alone ... We must answer it for ourselves.
The laws of the Bible, outside the Ten Commandments, are case laws, and I have been arguing that largely, the Reformed faith has viewed it as the duty of the Christian ruler to extend the equity of these cases to cover whatever details they find in their own society.Mission of God, 343
We can no longer afford to be pious functional deists as Christians who regard God as no longer active in history to judge & bless nations in terms of obedience to the gospel & who, whilst speaking of biblical inspiration deny its material authority & application in the world.
Law is the condition of life in God's world. All things are governed by his law-word. All civil law is the legislation of somebodies morality. There is no neutral law. Do you want the righteous law of God, inscribed in stone by the very finger of God, or the tyrannical law of sinful man? Take your pick and live with the consequences.https://x.com/DrJoeBoot/status/1806717057435603010
It's hard to convince people that the loving God they can't see sacrificed His Son for sinners & calls them too repentance to escape the wrath to come, when a church they can see celebrates & indulges the very sins that sent His Son to the cross.
We are all in such a hurry, we want everything at once. We believe that all truth can be stated in a few minutes. The answer to that is that it cannot.
St. Augustine was a North African theologian lying at the root of biblical Protestant European theology. Karl Marx was a German/Prussian lying at the root of woke & liberation theology. Whose minds are being colonized by so-called "whiteness" - whatever that means.
Since Christ's purpose is the reconciling of all things to himself (Col. 1:20), the transformation of culture by faithfulness to the gospel and the total word of God applied to all of life is central to the Christian's calling.Mission of God, 366
we cannot distance ourselves from culture, or hide from it. We must understand its meaning and learn to think in biblical categories about it. Christ is over and transcends culture as creator, redeemer and king.Mission of God, 366
The example of Oliver Cromwell shows that Christian withdrawal from politics on the ground that no good can be achieved is an abdication of God-given responsibility which ensures the short-term triumph of ungodliness.Mission of God, 359
What then is the end in view for biblical penology? It is a vision of social peace, and hope for a godly culture that is surrendered to the righteousness and justice of a covenant-keeping God, whose great love is made manifest by the restitution effected by Christ's redemptive work, and his grade expressed socially in a system of restorative justice where human flourishing within self-giving community can take place.Mission of God, 354
Despite Canadian pride in our peacefulness, according to the UN international comparisons, Canada has a rate of police-reported criminal incidents among the highest in the world - almost double that of the United States. Furthermore, our failure to punish incorrigible violent offenders and murderers with the biblically-required death penalty (Gen. 9:5-6; Num. 35:16; Deut.21:18-21), in the name of 'rehabilitation' and an enlightened 'humaneness' has led to rampant evil.Mission of God, 345
We coddle the criminal today and thereby show little care for the victim. At the same time we legally murder tens of thousands of unborn babies every year (right up to term in Canada as we are without any abortion law) and want to practice infanticide, euthanize the elderly and assist depressed people to commit suicide with a physician. Clearly then, the ending of life is not the real objection to capital punishment; we appear anxious to end innocent life in any number of ways - we just don't want to punish the guilty.Mission of God, 344