Here are some thoughts from Marvin Rosenthal:
As I began this letter to you, I wanted to use a word or phrase to describe our world at this hour of history.
I thought of words like "critical," "explosive," "uncertain," "confused," and "wicked." I thought of phrases like "time bomb," "completely unprepared for what is coming," and "all-out war with God."
In the final analysis, I could not choose just one word or phrase. Tragically, they are all true.
This is a critical, explosive, uncertain, confused, and wicked hour of history. The world is like a time bomb ready to explode. Most people are completely unprepared for what is coming, totally ignorant of what they will soon confront, and unaware of the fact that they are opposing the God who created them and His Son who died to save them.
Clear and compelling specific and international events of a prophetic nature are converging in our generation. They point toward the approaching end of this age. How much time remains? I do not know.
As I write these words, I could be depressed and feel like a man with an old-fashioned signboard hung over his shoulders which reads, "The end of the world is coming!" Fortunately, I am delivered from that fatalistic mindset because I have absolute assurance of the ultimate, total victory through the Lord Jesus Christ at His coming.
The world does not know where we are or what the answers are to the pressing problems we face. You will not get answers from the media, academia, or the government. And tragically, much of the co-called church is liberal, lost, and can provide no help. They, themselves, are like a blind man in a dark room, looking for a black cat that is not there.
The world is burning, and much of the Church is fiddling. There is a grave urgency at this hour, and few are picking up on it.
So, there's at least two of us - amazing! I received this form letter from Marvin Rosenthal yesterday (9/19). He continues in the letter to address replacement theology which we will address many times in the future, but for now let's have the above speak for itself.
The ministry is Zion's Hope; the magazine is Zion's Fire. If you do not subscribe to this magazine, I strongly suggest that you do. This man is intellectually honest; his logic is reasonable, and his exegesis is penetrating.
The bold was added by me.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Back to Stanley
Obviously, posting on this site has not been my highest priority for awhile. This may change. As I have alluded to before, we are going to begin a men’s Bible study that will be pursuing knowledge of current world events as they pertain to the unfolding of the conditions leading up to the return of Christ. Actually, we began last Tue night (9/2). I’m thinking of wedding the ruminations arising from these meetings with this site. So, let us ruminate together.
Now, one of the motivations for starting this class was a growing perception of apostasy resident within the “church”, i.e. the man-made edifice. This, of course, forces me to return to previous thoughts and posts regarding the Emergent Church. I had started reading Stanley J. Grenz’s A Primer on Postmodernism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) a few months ago, put it down, placing it at the bottom of the book-pile, but have now resurfaced it, giving it new life. So, what’s so pertinent about postmodernism? Well, this seems to be the substance that is numbing the Christian early- warning- system concerning waywardness from the absolute claims of Scripture. If you are emergent, you are postmodern; if you are emergent, you tend to disbelieve Scripture as authoritative in an absolute sense. Here is part of Dr. Grenz’s apologetic concerning the matter:
Postmodern holism entails an integration of all the dimensions of personal life…Wholeness also entails a consciousness of the indelible and delicate connection to what lies beyond ourselves, in which our personal existence is embedded and from which it is nurtured. This wider realm includes “nature” (the ecosystem), of course. But in addition it involves the community of humans in which we participate. Postmoderns are keenly conscious of the importance of community, of the social dimension of existence. And the postmodern conception of wholeness also extends to the religious or spiritual aspect of life. Indeed, postmoderns affirm that personal existence may transpire within the context of a divine reality.
The conviction that each person is embedded in a particular human community leads to a corporate understanding of truth. Postmoderns believe that not only our specific beliefs but also our understanding of truth itself is rooted in the community in which we participate. They reject…timeless truth in favor of searching out truth as the expression of a specific community. They believe that truth consists in the ground rules that facilitate personal well-being in community and the well-being of the community as a whole. (p. 14 – bold added)
Are you a Christian moving towards a postmodern ethos? If so, then please consider some thoughts. To whatever degree that Scripture makes claims to being the absolute expression of God’s revelations to us, then, to that degree, it is not subject to the community’s affirmation. Is “Truth” embedded within Scripture, or does the “community” impart “truth” into Scripture as that community so perceives truth to be manifested. Is this not eisegesis at its worst? You are losing the plumb-line, are you not?
Further, one must define who this “divine reality” is, it seems to me, if one is to keep any sense of sobriety and import concerning this subject matter. Scripture reveals this “divine reality” as the very God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Himself. He makes absolute claims concerning Himself, and He demands obedience to His absolutist claims - or not! This God is not simply a therapeutic god wanting us to have a happy “community”, but rather, He is the Despot (despotes, - 2 Peter 2:1) of our lives, or He is not!
Well, this could go on and on (and of course it will). Let’s break here and give ourselves opportunity to reflect seriously what awaits the Christian community. You are welcome to respond.
Now, one of the motivations for starting this class was a growing perception of apostasy resident within the “church”, i.e. the man-made edifice. This, of course, forces me to return to previous thoughts and posts regarding the Emergent Church. I had started reading Stanley J. Grenz’s A Primer on Postmodernism (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) a few months ago, put it down, placing it at the bottom of the book-pile, but have now resurfaced it, giving it new life. So, what’s so pertinent about postmodernism? Well, this seems to be the substance that is numbing the Christian early- warning- system concerning waywardness from the absolute claims of Scripture. If you are emergent, you are postmodern; if you are emergent, you tend to disbelieve Scripture as authoritative in an absolute sense. Here is part of Dr. Grenz’s apologetic concerning the matter:
Postmodern holism entails an integration of all the dimensions of personal life…Wholeness also entails a consciousness of the indelible and delicate connection to what lies beyond ourselves, in which our personal existence is embedded and from which it is nurtured. This wider realm includes “nature” (the ecosystem), of course. But in addition it involves the community of humans in which we participate. Postmoderns are keenly conscious of the importance of community, of the social dimension of existence. And the postmodern conception of wholeness also extends to the religious or spiritual aspect of life. Indeed, postmoderns affirm that personal existence may transpire within the context of a divine reality.
The conviction that each person is embedded in a particular human community leads to a corporate understanding of truth. Postmoderns believe that not only our specific beliefs but also our understanding of truth itself is rooted in the community in which we participate. They reject…timeless truth in favor of searching out truth as the expression of a specific community. They believe that truth consists in the ground rules that facilitate personal well-being in community and the well-being of the community as a whole. (p. 14 – bold added)
Are you a Christian moving towards a postmodern ethos? If so, then please consider some thoughts. To whatever degree that Scripture makes claims to being the absolute expression of God’s revelations to us, then, to that degree, it is not subject to the community’s affirmation. Is “Truth” embedded within Scripture, or does the “community” impart “truth” into Scripture as that community so perceives truth to be manifested. Is this not eisegesis at its worst? You are losing the plumb-line, are you not?
Further, one must define who this “divine reality” is, it seems to me, if one is to keep any sense of sobriety and import concerning this subject matter. Scripture reveals this “divine reality” as the very God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob Himself. He makes absolute claims concerning Himself, and He demands obedience to His absolutist claims - or not! This God is not simply a therapeutic god wanting us to have a happy “community”, but rather, He is the Despot (despotes, - 2 Peter 2:1) of our lives, or He is not!
Well, this could go on and on (and of course it will). Let’s break here and give ourselves opportunity to reflect seriously what awaits the Christian community. You are welcome to respond.
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