I'm disappearing until July 5th. Today I have a bridal shower and a church social, then tomorrow right after church I go pick up my friend Emily from the airport :). She's staying until Thursday evening, but then the next morning my family is driving up to Indiana until July 4th. As you can see, blogging is just not going to be on my "to-do" list for the next several days. I will be on e-mail occasionally over the next 5 days or so, but not blogger.
Sadly, I still haven't blogged on the WCF conference I attended earlier this week :(. I hope to blog a bit on that when I return. Our computer has been strange the last week or so, and I haven't had access to my blog tracking software for a few days. I hope to have it reinstalled when I return, so I can peruse blogs again with greater ease. Until then, au revoir!
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Thursday, June 22, 2006
The Price of Beauty
One memorable scene from Tuck Everlasting is a short discussion between Winnie and her mother over fashion and beauty:
We can laugh at the attempts of women in past centuries to beautify themselves, going to great lengths for that smaller waist or whiter complexion or rosier cheeks. They did highly dangerous things, drinking poisonous concoctions, deforming ribs, stifling themselves in summer. But the coupling (and perceived necessity) of beauty and suffering did not die out in the Victorian Era. In fact, I think it has only gotten worse. Mother Dear sent me the links to two recent MSNBC articles on "killer fashion." It is truly amazing to read of some of the lengths women will go to to achieve a desired image:
To read the full stories, see here and here.
It's easy to get caught up, as a young woman, in the obsession with beauty in our society. It's so easy to forget that the most important kind (and the lasting kind) of beauty comes from within, and can only be wrought by God's working in our lives. That kind of beauty also comes through pain, but it is a joyful pain, a pain of refining, as our old self is heated and cleared of impurities to reveal Christ's image. Hmmm, perhaps, after all, the French were right: we really do have to suffer to be beautiful.
Mrs. Foster: [while strapping Winnie into a corset] You must suffer to be beautiful, so say the French.
Winnie: The French are crazy.
We can laugh at the attempts of women in past centuries to beautify themselves, going to great lengths for that smaller waist or whiter complexion or rosier cheeks. They did highly dangerous things, drinking poisonous concoctions, deforming ribs, stifling themselves in summer. But the coupling (and perceived necessity) of beauty and suffering did not die out in the Victorian Era. In fact, I think it has only gotten worse. Mother Dear sent me the links to two recent MSNBC articles on "killer fashion." It is truly amazing to read of some of the lengths women will go to to achieve a desired image:
“The clothes might be torturing you, but you become used to it,” she says. “The heels, the tight skirt, it all becomes a part of your life. They put you in pain, but you think, ‘No, it’s worth it.’”
"I have a pair of stilettos I call my disco ball shoes — across the toe is a strip of tiny mirrored squares. I love these shoes, but the last time I wore them I lost the feeling in my toes for about two weeks."
"I have many tortures: curling iron burns on my forehead and neck, skin torn off my feet where shoes rubbed, chafing and rash from sequins rubbing my underarms while I played percussion and sang in bands. But ... I can still do high kicks and deep knee bends in 6-inch platforms. Rock on!"
"Thirty years in "highest" heels have destroyed the cartilage in my toes and my knees, leaving me with arthritis and flat shoes. Sometimes, I can still get into a 1-inch heel that has good support. Pain finally won out over fashion."
To read the full stories, see here and here.
It's easy to get caught up, as a young woman, in the obsession with beauty in our society. It's so easy to forget that the most important kind (and the lasting kind) of beauty comes from within, and can only be wrought by God's working in our lives. That kind of beauty also comes through pain, but it is a joyful pain, a pain of refining, as our old self is heated and cleared of impurities to reveal Christ's image. Hmmm, perhaps, after all, the French were right: we really do have to suffer to be beautiful.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Inferiority Complex?
Apologies to anyone else who is going through new-post-on-Susan's-blog withdrawal like Ashley. Sheesh. I can't go three days of no posting without being badgered. *rolls eyes dramatically*
Monday and Tuesday was the Westminster Confession of Faith conference, which I thoroughly enjoyed :). More to come on that later. Between the conference and our epileptic computer, I haven't been doing much blog drafting recently. It is highly annoying to be typing on a computer and have it seize up and black out on you periodically, with no reason!
Today I was looking at a wad of papers that I found tucked in one of my grandfather's books - presumably some old sermon notes. It was fun to read through his sermon and I found the following anecdote on the "inferiority complex" to be interesting:
Now, I would like to clarify that (a) I don't know who Dorothy Thompson is, (b) I'm not guaranteeing that I accurately quoted her (since I'm merely pulling from an old sermon manuscript), and (c) her comment seems to have a humanistic flavor. But it is still something to consider.
We often, in the Christian life as well as the secular world, dumb things down out of fear for the "inferiority complex." We don't want to to challenge a kid too much in school, or his self-esteem may suffer. We don't want to attempt to read a difficult piece of literature like The Count of Monte Cristo, because it is "above us." We remove our children from the preaching of the Word, not wanting to bore or confuse them with all that "dry and difficult theology." Yet scripture is full of commands to strive for higher things, even unreachable things. We are to strive for perfection; how's that for a comforting goal? As C.S. Lewis said, Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.
If all we ever search for is that which we know is attainable, what a miserable existence we will live. I am most comforted in my Christian walk, not by seeing other forgiven sinners tripping along the road of sanctification, but by seeing the perfect holiness of God. Like Dorothy Thompson's account of the GI Joes, when I get even a small glimpse of the true character of God, I suddenly realize that life has a grandeur and a beauty and a significance above and beyond myself. There is a higher purpose, a bigger plan. It's not all about me. And it's comforting, not frightening or stifling. How's that for an inferiority complex?
Monday and Tuesday was the Westminster Confession of Faith conference, which I thoroughly enjoyed :). More to come on that later. Between the conference and our epileptic computer, I haven't been doing much blog drafting recently. It is highly annoying to be typing on a computer and have it seize up and black out on you periodically, with no reason!
Today I was looking at a wad of papers that I found tucked in one of my grandfather's books - presumably some old sermon notes. It was fun to read through his sermon and I found the following anecdote on the "inferiority complex" to be interesting:
Have you read the late Dorothy Thompson's answer to Frank Lloyd Wright when he said that public rooms should be only about 12 feet high so that people in them would not have to feel inferior or insignificant?
Miss Thompson replied, "The GI Joes Whom I saw standing awestruck in the Salisbury Cathedral, or watching the robed procession climb the vast stairs of Canterbury, or kneeling under the lofty arches of Notre Dame, or staring upward in St. Peter's at Michelangelo's immense dome were not feeling insignificant. On the contrary they were realizing that life has a grandeur and a beauty and a significance above and beyond themselves that wakened in them high aspiration. The terrible heresy of our time is that everything must be keyed down to our understanding. . . lest we get an inferiority complex. Books must be written in the language of the gutter. The height of inspiration must be put not over twelve feet; one must not expect him to life his eyes beyond his own stature."
She goes on to say, "This is scientific dribble. Every boy or girl, wants to be something better than he is and other than the mass. They do not want a ceiling put over their life. Emerson did not advocate a twelve-foot ceiling when he said, "Hitch your wagon to a star." He knew the wagon would never reach the star, but it would stay out of the gutter.
The height to which we grow is communsurate with our vision. Set our ceiling at only 12 feet and we will eventually be living underground.
Now, I would like to clarify that (a) I don't know who Dorothy Thompson is, (b) I'm not guaranteeing that I accurately quoted her (since I'm merely pulling from an old sermon manuscript), and (c) her comment seems to have a humanistic flavor. But it is still something to consider.
We often, in the Christian life as well as the secular world, dumb things down out of fear for the "inferiority complex." We don't want to to challenge a kid too much in school, or his self-esteem may suffer. We don't want to attempt to read a difficult piece of literature like The Count of Monte Cristo, because it is "above us." We remove our children from the preaching of the Word, not wanting to bore or confuse them with all that "dry and difficult theology." Yet scripture is full of commands to strive for higher things, even unreachable things. We are to strive for perfection; how's that for a comforting goal? As C.S. Lewis said, Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.
If all we ever search for is that which we know is attainable, what a miserable existence we will live. I am most comforted in my Christian walk, not by seeing other forgiven sinners tripping along the road of sanctification, but by seeing the perfect holiness of God. Like Dorothy Thompson's account of the GI Joes, when I get even a small glimpse of the true character of God, I suddenly realize that life has a grandeur and a beauty and a significance above and beyond myself. There is a higher purpose, a bigger plan. It's not all about me. And it's comforting, not frightening or stifling. How's that for an inferiority complex?
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Happy Father's Day!
A barely-not-too-late Happy Father's Day to Father Dear! This was supposed to be posted earlier, but ah well :). For those of you who are fans of Sister Dear's writings, here is her latest, in honor of our Dear Father :).
~~~~
Math man Joe (he's the man!): tall, jolly, brownies in one hand and a calculator in the other; he's always ready for whatever problems may come his way.
As our story opens, Math Man Joe is at his desk at school, absorbed in figuring out a beautiful math problem. The hum of the students in the room working diligently on their homework serves as delightful background music to our Hero's ears. Math Man Joe takes a small respite in order to enjoy a bite of brownie as he looks over the heads of his beloved students. Suddenly a student rushes in the room, followed by a teacher. "Math Man, we have a PROBLEM!" gasps the student, named Bill, whose face shows the overwhelming enormity of the problem. The students in the room pause from their work, nervous and afraid. The teacher who has just entered with the student stands a few feet off, trembling and sweating.
Math Man Joe, always composed, puts his brownie down and takes up his calculator and says, "Never fear, Math Man is here!" The students cheer and wait expectantly to see what will happen next.
Bill, who has caught his breath by now but still looks a little wild with fright, dramatically says, "Our... calculators... won't... work!" The teacher behind him utters a small groan and hangs his head in despair.
Math Man Joe collects his thoughts and asks, "What do you mean they won't work? Do they need new batteries?"
"No, we tried new batteries, but they refuse to work. They're very tired and say they don't have the energy to compute anymore. I was almost done with a problem when my calculator went to sleep, and I still don't know what 2 + 3 is! Oh, whatever shall we do?!"
Bill handed his TI-89 calculator to Math Man Joe to prove what he had just said.
Sure enough, when Math Man tries to turn on the calculator, the calculator reads: "Leave me alone. I want to sleep. ZZZzzzzz..."
"Do not fear, all is not lost," says Math Man Joe. "You can compute a whole bunch of numbers by yourself, without a calculator!" Bill's mouth dropped open and the teacher gasps and says in a reprimanding tone, "Math Man, you can't mean it! These kids can't do it themselves! That's too much for them to handle!"
Math Man, however, stands by what he has said and repeats, "You can do it by yourself! Bill and Bill's teacher, watch this," and turning to his class, he asks, "Class, what is 2 + 3?" They all chime in together and answer, "5, Mr. Math Man Joe!"
Bill's teacher stammers, "Ho.. ho... how could they do that without a calculator?"
Proudly Math Man Joe commands his whole class to go to Bill's class and teach the students how to add themselves, without a calculator. "I, will stay here and work with these calculators and see if I can wake them up," says Math Man as his students hurry out of his room, eager to share the joys of math with fellow students trapped in the bondage of dependence on their calculators. Math Man hears one of his students say to Bill as they headed out the door, "Oh, Bill, there is such freedom in doing computations by yourself! I am so glad to get to teach you!"
Math Man smiles and chuckles slightly as he examines Bill's calculator. "Hmmm... " he thinks. "I wonder."
At the end of the period, all of the students from both classes pile into Math Man Joe's room, talking about math equations and solving them in their heads. Bill's teacher is astounded. "I have to hand it to you, Math Man. I didn't think it was possible, but you saved the day! My kids were able to finish their home work without a calculator! However, there is still a problem. Tomorrow's lesson does require certain steps done on the calculator. What can I do?"
The rest of the room went quiet when they heard this. "The trouble is not over!" they whisper in anguish.
Math Man grins, holding Bill's calculator in one hand and taking a bit of a brownie with the other. He pushed the 'on' button on the calculator, and to everyone's surprise and joy - it turns on!
"What did you do?!" everyone asks.
"Simple," he replied. "Since Father's Day was yesterday, I have extra brownies with me today. Everyone needs a little boost of energy from time to time, so I simply inserted a bit of brownie with the batteries, and it's working just dandy! The poor calculator was just tired and needed a boost." He laughs happily and hands the calculator to Bill. "Oh!" he said, glancing down at his watch. "Isn't it about time for you kids to be gone? I'm thinking it's about time for a nap before I go for a run."
And with that our hero packs up his calculator and brownies and heads out the door. Another problem solved!
"Hooray for Math Man Joe," cheer the students.
~~~~
Math man Joe (he's the man!): tall, jolly, brownies in one hand and a calculator in the other; he's always ready for whatever problems may come his way.
As our story opens, Math Man Joe is at his desk at school, absorbed in figuring out a beautiful math problem. The hum of the students in the room working diligently on their homework serves as delightful background music to our Hero's ears. Math Man Joe takes a small respite in order to enjoy a bite of brownie as he looks over the heads of his beloved students. Suddenly a student rushes in the room, followed by a teacher. "Math Man, we have a PROBLEM!" gasps the student, named Bill, whose face shows the overwhelming enormity of the problem. The students in the room pause from their work, nervous and afraid. The teacher who has just entered with the student stands a few feet off, trembling and sweating.
Math Man Joe, always composed, puts his brownie down and takes up his calculator and says, "Never fear, Math Man is here!" The students cheer and wait expectantly to see what will happen next.
Bill, who has caught his breath by now but still looks a little wild with fright, dramatically says, "Our... calculators... won't... work!" The teacher behind him utters a small groan and hangs his head in despair.
Math Man Joe collects his thoughts and asks, "What do you mean they won't work? Do they need new batteries?"
"No, we tried new batteries, but they refuse to work. They're very tired and say they don't have the energy to compute anymore. I was almost done with a problem when my calculator went to sleep, and I still don't know what 2 + 3 is! Oh, whatever shall we do?!"
Bill handed his TI-89 calculator to Math Man Joe to prove what he had just said.
Sure enough, when Math Man tries to turn on the calculator, the calculator reads: "Leave me alone. I want to sleep. ZZZzzzzz..."
"Do not fear, all is not lost," says Math Man Joe. "You can compute a whole bunch of numbers by yourself, without a calculator!" Bill's mouth dropped open and the teacher gasps and says in a reprimanding tone, "Math Man, you can't mean it! These kids can't do it themselves! That's too much for them to handle!"
Math Man, however, stands by what he has said and repeats, "You can do it by yourself! Bill and Bill's teacher, watch this," and turning to his class, he asks, "Class, what is 2 + 3?" They all chime in together and answer, "5, Mr. Math Man Joe!"
Bill's teacher stammers, "Ho.. ho... how could they do that without a calculator?"
Proudly Math Man Joe commands his whole class to go to Bill's class and teach the students how to add themselves, without a calculator. "I, will stay here and work with these calculators and see if I can wake them up," says Math Man as his students hurry out of his room, eager to share the joys of math with fellow students trapped in the bondage of dependence on their calculators. Math Man hears one of his students say to Bill as they headed out the door, "Oh, Bill, there is such freedom in doing computations by yourself! I am so glad to get to teach you!"
Math Man smiles and chuckles slightly as he examines Bill's calculator. "Hmmm... " he thinks. "I wonder."
At the end of the period, all of the students from both classes pile into Math Man Joe's room, talking about math equations and solving them in their heads. Bill's teacher is astounded. "I have to hand it to you, Math Man. I didn't think it was possible, but you saved the day! My kids were able to finish their home work without a calculator! However, there is still a problem. Tomorrow's lesson does require certain steps done on the calculator. What can I do?"
The rest of the room went quiet when they heard this. "The trouble is not over!" they whisper in anguish.
Math Man grins, holding Bill's calculator in one hand and taking a bit of a brownie with the other. He pushed the 'on' button on the calculator, and to everyone's surprise and joy - it turns on!
"What did you do?!" everyone asks.
"Simple," he replied. "Since Father's Day was yesterday, I have extra brownies with me today. Everyone needs a little boost of energy from time to time, so I simply inserted a bit of brownie with the batteries, and it's working just dandy! The poor calculator was just tired and needed a boost." He laughs happily and hands the calculator to Bill. "Oh!" he said, glancing down at his watch. "Isn't it about time for you kids to be gone? I'm thinking it's about time for a nap before I go for a run."
And with that our hero packs up his calculator and brownies and heads out the door. Another problem solved!
"Hooray for Math Man Joe," cheer the students.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
A Few Pictures of Recent Sewing Projects
First, below is a picture of my current quilt project. I started this quilt about 2 years ago, but I keep laying it aside for other, more pertinent, projects like an anniversary quilt and a wedding quilt. Since it is a double wedding ring quilt, it really needs to be quilted in a circular pattern, and as I wasn't keen on maneuvering the thick, queen-sized bat through my machine in a curvy fashion, I opted to hand quilt it. I borrowed the frame from a friend, and it has proved very helpful so far! This picture was taken at my grandparents' house last week, and that's the Ohio River behind me :).
Second, here is a picture of the dress I recently mentioned. Ashley treated me to some fabric shopping for my birthday way back in early April, and I'm just now finishing the dress made with the fabric I bought. *guilty look* I really like the result. Ashley, Mother Dear, and Sister Dear convinced me to splurge and buy some non-cotton fabric for a dress - out of the ordinary for me, since I'm usually a cotton girl. It's kind of hard to see from the photo, but the fabric has roses all over it with slighly different threads, to give it a pretty, textured look.
Second, here is a picture of the dress I recently mentioned. Ashley treated me to some fabric shopping for my birthday way back in early April, and I'm just now finishing the dress made with the fabric I bought. *guilty look* I really like the result. Ashley, Mother Dear, and Sister Dear convinced me to splurge and buy some non-cotton fabric for a dress - out of the ordinary for me, since I'm usually a cotton girl. It's kind of hard to see from the photo, but the fabric has roses all over it with slighly different threads, to give it a pretty, textured look.
VBS Fun and the Gospel to Children
As mentioned before, I was a crew leader for my church's Vacation Bible School this past week, and it was so much fun and such a blessing. I had six rising 1st and 2nd grade girls in my group, and it was so good to get to know them and talk with them. We had some good conversations related to the lessons for each day, and it is amazing how much faith and comprehension even children that young can have! Every time I work with young children it just makes me all the more eager to be a mother of my own brood of chicks :). Little girls, especially, are so loving and just soak up the love you give them. One of the girls (who doesn't attend my church) was leaning against me yesterday during the lesson and said, I'm going to miss you, Miss Susan. Awww. It just melts my heart :). Six and seven year old girls are still in that stage where they love to snuggle and giggle without fear of seeming babyish, yet they can also comprehend a lot. Their faith, though simple now, is so precious! For of such is the kingdom of God.
Isn't it amazing how selfish little girls can be, though? My crew was very well-behaved, but all (except one) of them were so self-centered! They each wanted to be the first in line, etc., and if they did something "good" they wanted everyone to know! It is so hard to explain the balance between doing good and announcing it! One of the girls really did understand, though (she obviously has been very well-trained by her parents), and she would often do little things for the others, like letting them have a turn first or letting them pick the nicer craft supplies, etc., and she never looked for praise from me or the others. I could certainly learn many lessons from her!
My girls were very well-behaved this week, but I saw enough childish selfishness from them this week - and misbehavior from the other kids - to only seek to confirm what I already knew. Children are not innocent. I mentioned to Mother and Sister Dear that John Locke must not have had much exposure to young children or he would have had to "revise" his blank slate theory, to which Mother Dear replied, Revise it nothing! He would have had to throw it out! Ah, so true.
I'm afraid that the gospel is very often presented to children in a reverse fashion, or at least in a confused, mixed-up fashion. Each day this week, we had a different theme: Monday was Jesus is our friend (proper response: Viva!), Tuesday was Jesus is our life (Viva!), Wednesday was Jesus is our leader (Viva!), Thursday was Jesus is our Savior (Viva!), and Friday was Jesus is our helper. Each theme was good and had a Biblical basis. Indeed, to a Christian, Jesus is his friend, life, leader, Saviour, and helper. . . . but not in that order!
The first three days in VBS it was all about the kids learning to do good things because Jesus is their friend (Viva!), their life (Viva!), and their leader (Viva!). The problem? Sin wasn't even mentioned until Thursday. Until then the lessons focused on what we can try to do to please Jesus, rather than what we have done to offend a perfectly holy God. It didn't show the children just how much they need a Savior, and it didn't tell them that they can't do anything to earn God's favor and salvation.
Every day the kids were given a challenge to complete before the following day - something nice that they had to do to show someone else that they act different because Jesus is their friend (Viva!), or life (Viva!), or leader (Viva!). The next day they would tell their crew leaders how they fulfilled their challenge. Sister Dear overheard one lady complimenting one of her charges after hearing what he had done (to complete his challenge), and she told him, You know what that means? That means you're a good person. *cringe* Think of the message that sends to that little boy!
Oh, well, that's nice to know. Now because of a single, solitary act that I did by coercion, my debt of sin has been bumped off the charts and replaced with a positive credit in the bank of my holiness. I guess I don't need a Savior anymore.
It is so dangerous to present the gospel to children in this manner! The last thing I want for a little child is to come away from VBS or church with the idea that they can somehow be "good enough" for God. That is not the gospel message, and it pains me when kids view the gospel as such. The morally rich (those who think they have it all together) have the hardest time entering the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. . . The message of the first three days bordered on a works-based salvation, which is definitely not the message of the gospel!
Thursday we finally used the word sin. During the Bible story we talked about sin, how we have all sinned, and how we are all in need of a Savior. The teacher really did a good job explaining this to the group, and then we had individual time with our smaller group of kids to talk about sin and our need of a Savior. But I think that lesson should have come earlier in the week, before we talked about Jesus being the Lord of our life. How can Jesus be our friend or our life (more important than anything else) or our leader unless he is first our Savior? As Walter Marshall once said, [Christ] knew that we could perform nothing holily, except he made us first partakers of salvation, and that we shall never obey him as a Law-giver, until we receive him as a Saviour.
. . . and that is how I think the gospel is often presented to kids in a backwards fashion. Kids first need to be taught their need of a Savior, before they can be encouraged to obey God with their actions. Our good works are out of gratitude and obedience to God, realizing that we have no hope outside of the mercy of the cross, so they are meaningless unless under the shadow of Calvary. Heaven forbid that the little ones this week should come away from VBS thinking more of their actions to please God rather than focusing most on Jesus's sacrificial actions on the cross to save them from their worst enemy - themselves.
Isn't it amazing how selfish little girls can be, though? My crew was very well-behaved, but all (except one) of them were so self-centered! They each wanted to be the first in line, etc., and if they did something "good" they wanted everyone to know! It is so hard to explain the balance between doing good and announcing it! One of the girls really did understand, though (she obviously has been very well-trained by her parents), and she would often do little things for the others, like letting them have a turn first or letting them pick the nicer craft supplies, etc., and she never looked for praise from me or the others. I could certainly learn many lessons from her!
My girls were very well-behaved this week, but I saw enough childish selfishness from them this week - and misbehavior from the other kids - to only seek to confirm what I already knew. Children are not innocent. I mentioned to Mother and Sister Dear that John Locke must not have had much exposure to young children or he would have had to "revise" his blank slate theory, to which Mother Dear replied, Revise it nothing! He would have had to throw it out! Ah, so true.
I'm afraid that the gospel is very often presented to children in a reverse fashion, or at least in a confused, mixed-up fashion. Each day this week, we had a different theme: Monday was Jesus is our friend (proper response: Viva!), Tuesday was Jesus is our life (Viva!), Wednesday was Jesus is our leader (Viva!), Thursday was Jesus is our Savior (Viva!), and Friday was Jesus is our helper. Each theme was good and had a Biblical basis. Indeed, to a Christian, Jesus is his friend, life, leader, Saviour, and helper. . . . but not in that order!
The first three days in VBS it was all about the kids learning to do good things because Jesus is their friend (Viva!), their life (Viva!), and their leader (Viva!). The problem? Sin wasn't even mentioned until Thursday. Until then the lessons focused on what we can try to do to please Jesus, rather than what we have done to offend a perfectly holy God. It didn't show the children just how much they need a Savior, and it didn't tell them that they can't do anything to earn God's favor and salvation.
Every day the kids were given a challenge to complete before the following day - something nice that they had to do to show someone else that they act different because Jesus is their friend (Viva!), or life (Viva!), or leader (Viva!). The next day they would tell their crew leaders how they fulfilled their challenge. Sister Dear overheard one lady complimenting one of her charges after hearing what he had done (to complete his challenge), and she told him, You know what that means? That means you're a good person. *cringe* Think of the message that sends to that little boy!
Oh, well, that's nice to know. Now because of a single, solitary act that I did by coercion, my debt of sin has been bumped off the charts and replaced with a positive credit in the bank of my holiness. I guess I don't need a Savior anymore.
It is so dangerous to present the gospel to children in this manner! The last thing I want for a little child is to come away from VBS or church with the idea that they can somehow be "good enough" for God. That is not the gospel message, and it pains me when kids view the gospel as such. The morally rich (those who think they have it all together) have the hardest time entering the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. . . The message of the first three days bordered on a works-based salvation, which is definitely not the message of the gospel!
Thursday we finally used the word sin. During the Bible story we talked about sin, how we have all sinned, and how we are all in need of a Savior. The teacher really did a good job explaining this to the group, and then we had individual time with our smaller group of kids to talk about sin and our need of a Savior. But I think that lesson should have come earlier in the week, before we talked about Jesus being the Lord of our life. How can Jesus be our friend or our life (more important than anything else) or our leader unless he is first our Savior? As Walter Marshall once said, [Christ] knew that we could perform nothing holily, except he made us first partakers of salvation, and that we shall never obey him as a Law-giver, until we receive him as a Saviour.
. . . and that is how I think the gospel is often presented to kids in a backwards fashion. Kids first need to be taught their need of a Savior, before they can be encouraged to obey God with their actions. Our good works are out of gratitude and obedience to God, realizing that we have no hope outside of the mercy of the cross, so they are meaningless unless under the shadow of Calvary. Heaven forbid that the little ones this week should come away from VBS thinking more of their actions to please God rather than focusing most on Jesus's sacrificial actions on the cross to save them from their worst enemy - themselves.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
VBS and WCF
Gotta love those acronymns :).
I've been a bit busy this week with my church's Vacation Bible School, and some of you may have noticed my decreased online activity, both at my blog and in commenting to others. I'm also trying to cut back on blogging in general, but especially this week, other things are taking priority.
I'm the crew leader for six rising 1st-2nd grade girls and loving it :). I'm having a bit too much fun teasing them, loving on them, and talking with them about Jesus. Ah, life is good :). I'll probably post more about VBS tomorrow or Saturday, specifically why I think the gospel is often presented to little kids in a backwards fashion :(, but also the positive aspects of the week.
Next week I have the opportunity to attend a slightly more stimulating set of lectures than the VBS skits from this week ;). Mother Dear and I are registered for a 2-day conference on the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is being given in Atlanta :). I'm very excited about the opportunity, and only wish it was a longer conference :(. Ah well.
And now I'm off to finish a dress (don't cheer too loudly, Ashley. . . ) and then hopefully get some reading in before supper.
I've been a bit busy this week with my church's Vacation Bible School, and some of you may have noticed my decreased online activity, both at my blog and in commenting to others. I'm also trying to cut back on blogging in general, but especially this week, other things are taking priority.
I'm the crew leader for six rising 1st-2nd grade girls and loving it :). I'm having a bit too much fun teasing them, loving on them, and talking with them about Jesus. Ah, life is good :). I'll probably post more about VBS tomorrow or Saturday, specifically why I think the gospel is often presented to little kids in a backwards fashion :(, but also the positive aspects of the week.
Next week I have the opportunity to attend a slightly more stimulating set of lectures than the VBS skits from this week ;). Mother Dear and I are registered for a 2-day conference on the Westminster Confession of Faith, which is being given in Atlanta :). I'm very excited about the opportunity, and only wish it was a longer conference :(. Ah well.
And now I'm off to finish a dress (don't cheer too loudly, Ashley. . . ) and then hopefully get some reading in before supper.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Two Very Good Quotes on Justification, Works, and the Moral Law
I'm reading through The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, by Walter Marshall, and today in my reading I came across these two excellent parts that were too good not to share, though they are admittedly a bit lengthy. From Direction VI:
The apostle Paul opposeth the believing required in the gospel, to all doing for life, as the condition proper to the law (Gal. iii. 12). The law is not of faith: but, the man that doth them, shall live in them (Rom. iv. 5). To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. If we seek salvation by ever so easy and mild a condition of works, we do thereby bring ourselves under the terms of the law, and do become debtors to fulfil the whole law in perfection, though we intended to engage ourselves only to fulfil it in part (Gal. v. 3); for the law is a complete declaration of the only terms whereby God will judge all that are not brought to despair of procuring salvation by any of their own works, and to receive it as a gift freely given to them by the grace of God in Christ. So that all that seek salvation, right or wrong, knowingly or ignorantly, by any works, less or more; whether invented by their own superstition, or commanded by God in the Old or New Testament, shall at last stand or fall according to these terms.Continuing, also from Direction VI:
The covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai, is abolished by Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant (Heb. viii. 8, 9, 13). And the ten commandments bind us not as they were words of that covenant (Exod. 34. 28). I mean, they bind us not as conditions of that covenant, except we seek to be justified by works: for the law, as a covenant, doth still stand in force enough to curse those that seek salvation by their own works (Gal. iii. 10); and, if abolished, it is only to those that are in Christ by faith (Gal. ii. 16, 20); Acts iii 22-25; xv. 10, 11). But the ten commandments bind us still, as they were then given to a people that were at that time under the covenant of grace made with Abraham, to show them what duties are holy, just, and good, well-pleasing to God, and to e a rule for their conversation. The result of all is, that we must still practise moral duties, as commanded by Moses: but we must not seek to be justified by our practice. If we use them as a rule of life, not as conditions of justification, they can be no ministration of death, or killing letter unto us. Their perfection indeed maketh them to be harder terms to procure life by, but a better rule to discover all imperfections, and to guide us to that perfection which we should aim at. And it will be our wisdom, not to part with the authority of the decalogue of Moses, until our new divines can furnish us with another system of morality, as complete as that, and as excellently composed, and ordered by the wisdom of God, and more authentic than that is.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
I brought home 13 boxes of books. . . :-D
I'm back from my trip to Indiana! It was a fun, relaxing week with Mother Dear and Grandparents Dear. I made some good headway in my reading and also in my hand-quilting project. We also got to see a new period film, courtesy of one of my mom's sisters. I'd highly recommend North & South, adapted from Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. It has some similarities to Pride and Prejudice and Wives and Daughters, which are two of my favorite period films (and two of my favorite classic novels).
Mother Dear and I helped my grandmother to do assorted organizing, and cleaning and the biggest project was going through my grandfather's library. He's given the okay for it to be cleared and everything tossed or given away. Well, this bibliophile didn't want to see so many fine books disappear, so she volunteered to "dispose" of many herself :). No one else in the family expressed much interest in searching through Granddad's collection for some "keepers," so I pretty much had free reign on an enormous number of books.
My grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor for over 40 years, so most of the books were theological (*grin*), with some classic literature and poetry thrown into the mix. The theology books ranged from pretty conservative to pretty liberal, so they were of varying interest to me. Almost all the books were hardbound, many quite old, some even pre-1850. I found a number of books on various Bible topics like baptism, communion, the beatitudes, etc., as well as many overviews of the New Testament, studies on Paul, analyses of the work of Christ, some Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, etc. I also found a number of old books of classic poetry and literature. Lots of good books to bring home :). Here are a few highlights of my findings:
Specific books I had been looking for, and happened to find:
The original Book of Common Prayer (before the marriage vows were modernized)
Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (two volume, leather-bound copy)
Letters to Karen, by Charlie W. Shedd
Christianity and Liberalism, by J. Gresham Machen
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
A Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Greek New Testament
The Greek-English Interlinear New Testament
The Old Testament in Hebrew
Some of my favorite finds:
Hardbound, embellished copy of Tennyson's poetry
Hardbound, 2-volume set of John Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland
Set of hardbound Sunday School books (made before curriculum was reduced to handouts and cartoon drawings. . . )
An 1842 edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, with the WCF (with scripture proofs), the catechisms, and directory for worship
An 1857 edition of A Book of Public Prayer, compiled from the Authorized Formularies of Worship of the Presbyterian Church, as prepared by the Reformers Calvin, Knox, Bucer, and Others (how's that for a lengthy title).
The Ruling Elder, Near to the Heart of God, and The Foreign Missionary Enterprise and its Sincere Critics, by Cleland McAfee (my great-great-grandfather and writer of the hymn Near to the Heart of God)
Complete set of William Barclay's NT commentaries (those should be interesting, as I've heard varied reports on his theology)
The Works of Josephus (early church father), published in 1842, in 2 volumes
History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, by W.M. Hetherington
Most interesting find:
Bible Defence of Slavery by Jossiah Priest
This was a book published in 1852 that defended the American practice of slavery by race. Basically the entire book explains why blacks are inferior to whites, twisting scripture to "prove" this assertion. A few excerpts from the table of content:
General slavery (which I still hate, but is an entirely different matter) is one thing, but slavery based on race is quite another issue! We are all One Blood. I'm definitely going to have to read the book, but I'm going to be writhing with anger while I read it!
Disclaimer: My grandparents did not own the book because they subscribe to the views presented. Far from it, just to clarify :).
Anyway, those are a few highlights from my fun findings from my adventures last week :). Unfortunately I "only" have two (decent-sized) bookcases in my bedroom, so the vast majority of the books remain boxed-up, along with other, previous purchases. My dream has always been to someday have a large room in my future (hypothetical) house devoted entirely to books. Most girls, when they watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast, probably are enchanted by the enormous castle, or Belle's beautiful gowns, or the singing dishes. I was captivated by the library! Someday I'd like to have a library like that, with built-in bookshelves all-round :).
I can dream, can't I?
Mother Dear and I helped my grandmother to do assorted organizing, and cleaning and the biggest project was going through my grandfather's library. He's given the okay for it to be cleared and everything tossed or given away. Well, this bibliophile didn't want to see so many fine books disappear, so she volunteered to "dispose" of many herself :). No one else in the family expressed much interest in searching through Granddad's collection for some "keepers," so I pretty much had free reign on an enormous number of books.
My grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor for over 40 years, so most of the books were theological (*grin*), with some classic literature and poetry thrown into the mix. The theology books ranged from pretty conservative to pretty liberal, so they were of varying interest to me. Almost all the books were hardbound, many quite old, some even pre-1850. I found a number of books on various Bible topics like baptism, communion, the beatitudes, etc., as well as many overviews of the New Testament, studies on Paul, analyses of the work of Christ, some Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, etc. I also found a number of old books of classic poetry and literature. Lots of good books to bring home :). Here are a few highlights of my findings:
Specific books I had been looking for, and happened to find:
The original Book of Common Prayer (before the marriage vows were modernized)
Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion (two volume, leather-bound copy)
Letters to Karen, by Charlie W. Shedd
Christianity and Liberalism, by J. Gresham Machen
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
A Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Greek New Testament
The Greek-English Interlinear New Testament
The Old Testament in Hebrew
Some of my favorite finds:
Hardbound, embellished copy of Tennyson's poetry
Hardbound, 2-volume set of John Knox's History of the Reformation in Scotland
Set of hardbound Sunday School books (made before curriculum was reduced to handouts and cartoon drawings. . . )
An 1842 edition of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, with the WCF (with scripture proofs), the catechisms, and directory for worship
An 1857 edition of A Book of Public Prayer, compiled from the Authorized Formularies of Worship of the Presbyterian Church, as prepared by the Reformers Calvin, Knox, Bucer, and Others (how's that for a lengthy title).
The Ruling Elder, Near to the Heart of God, and The Foreign Missionary Enterprise and its Sincere Critics, by Cleland McAfee (my great-great-grandfather and writer of the hymn Near to the Heart of God)
Complete set of William Barclay's NT commentaries (those should be interesting, as I've heard varied reports on his theology)
The Works of Josephus (early church father), published in 1842, in 2 volumes
History of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, by W.M. Hetherington
Most interesting find:
Bible Defence of Slavery by Jossiah Priest
This was a book published in 1852 that defended the American practice of slavery by race. Basically the entire book explains why blacks are inferior to whites, twisting scripture to "prove" this assertion. A few excerpts from the table of content:
Evidences that the Supreme Being puts a higher estimate on white than on
black. . . insensibilities of the negroes to bodily pain. . . meanness of the
negro spirit. . . negroes' brains found to be less in weight and measure than
the white man's. . . difference of negro sensibilities from that of the whites,
on being separated from wives and children, proven by facts. . . etc.
General slavery (which I still hate, but is an entirely different matter) is one thing, but slavery based on race is quite another issue! We are all One Blood. I'm definitely going to have to read the book, but I'm going to be writhing with anger while I read it!
Disclaimer: My grandparents did not own the book because they subscribe to the views presented. Far from it, just to clarify :).
Anyway, those are a few highlights from my fun findings from my adventures last week :). Unfortunately I "only" have two (decent-sized) bookcases in my bedroom, so the vast majority of the books remain boxed-up, along with other, previous purchases. My dream has always been to someday have a large room in my future (hypothetical) house devoted entirely to books. Most girls, when they watch Disney's Beauty and the Beast, probably are enchanted by the enormous castle, or Belle's beautiful gowns, or the singing dishes. I was captivated by the library! Someday I'd like to have a library like that, with built-in bookshelves all-round :).
I can dream, can't I?
The Pursuit of Knowledge - A Clarification
Edit: Hmm, I managed to post this three times at first??? Weird. Blogger is strange.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a follow-up to my post titled The Pursuit of Knowledge, which I posted several days ago.
In my previous post, I discussed the middle age practice of blindly accepting things as true, based on authoritative beliefs. I explained the historical shift of science to becoming a truly scientific field, using sensory experience to explain and test things. I then explained the place of reasoning and knowledge in the life of a Christian:
I want to clarify that I am not saying that we should never accept something unless it can be strictly proven to us or experienced by us. Christianity is not a blind faith, but it is also not just a matter of collecting data and proving the claims of Christianity! We walk by faith, not by sight. Mrs. Blythe made a good point of differentiating between authorities and The Authority - God's word. The problem in the middle ages was blind acceptance of theories held by (frankly) ignorant men, not theories laid out in scripture or theories tested properly.
I accept many things in scripture simply because I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God. I have no way to prove the resurrection, and data I could collect in the present would lend no support to the story of the resurrection, yet I believe it is true. Part of the danger of relying strictly on the scientific method is that it relies on the natural order of things, not taking into account the supernatural intervention of God. We are certainly not meant to only believe those things that can be proven directly. Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe."
At the same time, the Bible does stress the confirmation of truths by sensory experience and it does encourage and command the use of our reasoning to explain and test things, so certainly Christianity is not just a matter of accepting a lot of unproven facts. There is a balance to be struck. God realizes that man responds well to physical demonstrations or representations of spiritual truths, and he uses physical proofs and evidence time after time throughout scripture. He also uses things like the sacraments (or ordinances, as some persuasions call them ;) ) to demonstrate very abstract spiritual truths. God uses the sacraments as a physical representation of much more difficult spiritual truths, to confirm the validity and reality of the tougher concept.
So yes, we are to accept many things on faith, trusting in God's Word. But we also are gifted with the ability (and command) to reason with our minds. God definitely does not dismiss sensory experience as worthless; in fact, he repeatedly uses it as confirmation of physical realities. I hope that clarifies what I meant in my first post :).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a follow-up to my post titled The Pursuit of Knowledge, which I posted several days ago.
In my previous post, I discussed the middle age practice of blindly accepting things as true, based on authoritative beliefs. I explained the historical shift of science to becoming a truly scientific field, using sensory experience to explain and test things. I then explained the place of reasoning and knowledge in the life of a Christian:
As Christians we should not be afraid of knowledge and reasoning, or cast them aside to believe the claims of "authorities". Instead we should recognize knowledge and reasoning as gifts from God to explore and understand His creation. The Christian faith is not a blind faith that requires us to set aside our brains at the door. We are not only allowed to explore and reason and search for knowledge, but we are required to do so. Throughout the proverbs we are entreated to search for wisdom and understanding, and in the gospels we are commanded to love God with our heart, soul, body, and mind.Mrs. Blythe commented with a good point:
I'm all for blind acceptance really (not from 'authorities', but of God's word the only authority).
I want to clarify that I am not saying that we should never accept something unless it can be strictly proven to us or experienced by us. Christianity is not a blind faith, but it is also not just a matter of collecting data and proving the claims of Christianity! We walk by faith, not by sight. Mrs. Blythe made a good point of differentiating between authorities and The Authority - God's word. The problem in the middle ages was blind acceptance of theories held by (frankly) ignorant men, not theories laid out in scripture or theories tested properly.
I accept many things in scripture simply because I believe that the Bible is the infallible, inspired Word of God. I have no way to prove the resurrection, and data I could collect in the present would lend no support to the story of the resurrection, yet I believe it is true. Part of the danger of relying strictly on the scientific method is that it relies on the natural order of things, not taking into account the supernatural intervention of God. We are certainly not meant to only believe those things that can be proven directly. Jesus said to Thomas, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe."
At the same time, the Bible does stress the confirmation of truths by sensory experience and it does encourage and command the use of our reasoning to explain and test things, so certainly Christianity is not just a matter of accepting a lot of unproven facts. There is a balance to be struck. God realizes that man responds well to physical demonstrations or representations of spiritual truths, and he uses physical proofs and evidence time after time throughout scripture. He also uses things like the sacraments (or ordinances, as some persuasions call them ;) ) to demonstrate very abstract spiritual truths. God uses the sacraments as a physical representation of much more difficult spiritual truths, to confirm the validity and reality of the tougher concept.
So yes, we are to accept many things on faith, trusting in God's Word. But we also are gifted with the ability (and command) to reason with our minds. God definitely does not dismiss sensory experience as worthless; in fact, he repeatedly uses it as confirmation of physical realities. I hope that clarifies what I meant in my first post :).
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Back Home Again, In Indiana. . .
*nostalgic humming continues*
Mother Dear and I are driving up to Southern Indiana tomorrow after church. We'll be visiting Grandparents Dear in Hanover, an itty bitty town 40 minutes north of Lousiville, until Friday or Saturday, when we'll drive back to Georgia. It'll be good to be back up North for a short time, where people speak normally and use correct lingo :). I'll be able to use terms like "burner" and "pitch-in," and people will know what I mean! I won't be online this week, but will return next weekend, or maybe not until Monday.
Mother Dear and I are driving up to Southern Indiana tomorrow after church. We'll be visiting Grandparents Dear in Hanover, an itty bitty town 40 minutes north of Lousiville, until Friday or Saturday, when we'll drive back to Georgia. It'll be good to be back up North for a short time, where people speak normally and use correct lingo :). I'll be able to use terms like "burner" and "pitch-in," and people will know what I mean! I won't be online this week, but will return next weekend, or maybe not until Monday.
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
The Pursuit of Knowledge
One of the speakers at the conference was Dr. Charles Thaxton, co-author of the book The Soul of Science, a book that chronicles the relationship between religion and modern science down through the last several centuries. Dr. Thaxton gave two lectures on The Church and Science in Western Civilization. I don't have the time or space to go into everything he talked about, but I'll try to hit a few of the high points. It was very interesting to see how science progressed through the Middle Ages in dependence on a Judeo-Christian worldview.
Dr. Thaxton summed up his lecture at the beginning and end with the following quotation:
The Greeks viewed nature as an eternal, uncreated, self-existent creation. The Greek view of science was authority-based, dependent on the assumptions of authorities, rather than on sensory experience and scientific observation. During the Medieval Period the view of science was much the same, with the addition of God in the mix. Speculations of a geo-centric solar system and the movement of the planets imbedded in crystalline spheres, for example, were accepted without scientific investigation, based on the words of a few "experts". (This authority-based system can also be seen in the Roman Catholic view of the interpretation of scriptures.) Reason was sadly cast aside, as people willingly chose ignorance and blind acceptance.
As Dr. Thaxton was describing the state of education and science during the Medieval Period, I could not help but think of a passage from Les Miserables, a book which has much to say on the matter of knowledge, ignorance, and education. From Saint Denis, Book Seven, Chapter Four:
A major shift from blind acceptance began when the printing press made the Bible available in the common languages of the people. As the Bible was widely read, people discovered that the Bible appeals to reason and sensory experience over and over again as evidence. (See I John 1:1-3, e.g.) As people began realizing that the Bible actually taught the use of sensory experience as an authority, waves of changes developed in what was formerly a very dead scientific age. Dr. Thaxton chronicled the contributions of John Calvin (inductive study), Sir Francis Bacon (the scientific method), Galileo Galilei (astronomy), Johannes Kepler (planetary orbits), and Isaac Newton (calculus), just to name a few of the many, many contributors to this new wave of science that used reasoning and observations to explain the wonders of creation.
As Christians we should not be afraid of knowledge and reasoning, or cast them aside to believe the claims of "authorities". Instead we should recognize knowledge and reasoning as gifts from God to explore and understand His creation. The Christian faith is not a blind faith that requires us to set aside our brains at the door. We are not only allowed to explore and reason and search for knowledge, but we are required to do so. Throughout the proverbs we are entreated to search for wisdom and understanding, and in the gospels we are commanded to love God with our heart, soul, body, and mind. And of course, the purpose of gaining knowledge should be to learn more about God and His creation. I liked this quote by Johannes Kepler:
Isaac Newton's story warns what happens when the pursuit of knowledge is taken in the wrong direction. I found it sad that some of the biggest skeptics of Christianity that I met in college were also the most brilliant math nerds in my higher math classes. How can someone study the intricacies of the system of mathematics without realizing that such a system had to have been created? Knowledge is a gift of God, but a small nugget of knowledge that is not properly utilized can also cause men to profess wisdom, when really they only have folly. Dr. Thaxton's closing quote was powerful:
Dr. Thaxton summed up his lecture at the beginning and end with the following quotation:
It is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge, that stands in the way of progress.
The Greeks viewed nature as an eternal, uncreated, self-existent creation. The Greek view of science was authority-based, dependent on the assumptions of authorities, rather than on sensory experience and scientific observation. During the Medieval Period the view of science was much the same, with the addition of God in the mix. Speculations of a geo-centric solar system and the movement of the planets imbedded in crystalline spheres, for example, were accepted without scientific investigation, based on the words of a few "experts". (This authority-based system can also be seen in the Roman Catholic view of the interpretation of scriptures.) Reason was sadly cast aside, as people willingly chose ignorance and blind acceptance.
As Dr. Thaxton was describing the state of education and science during the Medieval Period, I could not help but think of a passage from Les Miserables, a book which has much to say on the matter of knowledge, ignorance, and education. From Saint Denis, Book Seven, Chapter Four:
Intellectual and moral growth is no less indispensable than material amelioration. Knowledge is a viaticum, thought is of primary necessity, not only grain but truth is nourishment. Through fasting from knowledge and wisdom, reason becomes emaciated. As with stomachs, we should pity minds that do not eat. If there is anything more poignant than a body agonizing for want of bread, it is a soul dying of hunger for light.
A major shift from blind acceptance began when the printing press made the Bible available in the common languages of the people. As the Bible was widely read, people discovered that the Bible appeals to reason and sensory experience over and over again as evidence. (See I John 1:1-3, e.g.) As people began realizing that the Bible actually taught the use of sensory experience as an authority, waves of changes developed in what was formerly a very dead scientific age. Dr. Thaxton chronicled the contributions of John Calvin (inductive study), Sir Francis Bacon (the scientific method), Galileo Galilei (astronomy), Johannes Kepler (planetary orbits), and Isaac Newton (calculus), just to name a few of the many, many contributors to this new wave of science that used reasoning and observations to explain the wonders of creation.
As Christians we should not be afraid of knowledge and reasoning, or cast them aside to believe the claims of "authorities". Instead we should recognize knowledge and reasoning as gifts from God to explore and understand His creation. The Christian faith is not a blind faith that requires us to set aside our brains at the door. We are not only allowed to explore and reason and search for knowledge, but we are required to do so. Throughout the proverbs we are entreated to search for wisdom and understanding, and in the gospels we are commanded to love God with our heart, soul, body, and mind. And of course, the purpose of gaining knowledge should be to learn more about God and His creation. I liked this quote by Johannes Kepler:
The chief aim of all investigations of the external world should be to discover the rational order and harmony which has been imposed on it by God and which He revealed to us in the language of mathematics.Dr. Thaxton also touched on the darker side of the scientific revolution, and explained some of the sad consequences that came out of the new investigations. Isaac Newton, a creationist scientist who revolutionized many areas of science and mathematics, in seeking to explain the omnipresence of God, instead paved the way for many of the heresies and secular views that we are still grappling with in this day and age. Newton sought to explain the Bible, not to discredit it through reason or science, but his theories had quite the opposite effect. To explain how God could be everywhere at all times, Newton theorized that God was actually equal to space in the literal sense, an idea that eventually led to his own doubts with regards to important pinnacles of orthodox Christianity and even more importantly, the development of the Deist movement, the Enlightenment, and the Materialist view.
Isaac Newton's story warns what happens when the pursuit of knowledge is taken in the wrong direction. I found it sad that some of the biggest skeptics of Christianity that I met in college were also the most brilliant math nerds in my higher math classes. How can someone study the intricacies of the system of mathematics without realizing that such a system had to have been created? Knowledge is a gift of God, but a small nugget of knowledge that is not properly utilized can also cause men to profess wisdom, when really they only have folly. Dr. Thaxton's closing quote was powerful:
When a man has a little bit of knowledge, he turns to atheism. When he learns more, he turns back to God.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Which Monster Are You?
The following post is pulled from the lectures Introduction to Worldviews and The Deadliest Monster, given by Jeff Baldwin at the conference last week.
~~~
There are so many different religions today, that to be prepared to make a defense for the hope that is in us seems like a daunting task. We could go literally insane if we tried to be well-versed in the distinctions of every single major and minor religion under the sun. Of course, it's very good to be aware of some of these distinctives; I've found apologetics classes on Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons to be very helpful, for example. But realistically, we're just not going to be up on every distinctive of every organized (and unorganized) religion that exists. And that's ok.
The best defense is a good offense, so one excellent way to converse with non-Christians is to use the Four Deadly Questions to ask them about their beliefs. In addition, one of the best things we can do as Christians is know the distinctives of our faith. There are really four basic views of God, and it is helpful to categorize the major religions under these four headings:
Atheism - No God
Traditional Buddhism
Naturalism
Humanism
Marxism
Nihilism
Existentialism
(Jeff Baldwin argued that deisms actually fits into atheism, not monotheism, since the deist believes God is now inactive and has no power over men)
Monotheism - One God
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Polytheism - Many Gods
Mormonism
Jehovah's Witnesses
Zoroastrianism
Pantheism - Everything is God
New Age
Hinduism
Transcendentalism
Right away we can see that Christianity is already pretty distinctive in that she claims there is only one God. We only share this category with Judaism (our "mother" religion, so to speak) and Islam, another offshoot of Judaism. A religion's distinctives are more than just a view of God, though. There are two questions whose answers form the foundation for any worldview: (1) What is the nature of God? and What is the nature of man? (Adrian wrote a good post on this subject a while back.) Christianity answers the two above questions differently than any other religion on the planet.
Jeff Baldwin used the example of two infamous monsters in fiction to explain Christianity's distinction in answering the second question. (I added Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to my already-lengthy to-read list after his lecture.) The two monsters Jeff Baldwin contrasted are Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein's monster. I haven't read either pertinent book, so I'm basing my knowledge of the stories off of Jeff Baldwin's lectures and the Wishbone versions I've seen :). Please correct me if I don't get the stories quite right.
The tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde chronicles one scientist's attempt to separate his good side from his bad side, so he can indulge in his evil side (Mr. Hyde) for a time, then laying it aside to become good as Dr. Jekyll. The problem is that the scientist discovers that, while Mr. Hyde is wholly bad, he cannot fully lay aside his evil in the form of Dr. Jekyll because it is too all-encompassing. As the story progresses Mr. Hyde becomes more and more controlling, and the more Dr. Jekyll indulges his evil side, the worse it becomes not the better. The corrupted nature of the scientist grows more and more unmanageable, eventually consuming him.
The tale of Frankenstein chronicles another scientist and his attempt to create a monster from dead bodies. When first created, Frankenstein's monster is so innocent and good that he sees no need for government to restrain people. He begins as a benevolent monster that seeks to do good for people, but even with his acts of kindness, people continually recoil in his presence and abuse him because he is so frightening. By the end of the story he has been changed from a monster who once saw no need of government because he believed in the goodness of humankind, into a vengeful monster, going on a rampage and killing people. At the end of the story, when Frankenstein asks his monster what happened to him, and why he is now evil, the monster replies (paraphrasing): Am I thought to be the only criminal when all humankind has sinned against me?
The two stories give two very different depictions of the nature of man:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
man is inherently sinful
the individual is responsible
man does nothing to save himself
Frankenstein
man is inherently good
society is responsible
man can save himself
So the question is, which monster are you? Or, what monster represents the human race? Christianity is distinct in that she claims that humans are inherently sinful, like the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have no hope of saving ourself, but rest solely in the mercies of God. All other religions view men as some form of Frankenstein's monster, if not completely good at birth, at least neutral or incorrupt enough to in some way help to effect their own salvation. A non-Christian says that ultimately man's problems are external, the fault of society. A Christian says that man's problems are internal, the result of a depraved nature. Even after our hearts are regenerated, a Christian's sanctification is still through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, not merely a work of man. The message of Christianity is the message of the massive gap between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man.
So, it seems that as a Christian, I should be a rather depressed being given my view of my own nature. I'm inherently sinful and have no help of saving myself from my worst enemy - me. Hmm, I feel all warm and fuzzy now. Of course, that is not the whole message of Christianity. Christianity tells the bad news of the nature of man, but she doesn't stop there. The good news is the nature of God, who is almighty and merciful. We cannot save ourselves, but our Creator can also become our Redeemer.
John 3:16 (ESV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And that is good news.
~~~
There are so many different religions today, that to be prepared to make a defense for the hope that is in us seems like a daunting task. We could go literally insane if we tried to be well-versed in the distinctions of every single major and minor religion under the sun. Of course, it's very good to be aware of some of these distinctives; I've found apologetics classes on Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons to be very helpful, for example. But realistically, we're just not going to be up on every distinctive of every organized (and unorganized) religion that exists. And that's ok.
The best defense is a good offense, so one excellent way to converse with non-Christians is to use the Four Deadly Questions to ask them about their beliefs. In addition, one of the best things we can do as Christians is know the distinctives of our faith. There are really four basic views of God, and it is helpful to categorize the major religions under these four headings:
Atheism - No God
Traditional Buddhism
Naturalism
Humanism
Marxism
Nihilism
Existentialism
(Jeff Baldwin argued that deisms actually fits into atheism, not monotheism, since the deist believes God is now inactive and has no power over men)
Monotheism - One God
Christianity
Judaism
Islam
Polytheism - Many Gods
Mormonism
Jehovah's Witnesses
Zoroastrianism
Pantheism - Everything is God
New Age
Hinduism
Transcendentalism
Right away we can see that Christianity is already pretty distinctive in that she claims there is only one God. We only share this category with Judaism (our "mother" religion, so to speak) and Islam, another offshoot of Judaism. A religion's distinctives are more than just a view of God, though. There are two questions whose answers form the foundation for any worldview: (1) What is the nature of God? and What is the nature of man? (Adrian wrote a good post on this subject a while back.) Christianity answers the two above questions differently than any other religion on the planet.
Jeff Baldwin used the example of two infamous monsters in fiction to explain Christianity's distinction in answering the second question. (I added Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to my already-lengthy to-read list after his lecture.) The two monsters Jeff Baldwin contrasted are Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein's monster. I haven't read either pertinent book, so I'm basing my knowledge of the stories off of Jeff Baldwin's lectures and the Wishbone versions I've seen :). Please correct me if I don't get the stories quite right.
The tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde chronicles one scientist's attempt to separate his good side from his bad side, so he can indulge in his evil side (Mr. Hyde) for a time, then laying it aside to become good as Dr. Jekyll. The problem is that the scientist discovers that, while Mr. Hyde is wholly bad, he cannot fully lay aside his evil in the form of Dr. Jekyll because it is too all-encompassing. As the story progresses Mr. Hyde becomes more and more controlling, and the more Dr. Jekyll indulges his evil side, the worse it becomes not the better. The corrupted nature of the scientist grows more and more unmanageable, eventually consuming him.
The tale of Frankenstein chronicles another scientist and his attempt to create a monster from dead bodies. When first created, Frankenstein's monster is so innocent and good that he sees no need for government to restrain people. He begins as a benevolent monster that seeks to do good for people, but even with his acts of kindness, people continually recoil in his presence and abuse him because he is so frightening. By the end of the story he has been changed from a monster who once saw no need of government because he believed in the goodness of humankind, into a vengeful monster, going on a rampage and killing people. At the end of the story, when Frankenstein asks his monster what happened to him, and why he is now evil, the monster replies (paraphrasing): Am I thought to be the only criminal when all humankind has sinned against me?
The two stories give two very different depictions of the nature of man:
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
man is inherently sinful
the individual is responsible
man does nothing to save himself
Frankenstein
man is inherently good
society is responsible
man can save himself
So the question is, which monster are you? Or, what monster represents the human race? Christianity is distinct in that she claims that humans are inherently sinful, like the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We have no hope of saving ourself, but rest solely in the mercies of God. All other religions view men as some form of Frankenstein's monster, if not completely good at birth, at least neutral or incorrupt enough to in some way help to effect their own salvation. A non-Christian says that ultimately man's problems are external, the fault of society. A Christian says that man's problems are internal, the result of a depraved nature. Even after our hearts are regenerated, a Christian's sanctification is still through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, not merely a work of man. The message of Christianity is the message of the massive gap between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man.
So, it seems that as a Christian, I should be a rather depressed being given my view of my own nature. I'm inherently sinful and have no help of saving myself from my worst enemy - me. Hmm, I feel all warm and fuzzy now. Of course, that is not the whole message of Christianity. Christianity tells the bad news of the nature of man, but she doesn't stop there. The good news is the nature of God, who is almighty and merciful. We cannot save ourselves, but our Creator can also become our Redeemer.
John 3:16 (ESV)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
And that is good news.
Monday, May 29, 2006
Four Deadly Questions
Two of the sessions for the conference were given by Bill Jack of Worldview Academy. I first heard of Worldview Academy several years ago after a guy from my church went to one of Worldview's camps and came back with glowing reports. Bill Jack and the other man from Worldview Academy (Jeff Baldwin) were among my favorite speakers for the conference.
One of Bill Jack's talks was called Simple Tools for Brain Surgery, essentially a primer in sharing with non-Christians. He started his talk by telling the audience that one thing he wanted to make clear was that he was not a nice guy. He explained that nice is an imprecise word, and originally meant not knowing or ignorant. As Christians we should definitely not fit that description. As Christians we tend to take an extreme, either being over-bearingly truthful to non-believers or (usually) too nice to nonbelievers. We forget that we are to (1) speak the truth (2) in love, and obedience to that command is incomplete unless we attend to both parts. Jesus was not a nice person, and he didn't mince words, but he was also loving.
Bill Jack gave a list of what he called the Four Deadly Questions for conversations with nonbelievers. Rather than cramming Biblical truths down someone's throat, first let them tell you what they believe, and make them do the thinking. The following questions can be used to probe someone for clarifications and to make him think through the implications of his beliefs:
(1) What do you mean by what you're saying?
(2) How do you know that to be true?
(3) What difference does that make in your life? or So what?
(4) What happens if you are wrong? or What happens if you die and are wrong?
The Four Deadly Questions are designed to make non-Christians think about their own beliefs, and to provide opportunity for sharing Biblical truths. As Bill Jack said, they are to be used like a crowbar, not a sledgehammer. Use the questions to pry open a person's brain, not to obliterate him. He gave examples of conversations with humanists and atheists who did not believe in moral absolutes, and tied various conversations to the Four Deadly Questions as examples in how to use them. It is important to remember that ultimately the working in a person's heart is not up to us, but the Holy Spirit, who alone can quicken someone's heart to believe. I really liked what Bill Jack said about this:
Sometimes all we can do is make someone think. Our job as Christians, if nothing else, should be to make an atheist be the most consistent atheist he can be.
We are not supposed to be nice people, but we are to speak the truth to non-Christians in love. We are to be prepared to make a defense for our faith, but do so with humility. One of Bill Jack's closing statements was that as Christians, we are too often soft-headed and hard-hearted. We should be hard-headed and soft-hearted. I liked what another speaker of the conference said:
Never forget that there is always a human made in God's image behind every bizarre idea.
I think evangelism too often takes the form of simply telling people that "Jesus died for them to save them," which is doctrinally unsound, not to mention meaningless to someone who is not a Christian. They're going to think saved from what? That is why it is so important to not just frame the gospel as a "Get out of Hell free" certificate in a rose-colored picture frame. Salvation means nothing unless a person first realizes he needs saving from something. The gospel is not the gospel unless it includes an explanation of the sinfulness and helplessness of man. One of the lectures by Jeff Baldwin (the other Worldview Academy speaker) addressed the nature of man and the nature of God - summary to be forthcoming.
One of Bill Jack's talks was called Simple Tools for Brain Surgery, essentially a primer in sharing with non-Christians. He started his talk by telling the audience that one thing he wanted to make clear was that he was not a nice guy. He explained that nice is an imprecise word, and originally meant not knowing or ignorant. As Christians we should definitely not fit that description. As Christians we tend to take an extreme, either being over-bearingly truthful to non-believers or (usually) too nice to nonbelievers. We forget that we are to (1) speak the truth (2) in love, and obedience to that command is incomplete unless we attend to both parts. Jesus was not a nice person, and he didn't mince words, but he was also loving.
Bill Jack gave a list of what he called the Four Deadly Questions for conversations with nonbelievers. Rather than cramming Biblical truths down someone's throat, first let them tell you what they believe, and make them do the thinking. The following questions can be used to probe someone for clarifications and to make him think through the implications of his beliefs:
(1) What do you mean by what you're saying?
(2) How do you know that to be true?
(3) What difference does that make in your life? or So what?
(4) What happens if you are wrong? or What happens if you die and are wrong?
The Four Deadly Questions are designed to make non-Christians think about their own beliefs, and to provide opportunity for sharing Biblical truths. As Bill Jack said, they are to be used like a crowbar, not a sledgehammer. Use the questions to pry open a person's brain, not to obliterate him. He gave examples of conversations with humanists and atheists who did not believe in moral absolutes, and tied various conversations to the Four Deadly Questions as examples in how to use them. It is important to remember that ultimately the working in a person's heart is not up to us, but the Holy Spirit, who alone can quicken someone's heart to believe. I really liked what Bill Jack said about this:
Sometimes all we can do is make someone think. Our job as Christians, if nothing else, should be to make an atheist be the most consistent atheist he can be.
We are not supposed to be nice people, but we are to speak the truth to non-Christians in love. We are to be prepared to make a defense for our faith, but do so with humility. One of Bill Jack's closing statements was that as Christians, we are too often soft-headed and hard-hearted. We should be hard-headed and soft-hearted. I liked what another speaker of the conference said:
Never forget that there is always a human made in God's image behind every bizarre idea.
I think evangelism too often takes the form of simply telling people that "Jesus died for them to save them," which is doctrinally unsound, not to mention meaningless to someone who is not a Christian. They're going to think saved from what? That is why it is so important to not just frame the gospel as a "Get out of Hell free" certificate in a rose-colored picture frame. Salvation means nothing unless a person first realizes he needs saving from something. The gospel is not the gospel unless it includes an explanation of the sinfulness and helplessness of man. One of the lectures by Jeff Baldwin (the other Worldview Academy speaker) addressed the nature of man and the nature of God - summary to be forthcoming.
You might be at a homeschool conference if. . .
As a disclaimer, this list is not meant to either (a) poke fun at conservative homeschoolers (I do fit that description, after all) or to (b) uphold homeschoolers as hyper-spiritual people who have it all together. This is merely a summary of things I noticed at this past conference, as well as at others I've attended. Homeschoolers (especially the more conservative ones) definitely have their own subculture ;-).
You might be at a homeschool conference if. . .
So, I survived the conference, and have begun to recover from my lack of sleep :). The conference ran from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. each day, and we had a 1 hour, 15 minute drive at the beginning and end of each day, so needless to say I took a lengthy nap on Saturday afternoon.
I'm very thankful for the opportunity to attend the conference, and I learned quite a lot. The conference was put on by American Vision, and the theme was on developing a Christian Worldview. The topics included evolution, apologetics, evangelism, Christian education, liberty, constitutionalism, judicial activism, dispensationalism, postmillenianism, relativism, materialism, atheism, journalism, and Christian themes in film, just as a quick summary. It was definitely a lot of information to pack into only 3 days. My hand was so stiff from writing notes, but it was well-worth the effort! Now I have pages and pages to look back over for reflection and for blog post writing :).
What did I take away from the conference? Well, way more than I could write about, that's for sure. I didn't agree with all the views presented, but overall it was a very positive experience. Mainly, it was a refreshing time to retrain my mind to think first and foremost through the lenses of scripture. It was a reminder that Christianity is not a religion, but a lifestyle; the Bible applies to every area of life. It was a reminder that Christians today have a responsibility to understand the times and train their senses to see good and evil. But that is not enough, of course; we then have a responsibility to take action based on our Biblical training, realizing that God has called us ambassadors to a lost world.
I will be posting a few highlights of the conference over the next few days, categorized by a few of my favorite topics like evangelism, depravity of man, and engaging the culture. I'm working on making my posts a moderate length - long enough to be pithy, but short enough so that they're readable. We'll see how that goes :).
You might be at a homeschool conference if. . .
You realize you're not nearly as conservative as you think you are.
A very large minority of the women and girls have on long, flowing skirts.
You see stairstep processions of sisters in matching homemade jumpers.
A lot of long hair and braids are present - on the women, that is. The men sport clean-cut haircuts.
The vast majority of the men (including the boys) have on tucked-in, buttoned-down shirts, though there is no dress code.
You do not see a single pair of baggy jeans.
The few "renegades" who are wearing rumpled t-shirts and sporting shaggy haircuts look downright out of place.
The one youth group that is present is segregated by sex.
You know without a doubt that the Coastal Chamber Musicians listed in the schedule will be a sibling group.
Though the lectures are definitely aimed for adults, a large percentage of the audience is not yet in middle school.
There are many pregnant and nursing mothers present, and no one seems to notice the occasional crying baby.
The public schools are standardly referred to as "government schools" and "The Schools of Pharoah."
A speaker shows a clip from Star Wars, and you wonder how many people will be offended by it.
A speaker mentions that he and his wife have 15 biological children, and the room errupts into an applause.
There are many families with three generations present.
The conversations you overhear between middle school girls are not about boys, movies, or make-up, but about theology, constitutionalism, and dominionism.
So, I survived the conference, and have begun to recover from my lack of sleep :). The conference ran from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. each day, and we had a 1 hour, 15 minute drive at the beginning and end of each day, so needless to say I took a lengthy nap on Saturday afternoon.
I'm very thankful for the opportunity to attend the conference, and I learned quite a lot. The conference was put on by American Vision, and the theme was on developing a Christian Worldview. The topics included evolution, apologetics, evangelism, Christian education, liberty, constitutionalism, judicial activism, dispensationalism, postmillenianism, relativism, materialism, atheism, journalism, and Christian themes in film, just as a quick summary. It was definitely a lot of information to pack into only 3 days. My hand was so stiff from writing notes, but it was well-worth the effort! Now I have pages and pages to look back over for reflection and for blog post writing :).
What did I take away from the conference? Well, way more than I could write about, that's for sure. I didn't agree with all the views presented, but overall it was a very positive experience. Mainly, it was a refreshing time to retrain my mind to think first and foremost through the lenses of scripture. It was a reminder that Christianity is not a religion, but a lifestyle; the Bible applies to every area of life. It was a reminder that Christians today have a responsibility to understand the times and train their senses to see good and evil. But that is not enough, of course; we then have a responsibility to take action based on our Biblical training, realizing that God has called us ambassadors to a lost world.
I will be posting a few highlights of the conference over the next few days, categorized by a few of my favorite topics like evangelism, depravity of man, and engaging the culture. I'm working on making my posts a moderate length - long enough to be pithy, but short enough so that they're readable. We'll see how that goes :).
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
I'm Disappearing Until Monday
I'm ducking out of the blogosphere until Monday, so I can get my finals graded and enjoy the conference this weekend. I just posted Chapter One of The Way that Leads to Death, to appease some requests :).
Ta-ta for now!
Ta-ta for now!
Chapter One
Continuing with The Way that Leads to Death. . .
Make sure to read the Prologue first.
I'm dividing up the story into two parts, marking the two significant parts of Karl's life. I love quotes, so I'm trying to find an appropriate quote to start each chapter (a la Daniel Deronda) and to intro each of the two parts, though I haven't successfully found all the quotes I want yet. We shall see.
Oh, and please tell me any suggestions or criticisms you have :). They would be much appreciated. One thing I'm working on is a balance in the portrayal of Greta. I want her to come across as angelic, but human, if that makes sense. We've all met young girls who just seem to naturally be sweet and good, but yet they're still depraved like the rest of us!
Anyway, enjoy, and I hope to be back on Monday :).
~~~
Part One
Some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood,
Is perhaps the best education of all.
If a man carries many such memories into life with him,
He is saved for the rest of his days.
And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts,
It may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
Chapter One
The Lord's Day
Wilhelm, Germany
June 1929 Sunday
The sun rose over the sleepy village of Wilhelm, Germany, and across the farm fields the crow of roosters could be heard. In one particular farmhouse outside the village, the family was just waking. Franz Altschuler headed to the barn to milk the cows, and his wife Marie started breakfast with the help of her young daughter.
The Altschuler farmhouse was a large, old stone structure that had been in the family for generations, passed down from father to eldest son for over a century. The downstairs boasted a spacious kitchen, necessary for a productive farm like the Altschulers’. Next to the kitchen was the family dining room, furnished with a stately dining room set handcrafted by Franz’s father some 50 years before. The front parlor was used only for guests, but the family room at the back of the house was always occupied by the family in the evenings, where they would gather to pray and read the Bible, do homework when school was in session, and when time permitted, to relax with a father-son game of checkers.
The upstairs of the farmhouse had 5 large bedrooms, full in past decades, but relatively empty now. Franz and Marie shared the largest bedroom at the back of the house, and their two children each had a bedroom at the front. The remaining two rooms were used rarely, when the family had overnight guests.
“Karl, Karl! Time to get up! We’ll be late for church!” Marie Altschuler stood at the bottom of the stairs calling up to her son.
The door to the bedroom at the top of the stairs opened, and the tousled head of a sleepy-eyed 10 year old peeked out. “I’ll be right down, Mother,” came the drowsy reply.
“All right, but hurry, or Greta may eat your breakfast,” Marie replied with a smile.
Karl chuckled with the thought. His sister was one of the sweetest, most angelic children God had ever created. At the young age of six, she possessed a selflessness and goodness that others could only hope would be theirs after decades of Christian life and service. On her fourth birthday she had knelt at the altar of the village’s small church, by far the youngest that had stayed after the service to commune in prayer and repentance as the rest of the congregation filed out of the sanctuary. Yet none had been more serious or more completely committed than Greta had been as she had offered her simple, childlike prayer of repentance and devotion up to her Savior and Master.
At the very moment that she had knelt at the altar, a shaft of light had appeared, coming from the skylight above. The beam of light had rested on Greta’s golden curls, which for a moment had seemed like a halo. An instant later the light had left the sanctuary of the quaint country church, but it had remained in the soul of the small angelic girl at the altar that day.
Karl loved his little sister fiercely and was devoted to her, and she to him. Although Karl was rather confrontational by nature, it was impossible for him to argue long with such a sweet and loving child as Greta. Greta had a gift for soothing his hot temper and wild spirit, often when no one else could.
Karl quickly dressed in his Sunday best: black trousers, a starched, white buttoned-down shirt, suspenders, and freshly polished boots. He tried to wet and part his unruly blond locks, which never seemed to lie quite right. Using water from the basin by his bed, he scrubbed his face, neck, and ears until they smarted. He definitely looked the part of a model young churchgoer as he headed down the stairs to breakfast, grabbing his Bible and catechism on his way down.
~~~
As Karl entered the kitchen, his mother handed him a plate of farm fresh eggs and bacon. “It’s still pretty warm,” she told him, with a peck on his cheek. A typical German farm wife, Marie was dressed in a long flowered dress, over which was tied a clean white apron. Her faded hair, once golden, was coiled into a low knot at the base of her neck.
As Karl sat down at the breakfast table, he ruffled his sister’s golden curls with a smile. Greta looked liked a cherub that morning, with her pretty white dress and rosy cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. Karl would not have been surprised if a harp had suddenly appeared in her hands, and just at that moment, with the sun shining in through the kitchen window, he could almost see a halo resting on her dainty head. A trick of the morning light.
Karl hurriedly ate his breakfast as he studied his weekly memory verse. He was expected to recite it to his Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Schnell, a saintly woman who had invested a lifetime of work in the small fry of the village. The church of Wilhelm held Sunday school every Sunday evening for the children in the congregation.
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned,” Karl recited falteringly.
“Thus saith Isaiah, the Lord’s messenger,” proclaimed Franz Altschuler, as he entered the kitchen. “And do you know of what Isaiah was speaking?” he asked his son, as he settled his tall frame into a chair at the breakfast table.
“Sunlight?” Karl replied, somewhat dubious.
“No, not the sun that hangs in the sky. The light spoken of in the passage is the Son of God. The darkness is the black of sin, the evil in men’s souls. Just as the sunlight causes darkness to disappear, so the Son of God washes away the filth of sin with his precious blood.” After a brief pause Karl’s father continued seriously, “But you must ask for this cleansing, my son.”
Karl nodded silently. His father had counseled him in a like manner before. Franz and Marie loved their son dearly, and they were concerned for his spiritual welfare. Although Karl was a dutiful son, helping around the farm, making good marks in school, and going to church with the family every Sunday, he did not seem concerned with spiritual matters.
Franz was a man of deep faith, and it wounded him to see his son treat religious matters lightly. He had lived a dark, troubled life before he had finally fallen on his knees before God, and he did not wish the same for his son.
“The Lord will draw Karl to him at his appointed time,” said Marie, breaking the awkward silence in the room.
“Yes, he will,” agreed Greta confidently, as she hugged her brother. Her smile proclaimed the trust she had in both her brother and her Savior.
~~~
The church in the small village of Wilhelm, Germany was a century old structure of brick and stone that had withstood the war and poverty of the past decades. The front of the building had large brick columns and two huge oaken doors on which was carved Wilhelm Lutheran Church Est. 1820. High above the doors, on the granite facing of the building, the words of an ancient psalm were hewn into the rock: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Karl’s family silently filed into the sanctuary as the organist began playing the prelude to worship. The sanctuary of the church was small, yet ornate. The sides were lined with elaborate, stained glass windows that reached to the high vaulted ceiling, which boasted a breathtaking replica of Michelangelo’s painting of the creation of Adam, etched into the skylight above the altar. The carving on the humble altar read, Turn to me and be saved, all ye ends of the earth.
Their close friends, the Abrams, were already seated when the Altschulers entered the sanctuary. As there was not room for both families to share a single pew, Karl and David Abram gladly slipped into the pew directly behind their families, as they did almost every week.
The Abrams were Messianic Jews: Jewish by birth, Christian by faith. The family had converted to Christianity three generations back, however, so few of their neighbors were even aware of their Jewish heritage.
The Altschulers and Abrams had been close friends since before Karl and David had been born. Karl and David had been best friends since birth, and among their favorite pastimes was plaguing the lives of their younger sisters. David had three: Leah was 9, Rachel was 7, and Sarah was 2. Karl, of course, had Greta, who was 6.
The congregation stood for the opening hymn. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing . . . ,” the congregation sang loudly, proclaiming the might of God. Karl knew the words of all the great hymns by heart, and the hymn book in front of him remained untouched as he joined with the congregation in singing the morning hymns. As a lover of music, Karl enjoyed this part of the service.
The sermon of the day was titled The Faith of Daniel. The text was the sixth chapter of Daniel. Karl kept one ear open as the minister preached. He was expected to remember the text of the sermon and the main points the minister made. The minister of the church made Karl’s weekly task easy, however, since he always summarized his sermon at the open and close of his discourse.
By the time Reverend Schlesinger had begun the second point of his sermon, Karl and David were already rather fidgety. They always started each Sunday service as perfect models of decorum, but they gradually grew weary of both the sermon and the hard wooden pew on which they sat.
A fly buzzed nearby, and the boys watched as it circled high towards the vaulted ceiling before coming back down to land on the nodding head of an elderly gentleman in the congregation. Herr Glecht was past 70 and was known to occasionally snooze during Reverend Schlesinger’s longwinded sermons. The boys giggled as the fly buzzed around the old man, finally coming to rest on his nose. Herr Glecht did not awaken, but the boys did receive a few stern glances from their mothers, who turned around, silently admonishing them.
Glancing around it was evident that the boys and Herr Glecht were not the only ones in the congregation who were not captivated by the sermon that morning. Pretty Louisa Libech, just 16, was making sheep eyes at the young man across the aisle from her, who was blissfully ignorant of her existence. Two young scallywags on the other side of the church were sharing a wad of gum, choosing to occupy their mouths rather than their minds.
Not a sound or movement could be heard or seen from the pew in front of Karl and David, however. Their parents faced straight forward, backs straight, listening to the reverend’s every word. Even David’s youngest sister, only 2, was sitting quiet as a mouse. The older girls, also sitting still, each had their hair braided in two long pigtails that hung over the back of the pew.
Leaning forward, David gingerly pulled on the end of his sister Leah’s hair ribbon, untying the bow as Karl did the same to Rachel’s hair ribbon. The boys deftly tied Rachel’s and Leah’s longs braids together with the ribbons, and then leaned back with satisfaction. They knew they would later be punished, but for now they did not care. The present relief from boredom was worth a temporarily sore backside later.
~~~
“Nice sermon, Reverend,” Karl commented, as he reached the back of the sanctuary with his family.
“I’m glad you found it edifying,” replied Reverend Schlesinger with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. “I am always pleased to see the youth in the congregation take such an eager interest in the things of the Lord. What was your favorite part, Karl?”
“Um . . . well,” Karl stuttered, caught off guard. After a brief pause, “I particularly liked your point about the all-seeing gaze of God,” Karl replied smugly, having regained his composure. “It is so comforting to know that God always sees our troubles.”
“Yes, from heaven God does see all.” The reverend paused for effect. “And even from my pulpit I can see much,” he finished evenly.
“Good Sunday, Reverend,” mumbled Karl with a nod as he continued out the door, slightly flustered by the reverend’s remark.
“Karl, Reverend Schlesinger did not talk about the all-seeing gaze of God,” Greta scolded, as she followed her brother out onto the church lawn.
“Well. . . God saw Daniel in the lions’ den, and he helped him, didn’t he?” replied Karl lamely.
“Oh, Karl, how I wish you cared,” sighed Greta, as she turned to wait for their parents, who were still inside.
Greta’s pained expression cut at Karl’s heart. He would do anything to please his sister and raise her spirits. I will try harder, he vowed vainly, as he had often done before. To please Greta, I will.
Make sure to read the Prologue first.
I'm dividing up the story into two parts, marking the two significant parts of Karl's life. I love quotes, so I'm trying to find an appropriate quote to start each chapter (a la Daniel Deronda) and to intro each of the two parts, though I haven't successfully found all the quotes I want yet. We shall see.
Oh, and please tell me any suggestions or criticisms you have :). They would be much appreciated. One thing I'm working on is a balance in the portrayal of Greta. I want her to come across as angelic, but human, if that makes sense. We've all met young girls who just seem to naturally be sweet and good, but yet they're still depraved like the rest of us!
Anyway, enjoy, and I hope to be back on Monday :).
~~~
Part One
Some beautiful, sacred memory, preserved since childhood,
Is perhaps the best education of all.
If a man carries many such memories into life with him,
He is saved for the rest of his days.
And even if only one good memory is left in our hearts,
It may also be the instrument of our salvation one day.
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
~~~~~~
~~~~~~
Chapter One
The Lord's Day
Wilhelm, Germany
June 1929 Sunday
The sun rose over the sleepy village of Wilhelm, Germany, and across the farm fields the crow of roosters could be heard. In one particular farmhouse outside the village, the family was just waking. Franz Altschuler headed to the barn to milk the cows, and his wife Marie started breakfast with the help of her young daughter.
The Altschuler farmhouse was a large, old stone structure that had been in the family for generations, passed down from father to eldest son for over a century. The downstairs boasted a spacious kitchen, necessary for a productive farm like the Altschulers’. Next to the kitchen was the family dining room, furnished with a stately dining room set handcrafted by Franz’s father some 50 years before. The front parlor was used only for guests, but the family room at the back of the house was always occupied by the family in the evenings, where they would gather to pray and read the Bible, do homework when school was in session, and when time permitted, to relax with a father-son game of checkers.
The upstairs of the farmhouse had 5 large bedrooms, full in past decades, but relatively empty now. Franz and Marie shared the largest bedroom at the back of the house, and their two children each had a bedroom at the front. The remaining two rooms were used rarely, when the family had overnight guests.
“Karl, Karl! Time to get up! We’ll be late for church!” Marie Altschuler stood at the bottom of the stairs calling up to her son.
The door to the bedroom at the top of the stairs opened, and the tousled head of a sleepy-eyed 10 year old peeked out. “I’ll be right down, Mother,” came the drowsy reply.
“All right, but hurry, or Greta may eat your breakfast,” Marie replied with a smile.
Karl chuckled with the thought. His sister was one of the sweetest, most angelic children God had ever created. At the young age of six, she possessed a selflessness and goodness that others could only hope would be theirs after decades of Christian life and service. On her fourth birthday she had knelt at the altar of the village’s small church, by far the youngest that had stayed after the service to commune in prayer and repentance as the rest of the congregation filed out of the sanctuary. Yet none had been more serious or more completely committed than Greta had been as she had offered her simple, childlike prayer of repentance and devotion up to her Savior and Master.
At the very moment that she had knelt at the altar, a shaft of light had appeared, coming from the skylight above. The beam of light had rested on Greta’s golden curls, which for a moment had seemed like a halo. An instant later the light had left the sanctuary of the quaint country church, but it had remained in the soul of the small angelic girl at the altar that day.
Karl loved his little sister fiercely and was devoted to her, and she to him. Although Karl was rather confrontational by nature, it was impossible for him to argue long with such a sweet and loving child as Greta. Greta had a gift for soothing his hot temper and wild spirit, often when no one else could.
Karl quickly dressed in his Sunday best: black trousers, a starched, white buttoned-down shirt, suspenders, and freshly polished boots. He tried to wet and part his unruly blond locks, which never seemed to lie quite right. Using water from the basin by his bed, he scrubbed his face, neck, and ears until they smarted. He definitely looked the part of a model young churchgoer as he headed down the stairs to breakfast, grabbing his Bible and catechism on his way down.
~~~
As Karl entered the kitchen, his mother handed him a plate of farm fresh eggs and bacon. “It’s still pretty warm,” she told him, with a peck on his cheek. A typical German farm wife, Marie was dressed in a long flowered dress, over which was tied a clean white apron. Her faded hair, once golden, was coiled into a low knot at the base of her neck.
As Karl sat down at the breakfast table, he ruffled his sister’s golden curls with a smile. Greta looked liked a cherub that morning, with her pretty white dress and rosy cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. Karl would not have been surprised if a harp had suddenly appeared in her hands, and just at that moment, with the sun shining in through the kitchen window, he could almost see a halo resting on her dainty head. A trick of the morning light.
Karl hurriedly ate his breakfast as he studied his weekly memory verse. He was expected to recite it to his Sunday school teacher, Mrs. Schnell, a saintly woman who had invested a lifetime of work in the small fry of the village. The church of Wilhelm held Sunday school every Sunday evening for the children in the congregation.
“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned,” Karl recited falteringly.
“Thus saith Isaiah, the Lord’s messenger,” proclaimed Franz Altschuler, as he entered the kitchen. “And do you know of what Isaiah was speaking?” he asked his son, as he settled his tall frame into a chair at the breakfast table.
“Sunlight?” Karl replied, somewhat dubious.
“No, not the sun that hangs in the sky. The light spoken of in the passage is the Son of God. The darkness is the black of sin, the evil in men’s souls. Just as the sunlight causes darkness to disappear, so the Son of God washes away the filth of sin with his precious blood.” After a brief pause Karl’s father continued seriously, “But you must ask for this cleansing, my son.”
Karl nodded silently. His father had counseled him in a like manner before. Franz and Marie loved their son dearly, and they were concerned for his spiritual welfare. Although Karl was a dutiful son, helping around the farm, making good marks in school, and going to church with the family every Sunday, he did not seem concerned with spiritual matters.
Franz was a man of deep faith, and it wounded him to see his son treat religious matters lightly. He had lived a dark, troubled life before he had finally fallen on his knees before God, and he did not wish the same for his son.
“The Lord will draw Karl to him at his appointed time,” said Marie, breaking the awkward silence in the room.
“Yes, he will,” agreed Greta confidently, as she hugged her brother. Her smile proclaimed the trust she had in both her brother and her Savior.
~~~
The church in the small village of Wilhelm, Germany was a century old structure of brick and stone that had withstood the war and poverty of the past decades. The front of the building had large brick columns and two huge oaken doors on which was carved Wilhelm Lutheran Church Est. 1820. High above the doors, on the granite facing of the building, the words of an ancient psalm were hewn into the rock: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
Karl’s family silently filed into the sanctuary as the organist began playing the prelude to worship. The sanctuary of the church was small, yet ornate. The sides were lined with elaborate, stained glass windows that reached to the high vaulted ceiling, which boasted a breathtaking replica of Michelangelo’s painting of the creation of Adam, etched into the skylight above the altar. The carving on the humble altar read, Turn to me and be saved, all ye ends of the earth.
Their close friends, the Abrams, were already seated when the Altschulers entered the sanctuary. As there was not room for both families to share a single pew, Karl and David Abram gladly slipped into the pew directly behind their families, as they did almost every week.
The Abrams were Messianic Jews: Jewish by birth, Christian by faith. The family had converted to Christianity three generations back, however, so few of their neighbors were even aware of their Jewish heritage.
The Altschulers and Abrams had been close friends since before Karl and David had been born. Karl and David had been best friends since birth, and among their favorite pastimes was plaguing the lives of their younger sisters. David had three: Leah was 9, Rachel was 7, and Sarah was 2. Karl, of course, had Greta, who was 6.
The congregation stood for the opening hymn. “A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing . . . ,” the congregation sang loudly, proclaiming the might of God. Karl knew the words of all the great hymns by heart, and the hymn book in front of him remained untouched as he joined with the congregation in singing the morning hymns. As a lover of music, Karl enjoyed this part of the service.
The sermon of the day was titled The Faith of Daniel. The text was the sixth chapter of Daniel. Karl kept one ear open as the minister preached. He was expected to remember the text of the sermon and the main points the minister made. The minister of the church made Karl’s weekly task easy, however, since he always summarized his sermon at the open and close of his discourse.
By the time Reverend Schlesinger had begun the second point of his sermon, Karl and David were already rather fidgety. They always started each Sunday service as perfect models of decorum, but they gradually grew weary of both the sermon and the hard wooden pew on which they sat.
A fly buzzed nearby, and the boys watched as it circled high towards the vaulted ceiling before coming back down to land on the nodding head of an elderly gentleman in the congregation. Herr Glecht was past 70 and was known to occasionally snooze during Reverend Schlesinger’s longwinded sermons. The boys giggled as the fly buzzed around the old man, finally coming to rest on his nose. Herr Glecht did not awaken, but the boys did receive a few stern glances from their mothers, who turned around, silently admonishing them.
Glancing around it was evident that the boys and Herr Glecht were not the only ones in the congregation who were not captivated by the sermon that morning. Pretty Louisa Libech, just 16, was making sheep eyes at the young man across the aisle from her, who was blissfully ignorant of her existence. Two young scallywags on the other side of the church were sharing a wad of gum, choosing to occupy their mouths rather than their minds.
Not a sound or movement could be heard or seen from the pew in front of Karl and David, however. Their parents faced straight forward, backs straight, listening to the reverend’s every word. Even David’s youngest sister, only 2, was sitting quiet as a mouse. The older girls, also sitting still, each had their hair braided in two long pigtails that hung over the back of the pew.
Leaning forward, David gingerly pulled on the end of his sister Leah’s hair ribbon, untying the bow as Karl did the same to Rachel’s hair ribbon. The boys deftly tied Rachel’s and Leah’s longs braids together with the ribbons, and then leaned back with satisfaction. They knew they would later be punished, but for now they did not care. The present relief from boredom was worth a temporarily sore backside later.
~~~
“Nice sermon, Reverend,” Karl commented, as he reached the back of the sanctuary with his family.
“I’m glad you found it edifying,” replied Reverend Schlesinger with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. “I am always pleased to see the youth in the congregation take such an eager interest in the things of the Lord. What was your favorite part, Karl?”
“Um . . . well,” Karl stuttered, caught off guard. After a brief pause, “I particularly liked your point about the all-seeing gaze of God,” Karl replied smugly, having regained his composure. “It is so comforting to know that God always sees our troubles.”
“Yes, from heaven God does see all.” The reverend paused for effect. “And even from my pulpit I can see much,” he finished evenly.
“Good Sunday, Reverend,” mumbled Karl with a nod as he continued out the door, slightly flustered by the reverend’s remark.
“Karl, Reverend Schlesinger did not talk about the all-seeing gaze of God,” Greta scolded, as she followed her brother out onto the church lawn.
“Well. . . God saw Daniel in the lions’ den, and he helped him, didn’t he?” replied Karl lamely.
“Oh, Karl, how I wish you cared,” sighed Greta, as she turned to wait for their parents, who were still inside.
Greta’s pained expression cut at Karl’s heart. He would do anything to please his sister and raise her spirits. I will try harder, he vowed vainly, as he had often done before. To please Greta, I will.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Religious Freedom in China?
~Addendem from Hannah~
Ashley sent me this link, which I found very interesting. Sadly I was not able to go since I went to my friend's graduation party instead, although that was very fun. :-)
I had this funny feeling reading the website, like they were trying to hide something. They did not speak at all about any of the persecution that Chinese Christians have undergone. Perhaps I am looking into it far too much, but this quote especially shot up warning signs, "the exhibition represents a new era for religious freedom in China." I'll admit that I haven't been up on news in China the past semester, but it would surprise me greatly if China was actually experiencing a new era of religious freedom! Perhaps it is yet another attempt by the government to put on a front of being religiously open? I looked at the list of sponsors and admittedly do not know much about most of them, except the National Committe of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. That is the official Protestant church in China. They submit to the many regulations given them by the government, including never speaking about the second coming, never speaking against anything government-related, not 'indoctrinating' children, etc.
Take that as you will. For my part, I am very skeptical about anything that the Chinese government says about religion.
~~~~~
After much encouragement. . . a guest post by Sister Dear :-D!!! This post is adapted from a research paper Hannah wrote a few years ago.
Disclaimer: Some of the descriptions and pictures in this post are not warm and fuzzy, but then neither is the whole Bible and neither is persecution. Read and view the pictures with your own discretion. There is nothing very graphic, but a warning is appropriate.
~~~~~
Persecution of Christians has been going on ever since Jesus Christ died about 2000 years ago. Though the method has differed, from having rights taken away to being roasted on coals or fed alive to wild animals, persecution has always existed on many parts of the globe, today even more than any other previous time. According to Gospel Communications’ website, more Christians have been martyred in the past century than in all other centuries combined. The same website gives the statistic that around 167,000 Christians are being martyred every year, and that number is increasing. Here in America, such a figure is hard to believe. Where are these horrible deaths of our brothers and sisters taking place? What about in China? What is happening to the Christians in that country?
The exact number of Christians in China is unknown, but rough estimates on Christianity Today’s website show that there are as many as 28 million followers in registered protestant churches, and as many as 80 million followers in unregistered, or ‘illegal,’ protestant churches. The other main religions in China are Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Catholicism.
The topic of persecution of Christians in China is very controversial and has been widely discussed in the political arena and in many homes. It is hard to find much solid information about Christians being persecuted, so does that mean that the government is hiding information or just that the information is not there and some people have made a huge fuss about nothing? In order to find the truth, the testimonies of two basic sources must be researched: the Chinese government and the Christians in China.
The government in China is run by the Communist party, whose current leader is President Hu Jintao. The government in turn controls the Three Self Patriotic Movement Church (TSPM), China’s official protestant church, and influences the appointment of its leaders and regulates its activities. The house church movement in China began when Christians were dissatisfied with staying within the restrictions placed on the TSPM and decided to go underground, starting illegal churches. But why would Christians break with the legal church and become ‘criminals’? From what the Chinese government leaders say, there seems to be no reason to do so.
According to the website of the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the U.S:
Religious leaders and leading organs of the various religious bodies are selected and ordained in accordance with their own regulations. Religious organizations in China run their own affairs independently and set up religious schools, publish religious classics and periodicals, and run social services according to their own needs.
In other words, the government says that it does not interfere with the Christian church. Christians are free to do as they please and free to have whatever leaders they want.
This same sentiment can be seen on the front cover of this Beijing magazine (left), which was shown in The Voice of the Martyrs’ September 2002 magazine. The Beijing Review is a magazine for English tourists to China. The caption on the front cover reads “All the religious affairs are run independently by the religious groups” (p. 4).The website for the embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the U.S shows Article 36 of the Chinese constitution, which even prohibits discrimination of citizens because of their religion. According to Ye Xiaowen, Director of the Bureau of Religious Affairs, all religions and religious people coexist together in harmony in China and any “claims that China practices ‘religious persecution’ are totally groundless and are quite simply based on ulterior motives” (Carlson).
Zhao Kuangwei, director of the Center for Religion Research, says that American people who think that there is religious persecution are simply misinformed and need to check the facts:
...in China no individual has been arrested or sentenced because of religious belief... [the] persons involved in cases which certain Americans made use of to accuse China of ‘persecuting religion’ are, in fact, criminal offenders. Punishing criminals has nothing to do with religious beliefs. (Carlson).
This man brings up a good point. What if Christians in China just whine when their fellow Christians are arrested, claiming they are being persecuted, when in reality justice is just being done? It is very possible and can only be refuted by doing what he challenges: checking the facts.
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is an organization that helps persecuted Christians around the world. They are very active in China and have visited on numerous occasions to offer support to Christians there and to work with the Chinese government to lessen restrictions on Christians. The information they have uncovered is quite shocking and eye-opening, particularly the following revealing photos shown in VOM’s magazine from June of 2003.
A Christian working with the Chinese government took the following pictures and shared them with VOM so the world could be shown how Chinese Christians are treated (3). In order to be “allowed” to take the pictures, he assured the police in the photos that the photos would go to their superiors, who would probably give them a promotion for what they were doing. The ‘crime’ of the believers being tortured in the photos was merely worshipping outside of a TSPM church.
In the picture at left, Aizhen Miao, a Christian, is kneeling on bricks while being tortured with an electric prod (3).Her torturer is Shanlong Meng, policeman of the PSB for Yu Zhou City.
At right, Suhuan Shi is forced to kneel on bricks in mock prayer while the guard watches (4).
The Christians who handed these pictures to VOM said that beatings and torture like this are weekly occurrences. The photographer, who is now in hiding for fear of his life, merely photographed one of the instances (3).
The lady to the left is Dongyun Jiang. She says, “This officer was standing on my feet and twisting my feet. It was so painful I started screaming, and then he used his shoe-polishing cloth to block my mouth for about three hours. Then he started to touch my breasts and make sexual advances” (5).
On the right, Xiangdong Cai is being tortured by having water forced into his stomach (6).
The picture to the left shows Xikai Huang at the detention center being hung from a pole (7).
The information regarding these photos has been verified, including the names of the policemen (3).
From the same VOM issue, Nicholas Kristof, columnist for The New York Times who has researched China’s treatment of Christians and supports what VOM has been saying, says, “[Chinese], whose only crime is worshipping God, are burned with cigarettes, beaten with clubs, and martyred for the faith” (4) Is this ‘freedom of religion’?
VOM’s recent November 2004 newsletter reports that earlier this year, on June 17, Jiang Zongxiu was taken to the police station for handing out Bibles in a market place. The police pronounced her dead the next day, reportedly by a ‘sudden disease’. An autopsy, however, showed that her hair had been pulled out and that she had been brutally beaten. A member of the police department even stated, “She (Jiang) doesn’t need an autopsy, because it’s very obvious she was beaten to death” (13). She left behind a husband and a 4-year-old son.
In 2000, Pastor Li De Xian was arrested by the Chinese government and for three days was chained in a painfully bent over, unnatural position, which put great strain on his back. He was given no food during this time, no trial, and no reason for the treatment. Soon after he was unchained, he was forced, along with other Christians, to work in a manufacturing plant for 17 hours each day, making Christmas lights for Americans. If he did not reach his quota each day, he was whipped. When he was released after two weeks, he was ordered to stop his preaching. There are many such “reform through labor” camps in China, which hold 6 to 8 million prisoners. This is the very reason that so many cheap products in American stores, especially around Christmas, are made in China. The prisoners in these camps have been given no trial and are living under the worst of conditions; prisoners are often encouraged by authorities to beat political prisoners (Marshall 100). VOM’s 2003 special issue magazine reported that there are more Christians in Chinese prisons than in all other prisons of the world combined.
The Empty Cross, a pamphlet produced by VOM, details many things happening in the church in China, including laws that have been passed restricting activity. In May of 2000 alone, 69 laws were passed restricting religious activity (22). In September of 2000, a document containing 22 Articles Governing Religious Activity by Foreigners in China was issued, greatly restricting any activity of foreigners within churches without government approval, which is at times almost an impossibility to obtain (24). Article 17 alone forbids foreigners from “preaching or explaining Scripture without permission, conducting religious gatherings outside of approved sites, producing or selling religious books... or other religious articles, distributing religious propaganda materials, and performing missionary activities [evangelism]”(25). Another Chinese law prohibits children from being educated in religion and from attending any public worship services (Marshall 102).
According to The Empty Cross, just one day after a TSPM leader spoke in California about religion in China entering a “golden age of freer expression,” 130 Christians in China, including three Americans, were arrested at a revival (24). VOM’s November 2003 magazine reported that in August of that year, police raided an orphanage run by a Christian woman and told the woman that she could no longer operate the orphanage. Their reasons? “The orphanage used books from abroad; they teach the Bible to children under 18, which is illegal in China; and the orphanage is not registered with the government” (13).
Such stories of oppression and arrest are not uncommon, and if researched long enough, possibly thousands of such stories could be found. Just a handful of stories are outlined here, but they represent millions of Christians in China.
There are two very different views on persecution of Christians in China; the government clearly states that there is no persecution in China, just punishment of criminals. The Christians, however, report that there is more happening than just due process of law. Not only does the interpretation of the law seem extremely harsh at times, but beatings and imprisonments also occur frequently without explanation or good reason. Instances of such happenings, too numerous to name, have been documented and confirmed by reliable sources.
The Chinese government claims to be entering a new golden age with freedom of religion. But how is that possible when so many Chinese Christians are still crying out from under the brutal heel of oppression? Though repeatedly crushed and silenced, their cries must be heard. Who will stand up and be their voice?
Works Cited
Carlson, Darwin W. “Understanding Chinese-U.S. Conflict Over Freedom of Religion: The Wolf-Specter Freedom from Religious Persecution Acts of 1997 and 1998.” Brigham Young University Law Review. 1998. GALILEO 4 Nov. 2004.
“China: Children’s Home Closed for Teaching Bible.” The Voice of the Martyrs Nov. 2003: 13.
Christian History Institute. What Happened in the Twentieth Century – A Few Prominent Trends. 2004. 11 Nov. 2004. http://chi.gospelcom.net/centuries/cnt20.shtml
Embassy of the People’s Rep. of China in the US. White Paper--Freedom of Religious Belief in China. Oct. 1997. 6 Oct. 2004
Fu, Bob. “Chinese Police Record Their Torture of Christians.” The Voice of the Martyrs June 2003: 3-7.
Fu, Bob. “Martyred in China.” The Voice of the Martyrs Nov. 2004: 13.
Lane, Gary. “Partakers of One Bread, One Body.” The Voice of the Martyrs Special Issue 2003: 5.
Morgan, Timothy. “China Arrests Dozens of Prominent Christians.” Christianity Today 18 Feb. 2004. 11 Nov. 2004
Nettleton, Todd. “Friendly in Public, Fierce in Private.” The Voice of the Martyrs Sept. 2003: 4.
The Empty Cross: The False Doctrine of China’s Official Church. Bartlesville: V.O.M., 2003.
Monday, May 22, 2006
I'm Almost Done for the School Year :)
I'm almost done for the school year! I taught my last classes for Heritage five days ago, and now I just need to proctor and grade the final exams this Wednesday. I only have four more tutoring sessions (one today, three tomorrow) for my public school students. Yay! No more tutoring until 7:00 p.m. - until maybe next year, that is. I already have a few requests for tutoring through the summer, but scheduling will be more flexible, and it will be more relaxed.
I was typing out my summer schedule last week, and it's very full! What happened to relaxing this summer? Ah well. I'll have fun. I'm planning much reading and sewing and baking in my free time :).
Just a run-down of the next few weeks:
On Wednesday I come home from proctoring finals and scramble to grade them before leaving for Toccoa for the conference that starts that evening. The conference goes from Wednesday evening until Saturday noon this week, which will keep us plenty busy, since we opted to drive the 90 minutes to and from the conference center each day. I'm looking forward to it, though :).
We're hoping to see Ashley and Paul on Sunday or on Memorial Day, since we haven't seen them since chess lessons ;), and since we really need to iron out the menu for her wedding reception. We'd really like to know what we're preparing :). My uncle also is visiting for a few days around that time.
The following weekend (the 4th) Mother Dear and I are driving up to Indiana to spend a week in Southern Indiana with her parents. I know you all must be insanely jealous, since Southern Indiana is the best place in the US :). My grandparents live in the itty-bitty town of Hanover (40 miles NE of Lousiville), that only still exists thanks to the small college of the same name. I love visiting Hanover, and it's full of family history, as both my mom's parents were raised in Hanover, and they, along with several other relatives, are Hanover alumni. I get to spend a whole week (literally) overlooking the Ohio River. It's absolutely gorgeous! While there I have the opportunity to comb through my grandfather's library, which is being cleared. He was a Presbyterian pastor for over 30 years, so I expect to find some treasures :).
We return the following Saturday (the 10th) and have a day to rest up before VBS the following week :). And the madness will continue. . .
I was typing out my summer schedule last week, and it's very full! What happened to relaxing this summer? Ah well. I'll have fun. I'm planning much reading and sewing and baking in my free time :).
Just a run-down of the next few weeks:
On Wednesday I come home from proctoring finals and scramble to grade them before leaving for Toccoa for the conference that starts that evening. The conference goes from Wednesday evening until Saturday noon this week, which will keep us plenty busy, since we opted to drive the 90 minutes to and from the conference center each day. I'm looking forward to it, though :).
We're hoping to see Ashley and Paul on Sunday or on Memorial Day, since we haven't seen them since chess lessons ;), and since we really need to iron out the menu for her wedding reception. We'd really like to know what we're preparing :). My uncle also is visiting for a few days around that time.
The following weekend (the 4th) Mother Dear and I are driving up to Indiana to spend a week in Southern Indiana with her parents. I know you all must be insanely jealous, since Southern Indiana is the best place in the US :). My grandparents live in the itty-bitty town of Hanover (40 miles NE of Lousiville), that only still exists thanks to the small college of the same name. I love visiting Hanover, and it's full of family history, as both my mom's parents were raised in Hanover, and they, along with several other relatives, are Hanover alumni. I get to spend a whole week (literally) overlooking the Ohio River. It's absolutely gorgeous! While there I have the opportunity to comb through my grandfather's library, which is being cleared. He was a Presbyterian pastor for over 30 years, so I expect to find some treasures :).
We return the following Saturday (the 10th) and have a day to rest up before VBS the following week :). And the madness will continue. . .
Friday, May 19, 2006
'Rithmetic
Make sure to read my other posts on The Three R's:
The Three R's
Reading
Reading Comprehension Test
C.S. Lewis on "Literary" and "Unliterary" Reading
'Riting
A Few Samples of Past Writings
Prologue to the Story I'm Writing
'Rithmetic - the last of the Three R's, and probably my favorite. As I mentioned in my first post on The Three R's, I really think it would be more parallel to list mathematics with reading and writing, but I'll try not to be too picky :).
I'm guessing that most if not all people reading this post know by now that math is a major part of my life. It may have something to do with the fact that I was raised in a heavily math environment - just a hunch ;). My dad has taught high school (and some college) math for close to 20 years, my mom and I both teach math to homeschoolers, and I also tutor math to a number of public school students. Brother Dear and Sister Dear are also very gifted in math (in fact, both scored higher than me on the math portion of the SAT), though they use it less on a daily basis than Mother Dear, Father Dear, and I do. Especially given the growing problem of innumeracy in our nation, I'm very thankful for the mathematical background that I have :).
I've already blogged quite a bit about math, so I'll try not to muse too long in this post, instead just give a brief overview of some of the antics of my math family.
You see, when it came to liking math, I really didn't have a choice in the matter ;). My parents gave me bedtime math problems growing up. We also played a lot of math games like Muggins, or games that encouraged quick mental arithmetic, like Yahtzee, and we watched math-oriented TV shows like Square One TV. It has been rumored that we sometimes debate the coolest number, but there is little evidence for that ;). We do make sure to celebrate an important mathematical holiday every year, and note the mathematical significance of ages and license plates. I admittedly enjoy doing problem-solving exercises just for fun, and I'm not above occasionally participating in a mathematical duel. And yes, I occasionally have random mathematical thoughts, I admit, but if someone tells you that I purposely bordered a quilt with golden rectangles, don't believe them, and if someone refers to my family as those weird math people, it's a gross exaggeration! Okay, okay, on occasion my family does enjoy giving mathematically-themed gifts, and completing mathematical color-by-numbers. And even Brother Dear has written some clever mathematical sweet-nothings that are sure to win any girl's heart.
Hmm, maybe we are a bit abnormal. . . or just special :-D.
Oh, oh, in related news, we recently acquired a slide rule, so I'm going to play around with that this summer :). Yay!
To tie this post into my previous post on reading, I really must recommend an excellent book that relates to mathematics. It's not a textbook, but a juvenile biography on Nathaniel Bowditch. If you haven't already, you really need to read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham! It's an excellent true story of a child with a hunger for knowledge and a strong self-determination to excel, even though that often meant teaching himself. Forced to leave school at a young age, he continued his education on his own, and managed to teach himself French and Latin, in addition to excelling in the sciences of navigation and mathematics. He was instrumental in the improvement of many aspects of navigation, through his knowledge of mathematics. Nat Bowditch's advancements in navigation were instrumental in the popularization of "book sailing," or sailing by mathematical charts and tables. If you want to know why precision in mathematics is so important, you need to read this book!
Okay, I'm almost done, but I cannot close this post on math without sharing with all of you my absolute favorite mathematical proof:
Theorem: All positive integers are interesting.
Proof: Assume the contrary. Then by the well-ordering principle, there is a lowest non-interesting positive integer. But, hey, that's pretty interesting! A contradiction. QED
:-D
The Three R's
Reading
Reading Comprehension Test
C.S. Lewis on "Literary" and "Unliterary" Reading
'Riting
A Few Samples of Past Writings
Prologue to the Story I'm Writing
'Rithmetic - the last of the Three R's, and probably my favorite. As I mentioned in my first post on The Three R's, I really think it would be more parallel to list mathematics with reading and writing, but I'll try not to be too picky :).
I'm guessing that most if not all people reading this post know by now that math is a major part of my life. It may have something to do with the fact that I was raised in a heavily math environment - just a hunch ;). My dad has taught high school (and some college) math for close to 20 years, my mom and I both teach math to homeschoolers, and I also tutor math to a number of public school students. Brother Dear and Sister Dear are also very gifted in math (in fact, both scored higher than me on the math portion of the SAT), though they use it less on a daily basis than Mother Dear, Father Dear, and I do. Especially given the growing problem of innumeracy in our nation, I'm very thankful for the mathematical background that I have :).
I've already blogged quite a bit about math, so I'll try not to muse too long in this post, instead just give a brief overview of some of the antics of my math family.
You see, when it came to liking math, I really didn't have a choice in the matter ;). My parents gave me bedtime math problems growing up. We also played a lot of math games like Muggins, or games that encouraged quick mental arithmetic, like Yahtzee, and we watched math-oriented TV shows like Square One TV. It has been rumored that we sometimes debate the coolest number, but there is little evidence for that ;). We do make sure to celebrate an important mathematical holiday every year, and note the mathematical significance of ages and license plates. I admittedly enjoy doing problem-solving exercises just for fun, and I'm not above occasionally participating in a mathematical duel. And yes, I occasionally have random mathematical thoughts, I admit, but if someone tells you that I purposely bordered a quilt with golden rectangles, don't believe them, and if someone refers to my family as those weird math people, it's a gross exaggeration! Okay, okay, on occasion my family does enjoy giving mathematically-themed gifts, and completing mathematical color-by-numbers. And even Brother Dear has written some clever mathematical sweet-nothings that are sure to win any girl's heart.
Hmm, maybe we are a bit abnormal. . . or just special :-D.
Oh, oh, in related news, we recently acquired a slide rule, so I'm going to play around with that this summer :). Yay!
To tie this post into my previous post on reading, I really must recommend an excellent book that relates to mathematics. It's not a textbook, but a juvenile biography on Nathaniel Bowditch. If you haven't already, you really need to read Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham! It's an excellent true story of a child with a hunger for knowledge and a strong self-determination to excel, even though that often meant teaching himself. Forced to leave school at a young age, he continued his education on his own, and managed to teach himself French and Latin, in addition to excelling in the sciences of navigation and mathematics. He was instrumental in the improvement of many aspects of navigation, through his knowledge of mathematics. Nat Bowditch's advancements in navigation were instrumental in the popularization of "book sailing," or sailing by mathematical charts and tables. If you want to know why precision in mathematics is so important, you need to read this book!
Okay, I'm almost done, but I cannot close this post on math without sharing with all of you my absolute favorite mathematical proof:
Theorem: All positive integers are interesting.
Proof: Assume the contrary. Then by the well-ordering principle, there is a lowest non-interesting positive integer. But, hey, that's pretty interesting! A contradiction. QED
:-D
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