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December 05, 2012
The Motif of Land in the New TestamentKedric Webster
In his book An Old Testament Theology: An Exegetical, Canonical, and Thematic Approach, Dr. Bruce Waltke uses three chapters to speak of the Gift of Land. It is in chapter 20 on the gift of land in the New Testament where Waltke brings his thoughts to a crescendo and he does not pull any punches. There is too much material to go into detail in one blog post, but the following paragraphs from the book should suffice as a condensed version of Watlke's thought process.
“The definition of Hebrew ‘ares, “land” or “earth"–the fourth most ...
November 28, 2012
The church as refugeKedric Webster
In listening to a lecture by D.G. Hart on J. Gresham Machen's critique of liberalism, Hart ends with the last paragraphs of Christianity and Liberalism that openly displays Machen's love for the church and what it should be.
It should be an oasis from the strife that constantly bombards us. And it is not necessarily evil strife, but the kind of stife that is constantly clanging on about national unity, or this or that cause, positive things that actually can suffocate the message of the cross.
So here is one of the great ways to end a ...
November 26, 2012
Why Star Trek was not just about spaceKedric Webster
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows the voyages of the Starship Enterprise (NCC-1701 D for those who want to know). But to fully understand Star Trek is to know that it was not just about space exploration as much as it was, like many other dramas, exploring the human condition.
Science fiction has been a wonderful vehicle to explore current issues in the story of humanity. Star Trek, particularly this version, is a prime example. I do not always agree with what Star Trek says is the right way of doing things, but I appreciate the manner ...
November 07, 2012
Jeremiah 17:9 and the Theological DisciplinesKedric Webster
In the book Desperately Wicked: Philosophy, Christianity, and the Human Heart, author Patrick Downey opens with the verse from Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (KJV) Here I will examine this verse from several of the theological disciplines.
Systematic Theology (ST) - Until the early 20th century, Systematic Theology (aka, Dogmatic Theology) was known as the queen of the sciences. Setting aside the objections to that definition, I do believe ST is, at least, the queen of the ...
October 18, 2012
Pastoral TeaKedric Webster
Many of today's mega-churches (those with thousands of members on the role) tend toward the evangelical side. Some have gained nationwide and world popularity thanks to TV or radio broadcasting sermons. The focus is usually on the main preacher whose combination of dynamic delivery and provoking thought (depending on your definition of "provoking") keeps an audience's attention.
Nintey years ago there was such a preacher in New York City, whose popularity spread through radio and the newspapers as head minister at Riverside Church in upper ...
October 15, 2012
Histories and FalliciesKedric Webster
I thought it worthwhile to quote from Carl Trueman's book Histories and Fallicies: Problems Faced in the Writing of History. Trueman is a provocative and witty writer (and teacher) and I have enjoyed his articles and short books.
Though he is a professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary (PA), he is very well-read and uses many examples beyond church history--literature and 20th century political history are two--that make for eye-opening reading.
He spends a good deal of time discussing the methodology of Holocaust ...
September 12, 2012
Old and New Testament PentecostKedric Webster
Meredith Kline relates Pentecost events of the Old and New Testaments:
Then you shall take the anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. You shall also anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, so that the altar may become most holy. You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with ...
August 31, 2012
On Politicians, Polling & the PressKedric Webster
From the British sitcom Yes, Prime Minister, some funny and, one could say, accurate portrayals of the three P's of the campaign season (or any season for that matter).
On politicians:
On polling:
On the press:
August 27, 2012
Machen on Religion and its "Usefulness"Kedric Webster
Though these words by J. Gresham Machen are dated and some of the players have changed (i.e. the liberal church in the U.S. of the 1920s, though similar, is very different today), I believe them to still be significant to today's social environment in the U.S. Nationalism can come in many forms.
It can be said reverently that the Christian longs for heaven not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of God. Our present love is so cold, our present service so weak; and we would one day love and serve Him as His love deserves. It is ...
August 14, 2012
Star Trek's Reaction to...Star TrekKedric Webster
These are some humorous Youtube clips of Star Trek TNG, Deep Space Nine and Voyager crew members watching J.J. Abrams' version of Star Trek. I have to go along with their assessment.
For all the good qualities of the movie, every time I hear the "Romulan" captain, Nero, yell at Captain Pike, "Don't tell me it didn't happen! I saw it happen!" like some repeat of Kiefer Sutherland in 24, I just want to throw something at the screen.
Clip 1:
Clip 2:
Clip 3:
August 09, 2012
The Apollo 8 Genesis ReadingKedric Webster
"There are some of us who have become convinced that the pathway of true progress leads to the feet of Jesus Christ; that, consecrated to his service, the wonderful scientific achievements of the present day, in which we rejoice, far from being, as increasingly they are now threatening to become, the instruments of human slavery, may become the instruments of human liberty." -- J. Gresham Machen
August 08, 2012
Prophetic words that bring new creationKedric Webster
"The investment of the prophet with heavenly authority to shape the historical course of the kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdoms on earth in the name of the royal Lord of the council was a renewal of the original assignment to man of a God-like dominion over the world, adapted now, of course, to the redemptive situation. It was an act of re-creation in the glory-image of God." (Meredith Kline, Images of the Spirit, p. 60)
The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; 2 it ...
August 02, 2012
Carl Sagan's OdysseyKedric Webster
The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.
The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty.
And yet our ...
July 25, 2012
Bavinck on the Attributes of ScriptureKedric Webster
"In Christ God's revelation has been completed. In the same way the message of salvation is completely contained in Scripture. It constitutes a single whole; it itself conveys the impression of an organism that has reached its full growth.
It ends where it begins. It is a circle that returns into itself. It begins with the creation of heaven and earth and ends with the recreation of heaven and earth."
-- Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 1, p. 491
July 18, 2012
Some words from Geerhardus VosKedric Webster
From the Pauline Eschatology:
When desiring to construct from Paul's statements an organic bond between the entire Christian life here upon earth and the resurrection at the end, we feel perhaps that what has been said above renders us in a degree unsatisfied. The leap we had to make from Jesus' resurrection to the believer's leaves, as it were, the intermediate spaces unfilled, and thus threatens to destroy the true organic coherence.
What we desire is to be able to show, that the believer's whole ethico-religious existence, the ...
July 17, 2012
Wesley's Directions for SingingKedric Webster
The eminent preacher and theologian John Wesley, who played a part in turning Methodism as a movement in the Anglican Church into what would become a major Protestant denomination, wrote a short essay entitled "Directions for Singing."
Though his brother, Charles, is known as the great hymn writer, it is John's seven directions that provide a guide for the layperson when singing the hymns of God amidst the congregation.
I must confess, after leaving the United Methodist Church and settling in a non-denominational Bible Church, I later ...
July 11, 2012
"Fundamentalism" Machen-styleKedric Webster
July 10 marked the anniversary of the beginning of the trial of John Scopes, the Rhea County school teacher accused of violating the Butler Act, a law enacted by the state of Tennessee in early 1925 that banned the teaching of evolution in its public schools. Williams Jennings Bryan was one of the key representatives for the prosecution. I am not going to focus exclusively on that event (or its complex cultural implications), though it does come into play in my research about J. Gresham Machen.
I intend to address first the historical ...
June 22, 2012
Politics, the individual, and the churchKedric Webster
As the campaign season is heating up (like it has been for a year now) I thought I would post some words by two authors about one of my favorite scholars and theologians, J. Gresham Machen. His words on culture, the church, and politics offer a perspective that is refreshing, though now nearly a century old.
Though Machen's views on culture may have shifted as a result of his first-hand account of WWI, his background in the Presbyterian Church in the South--with its more explicit doctrine of the spirituality of the church--likely would ...
June 06, 2012
Cool Hand Luke TheologyKedric Webster
I started reading again a book by Fred Zaspel called The Theology of B.B. Warfield. I have quoted Warfield in other blogs. One of the issues Warfield dealt with in his time as professor theology and apologetics at Princeton Seminary was Protestant liberalism, which traces its roots in the work of Friedrich Schleiermacher, becoming more readily defined by Albert Ritschl. Zaspel explains,
The hallmark of Ritschilianism is its attempt "to clear theology of all 'metaphysical' elements. Otherwise expressed, this means that nothing will be ...
May 19, 2012
Len Bias and the prison populationKedric Webster
I seem to be on a "prison kick" lately. This is the third straight post on the subject. I was compelled to do so after watching again the ESPN 30-in-30 documentary on the life and death of former Maryland basketball great Len Bias.
If you have not seen it, I would highly recommend it. All of the 30-in-30 movies are very well done, some serious, some humorous. This one on Bias talks about his dying after using what could have been crack or pure cocaine for the first time at a party. It would be his last.
Two things resulted ...
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