The tender mercies of the wicked
Posted by Steve Wilkins
Flannery O’Connor once described the “liberal” mindset (which is of course anything but liberal) to Cecil Dawkins in a letter written in 1958:
The Liberal approach is that man has never fallen, never incurred guilt, and is ultimately perfectible by his own unaided efforts. Therefore, evil in this light is a problem of better housing, sanitation, health, etc. and all mysteries will eventually be cleared up. Judgement is out of place because man is not responsible.
Modern liberalism produces not compassion but sentimentalism, not mercy but cruelty walking around with sandwich boards that say “mercy.” It is a mindset that talks of love and tenderness but ends up loving no one and nothing but death. Its logical end is tyranny and terror. Read the rest of this entry »
Jericho
Posted by Steve Wilkins
Knowing how enamored I am by disasters of epic proportions and my penchant for crisis management (!), some fanatical fanlings of the TV series “Jericho” have been encouraging me to watch the first season (this was prior to its cancellation, they are much more subdued at present). So I did. I thought it was interesting, fun even, but one thing struck me — this has to be one of the most secular shows I’ve ever seen. We’re supposed to be in a small, Midwestern town, which has a church in which (we assume) people worship, get married, have their funerals, etc. and yet we never ever see or even hear about the minister (except for about 10 seconds when he’s concerned about the church building being damaged). amazing. There has been a nuclear holocaust, thousands have died across the country, there is no communication with the outside world, loved ones are missing, chaos is growing, and yet not a word from the minister? No one wants to talk to him? No prayer meetings? No services calling for public repentance or for God’s help, strength, protection, deliverance, etc? nothing. He is the invisible man (except for the 10 seconds when he is the whining, visible man). wow. I knew the Church was considered to be irrelevant to this culture, but “Jericho” is a stunning reminder of just how irrelevant we are in the eyes of this world.
Baptism now saves
Posted by Steve Wilkins
In his discussion of the Nicene creed’s statement “one baptism for the remission of sins,” T. F. Torrance explains what it means to be baptized into Christ:
“In baptism we are united to Christ through the Holy Spirit in such a way that we partake of the whole substance of the gospel, for all grace and truth are embodied in him. We may recall the point made by Irenaeus in this connection, when he claimed that the incarnate Son is called and actually is, ‘Salvation, Savior, and Saving Activity‘ and that thus he is ’salvation made flesh.’ In other words saving grace is not something detached from Christ which can be dispensed at will, but is identical with Christ in the unity of his Person, Word, and Act. It is through the one baptism which we have in common with Christ, or rather which he has in common with us, that we share in all that God has in store for us. Because baptism is one (the baptism with which Christ was baptised for our sakes, and the baptism in which we are given to share in all that he was, is, and will be) to be baptised is much more than to be initiated into the sphere where forgiveness is proclaimed and dispensed in the Church. It is to to be ‘delivered out of the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.’ It is to have our frail, transient existence taken up into Christ himself in such a way, that without any loss to our creaturely reality but rather with its perfecting through his Spirit, it is united to God and established in union with his eternal reality.” (The Trinitarian Faith, p. 297)
So. Jesus is Salvation made flesh [all life is in Him and apart from Him there is no salvation; grace and forgiveness are found in Him alone]. The Spirit unites us to Jesus through baptism, uniting us with His body, the Church, which is the kingdom, house and family of God, the community of faith, the assembly of the saints, outside of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation. So when Peter says, “baptism now saves us” he is saying “Jesus saves us.” By baptism the Spirit of Jesus unites us to the Church. The Church is the body of Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is Salvation made flesh.
