Thomas Brooks – “Heaven on Earth”

I have often in the past stood with those who laughed at what we regarded as the ignorant, unsophisticated taboos of the older generation. But now I worry about the ease with which the rising generation talks explicitly of ‘the fruitless deeds of darkness’ in the name of cultural engagement, fear of being thought passé or simply a desire to slough off the legalisms of their fathers in the faith. You can, after all, get to heaven without ever having seen an R-Rated art house movie or having enjoyed a spectacular love life.

Here’s a question: would it make any difference to you, any difference at all to the way you talk, to what you watch, to the way you “engage culture”, if Eph. 5:12 had never been written?

What is also interesting is that there was only one biography of Hodge that was produced before 2011, but there have been two more biographies distributed this year—Gutjahr’s and Charles Hodge: The Pride of Princeton by Andrew Hoffecker. I have seen where some have read both and recommend both, since they approach the life of Hodge from two different perspectives and are aimed at two different audiences. To quote Mark Noll, who provides the forward in Hoffecker’s biography: “The main difference in the two books is that Hoffecker aims his story at those who already have heard about Hodge and who may already be interested to some degree in the Reformed and Presbyterian themes of his life, while Gutjahr is writing more for the general student of American history who may know nothing at all about Hodge.”

What I particularly like about Charles Hodge: Guardian of American Orthodoxy is that Gutjahr has obviously done extensive research (I heard this project took some 10 years!), but he does not bore us with useless information. At the same time, Gutjahr gives us a comprehensive picture of Charles Hodge’s life, as well as the events, teachings, and philosophies of the time period that played a significant role in the life and ministry of Hodge. Harvard University Professor Leigh Schmidt says Gutjahr’s work is an “impressive achievement,” a “remarkably panoramic view of nineteenth-century American Protestant thought.”

We are given an in-depth view of Hodge’s upbringing, as well as his family life up until the point of his death. However, the biography’s main focus is Hodge’s role as the “Guardian of American Orthodoxy,” in which he does everything in his power to maintain the health of American Presbyterianism in the 19th century. Since Hodge was one of the first professors of Princeton Seminary, the reader learns about the birth of Princeton College and Princeton Seminary, and there are also significant details about Hodge’s opposition to Revivalism, Transcendentalism, and Universalism.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was the editing. There were too many typos, and there was even one instance where the author spoke of Adam and Eve eating “the apple” in the Garden of Eden (they eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, not an apple tree). All this to say, these were only small errors in a work that I would consider nothing short of brilliant.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of the American church or the history of Presbyterianism. The book is some 385 pages (though it probably reads like 500 pages the way the pages are structured) and is divided into short chapters for ease of reading. This is a book that I would suggest you read slowly to digest all the information. The life of Charles Hodge is simply inspiring!

You can read the prologue in its entirety by visiting the author’s website here.

Now that I’ve read a bit more and learned what being a Democrat and being a Republican means, I kind of wish I had been more exposed to different perspectives on the world, especially in the area of politics. I admit that I am a registered Republican, and I have been since first registering to vote at the age of 18. However, most who know me would testify that I’m more of an Independent who just wants to be able to vote in the primaries. The fact is that I have found myself siding with Democrats on certain issues while setting up camp with the Republicans on other issues. I don’t vote based on what a candidate’s label is, whether he is Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, or Whig; I try to vote based on my perception of what the candidate’s vision is for their time in office.

Carl Trueman’s Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative is encouraging, because I have finally found someone else in the church, the conservative, Reformed camp no less, who agrees with my views on politics. To tell you the truth, I am not surprised. Trueman, who is the professor of history at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, is British. And having spent three years in the UK, I can personally attest to the fact that, while there are political parties, you do not find the type of polarization that you find in the American church. For example, the church I worked with in Scotland was a conservative, evangelical church made up of Tories (conservatives), Lib Dems (moderates), Labour (liberal), Scottish National (crazy), as well as a host of other smaller parties.

As a Brit, Trueman offers a fresh perspective on American politics and encourages Christians to open their eyes to the reality of what politics has become. Republocrat is a short, easy read that is made up of five essays and a postscript. While the essays carry the same theme, they stand alone as different nuances to the point Trueman is trying to make, which is that, as Christians, “[w]e need to read and watch more widely, be as critical of our own favorite pundits and narratives as we are of those cherished by our opponents, and seek to be good stewards of the world and of the opportunities therein that God has given to us.”

Trueman’s writing is refined, though it is not as academic as you would think from a professor of a seminary that is known for its academic emphasis. These are Trueman’s own thoughts and reflections on what he has seen in America since moving here just over a decade ago. Trueman doesn’t repeat himself often, unless driving home his main point, and he is excellent at blending humor in while also conveying important information.

You may not agree with everything Trueman writes, but I doubt you will be able to read this book without thinking seriously about how you vote. Many of you will probably predict this is just another book that complains about the Right and the Left, but Trueman is trying to do much more than simply gripe about each party’s weaknesses. As I said before and quoted from the book, he wants us to think. To be educated and informed. To not just turn on Fox News or MSNBC and formulate our opinions based on what Bill O’Reilly or Keith Olbermann want us to think.

I highly recommend this book for those who are trying to find their place in the political world as well as those who have had their foot in a certain political party for a number of years. Who knows? You may just find your views shifting.

I got to thinking about these carols after hearing the song “Labor of Love,” sung by Jill Phillips as a part of Andrew Peterson’s Behold the Lamb of God album and tour. In this song, which is probably one of my favorite Christmas songs of all time, Phillips sings: “It was not a silent night/There was blood on the ground/You could hear a woman cry/In the alleyways that night.” So was it a silent night? Did the baby Jesus cry? What was the intent of the authors of these Christmas hymns?

Justin Taylor posted “Labor of Love” on his blog, and I was interested to see what a commenter, Coty Pinckney, said:

I have had the privilege of being present at the births of all six of my children. I would not describe any of those births as peaceful. However, an hour later, once mother and child are cleaned and rested, there has always been a time of wonderful peace and joy. This, I believe, Josef Mohr accurately portrays in “Silent Night.”Imagine a time in the middle of that Bethlehem night. The shepherds have come and gone. Baby Jesus has fallen asleep and rests on Mary’s breast. This young girl lingers awake, pondering what the shepherds have said, and what Gabriel told her nine months previously. Her fingers stroke her Child’s head. She grasps His fingers, and, lost in wonder, praises God that she can be His handmaiden.

Surely now, once the pain and crying are over, once the excitement of the shepherds is past, there is a silent night. God in the flesh, tender and mild, love’s pure light, sleeps nestled against his young mother.

He was born in pain. There is much pain ahead. But after the labor of love there was indeed a silent night.

I think Pinckney raises a good point. There may have been that time of silence, as the shepherds had already made their visit, and Mary was laying Jesus upon her breast. It was a special night, and there is nothing wrong with calling it a silent night or even saying there was a time when Jesus awoke and did not cry. The lyrics may confuse us, but they are not necessarily wrong. The fact is that we don’t know all the finer details of what happened that evening, and the authors of the Christmas hymns are simply filling our imaginations of what could have taken place that night.

Did the hymns’ authors think the entire night was silent and that Jesus never cried? I have a hard time believing that. What do you think?

—

You can download the entirety Pinckney’s short essay, “Silent Night — or Not?”

I want to quickly review a Christmas concert I attended last night, called Behold the Lamb of God. This was not your typical Christmas concert with live animals and subpar versions of “O Holy Night.” This was easily the best Christmas concert I’ve been to, and I want to tell you why you must attend next year (if, of course, they come to your city).

Behold the Lamb of God is presented by Andrew Peterson. Peterson is best known throughout the Christian music world for his songs that are more like stories, which are completely different from the shallow, four-chord songs you might hear when you turn on your favorite Christian radio station (see, for example, “Family Man“). Peterson is joined on stage by a stellar cast of singer/songwriters and musicians who have produced their own music as solo artists as well as with other bands and artists such as Caedmon’s Call and Mat Kearney.

The Behold the Lamb of God tour has been running each Christmas for over a decade. The first half of the concert, which was nearly three hours long, was Peterson introducing us to the “cast,” who each played two of their own songs. After the first half, there was a short intermission before the main show began. For those unfamiliar with the main show, it is the story of Christmas told through song. It begins in the book of Genesis and makes its way through the incarnation of Christ and the presentation of the Messiah to the world.

Each of the acts in the first half of the concert added their own flavor. I was especially impressed by Jason Gray, who admitted up front that he suffers from the speech impediment of stuttering. You wondered how he would get through a song, but it’s amazing how those who stutter can sing beautifully; and I will have to admit that Jason Gray, ironically, had the best voice on stage, which is saying a lot.

The only negative of the first half was that the singer/songwriter acts started sounding the same. Don’t get me wrong, they were all very talented and each had their own flavor. But I couldn’t help but get a bit anxious for the main show to begin. What helped me get through was the storytelling and wittiness of Andrew Peterson, as he spoke of his fellow cast like they were family.

However, despite the first half being a bit long and “samey,” the main show was well worth the wait. Impressive were the number of instruments that were used, ranging from the standard acoustic guitar to mandolin to cello to an assortment of keys and percussion. The harmony of the singers was both subtle and elegant, punctuated by the stunning voice of Jill Phillips.

As stated earlier, the story was told from Genesis, describing the very reason for the Messiah. There were elements of humor in Matthew’s Begats, which tells of the genealogy of Christ, as well as moments of deep emotion in Labor of Love, recounting Mary’s experience bringing the Son of God into the world. Throughout the entire story, I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah and worshiped when the band sang of the angels delivering the message to the shepherds in While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.

Peterson ended the evening with a reading from Colossians, followed by O Come, All Ye Faithful and the Doxology, leaving the stage as the crowd continued to sing. I was blessed by this experience, and I highly recommend it to everyone, from teenagers to families to couples looking for a good date night. May you also be blessed this Christmas, as we remember the birth of our Saviour King, “the hope of man, behold the Lamb of God!”

We are grateful for the Lord’s provision for us while we have been here, as we have made so many godly friends and shared our lives with a truly wonderful church. Scotland is a beautiful country with a rich heritage and warm, friendly people. All-in-all, Holly and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time here.

But it is time to move on to the next stage of our lives. I know I have threatened this before, but I think it is time to move on from the blog. I am still writing for youth and parents of youth over at our Youth Fellowship blog and have created a new blog for my family. However, I will simply not have the time needed to keep up and maintain this blog.

With that, I bid you farewell. Thank you to those who have subscribed to the blog or consistently visited, especially those who have joined in the comment threads. May we continue to fight the good fight of faith and protect the truth, the alétheia, of God’s Word.

My friend and I have had some great conversations about our faith. We have argued. We have sometimes offended one another. But we always return to grace and the fact that we love each other as brothers and desire each other to grown in Christ.

He knows that I have some strong feelings about Roman Catholicism, specifically the role of works in salvation and what I believe to be idolatrous devotion to Mary. So I want to precede what I’m about to write by saying that I think there are some seriously distorted beliefs in Roman Catholicism. In my opinion, many people have been led astray by the teachings of Rome.

But here’s what we need to work on as Reformed Christians — getting Roman Catholicism right. What I mean by this is that if we are going to debate with Roman Catholics or attempt to debunk their beliefs, we must first study and actually know what they believe. We would do the same with Muslims, Mormons, and Buddhists, right?* I think it is extremely dishonest and unhelpful to build a case against what we think Roman Catholics believe. We can beat those straw men to death any day, but it doesn’t make us any better for it.

And the good thing is that it’s not very difficult to find what Roman Catholics believe. You can read their entire catechism online. So I would encourage you, if you are speaking with a Roman Catholic, writing a blog article, or whatever you are doing, learn what Rome actually teaches before beginning an all-out assault on its doctrine.

Like I said, I love my friend. We’ve spent a considerable amount of time trying to get to the core of each others’ beliefs. Some of our mutual friends have looked on and seen our arguments as entirely unproductive — “no one’s being converted to the other side,” they say. But I think the important thing is that we are growing in knowledge, understanding, and mutual respect for one another. After all, it’s hard to discuss any topic without these three things.

* To be clear: I would never put Roman Catholics in the same category as Mormons, Muslims, or Buddhists. I know many Reformed Christians do, but I do not.

Have a listen below and head over to their website if you like what you hear!