Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Trueman on God's Work Contra Our Sin

"Indeed, one of the most amazing things about church history is the fact that the kingdom of God progresses so often in the teeth of the immortality and infidelity of the people and their leaders. To declare, then, that the church's current problems are is not to forge an unbreakable cause-effect link between our individual behaviour and the effectiveness of the gospel. And thank God that this is so! If such a link existed, who of us here today would ever have been converted? It is only through grace that God enables sinful men and women to lead others to Christ."

Carl Trueman
Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

A Word for Preachers...Trueman on God's Presence in Preaching

"One of the reasons, I think, that preaching is often not done well is that people who preach don't understand what they are doing. That's a rather blunt way of putting it: They do understand a certain amount: They know they're going to read the Bible, they're going to exegete the passage, et cetera, et cetera, but they need a bigger theological understanding of precisely what is going on.

"In the Middle Ages, we could put it this way: We could say, 'God's presence is mediated to the people as they gather as a church through the Sacrament.' That's why your eyes focus on the table when you walk into Cologne Cathedral. The most important thing is 'Where does God, if you like, come down and meet the people?' In the Sacrament."

"...With the Reformation,  God's presence is mediated in the Word. Have you ever thought about it? When you preach on a Sunday, you are not just passing on information. You are not just giving enthusiastic talks. There is a sense in which, when you preach, you are mysteriously mediating the presence of God to your people."

Carl Trueman
Why the Reformation Isn't Over
Together for the Gospel 2012

A Word for Preachers...Carl Trueman on Christ-Cent(e)red Preaching

"Too often today churches with a high view of Scripture and of the preaching ministry actually tolerate sermons which, while being very faithful in a sense to the text, never mention Christ. Yet if the Reformers' claim that Christ is the centre of the Bible and that the whole Bible tells one story, that of God's grace in Christ, then no sermon worthy of the mane Christian can possibly omit speaking of Christ, wherever the chosen text may be taken from, Old or New Testament. God-centred sermons must by definition be Christ-centered sermons if they are to contain even a drop of grace."

Carl Trueman
Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom...Trueman on Personal Religious Experience

“(I)t seems to me to be theologically significant that we often know very little of the detailed religious experiences of the great Reformers. This is not, of course, because they did not have such experiences; it is simply because they seem implicitly to have regarded these experiences as not germane to their public role as church leaders. At the end of the day, the gospel is believed because God – because God – so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, and so on. The power and persuasiveness of the gospel lies in the fact that God acted in history to save humanity in and through his Son, Jesus Christ. The experience of this salvation by individual people and by whole churches is a source for rejoicing but should never be allowed to eclipse the emphasis on the great saving acts of God’s redemptive history. The gospel is the story of what God has done for sinners in Christ; it is not first and foremost the experience of God by any particular individual; and, if testimonies are to be given in a useful way, they must reflect this fact.”

Carl Trueman
Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Wednesdays Words of Wisdom...Carl Trueman on the Reformers

"(W)e must remember first and foremost that, if the Reformation is a significant moment in church history, and if the Reformers are significant theologians for us today, it is only to the extent that they represent faithful attempts to place God in Christ at the centre. It is beyond dispute that many Reformers were brave men; that they attacked many manifest theological, ecclesiastical and moral abuses; and that some of them died terrible deaths for their beliefs. Yet none of these things, either individually or taken together, means that they have anything to teach us today. Many non-Christians have been brave; many have achieved wonderful things; many have spoken out against abuses; and many have died heroic and steadfast deaths for their beliefs. But, as the old saying goes, a good death does not sanctify a bad cause. Moreover, none of the other actions listed makes any individual of perennial relevance to the church. It is only to the extent that they brought God and Christ to bear upon the church of their day that the Reformers have any ongoing relevance for us today."

Carl Trueman
Reformation: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Book Review - Republocrat

With election day nearing, Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative by Carl Trueman seemed to be quite a timely read.  Lately, I’ve been noticing some of Trueman’s blog entries at Reformation 21 and have appreciated both his thoughtful approach as well as the sharp wit displayed in his writing.

Trueman, the Departmental Chair of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, fails to fulfill certain caricatures, in that he is a very conservative Christian with very liberal politics (on most issues). In fact, Trueman’s goal in this book seems to be to highlight the truth that too often the line becomes blurred between Christian conservatism and political conservatism. “The gospel,” he rightly contends, “cannot and must not be identified with partisan political posturing.”

He does spend some time in Republocrat arguing for his political perspective. In this, I imagine that many (most?) political  conservatives will find Trueman’s arguments unpersuasive, the occasional strawman sneaking into the mix. But I am quite sure he would make the point that his goal was not to argue for his view on issues, but rather to simply point out that we need to realize that whichever way we vote, there are certain trade-offs we are making. In light of this truth, Christians need to engage the political process in what is truly a counter-cultural way.

“I look forward to the day,” Trueman states, “when intelligence and civility, not tiresome clichés, charater assassinations, and Manichaean noise, are the hallmark of Christians as they engage the political process.”

In Republocrat, Trueman has succeeded in writing a very thought-provoking book which I would heartily recommend to any Christian who takes their political views seriously. I do not agree with all of his positions; one could scarcely hold to an identical combinations of views. But then again, that is pretty much the point of the book; we should critically examine all of the issues and not simply default to what a certain political party tells us is the appropriate liberal position, the appropriate conservative position, or (most especially) the appropriate Christian position.

(The Lack of) Civility and Content in Public Discourse

Carl Trueman had an interesting and thought-provoking post the other day at Reformation 21.  In it he cited last week's much publicized argument between Bill O'Reilly and Whoopi Goldberg.  In case you missed it, O'Reilly was a guest on The View.  As he and the panel discussed the so-called "Ground-Zero Mosque," the discussion quickly devolved into a shouting match, culminating with Goldberg (as well as co-host, Joy Behar) walking off the set.

 I recently purchased, and very much look forward to reading, Trueman's book, Republocrat: Confessions of a Liberal Conservative.  Though I don't always agree with him, I enjoy reading what he has to say because he is almost always thought-provoking. And while I sometimes have my sensibilities offended by Trueman, I appreciate the fact that he is definitely an equal-opportunity offender.  I think this comes through in these comments on the O'Reilly-Goldberg tête-à-tête, in which he decries the lack of civility and content in contemporary political discourse:

The most popular TV pundit of the Right, who yet cannot define "socialism," versus the advocate for women's rights who does not regard the drugging, and forcible and perverted sexual violation of a thirteen year old girl as "rape."  If ever we needed a microcosmic demonstration of all that is wrong with left and right, those two say it all: it is all about empty posturing, extreme slogans, and, above all, entertainment.

Against this cultural backdrop, Trueman calls on Christians to raise the bar, both in what we expect and in what we exhibit.  He points out that those who (like me) subscribe to the Westminster Standards are bound by such statements as the Larger Catechism's answer to Question 128, which reads as follows: "The sins of inferiors against their superiors are, all neglect of the duties required toward them; envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against, their persons and places, in their lawful counsels, commands, and corrections; cursing, mocking, and all such refractory and scandalous carriage, as proves a shame and dishonour to them."  He goes on to make the following suggestions:

Christians, right and left, should model intelligent civic engagement, not help to destroy it by pandering to the moronic soundbites and posturing of the TV pundits.  And anybody who holds office in a confessional presbyterian denomination and who calls the President a Marxist (or carries around a picture of him at a rally photoshopped to make him into Hitler or the Joker), or anyone, for that matter, who claims that the Republicans are all Fascists or racists -- anybody who does such, I say, should be charged in the courts of the church with breach of vows and, if unrepentant, dismissed from office.  Criticism and dissent are vital in democracy; but  how we express that criticism and dissent should be shaped by our Christian commitments and, for those of us who hold office, by our solemn vows.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.  Please comment below.  You can read Trueman's whole post here.