Does Regeneration precede faith? Are these two distinct events, or simultaneous?

John 1:13 (King James Version)
"Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

John Calvin appears to have no problem with the mystery his later followers feel they must deny.
John Calvin on John 1:13
"The will of the flesh and the will of man appear to me to mean the same thing; for I see no reason why flesh should be supposed to signify woman, as Augustine and many others explain it. On the contrary, the Evangelist repeats the same thing in a variety of words, in order to explain it more fully, and impress it more deeply on the minds of men. Though he refers directly to the Jews, who gloried in the flesh, yet from this passage a general doctrine may be obtained: that our being reckoned the sons of God does not belong to our nature, and does not proceed from us, but because God begat us willingly, (James 1:18,) that is, from undeserved love. Hence it follows, first, that faith does not proceed from ourselves, but is the fruit of spiritual regeneration; for the Evangelist affirms that no man can believe, unless he be begotten of God; and therefore faith is a heavenly gift. It follows, secondly, that faith is not bare or cold knowledge, since no man can believe who has not been renewed by the Spirit of God.

It may be thought that the Evangelist reverses the natural order by making regeneration to precede faith, whereas, on the contrary, it is an effect of faith, and therefore ought to be placed later. I reply, that both statements perfectly agree; because by faith we receive the incorruptible seed, (1 Peter 1:23,) by which we are born again to a new and divine life. And yet faith itself is a work of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in none but the children of God. So then, in various respects, faith is a part of our regeneration, and an entrance into the kingdom of God, that he may reckon us among his children. The illumination of our minds by the Holy Spirit belongs to our renewal, and thus faith flows from regeneration as from its source; but since it is by the same faith that we receive Christ, who sanctifies us by his Spirit, on that account it is said to be the beginning of our adoption.

Another solution, still more plain and easy, may be offered; for when the Lord breathes faith into us, he regenerates us by some method that is hidden and unknown to us; but after we have received faith, we perceive, by a lively feeling of conscience, not only the grace of adoption, but also newness of life and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit. For since faith, as we have said, receives Christ, it puts us in possession, so to speak, of all his blessings. Thus so far as respects our sense, it is only after having believed -- that we begin to be the sons of God. But if the inheritance of eternal life is the fruit of adoption, we see how the Evangelist ascribes the whole of our salvation to the grace of Christ alone; and, indeed, how closely soever men examine themselves, they will find nothing that is worthy of the children of God, except what Christ has bestowed on them."

Why Is Modern Culture Bored?

Update: Sorry, I had tried to post from my mobile phone and that didn't work too well.

I was going to put up an Augustine quote:
"Those who fail to discover what they are looking for suffer from hunger, whereas those who do not look, because they have it in front of them, often die of boredom." -Augustine "On Christian Teaching"

Da Vinci Opportunities

It was hard for me. I saw this phenomenon going on; everyone at work was talking about the book. Some even taking the conspiracy theories found in it seriously! It was so hard to not be condescending. It was also hard to read the book. Not HARD hard. It is a very easy read. I just could not believe I was reading a book that contained an albino assassin monk. It is pulp fiction to the core, full of cheesy dialog, unbelievable characters on every page. But I got through it, and was able to notice the creativity in the puzzles and acknowledge that there was some talent in there. It opened the dialog at work with people in great ways! I could add what I liked about the book, what I did not like, and why the history in it is pure drivel and should only be enjoyed as fiction. I hope the movie will open up more windows to discuss the truth. I agree with the sentiment of this story whole heartedly!

Happy Easter

John 20:1-9 (NKJV)
The Empty Tomb
1 Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.

In the Tomb

"When Adam lived, that is, when he sinned, death devoured life; when Christ died, that is, was justified, then life, which is Christ, swallowed up and devoured death; therefore God be praised, that Christ died, and has got the victory."

-Martin Luther “Table Talk”


Matthew 12:39-41 (New King James Version)
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.

Have an Atonement Centered Good Friday

"God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 2:1-2 KJV

The Transfiguration of Harold Maines

I have finally secured a copy of The Transfiguration of Harold Maines by director Jared W. Johnson. It is well done and very funny! Hard to believe much of it was adlibbed. Kudos to the actors for being so funny and believable. Director Jared Johnson's bizarre sense of humor is at its best in this piece of fiction made to look like a documentary. The idea of a documentary about a man who may have turned into a horse is an idea only he would cook up. If you want to see something truly original then I recommend this short movie.

"Gospel” of Judas sheds light on Gnosticism. Not Christianity.

Those pesky Gnostics keep finding their way into pop culture even after almost 2000 years. Perhaps this will give Dan Brown material for another wonderful work of artistic fiction full of albino assassin monks who want to stop the spread of feminism. We can only hope…

Borders will not carry magazine

Not because it's pornographic [they still carry Playboy], or advocates illegal activity [They still carry High Times], but because it has the cartoon making fun of Islam's Prophet. Free speech for everything but political speech...

Chesterton Quote

"Once abolish the God, and the government becomes the God." - Christendom in Dublin, 1933

Fascism and V

In the west is has been true that totalitarian regimes try to kill God so that the government can become the god. It seems to be fairly effective. We do see some examples however of Islam being used as a tool of totalitarian regimes. So while I would argue that Islam is better suited for that end, it is not beyond imagination that Christianity could be twisted in that direction as well.
One reason I am excited about Goldberg's upcoming book
Liberal Fascism : The Totalitarian Temptation from Mussolini to Hillary Clinton is because the record needs to be setstraight on fascism. It was not made up of evangelical Christians bent on ruling the world!

V for Very Verbose Vapor

The most touching moment in 1984, to me, was when the poet in prison explains that he just couldn't find any other word for his poem except "God." V for Vendetta on the other hand seems to be 1984 for liberals. The religious dimension just didn't make sense. 'Faith is Unity' is the new 'Love is Hate' or 'War is Peace' for an anti-Truth government. But if there was a God over government, there must be truth. God is truth, the unappeallable Judge. If government really wanted to destroy Truth, it must become the God. So philosophically, I just have to say 1984 seems more real than V for Vendetta. That is, unless you really do think we have more to fear from the pre-WWII threat of fascism than the post-modern threat of relativism/subjectivism and the intolerance of intolerance.

St. (Beef) Patty

Isn't that nice. Catholics have permission to eat meat tomorrow. Enjoy!!

Ok, lame post but I thought I should get one in before the month is over.

What happened to books?

A friend sent me this story. I suppose he found it provocative or something. All I could write was:

"How times have changed. Once "great authors" and "important people" wrote of current events in the medium of a book (i.e. Burke vs the French Revolution). But alas all the great men of this age can muster is a ramble at the Academy Awards or a cliche filled Editorial to the Tribune. When Keillor fills up 2 pages in Bartlett's with his Current Affairs wisdom, perhaps I will turn my head:

http://www.bartleby.com/100/276.html "

UPDATE: I guess I should try and establish Burke as a theologian to justify writing about him here so here's a random Burke thought on Religion: "Religion is essentially the art and the theory of the remaking of man. Man is not a finished creation."

Amyraldism?

It seems this is what "4-point Calvinism" can be called. Amyraldism prefers to define a universal atonement, but particular election. It does seem dangerous, however, to get away from Christ's substitutionary work on the cross. Christ died for our sins. And in the context of Romans 5:8b-9: "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." It seems those whom Christ died for are assured salvation. Then Christ died just for the elect, no?

Also interesting from the article:

"Amyraldism can be found among various evangelical groups, perhaps most notably among dispensationalists in independent Bible churches and independant Baptist churches."

Limited Atonement: Power or Possibility?

I'm less and less offended by the "L" in TULIP. As R.C. Sproul Jr pointed out, everyone limits the atonement: Calvinists limit its scope or membership, Arminians limit its power. A blogger posted this by John Owen (the puritan theologian):


FOR WHOM DID CHRIST DIE?
by John Owen

The Father imposed His wrath due unto, and the Son underwent punishment for, either:

1. All the sins of all men;
2. All the sins of some men, or;
3. Some of the sins of all men.

In which case it may be said:

1. That if the last be true, all men have some sins to answer for, and so, none are saved;
2. That if the second be true, then Christ, in their stead suffered for all the sins of all the elect in the whole world, and this is the truth;
3. But if the first be the case, why are not all men free from the punishment due unto their sins?

You answer, "Because of unbelief.

"I ask, Is this unbelief a sin, or is it not? If it be, then Christ suffered the punishment due unto it, or He did not. If He did, why must that hinder them more than their other sins for which He died? If He did not, He did not die for all their sins!"

Walk the Line is out Today!

It is finally out on DVD. Reviewed here.

More Argument From Desire

More from Peter Kreeft
1. Every natural, innate desire in us corresponds to some real object that can satisfy that desire.
2. But there exists in us a desire which nothing in time, nothing on earth, no creature can satisfy.
3. Therefore there must exist something more than time, earth and creatures, which can satisfy this desire.
4. This something is what people call "God" and "life with God forever."

...Now there are differences between these two kinds of desires. We do not, for example, for the most part, recognize corresponding states of deprivation for the second, the artificial, desires, as we do for the first. There is no word like "Ozlessness" parallel to "sleeplessness." But more importantly, the natural desires come from within, from our nature, while the artificial ones come from without, from society, advertising or fiction. This second difference is the reason for a third difference: the natural desires are found in all of us, but the artificial ones vary from person to person.
The existence of the artificial desires does not necessarily mean that the desired objects exist. Some do; some don't. Sports cars do; Oz does not. But the existence of natural desires does, in every discoverable case, mean that the objects desired exist. No one has ever found one case of an innate desire for a nonexistent object.

What jobs do Americans want to do?

Anybody remember The Time Machine? Basically, a lower class of citizens (Morlocks) have been subjugated so long that they are no longer seen as human (in fact they devolved). As Americans get snootier about the jobs they take, are we setting ourselves up for such a dichotomy? Do we see Latinos as our Morlocks, doing the jobs we no longer want? Doing jobs that they are expendable on (like the Chinese and Irish on the railroad)? I’m not a Marxist, but maybe there is some validity in being disturbed by class and race differences.

Gay Bishop in rehab

The commentary is obvious. The result of the worship of created things (sex, alcohol) above the Creator. May our prayer be that this man someday find the Creator more pleasurable than homosexuality and alcohol.