Doctrinal Matters

I would like to offer more quotes from some of my favorite books.  I hope these quotes encourage you to read these great books.  The time reading them will be time well-spent. From Holiness: the False and the True  by H.A. Ironside (Loizeaux Brothers: 1912) "And now I began to see what a string of derelicts this holiness teaching left in its train.  I could count scores of persons who had gone into udder infidelity because of it.  They always gave the same reason: 'I tried it all.  I found it a failure.  So I concluded the Bible teaching was all a delusion, and religion was a mere matter of emotions.'  Many more (and I knew several such intimately) lapsed into insanity after floundering in the morass of this emotional religion for years- and people said that studying the Bible had driven them crazy.  How little they knew that it was a lack of Bible knowledge that was accountable for their wretched mental state- an absolutely unscriptural ...

I just finished reading Six Days: the Age of the Earth and the Decline of the Church by Ken Ham.  I listed another book by Ham in My Favorite Books post earlier.  What I wanted to do in this post is to offer observations about Ham's new book and plead with you to read it.  (Click on the book's title above to purchase the book). The book's back cover says that reading the book will help us to: "Discover how many evangelical leaders, wittingly or unwittingly, undermine the authority of God's Word by compromising the clear meaning of the Bible in Genesis." "Learn how accepting that the earth or universe is billions of years old unlocks a door of compromise." "Heed the wake-up call to the Church to return to the authority of God's Word, from the first page." Having read the book, I can say that it did indeed do what the back cover said it would.  Especially eye-opening were the many quotes provided in the book from Christian ...

I thought I would post a few quotes from some of the books that I have listed as my favorites. Maybe these quotes will entice you to read them as well and be blessed by their message. From It Is Well: Expositions on Substitutionary Atonement by Mark Dever & Michael Lawrence (Crossway Books: 2010) "There have been many who have sought to rescue God from the scandal of the cross.  They think it is unworthy of his character, inconsistent with his love for Christ. But as we've seen, the Bible will not let us do that.  The cross was God's idea, his set purpose and plan from before the foundation of the world.  On the cross Jesus Christ was actually forsaken by the Father." (p. 84) "Friend, if you are a Christian, you will live longer than your sin." (p. 196) "Again and again it is God who separates and excludes.  It's not just that we aren't interested in him, though that's true.  As sinners, we're not.  More importantly, he has ...

photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com To many modern Christian leaders, pastors, and theologians the first chapter of Genesis is extremely puzzling.  Many possible interpretations are offered but most theologians are sure that no one can know exactly which interpretation is the correct one.  These scholarly men and women recognize all the hidden nuances of the story in Genesis.  Such an impressive group of  Bible-believing Christian thinkers have discovered many possible ways of interpreting the passage; ways that have remained hidden from the common, less-academic Christian and Jew for millennia and have only recently come to light through diligent study of all kinds of secular scientific theories. Instead of making the mistake of simply taking Genesis one at face value, these scholars have come to understand what has eluded the general Bible reader for thousands of years, i.e. God didn't create the entire universe in six, literal, twenty-four hour days appr...

I had good intentions.  For various reasons I was delayed in blogging and didn't get further in the book than chapter 3, which I hope to comment on today.  Working my way through Asimov's book was like digging through a garbage dump looking for something useful.  I found that the whole thing stunk and what little I finally did pull out of his worthless writings made the effort seem wasted.  I was already contemplating not finishing what I boldly set out to do, i.e. comment on all thirteen chapters, when I realized that the book was overdue at the library.  I returned the book today and am using this as an excuse to not finish my series. With that said I will comment on what little I found in chapter 3. A little chronological background of the creation account of Day 6 in Genesis chapter two will help us understand my comments later in this post.  First of all, God made Adam and placed him in Eden.  God then told him not to eat from the tree of the kn...

In my last post I attempted to show how Asimov, although an atheist, understood that the Biblical text of Genesis chapter one clearly teaches a young earth and six, literal, 24-hour days.  I introduced the fact that Asimov believed the J.E.P.D. theory that denies that Moses wrote Genesis.  According to this fraudulent theory, multiple hypothetical writers and editors took multiple hypothetical accounts of origins and combined them into what we know as Genesis and the other books of the Pentateuch.  Asimov thought that the writer of the P document gave us Genesis 1:1-2:4a, and the rest of Genesis two was written by the author of the J document.  I won't waste time wading through all of the useless speculations and groundless proclamations that Asimov presents in chapter two of his book.  My treatment of this chapter will be to present just a few observations. In explaining Genesis 2:17, where God prohibits eating from the tree of knowledge, he says this: "Eat...

Rather than write an in-depth review of each chapter in Asimov's book, I will attempt to give examples of his views.  I hope that these examples will explain the following:  his blind faith in evolutionism, his literal interpretation of Scripture, and how his views compare/contrast with those of progressive creationists. Asimov begins chapter one by proclaiming that Moses didn't write Genesis or any of the other books of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible).  Instead, he believes that the first five books are "a carefully edited compilation of material from a number of sources."[1]  On what authority does he make such a bold assertion?  He freely admits that his authorities are "modern scholars" whose theories (the J.E.P.D. document theory) were non-existent before the nineteenth century.[2]  Up until then Moses was considered the uncontested author of the Pentateuch.  In the 1800's some men theorized that the Pentateuch, instead of bei...

With this post I am starting a series of articles about the book In the Beginning  by Isaac Asimov. Asimov was a well known science fiction writer.  In addition to science fiction, he also wrote over 200 books of both fiction and non-fiction and edited hundreds more.  He was president of the American Humanist Association, a college professor, and a self-proclaimed atheist.  The book has eleven chapters, an introduction, and an appendix.  It is my intention at this point to discuss each part of the book, making for a 13-part series. photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com I hope to accomplish several things by reviewing Asimov's book.  First, I expect that we will discover that Asimov, though an atheist, was in reality a person of blind faith.  His religion was secular humanism. Therefore he viewed the world through the belief system that presupposed that there is no God.  Secondly, I think we will find that Asimov had a wrong view of science, c...

Job asked, " ...how can a person be justified before God? " Job 9:2 (HCSB) .  Could there be any question of greater importance?  I'm a champion at justifying myself by comparing myself to others.  How many times have I said, "I'm not perfect but at least I don't act like so-and-so!"  But God doesn't compare my righteousness with that of others, He compares it to His own.  The Bible says that it is God to whom I must one day give an account.   Hebrews 4:13   So the question is not "Am I more righteous than my neighbor?" but rather "How can I be righteous enough for God?" The Bible clearly says that I am a sinner and in need of righteousness.   Rom. 3:23   Rom. 3:10   Furthermore, God is holy and has no fellowship with sinners.  The Bible describes this holiness as being like light and sin being like darkness. Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light,   and there is absolutely no d...

photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com "All doctrine is practical, and all practice must be based on sound doctrine. Doctrine that is not practical is not healthy doctrine, and practice that is not doctrinal is not rightly based." -- Charles Ryrie  (in Balancing the Christian Life ) It seems that in a lot of churches today doctrine is a dirty word.  I have often heard the misguided statement that doctrine isn't practical.  People label doctrine as boring or irrelevant to their daily lives. The fact is that doctrine is vital to the Christian life.  The above quote by Ryrie reinforces my view that doctrine is practical.   Dr. Albert Mohler has written a great article along these same lines.  You can find it here:   http://www.albertmohler.com/2004/07/02/why-doctrine-matters-2/  .

Today I have posted a list of some of my favorite books.  I hope you find them as profitable as I have. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners by John Bunyan This is John Bunyan's autobiography.  It's the story of Bunyan's salvation and his struggle with assurance.  It takes some effort to read through it because of the antiquated English but the book's message makes it well worth the effort. The Lie: Evolution  by Ken Ham For a solid example of correct biblical thinking regarding origins it is hard to beat this book.   Ham has really gained my respect over the last few years that I have been exposed to his ministry (see the link I provided to Answers in Genesis on the side of this page).  I highly recommend this book. Full Assurance  by H. A. Ironside Ironside is one of my favorite authors.  In this little book he builds the case for the eternal security of the believer.  The book is written in an easy-to-read manner and i...

This is my first post as a blogger.  It is my plan to use this blog to discuss God, the gospel, the Bible, doctrine, books, etc.  I am a believer in Jesus Christ.  My hope for forgiveness of my sin and a right relationship with God is in Jesus and His substitutionary death for me.  I am firmly convinced that the Bible is completely inspired by God... it is His word to man without error in the original manuscripts and completely true in every area.  As such the Bible is God's authoritative rule and guide for my life.  More to come as I get a better grip on how to do this blogging thing.