I revisited a citation from Machen’s classic, Christianity and Liberalism.  You may be aware that J. Gresham Machen was a professor at Princeton during the Fundamentalist-Modernist controversy. Though he was hesitant to identify himself with much of fundamentalism, he had a robust mind with a vigorous desire for truth. He writes in his book Christianity and Liberalism, originally published in 1923, that a Christianity that denies miracles is not authentic Christianity. Regarding the liberal dogma that miracles should be rejected, among them the Virgin birth of Christ and His resurrection, Machen responds,

The issue does not concern individual miracles, even so important a miracle as the Virgin birth. It really concerns all miracles. And the question concerning all miracles is simply the question of the acceptance or rejection of the Saviour that the New Testament presents. Reject the miracles and you have in Jesus the fairest flower of humanity who made such an impression upon His followers that after His death they could not believe that He had perished but experienced hallucinations in which they thought they saw Him risen from the dead; accept the miracles, and you have a Saviour who came voluntarily into this world for our salvation, suffered for our sins upon the Cross, rose again from the dead by the power of God, and ever lives to make intercession for us. The difference between those two views is the difference between two totally diverse religions. It is high time that this issue should be faced; it is high time that the misleading use of traditional phrases should be abandoned and men should speak their full mind. Shall we accept the Jesus of the New Testament as our Saviour, or shall we reject Him with the liberal church” (J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, 109, emphasis added).

Though his work is nearly 90 years old, it remains as true today as when he wrote it.

Joel Olsteen had a short interview with Chris Cuomo from Good Morning America.  You can watch the video here  Cuomo asks some decent questions.  Olsteen’s new book, It’s Your Time, was the subject of the interview.  Among the statements Olsteen makes is that we need to love ourselves before we can love our neighbor.  Sad.

You’ve heard of the “Jonathan Edwards is my homeboy” tee.

Some have probably also heard of the “Kevin Bauder is my homeboy” t-shirt

Very soon I will be proudly wearing a “C.H. Spurgeon is my homeboy” shirt (see below).  I know that I’m way behind on this, but who can resist?

The homeboy t-shirt line has endless possibilities.  I’m considering an Edward Hiscox one next . . .

Just watch and listen.  While people are giving their lives to translate Bibles, we have men like this . . .

To those who view this and are not Christians . . . this is not representative of the whole. 

To those who view this and are Christians . . . distance yourself as far as possible from men and ministries like this.

A brief article in Discover(September 2009) caught my attention.  “Seven Deadly Sins” is a piece written by Kathleen McGowan.* In the article she takes seven sins (lust, gluttony, sloth, pride, greed, envy, and wrath) and provides neuroimaging of brain activity when people engage in these iniquities.  Her findings are compiled from multiple studies.  Here is a summary of what she provides under each morally morose activity.    

Lust.  “The most notable thing about lust is that it sets nearly the whole brain buzzing.”  Many men will say, I look but don’t touch.  Well, “watching erotic stimuli” “stimulates the reward processing ventral striatum.”  In other words, “just” looking at someone with lust provides a physical “reward.” 

Biblical analysis: Matthew 5:28 “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (ESV).

Gluttony.  Scientists observed that “obesity and drug addiction alter the same brain circuits.”  “In their studies, Wang and Volkow found that both drug addicts and obese people are usually less sensitive to dopamine’s rewarding effects.  Being relatively numb to the pleasure and motivation signal may make them more likely to chase after a stronger thrill: more food or a bump of cocaine.”

Biblical analysis: Philippians 3:19, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (ESV).

Sloth.  Sloth is viewed as a symptom of a disorder.  “Today, paralyzing lassitude is often seen as a symptom of a disease rather than of turpitude.  Apathy is a classic sign of fronto-temporal dementia.”  She adds, “Sadness and listlessness are also marks of major depression.”

Biblical analysis: Proverbs 26:14, “As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed” (ESV).

Pride.  “Righteous humility has traditionally been depicted as the virtue that opposes pride, but the work of Keenan and others calls that into question.  He is using TMS [transcranial magnetic stimulation~] to disrupt deliberate self-deprecating—the type of unctuous, ingratiating behavior that seems humble but is actually arrogance in disguise.”  In other words, pride and false humility are equally wretched.  The difference is that pride is overt while false humility is covert. 

Biblical analysis: James 4:6, “But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble’” (ESV).

Greed.  The research on this vice was based more on those who feel cheated.  “In the lab, researchers frequently use the ‘ultimatum game’ to test our responses to injustice.  One of two partners is given a sum of money and told that he must offer some amount of his own choosing to his partner.  If the partner rejects the offer, neither gets to keep any of the money.  On a rational basis, the receiving partner should accept any nonzero offer, since getting some money is better than getting none.  But people’s sense of violation at unfairness is so strong that they reject offers of 20 percent or less about half the time.”  What they’ve discovered is the “brain weighing an emotional response (the urge to punish the guy who cheated you) against the logical response (the appeal of the cash).” 

Biblical analysis: Proverbs 15:27, “Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live” (ESV).

Envy.  The findings on this iniquity were conducted by comparing three students: a superior student, an average student, and a loser student.  When the study volunteers read about the tremendous achievement of the superior student the brain reacts by setting off the “conflict-detecting” part of the brain.  “This same region is enlisted when feeling pain.”  This suggests that it’s a blow to our ego, emotionally painful as it were to hear of another’s success.  Conversely, the defeat of a rival brings pleasure (think of when your football team of choice defeats its archrival, especially when it’s a last second or come-from-behind win).

Biblical analysis: Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” (ESV) and Proverbs 14:30, “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot” (ESV).

Wrath.  They found that “much of the brain circuitry active during anger is very basic and very fast.”  In another study, they allowed people who had been provoked during an experiment to punish their antagonist with a blast of extremely annoying noise.  “While the subjects pondered how loud to set the volume, the doral striatum, part of the brain’s reward circuitry, lit up at the prospect of retaliation.  One of the scientists summarized this finding by observing, ‘We have this primitive brain that says “Do it! Do it!”  I’m sure this cost a lot of time and money to discover what we all know to be true—getting even feels good. 

Biblical analysis: Romans 12:19, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (ESV).

I would like to offer three observations after reading this article, as well as some resources for further reading from a Biblical perspective. 

First, McGowan assumes evolution rather than creation and thus a Creator.  This is a glaring “grid” deficiency as she processes the information, but some of her statements really (and unwittingly) point to the image of God in man.  One example, “There is no sin center in the brain, no single node of fiendishness that we might be able to shut down with drugs or electrodes.  With the advent of modern imagining techniques that peer into the brain as it functions, though, we at least gain some perspectives on our bad habits.”  Translation: sin is not a physical problem.  Another instance is when she says that certain parts of our brain form “a conscious self-regulatory system.  This network provides us with the evolutionary unprecedented ability to control our own neural processing—a feat achieved by no other creature.”  So I understand her statement to mean that science has discovered that man is a moral creature, distinct from all other living things.  Hmmmm, is there an explanation for such a phenomenon?  How about the image of God in man!

Second, McGowan says, “New research is explaining where these behaviors come from.”  I disagree.  As fascinating as these studies are, it is important to note that these studies do not provide the source of sin, rather they provide the physical effects of sinful behavior.  In other words, they are finding that certain parts of the brain “light up” when people engage in certain behavior, but the “power source” remains physiologically veiled.  This is the fundamental deficiency in scientific research that attempts to find the source of sinful behavior.  I disagree with the premise that sinful activity is sourced in the brain per se.  I do not nor could I reasonably deny that some behaviors are influenced by physical problems.    The Puritans often inquired of depressed people if they were sleeping well or eating right.  But this is not the same as conceding that immoral activity is physiologically sourced and should be treated as a medical issue rather than a spiritual issue.  Sinful actions grow out of a depraved heart.  For any radical change to occur, it must begin with a change of heart, not psychotherapy, not a pill, etc. 

Third, what about the “hairy shirt” reference?  Toward the end of the article McGowan states, “Historically moralists have not paid much heed to the findings of science, and it’s safe to say that all the brain-scans in the world will not persuade modern theologians to recalculate the wages of sin.^  But they might want to pay heed to one recent finding from modern neuroimaging: It turns out that acting virtuously does not really require a hairy shirt.  In fact, research suggests it feels pretty good.”  So if virtue is such a pleasant activity, then why are we not more virtuous?  The answer: depravity.  Moral corruption squelches virtue (Ephesians 2:1-3).  This is another unwitting allusion to the moral make up of people made in the image of a Holy God and the real, lingering effects of original and actual sin.   

Finally, here are some recommended resources to get a biblical perspective on the connection between physical and spiritual dimensions of a person.

Lloyd-Jones, Martin.  Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 1965.  Lloyd-Jones is a renowned preacher.  Before beginning pastoral ministry, he was a successful physician which allowed him to speak intelligibly to this subject.

MacArthur, John.  “Counseling and the Sinfulness of Humanity,” 98-115 in Introduction to Biblical Counseling (Dallas: Word), 1994.

Menninger, Karl.  Whatever Became of Sin? (New York: Hawthorn Books), 1973.  Written by a medical doctor, it is a dated but worthy read.  He argues that the notion of sin has disappeared in the medical and psychological communities.  As a result, personal accountability has all but vanished. 

Welch, Edward.  Blame it on the Brain (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing), 1998.  A well-respected Christian counselor writes this well-researched book.  In it he challenges the primacy of and the move toward the premise that sin is primarily rooted in physiological phenomenon.

The Journal of Biblical Counseling Spring 2000 and Winter 2000 dedicated all of the articles to the subject of depression, including articles such as “Christian Doctors on Depression” and “Medical Treatments for Depressive Symptoms.”

*McGowan, Kathleen.  “Seven Deadly Sins,” Discover (September 2009), 48-52.

~ A process in which a magnetic field applied to the scalp temporarily scrambles the signal in small areas of the brain.

^ This is a subtle critique of theologians, and anyone else, who would disagree with the idea that these neuroimages explain the source, problem of, and imply a potential “cure” for sin.

Friends,

You can find our current newsletter here.

You can see a slideshow of pictures from “New Beginnings” Sunday here.

Thank you for your financial and prayer support.  You are valuable partners in ministry.

Yesterday, October 1, 2009 Bible Baptist Church of Otsego, MN turned three years old.  May God enable us to minister fruitfully and for His glory until our Lord returns!

Here is a stanza of a hymn, “A Prayer for Christ’s Church” written by one of our members, Ryan Martin; music by James Anderson, our Associate pastor for Music and Administration which reflects what I desire to see in the years ahead. 

We ask You, Lord, Your church to build,

Your temple o’er the world to tow’r;

And thus Your promise be fulfilled:

May Your great gospel in us flow’r.

This is a citation out of Robert Murray M’Cheyne’s seventh pastoral letter to his congregation written from Edinburgh, March 18, 1839.

The only way to be kept from falling is to grow.  If you stand still, you will fall.  Read Prov. xi. 28, “The righteous shall flourish as a branch.”  Remember you are not a tree, that can stand alone; you are only “a branch” and it is only while you abide in Him, as a branch that you will flourish.  Keep clear your sense of justification; remember it is not your own natural goodness, nor your tears, nor your sanctification, that will justify you before God.  It is Christ’s sufferings and obedience alone.  Seek to be made holier every day; pray, strive, wrestle for the Spirit, to make you like God.  Be as much as you can with God.  I declare to you that I had rather be one hour with God, than a thousand with the sweetest society on earth or in heaven.  All other joys are but streams; God is the fountain: “all my springs are in Thee” (A.A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. R. M. M’Cheyne, 206).

I observed the following noteworthy pastoral exhortations from this quote:

• The exhortation to grow spiritually
• The exhortation to remain vitally connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ.
• The exhortation to always consider Christ and His cross-work.
• The exhortation to fight for sanctification, not indifferent to or lazy about it.
• The exhortation to commune with God.

This portion of his letter points the believer to the importance of the gospel and Christ for the duration of our Christian life along with the need to be earnest about our sanctification.  It’s basic but phenomenal.

Here is a gem of a statement from Spurgeon on election,

I believe the doctrine of election, because I am quite sure that if God had not chosen me I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He would have never chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love (Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, 227).

This a statement filled with humility and oozing with the sovereignty of God. 

It might even be worth putting on a t-shirt with a “Jonathan Edwards is My Homeboy” pin on it.

Frank Schaeffer is the son of Francis Schaeffer.  Francis Schaeffer authored many books including A Christian Manifesto and How Should We Then Live?.  The video is a from Frank Schaeffer’s appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, Wednesday, September 16.

Here is the one of the harshest criticisms he levels against fundamentalist Christians,

Look, a village cannot reorganize village life to suit the village idiot.  It’s as simple as that.  And we have to understand we have a village idiot in this country: it’s called fundamentalist Christianity, and until we move past these people, and let me add as a former lifelong Republican, until the Republican leadership has the guts to stand up and say it would be better not to have a Republican Party than have a party that caters to the village idiot there’s gonna be no end in sight.  The next thing they’ll do is accuse Obama of being the antichrist and then who knows what comes next?  On and on it goes.  There’s no end to this stuff.  Why?  Because this subculture has, and its fundamentalist faith, that they distrust facts per se.

I will offer two observations:

1. The sentiments expressed in this interview were distributed widely.  All the ratings problems aside, MSNBC still reaches into a significant number of homes. 
2. The sentiments expressed in this interview were received favorably.  He was preaching to the choir.  They are certainly consistent with the views of the host, Rachel Maddow, a lesbian.  Blog comments reveal that the audience received it quite well.

So the Republican party caters to fundamentalist Christianity.  Frank Schaeffer also refers to us as “looney tunes” and “dangerous.”  Dangerous on what issues?  We want to protect the most vulnerable among us, the unborn.  We desire to preserve the integrity of God’s pattern for marriage, one man and one woman.  We strive to see the aged treated and die with dignity.  We long to see justice dominate our society.  We wish to see racial harmony advanced because every person has an inherent worth, it’s called the image of God.  Dangerous?  It appears to be in Frank Schaeffer’s and Rachel Maddow’s world.