Resolutions 1 through 21 were written by in one sitting in New Haven in 1722.
The Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (1722-1723)
Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.
Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.
Continue reading
From Greg Bahnsen’s “Van Til’s Apologetic”:
|
If the “facts” (external events or states of affairs) are completely a matter of “chance”- random and unconnected, having no rationale, no preestablished order, |
Here we see that you can not separate the facts from the interpretation of those same facts. For example if you say that the human beings came into existence by the a process of N number of random mutations, but cannot justify the predication of the those mutations since the presupposition is that they (“the mutations”) have no relationship between one mutation to another since they are all random, you have failed to demonstrate a rational conclusion to the premise that human beings came into being through evolution. Or to put it into more simplistic terms, you have assumed what you are trying to prove.
I’m a big Jonathan Edwards admirer and one of his most practical works for Christians is his Resolutions that he made a point of reading every week. In Resolution #30 he states,
“Resolved, to strive to my utmost every week to be brought higher in religion, and to a higher exercise of grace, than I was the week before..”
So how does a 21st century grow in grace every week? There are some things that I have found to help with this. Here are a few suggestions:
Read Your Bible – I know this should not even need to be said, but the necessity to read the bible not once a week, but every day. Without this the whole deck of cards crumbles. Do not neglect so great a privledge.
Pray without Ceasing – This is another important means of grace that should never be neglected, but must be diligently pursued.
Devotional Reading – One of the great awakenings (No pun intended) is that there is a plethora of orthodox Christian books made available for free. Just do some searching for some solid reformers on Google Books.
Social Media – Social Media? Yes, but a great deal of discretion should be exercised. I have found most uplifting to engage fellow Christians and typically what happens are posts of uplifting messages and links to great Christian teachers and documents.
Podcasts – Even if you do not own a smartphone or an IPod-type device, you can use your PC to listen to Christian sermons and podcasts via digital audio. With great resources such as Sermonaudio, you could listen to more sermons than Calvin preached.
Finally, I highly recommend reading Edwards resolutions at least once a week. You can also either add to them or modify them to have a more contemporary context if that helps.
Ran across The Works of President Edwards in Four Volumes and decided to make a Kindle version available.
The Genius of Puritanism by Peter Lewis
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Thought this was an excellent summary of Puritan thought and how necessary it is for the church never to forget the tokens of grace that they have left for us. I particularly enjoyed the focus on Christian depression and the remedies that were provided. The author also had a pretty good balance of quotes from a variety of Puritan sources.
 |
“But to engage in philosophical discussion does not mean that we begin without scripture. |
The starting point for the Christian worldview is always the scriptures, but if you listen to Christians attempting to defend the Christian faith, they seldom start with the Scriptures. Instead they feel it is necessary to “put themselves in the mind of the unbeliever” in order to establish a “common ground” to have sound discourse with them. When this approach is utilized the battle is over.
Why would the battle be over with defending the Christian faith with this approach? The moment the Christian concedes(Even just for the sake of argument) they have already agreed that there is a possibility that God and the Bible may not be true. The Scriptures never grant the Christian such liberty. Let’s look at the verse below and see if we can apply it to our example above:
(ESV) John 8:24: “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
Jesus was speaking to the Jewish religious leaders and you say he was engaged in an apologetic for the faith. He does not once concede and say, “OK, let’s just for sake of the argument I”m not who I say I am, namely the Son of God, who takes away the sins of the world…?” No, this is never once entertained, but the unbelieving leaders are forced to either accept His testimony and therefore to believe that he is the promised Messiah or they will perish in their sins. There is zero room for neutrality. And this is the point; to concede to the unbelievers position is to believe that God is neutral and we not from the Scriptures that this is not the cause. The Lords judgements are binary; we are either covenant keepers or covenant breakers. Saints or reprobates.
So this is why the presuppositional method of apologetics is the most faithful defense of the Christian faith to the scriptures. We have committed our way to the King of Kings and as Christ said in Matthew 12:30, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
The Doctrine Of Repentance by Thomas Watson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As is the case with most of Thomas Watson’s books, the exegesis of scripture is superb and the practical advise that he offers is timeless. This book really hits home by expounding that for the Christian repentance is a continual process and is part of the sanctification process that God uses to conform us to the image of His Son.
Always Ready: Directions for Defending the Faith by Greg L. Bahnsen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a most excellent book as to how the Christian should be ready to defend the faith and I think it’s the only way to expose the “intellectual schizophrenia” that is within every non-Christian and that is at the core of their world view, which is a network of their presuppositions. The whole problem with an evidence based apologetic is that there is always room for a probability that it may not be true, which God never grants us as an option in scripture.
Dr. John MacArthur articulates the fundamental problem with the vulgarity of Mark Driscoll’s approach to preaching. I have listened to some of Driscoll’s sermons and everytime I do, I end up wanting to vomit his repugnant language to Mars.
ESV: Titus 2:8. “and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.”
Just ran across this from the Crosstalk Blog and had to re-read the article a couple of times. You can also read it here. It’s great they want to promote abstinence, but what happened to the great commission as stated in Matthew 28:18-20:
“And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see anything in the text about promoting morality without first promoting the lawgiver of that morality. The priority in the time of Christ is the same it should be now; preach Christ crucified and then the Holy Spirits work of redemption will enable the redeemed to walk holy before the Lord and not just for population control.