Happy 117th Birthday to Cornelius Van Til.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Monday, April 30, 2012
Two Kingdom Theology and Neocalvinism
Last Sunday at Church we had a lesson on Two Kingdom Theology. Two Kingdom Theology stresses the separation of the sacred and the secular. This may be an oversimplification for sure, but this paints it in broad enough strokes that I think everyone (or at least everyone reading my blog) can understand and think through. I also do not claim to be an expert on 2K Theology and I am open to the possibility that I could be misrepresenting 2K Theology in this post. 2K Theology affirms with the Neocalvinist that Christ is Lord over both the sacred and the secular but deny the redeeming aspect of that which is in the secular. It seems as though the primary concern for the Christian is the after life and not the now since the her and now will pass away. I don't disagree with the fact of this life will pass, however this type of thinking sets up a "too heavenly minded to be of any earthly good" mentality.
Jeremiah 29 talks about instructions to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jeremiah 29:5-8)." What does this passage mean for us? Well, since we don't know when the return of Christ will take place, the take away is that given that we (Christians) are here we are to seek the "success" of the city and in its success you'll find your success. If we are to only be focused on the heavenly then we should not be concerned about this life or its success.
Another thought along the same lines is Matthew 25:31-40 (I'll leave the reader to look up the passage) of these things that the LORD speaks of those on his right, not one of the items mentioned his about the heavenly but earthly needs now. Am I trying to build my theology based off a few verses? Hardly, but I think this illustrates my point that Christians are to be concerned with the here and not and not just getting peoples ticket punched to heaven.
A misconception that maybe at the heart of this is that the neocalvinist holds to a concept of Sphere Sovereignty and the distinguishing between the Church as an institution and the Church as a living organism. In the Sphere of the Church, items such as preaching of the word, the administration of the Sacraments are the leading functions. The Church as a living organism is individual Christians living out their Christianity in the other Spheres (The Individual, Church, the Family, the State, etc). Another misconception is the idea of redeeming these areas. Redeem in the sense of salvation of the individual believer I don't think for the neocalvinist is what is in view. While there is still a remnant of sin left in man, things in the realm of the "secular" will always have the taint of sin. What is in view is more of a use the gifts and talents that you have been endowed with to make society and culture better. For example, if you are an artist, you are to make art, not just make "Christian" art. If you are a mathematician, you are to perform your task to advance the science for all, not just for the Christian.
I don't think that the 2K Theology and the Neocalvinist are too far apart. I think the 2K Theology is more reactionary to the Emergent Church who are calling into question both the secular and sacred. The Emergent Church and the Neocalvinists do have some commonalities but there are a lot of differences, but I will save that for another post.
Jeremiah 29 talks about instructions to the Israelites in exile in Babylon. "Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jeremiah 29:5-8)." What does this passage mean for us? Well, since we don't know when the return of Christ will take place, the take away is that given that we (Christians) are here we are to seek the "success" of the city and in its success you'll find your success. If we are to only be focused on the heavenly then we should not be concerned about this life or its success.
Another thought along the same lines is Matthew 25:31-40 (I'll leave the reader to look up the passage) of these things that the LORD speaks of those on his right, not one of the items mentioned his about the heavenly but earthly needs now. Am I trying to build my theology based off a few verses? Hardly, but I think this illustrates my point that Christians are to be concerned with the here and not and not just getting peoples ticket punched to heaven.
A misconception that maybe at the heart of this is that the neocalvinist holds to a concept of Sphere Sovereignty and the distinguishing between the Church as an institution and the Church as a living organism. In the Sphere of the Church, items such as preaching of the word, the administration of the Sacraments are the leading functions. The Church as a living organism is individual Christians living out their Christianity in the other Spheres (The Individual, Church, the Family, the State, etc). Another misconception is the idea of redeeming these areas. Redeem in the sense of salvation of the individual believer I don't think for the neocalvinist is what is in view. While there is still a remnant of sin left in man, things in the realm of the "secular" will always have the taint of sin. What is in view is more of a use the gifts and talents that you have been endowed with to make society and culture better. For example, if you are an artist, you are to make art, not just make "Christian" art. If you are a mathematician, you are to perform your task to advance the science for all, not just for the Christian.
I don't think that the 2K Theology and the Neocalvinist are too far apart. I think the 2K Theology is more reactionary to the Emergent Church who are calling into question both the secular and sacred. The Emergent Church and the Neocalvinists do have some commonalities but there are a lot of differences, but I will save that for another post.
Friday, April 06, 2012
Sunday, April 01, 2012
What is Neocalvinism?
The purpose of my blog is to workout ideas in my own thinking, I may from time to time post things to explain certain buzzwords you may see in my posts. Readers of my blog might be asking "What is Neocalvinism?" Well over at Vanguard Church there is a helpful article written on Neocalvinism. You'll find the link here. A couple of years back Time magazine published an article on the "New Calvinism." In this article, the author equated the term New Calvinism with Neo Calvinism. Once again Bob Robinson at Vanguard Church helps bring into focus the distinction between the two movements. You can find that article here.
Welcome (again, lol)
Over the past 6 years I have made various attempts at "blogging." I would be faithful at tending to my blog for a few weeks and then the business of work AND graduate school got in the way. Well, now that I am out of graduate school (finished Dec 2010) I now find I need this type of outlet and thus, starting up my blog again. It is my goal to post often enough to keep peoples interest in following while at the same time not posting just for postings sake. The postings are my own and not intended to be cited in professionally published works or works to be turned in for a grade (no matter how dazzling they may be, lol). I welcome all to post comments on my entries but be mindful of the rules posted.
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