News from the Pew

First of all, slow posting this week, and probably slow posting for the month of April. I have a 10-13 page sermon due for systematic theology on the 22nd, and a 20-page paper on Andrew Fuller and Assurance of Salvation due on the 28th. Of course, I've actually started writing neither of them, so I have a bit of work to do. At least I've done the research on these already.

Second, there is a move coming. I mentioned before that I was hoping to get a mu.nu blog -- I got it! So I will be moving there in the near future. I'll let everyone know the details when it happens -- including the new address AND RSS feed URI.

AND sometime this weekend, or maybe next week, my wife will be blogging for me. She said she had something, and was going to post on Friday, but she didn't, so I'm hoping she'll do it this week sometime. From what she told me, it sounds like a pretty good post.

Why I Read and Use the ESV

{Tip o' the hat to Adrian Warnock}

This article/essay/message from John Piper sums up my feelings pretty well. I still often use the King James or New King James when preaching, simply because that is what most, if not all, of the people I am speaking to are using. In my personal study, I use the ESV almost exclusively -- I also will use the NASB and my MacArthur NKJV Study Bible, but the ESV is my main resource when I'm studying. If I was the pastor of a church, the pew Bibles would be ESV.

I'm not anti-NIV. I'm not anti-KJV (though I've been accused of hating the KJV by some on the Fundamentalist Forums. I understand enough of the history of the English translations of the Bible to know that the ESV is simply part of the entire process -- a process that the KJV actually started. It's a process of discovery -- of learning new things about the ancient languages, finding texts and evaluating their reliability, and then using this new knowledge to make the Scriptures clearer to Christians.

As I said, I'm not anti-NIV, but it's never been my favorite translation. It's not a totally dynamic equivalence translation -- I'd put it at about a 5 on a 10-point scale (1 is total dynamic equivalence, 10 is total literal translation). {Incidentally, it's hard to find a site that gives a decent definition of DE. A LOT of what I found when trying to find that link were places that think Gail Ripplinger is a good Bible scholar!} A 1 would be translations like The Message, while a 10 would be an intralinear Bible.

My Bible preferences would fall between an 8 and 9. I want something readable, but something that is faithful to the original wording and intent. Takes more study effort with that kind of Bible, since they often don't interpret idioms for you -- you have to do that yourself. But it's worth it.

I also agree with Piper that some paraphrasing or interpreting will always be necessary in translating the Bible. My goal is to find the translation that does this as little as possible, and I think the ESV does that well.

News from the Pew

Ok, maybe not news. Maybe more like shameless self promotion, but titling a post "Shameless Self Promotion from the Pew" just doesn't have the same ring to it, you know?

I've set up a "bookstore" at Lulu.com, where you will be able to get PDF copies of whatever papers I've written for school for free. Why would you want them? I don't know, but they're free, so you won't be throwing any money away.

The only thing I have up there right now is my last Systematic II paper, covering creatio ex nihilo, or creation out of nothing. I got an A on it, so the grader thought it was a good paper -- I wasn't too sure when I finished it, but the grader is a doctoral student, so I assume he's a better judge than I am. You can get it in PDF format for free, or if you REALLY want to spend money, you can buy it in booklet form for $4.85. I don't make any money off it at all, and neither does Lulu -- they only make a profit off books that the author makes a profit on.

The main reason I'm doing this is that I had told some people before that I'd post some of my papers, and this is an easy way of doing it -- especially since I really don't have server space right now. Lulu's free, and it's a pretty good way of getting your writing out to people. AND it's easy to get started.

So go download the thing, and let me know what you think.

Unless you think it stinks -- then I'd rather not know (lol).

On Death and Dying

What a pleasant topic, huh? But with recent events, it has been on my mind a bit lately.

Contrast the two recent deaths for a moment. Terri Shiavo, for years on death's door. She's suffered, she's been through therapy and been withdrawn from therapy. What did she want? Who really knows -- from what I saw, it didn't really matter. It was about what everyone else wanted, simply because she didn't really make her wishes known to enough people, and in an official way.

John Paul II, the Pope. Leader of millions (billions?) of Catholics around the world. His health has been fading for the past few years, and some people had expected him to step down and retire. He wouldn't. He wanted to spend his last years doing what God called him to do -- what his heart's desire was.

That's all any of us really want, isn't it? In the words of a Steve Taylor song, it's better off to burn out than to melt away. I think ultimately people were upset about Terri's death because she, like so many of us, didn't get to burn out. She lived her last years in agony, and never had the opportunity to do things that she probably wanted to do. We cling to hope.

Christians don't fear death. We aren't all that eager for it, either, but we don't fear it. Death not the end; it's the end of the beginning. But this life is sacred. It is a gift from God to us, and we need to make the most of it. We need to be busy.

We cling to life because we see how much more we need to do. We cling to life because we want to accomplish more -- whether it's for God, in the case of Christians, or for ourselves. We celebrate the life of the Pope because he burned out -- he was active until he absolutely couldn't be active any more, and then he died. He are angered at the death of Terri Shiavo because we feel that she was robbed of something -- we want her life to have been more, because we want that for ourselves. We want our lives to have mattered.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
(Heb 9:27-28 ESV)

We all die. In the end, it's not how we die that matters, but how we lived -- and Who we lived for.

My New Favorite Site

Ok, I was looking through my referals and found that someone got here through a search for Chili Beef Ramen. Intrigued, I checked it out to see what other Ramen goodness I could find.

I struck Ramen gold. The Official Ramen Homepage has recipes and everything -- even dessert Ramen!! Go there and check it out -- you'll be glad you did.

Now I have to pick something out for lunch ...

A Call for Help

Not for me, this time!

Mind and Media is looking for some bloggers who want to read and write about what they read.

It's really a great gig -- closest thing many of us will ever come to getting paid to blog. You volunteer to read a book, and blog about it. In exchange, you get a free book -- and rumor has it there may be other incentives down the road.

Crossway is using M&M, as is Baker, so you won't be getting self-published books from people you've never heard of. Check out the Mind and Media site to see what books are available.

If you're interested, head here and take the survey -- and tell them I sent you!

I got my first book today (as you can see over on the left side of the page), and I'll be doing a blog entry after each chapter, and one when I'm finished giving my overall impression of the book. I'm looking forward to this one!

Modern Man and Galatians

Cruising though the pages of The Sacred Sandwich (which has been on the left-side links for a while now), I ran across this article in their archives.

It's funny, but aren't we really like that? Don over at Locusts and Wild Honey recently critiqued one of Joel Osteen's sermons. I won't rehash what he said (though I agree with him) -- go there and read if you want the straight story. Read the comments, too, and compare them with the satire at The Sacred Sandwich.

It's frightening when real life so closely mirrors satire. I think that's why satire is so important. And that's why I like satire.

"Christian" Extremist?

Double Toothpicks has a MUST READ post about Eric Rudolph.

Eric Rudoplh is being billed as a "fundamentalist Christian." That is a lie, plain and simple. I cannot believe that the MSM would do such little research that they wouldn't know the difference between a fundamentalist Christian and a member of the Christian Identity movement. It seems to me that the information is readilly available, and the differences are obvious. Christian Identity denies that Christ died for "whosoever believes on Him" and is a racist organization. They may agree with conservative Christians on the abortion issue, but they have been roundly (and rather vocally) condemned by all evangelicals as a heretical sect.

I'm not usually this paranoid, but it seems to me that "the press" is intentionally downplaying the fact that CI is anathema to orthodox Christians, and emphasizing the "Christian" part of the name. Trust me -- Christian Identity has no real Christian identity.

The 'View From the Pew' Get a Clue Award

I now have two awards -- the Pewie for Conspicuous Intolerant Tolerance (and I've changed the name of that one at least twice!), which I've awarded twice now, and the new VftP Get a Clue Award for conspicuous misuse of a religious term.

The very first Clewie goes to Byron Williams at workingforchange.com. Byron calls himself a fundamentalist Christian who "trusts women to make the right choices with their bodies, supports marriage equality and opposes the death penalty." He then procedes to illustrate exactly how little he know about the history of the term fundamentalist in its Christian context.

The term fundamentalist was coined in reaction to increasingly liberal theology which was infecting mainline denominations in the early 20th century. There is a very clearly stated creed (though many fundamentalists would cringe at that term) -- a statement of beliefs that everyone who is a fundamentalist Christian would agree with.

From the preface of this work:

In 1909 God moved two Christian laymen to set aside a large sum of money for issuing twelve volumes that would set forth the fundamentals of the Christian faith, and which were to be sent free to ministers of the gospel, missionaries, Sunday School superintendents, and others engaged in aggressive Christian work throughout the English speaking world. A committee of men who were known to be sound in the faith was chosen to have oversight of the publication of these volumes. Rev. Dr. A.C. Dixon was the first Executive Secretary of the Committee, and upon his departure for England Rev. Dr. Louis Meyer was appointed to take his place. Upon the death of Dr. Meyer the work of the Executive Secretary devolved upon me. We were able to bring out these twelve volumes according to the original plan. Some of the volumes were sent to 300,000 ministers and missionaries and other workers in different parts of the world.

Fundamentalism is about doctrinal purity, and consistency with "the faith once delivered to the saints." Admittedly, many modern "fundamentalists" are a far cry from the original writers of the books, and many have strayed from the fundamentals as originally stated. And, also admittedly, modern fundamentalists (and not a few evangelicals) have been a bit light in showing the love of Christ to the world. And far too many are focusing their attention on the political process to the exclusion of evangelism.

But fundamentalism, and evangelicalism for that matter, is far more than "to be living examples of a strict adherence to love, justice, hope and opportunity, thereby authentically being fundamentalist Christians in word and deed." If that is fundamentalism, then there was no difference between the original fundamentalists and the liberals that they fought against. Any student of history will tell you that that is certainly not the case.

Habemus Papem

The white smoke has been sent through the chimney at the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinal Ratzinger is the new Pope. Pope Benedict XVI.

Once the archbishop of Munich and for many years prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Ratzinger, 77, is one of the most powerful men in the Vatican and is widely acknowledged as a leading theologian. (from CNN.com)

And of course, fans of Saint Malachy will be thrilled at his choice of name, since the prophecy states that his motto (actually the phrase that suits him) is Gloria olivae, and the olive is the traditional symbol of the Benedictine monks. Most people figured that the new Pope would be a Benedictine. Right now, I'm not sure what order Ratzinger is, but the name choice makes it a moot point, especially as far as the prophecy fans are concerned.

Addition to the 'Roll

I've added the ESV blog to the blogroll. Unfortunately, I did it too late to get the free Bible. :(
Oh, well. It's still a worthwhile blog, and an outstanding translation. Maybe they'll have a contest to get one of the Study Bibles when they come out.

Coming Soon!!!

I WILL be occupying this space -- promise!

It's the end of the semester at school, and I have a LOT of work to do in the next two weeks. AND I'm setting up a new template to celebrate my new home. I expect to be all moved in by mid-May.

Prayer Request

On top of everything else I have going on this week (paper, work, etc.), and everything I had going on last week (paper, work, etc.) I am preaching tomorrow morning. I appreciate everyone's prayers tomorrow as I preach on Genesis 3, and the results of the Fall.

It's been interesting -- each class I've had this week had something to contribute to the subject. Especially the discussion of penal substitutionary atonement we started in Systematic Theology yesterday. I ended up adding an extra point on my outline after that class.

BTW, I've sort of moved in at the new blog. I goofed up when I requested the URL, and right now it's http://piewview.mu.nu. I asked if I could change it, but I don't know if it's too late or not. I've got the bare bones template set up -- still have to add some color, my blogrolls, etc. But I'll be able to do a lot after May 6 -- when finals are over. I should be all moved in by mid-May. I'll let everyone know about the new URL and the RSS feed address -- though if you've subscribed to the Feedburner feed, that should stay the same.

{EDIT -- The URL has been fixed. The Future Home of View from the Pew}

New Post

Still working on the new template. I'll probably go ahead and move in here, and stop posting at the BlogSpot blog.