Steve,
[quote:e87d854bf3]
Luke 10:21. 'In that hour Jesus rejoiced in Spirit and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight."' I'm sorry to say that your post reveals everything that is wrong with this website and discussion board. You show me a doctrine that can only be understood by reading 500 pages of human authors and I'll show you an unbiblical doctrine. There is far too much pride of intellect, and pride of learning, for, 'Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies' (1Cor 8:1). [/quote:e87d854bf3]
Steve, don't forget, I was a Reformed Baptist (and my articles that were posted back then represent the same narrow world you are purporting now, as do all baptists) - that is how a Puritan's Mind STARTED for 2 years. But then, incredibly by grace, God rescued me from my schismatic ideas. I was groomed with the same Reformed Baptist teaching that ministers out of Albert Martin's Ministerial Academy were groomed with. Unfortuately I was confused by the same lectures by listening by tape.
You need to think through your own posts a little more. Let me remind you of what you just said:
You quoted the [b:e87d854bf3]Confession.[/b:e87d854bf3] I simply pointed out that you are misunderstanding the [b:e87d854bf3]Confession.[/b:e87d854bf3] If you want to understand the Confession, then read it all and reconcile it all. Its not contradictory. They did a very good job in reconciling various ideas through the whole thing. It could be more clear (no doubt) but clarity is different than contradictory - its not contradicting in one place what it said in the other.
How do you reconcile the Larger Catechism with the Sum of Saving Knowledge?
uzzled: Baptistically you will have to remain confused (which is what I expect your answers will entail). Covenant Theologians are not confused by the Confession, nor do they need to quote the London Confession to baptists to demonstrate that baptists are thinking wrong. Why in the world did you quote the Confession if you are not a "Presbyterian and Covenant Theologian??"
In other words, when you quote the WLC
Q31: 'With whom was the covenant of grace made?'
A. 'The Covenant of Grace was made with Christ as the second Adam and in Him with all the elect as His seed.'
...and you say "I believe that!!!!!!!" "That's true!!!!!" "Why don't you Presbyterians believe your own confession!!!!!"
YOU ARE MISUNDERSTAND MY CONFESSION. Which is why I asked you to reconcile other parts of the confession with that statement. YOU DO NOT believe this question in the same way the Assembly wrote it and reconciles it with the rest of the Confession. That was my point, which you missed. You may want to reconcile this by reading the minutes of the Assembly if you have not already done so. They are very helpful in understanding what THEY meant by what THEY wrote.
As I said, they understood what they said. You don't understand what they said from what you have posted.
For instance, in case you forgot what you posted:
[quote:e87d854bf3]Not in the Covenant of Grace, you can't!
WCF Larger Catechism Q31: 'With whom was the covenant of grace made?'
A. 'The Covenant of Grace was made with Christ as the second Adam and in Him with all the elect as His seed.' [/quote:e87d854bf3]
Actually, yes, in the Covenant of Grace we can (if we understand it rightly), and the Sum of Saving Knowledge explains this very succinctly. You should reread it carefully.
[quote:e87d854bf3]This is the difference between the Old and New Covenants. All Israel was in the Old Covenant (Rom 9:3-4), and the Covenants of promise (Noahic, Abrahamic, Davidic: cf. Eph 2:12) were announced to them; but only a remnant were in the New Covenant which is the Covenant of Grace (Isaiah 1:9; Rom 11:5). This is all made very clear in Jer 31:31ff.[/quote:e87d854bf3]
You quoted them without understanding what they meant. That is why I ASKED you to reconcile the WLC with the Sum of Saving Knowledge. How do you reconcile them? How do you reconcile the WLC with itself in different questions about infants? And the sum of Saving Knowledge on the Covenant of Redemption?
By your remark about Bunyan, you seem to be also missing ideas around Sola Scriptura - you seem to be purporting [b:e87d854bf3]Solo Scriptura.[/b:e87d854bf3] "Me and my bible!" There is a great difference, and there are a couple of threads that dealt with that. You should check them out if you have the time.
I would attribute Bunyan's lack of theological prowess in many areas to his [b:e87d854bf3]only[/b:e87d854bf3] owning two books, and have little education in matters of Systematic Theology. But God is sovereign, and Bunyan fulfilled his purpose as being one of the great preachers of his day with only two books, though he made many blunders. Maybe if he had the gracious ability to own more, or would have had more education (or rather "some" education) he would not have made the blunders he did, both in his allegorical ideas and systematic ideas. That does not mean, though, that on the basics (salvation, deity of Christ, Trinity) he could not be a very passionate preacher. He was, and even Owen applauded him.
Do you have Keith Mathison's book, "The Shape of Sola Scriptura?" In all honesty, at least just for information to be sure you don't mix up foundational concepts on the [i:e87d854bf3]regula fide[/i:e87d854bf3], you should pick it up. Its not a hard read, but it introduces some concepts back into the way the church understood tradition and Scripture (the early church as well), and what "tradition" actually means. It would be worth reading. I think it is, and will be, Mathison's best book - he did a good job on it. It would help.
[quote:e87d854bf3]
You show me a doctrine that can [b:e87d854bf3]only[/b:e87d854bf3] be understood by reading 500 pages of human authors and I'll show you an unbiblical doctrine.
[/quote:e87d854bf3]
"Where did I say "only"?
Nonsense. Are you really going to say that the church has been wrong about the Covenant of Grace for 1650 years until the Baptist Church came around and straightened us all out? I don't think so.
You show me an understanding of a biblical doctrine that has existed for less than 400 years, and I'll show you a system riddled with error.
[quote:e87d854bf3]
There is far too much pride of intellect, and pride of learning, for, 'Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies'
[/quote:e87d854bf3]
Are you advocati9ng some kind of anti-intellectualism?
Knowledge for the sake of knowledge does puff up. Knowledge for the sake of growing closer to Christ and understand His word is COMMANDED by God, not to be despised.
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
Ephesians 3:4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ),
Ephesians 4:13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;
Philippians 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,
Philippians 3:8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
Colossians 1:10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,
1 Timothy 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
What the problem is - is this -
2 Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth......
may we have more who rightly divide the Word of God instead of confound it.
[Edited on 6-13-2004 by webmaster]