Comment From an “Un-Illumined” Enlightenment Thinker

I came across an interesting quote in my reading this week. I've recently been studying on the "uniqueness of the Bible."

"The gospel has the marks of truth so great, so striking, so perfectly inimitable, that the inventor of it would be more astonishing than the hero."

What was so intriguing to me about this quote wasn't the high praise of uniqueness and "supernaturallty" that it gives scripture, but who it was that made this comment on the Scripture.

The words above are from Jean-Jacques Rousseau whose enlightenment philosophy helped "pave the way for humanistic liberalism."

While there were just as many, if not more, belligerent antagonists of the Bible throughout history as there are today (the Roman Emperor Diocletian sought to destroy ever copy of the bible in his time by burning every copy he could get his hands on) Rousseau's words make me wonder how someone could turn strictly to reason (enlightenment philosophy) yet see the bible as Rousseau did and make the decisions (philosophy and life) that he did.

It's not that reason is bad. Reason is great…Theology is, as Anselm put it: "Faith seeking understanding…" Yet, with a high view of scripture, where should our reasonings take us?

One of my favorite scripture verses is Isaiah 1.18

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool."

 

How can we recapture our "enlightend" culture today and help them to see the bible as Rousseau saw it, yet not leading them, obviously, down the path Rousseau followed?

The Simpsons: Evolution Intro

This video is so convincing! I'm a believer in evolution now! (sarcasm...) It is pretty funny though...Enjoy!

J.I. Packer on the ESV

J.I. Packer considers his work on the English Standard Version as possibly "the most important thing he has ever done for the kingdom." That's high atop an amazing list of kingdom accomplishments like Knowing God. Another compelling reason to trade in your NIV for a new ESV!

From the ESV Blog:

August 10th, 2007

Here's a brief audio clip (460KB MP3) of what J. I. Packer said about the ESV at a banquet hosted by Crossway at the International Christian Retail Show in 2006. A transcript:

I was privileged to act as General Editor of the English Standard Version, and now that I look back on what we did in producing that version, I find myself suspecting very strongly that this was the most important thing that I have ever done for the Kingdom, and that the product of our labors is perhaps the biggest milestone in Bible translation in certainly this last 50 years, and perhaps more. Perhaps I ought to be saying 100 years—I think I should, actually—because it was almost 100 years ago that the paraphrase renderings of the Bible began to present themselves, as they did, as the version that you ought to read if you want to understand the Word of God. I think that, while in the short term it was not false entirely, did set the world of Bible translation and distribution off on what long-term was going to prove a false trail.

R.C. Sproul -- Holiness and Justice Part 1

Had a friend send me this over the weekend. Great Stuff! The sound isn't synced very well but don't let that distract you from this amazing messege.

R.C. Sproul -- Holiness and Justice Part 2

Part Two...