Here is my much promised series of posts on Images and the Godhead that has been promised for some time.
Introduction
I want to begin by forcing our eyes upon the truth that there is a not-so-latent Anti-Nomianism running around in most circles today in both Liberal and Evangelical worlds. The difference being that either side argues around various parts of God's Law so as to establish a defense against the enforcement of the part of God's Law that they would like to see abrogated. I could spend time now describing where this is true but that would an entirely different post. For the purpose of this post I just want to put us in the mind that the idolatry we are going to discuss has in the background the Anti-Nomian milieu of which we belong. This Anti-Nomianism is part passive ignorance and part active disobedience on the behalf of those who practice it. For instance go to your general "Reformed" pastor and talk to him about this issue. I am positive within the first 5 words will be either the word "legalism" or the term "Pharisaical" and this is primarily the problem in todays church in regards to issues of following the Law of God in the Covenant of Grace. Whenever one begins to speak about keeping the Law of God in sight of our call to righteousness (cf: Calvin's Three-fold use of the Law: to convince of sin, to restrain sin, and to provide guidelines for living the Christian life) we are told by most that any act on the understanding that looking to the judicial law at all on this issue is legalist and part of the work I am going to do on the idolatry of images is to answer this problem through the discussion.
Tomorrow we will look at the Primary Reformers thoughts and conflate them with current practice in "Reformed" churches.
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3 comments:
I agree with your introduction. We face much of this kind of "thinking" in the North American church today.
Not to mention how the mainline heirs of the Reformation have lost any sense of the idea that Scripture should govern our worship. It seems to have been replaced with "whatever our people find interesting" as the guiding principle for planning worship.
The Regulative Principle was replaced for the Vox Populi Principle. Sad.
Can't wait for the rest! See you soon...
The WCF divides the Law into 2 categories of moral and ceremonial. The moral is God's will for us as set forth in Calvin's 3 uses of the Law.
The ceremonial is to teach us about Christ. It prepared the way for Christ and its purpose was fulfilled by Jesus. Now it is useful to reflect on truths about Christ. See Hebrews chs. 9 & 10.
The Scots Confession adds a 3rd. category, civil. It also prepared the way for Christ, and was fulfilled by Christ, and is also useful to reflect on things true about Christ. See John 8.
James Quillin,
Highland Heights Presbyterian Chruch
Cordova, TN
I'll talk more about the Law in succeeding posts.
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