Revulsion towards Halloween: Morbid “Halloween” decorations and Reality

I know around Halloween there is always debate among Christians about whether or not Christians should participate.

I’m not entering the foray and pick up on the origin of Halloween, etc.  I want to focus narrowly more on how the way some people dress up and decorate for Halloween is something that celebrate the grotesque and unusual violence that alone is enough for me not wanting to do anything with it or tolerate that it’s okay for one time a year.

Let me begin by saying that my revulsion towards Halloween has nothing to do with being “sheltered.”  I think I’ve seen more dead bodies, horrible wounds and other terrible physical suffering than most, or at least most people my age, having been a Marine veteran.  Actually, I think it is actually seeing the morbid ways people get killed that drives me to find Halloween’s morbid decorations and costumes repulsive.

The question in the back of my mind is this: “What is the reality that some of the morbid decoration depict?  What is it that some people spend so much time and energy trying to depict as real as possible, that is somehow entertaining?”

A couple of days ago in Fox News there was a news piece that caught my attention titled, “Professor beheaded in what witnesses first thought was Halloween prank”

Here’s an excerpt to the story:

A man with a history of psychiatric problems beheaded his mother in her Long Island, N.Y., apartment late Tuesday and then dragged the body and head out onto a street, where onlookers initially thought they were witnessing a macabre Halloween prank, police and witnesses said.

Patricia Ward, 66, was killed inside her apartment by her son, 35-year-old Derek Ward, who jumped in front of a commuter train near the Farmingdale, N.Y., home moments later, killing himself, Nassau County police said.

The story goes on to say

Witnesses told the New York Post they saw Derek Ward drag his mother’s body out of the building and onto the street, where he kicked her head some 20 feet before going to a nearby railroad track and jumping in front of an eastbound Long Island Railroad train approximately 25 minutes later. Police said his body was found about a mile from the apartment, where the two had moved recently from the neighboring county.

On the street in front of the apartment, witnesses described a gruesome scene first thought to be part of a prank.

“There was blood all over the floor,” neighbor Nick Gordon told the Post. “You can see smears going down the stairs … as if somebody were pulling a body.”

Witnesses told the Post that some of the woman’s neighbors initially thought the headless body in the street was a Halloween prank, only to discover the body was real after attempting to lift it.

Witness Jack Imperial, 41, of Queens, was taking a taxi to a meeting when he came across the grisly scene, he told the New York Daily News.

“The body’s feet were at the curb, the shoulders were at the middle of the street. The head was across the street,” Imperial told the newspaper. “I’ve seen some gruesome stuff in my years of living … but nothing like this. I didn’t expect to see something like this, especially not out here.”

A night dispatcher at Yellow Cab in Farmingdale, blocks from where the woman’s was found, told Newsday drivers also “thought it was a Halloween prank.”

“At first, everyone thought it was like a Halloween prank,” neighbor Barbara Smalls told The Associated Press, recalling Wednesday morning how she had seen the sheet-covered body. She also “thought maybe it was a mob hit or something.”

Note how much emphasis there is by witnesses that looks like a Halloween prank.  Halloween decor has gotten so realistic, one might be incline to see a real violent crime scene as something not real.

Imagine if people didn’t realize the crime scene was real: they would have walked away smiling and enjoying the “view.”  It is “entertaining.”

But upon realizing it’s real how do people react?

Grossed out.  Disgusted.  Surprised.  Shock.  Horror.  And for some, they use words like “I am traumatized.”

Should we be entertained by audio and visual stimuli that celebrate the violent violation of humanity as made in the image of God?

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Free ITunes University Lecture: The Reformation by Carl Trueman

Earlier this month Westminister Theological Seminary has made available for free online on ITunes University their historical theology lecture series on the Reformation.  It is taught by Dr. Carl Trueman.  I am half way through the series and it is pretty good!

Dr. Trueman is a capable scholar and also one who teaches history in a way that is not boring.  He’s conversant with the material at hand, insightful and funny.

One of the things I really got out of the series thus far is the further appreciation for the historical context in which the Reformation took place.  I thought Trueman was also insightful in his observation that Martin Luther was really a Medieval man even as the age of modernity and the Reformation was dawning with Luther as the leader.

You can access the lectures on Itunes by clicking here: The Reformation

Or if you want to access it as an RSS feed click here: RSS

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Dissertation on PDF: “The Self-Attestation of Scripture as the Proper Ground for Systematic Theology”

A doctrine of Scripture that has been under-utilized in apologetics has been the historic belief in the self-attestation of Scripture.  There is a Doctoral Dissertation on the topic: “The Self-Attestation of Scripture as the Proper Ground for Systematic Theology” by Matthew Scott Wireman.  Dr. Wiseman completed this thesis in 2012 through Southern Seminary, best known with its president Al Mohler.

Southern Seminary and Dr. Wireman has made the dissertation available as a PDF.  You can download it by clicking HERE.

Here is the description of the dissertation broken down by chapters:

This dissertation examines the Protestant doctrine of Scripture’s self-witness of divine authority. Chapter 1 examines the current evangelical milieu. The doctrine has become nearly obsolete in the discussion of systematic theology. Consequentially, wherein lies authority has been greatly misunderstood in Protestant circles.

Chapter 2 surveys the doctrine through the history of the church. Particular note is made of Augustine, John Calvin, John Owen, and Herman Bavinck. This chapter evinces the near consensus of the church that the authority for the Church is found preeminently in the Scriptures.

Chapter 3 summarizes post-conservative, Stanley J. Grenz and John R. Franke, attempts to ground theology in Scripture plus culture and tradition. This chapter does not offer a critique as much as it aims to represent post-conservatives in their own words.

Chapter 4 looks at how the Old Testament viewed itself–particularly through the ministries of Moses and the prophets. YHWH chose representatives who would speak to the covenant community and write down the stipulations and history of YHWH’s relationship with Israel for posterity.

Chapter 5 looks at the New Testament, which follows the paradigm instituted by the Old Testament. In the person and work of Jesus Christ, God’s promises find their fulfillment, which foments his commissioning of the Twelve Apostles to be his spokesmen.

Chapter 6 ties together the threads that cohere in the two testaments of Scripture. It makes explicit the claims of Scripture that God is a se, he communicates with his creation, he uses spokesmen, and his written Word is its own witness for its authority.

Chapter 7 defines the doctrine of Scripture’s self-witness and applies it to tradition, culture, and the task of apologetics. The chapter explicates the thesis of the dissertation that Scripture’s self-witness must be the ground of systematic theology.

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Review: Unplanned by Abby Johnson

Purchase: Amazon

This book is an emotional read.  Abby Johnson tells her story of her work with abortion provider Planned Parenthood and how she crossed the “fence” (a motif and a theme that runs throughout the book) to the Pro-life side.  It is a moving story and it is quite personal.  What is unusual about her story from others who abandon the pro-abortion side is that Abby Johnson was a former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic.  Readers will appreciate the first half of the book in which Abby describe how she came to work for Planned Parenthood and also the mindset of some of those who work for the abortion industry.  In the beginning of the book Abby makes it clear that she does not want to caricature or misrepresent any side and I think you get the sense in the book that she is genuine about that.  She is honest in her description of herself and some in the pro-abortion side are very sincere in wanting to help women.  What touched me reading this book is that it is a story that is about God’s work in her heart—and bringing her to see her sins.  I was also deeply moved reading the book with her account of interacting with pro-lifers outside her clinic who were gentle, respectful and winsome.  However being gentle and respectful does not mean one is not passionate or driven by conviction—it’s a case of both/and, not “and/or.”  She describe how convicting it was to see people passionately committed to pray outside the clinics and how uncomfortable it was for her to see pro-lifers who genuinely care for her—and the women who came to her clinic.  In some sense, her account validated to me the need for our pro-life effort to reach out to the workers also in a Christ like manner.  I don’t want to make out the book as all sweet—certainly there is the darker side of things that Abby Johnson also discussed in the book—the reality hitting her when she saw the ultrasound of an abortion for the very first time and being unable to deny what abortion really is anymore; then there is the reality that she had to face with those in leadership above her in Planned Parenthood who was pushing for more abortion and riskier abortion in order to meet the financial “bottom line.”  There is also the account of Planned Parenthood’s attempt to go after her legally and how frightening that was for Abby, especially with the lies and betrayal of those whom she thought was her friends and colleague.  This is the story of God’s work in freeing a woman from her own hidden sins of abortions—and how God forgave her.  I think this book is worth reading no matter where you land on this hot politic topic.  For those who are pro-abortion, I think you can see the perspective of someone who changed their minds and why.  For those who are already pro-life, you get a good perspective of someone who had an abortion and also involved with the industry.  For readers who are pro-life and have not been involved in the cause, this story should move you.  For those who are involved or who were involved with the prolife cause, this book will encourage you much.  I will be honest—I cried going this book because so many of the accounts she gave would be things those involved with the prolife cause see.  I totally recommend this book.

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The Apostle Paul Against Lazy Pastors and Lazy Seminarians

In writing this post, I am in no way attacking Pastors and Seminarians who worked very hard.   I know and have been shaped by men in the ministry and men in Seminary who are incredibly hard working.  But I write this to address the lazy ones.  Especially the ones who get money from churches.  This is for you.

The Apostle Paul’s teaching in the Epistles have somethings to say that is antithetical to the lazy Pastor and Seminarians:

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men,” (Colossians 3:23)

“It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.” (2 Timothy 2:6)

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,^[c] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.” (Titus 2:7-8)

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

“Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” (Romans 12:11)

(Note: All verses are from the English Standard Version)

Some of those exhortation are for believers in general but some of them are from the Pastoral Epistles.  In all cases they should have some bearing on the men who are in ministry and those who are in Seminary.

Just so you know: I can’t stand lazy pastors and lazy Seminarians.  

No one respect a lazy cop or firefighter.  Churches that tolerate such nonsense reveal how little they value the Gospel.  Ministry is not a pity case of charity for a religious weirdo.  I would rather be a janitor for the rest of my life and do free full time ministry and die young from being overworked rather than allow God’s name to be slandered when people think ministry is a swindling operation for the lazy whose only calling in life is a calling to do nothing during the week.

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Review: Armed and Dangerous: The Hunt for One of America’s Most Wanted Criminals by William Queen

Note: For the next few weeks on Sunday we will feature a review of books outside of theology, philosophy and apologetics.  Each review of a non-Christian book will also have a section titled, “What’s in it for the Christian?”

 

Purchase: Amazon

The author William Queen is a retired decorated agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) who is best known for going undercover and taking on the Mongols in the San Fernando Valley.  In this book he tells us a story of dealing with another criminal before his days of taking on the Mongols.  Back in 1985 Queen was dealing with a case of trying to apprehend a criminal name Mark Stephens who sold marijuana to local dealers and also terrorized the San Bernardino community.  Queen first heard of Stephens from his contacts with local law enforcement agency.  Whenever Queen asked them who was their toughest criminal in the neighborhood the name was always the same: Mark Stephens.  What made it difficult for the police to apprehend Stephens was that he hid himself in a difficult part of the San Bernardino Mountains and his coming and going into town was spontaneous and highly unpredictable.  Stephens was also a dangerous man who is armed with machine guns and homemade grenades.  The more Stephens terrorized the community the more obsessed Queen became with apprehending Stephens.  Along the way Queen also had to deal with other non-related cases that is typical of ATF field agents.  The book tells the story of a man who is dedicated in his job of going after criminals.  He is no paper pusher and loves the job of undercover work and kicking down door.  As the book progresses you also learn more of Queen’s own life—how he was a Vietnam War Veteran of the Special Forces, how he bucks his superiors but also know where he crossed the line and the mutual respect of his fellow agents for each other.  The book is exciting and funny and makes for a good leisure reading.

 

What’s in it for the Christian: The author’s sense of justice is a great example for everyone.  There is a moral right—and a moral wrong.  William Queen is a sheep dog who has the high sense of duty of protecting the innocent from getting hurt—which is the motivation for why he wants to get his suspect before he hurt someone again.  As Romans 13 teaches us, we must honor those who are God’s agent of order in the government and we can read this book to honor and appreciate those in law enforcement.  The author’s courage is also a great virtue that Christians should seek to cultivate—and courage is one of those virtues that is best picked up from the examples of others.  Readers must be warned that this book has strong language.

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Memes: Why Hermeneutics Matter!

Something lighthearted for this Saturday’s post.

 

On Veritas Domain’s facebook page we have an album of memes dedicated to Hermeneutics.  You can check it out by clicking here.

If you haven’t done so already, you should like our page for more memes uploaded in the future and also other updates on your Facebook feed!

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Debate: Is Homosexuality Compatible with Christianity? (James White vs Bishop Spong)

With all that is going on in the news with the direction of our society, this debate between Christian apologist James White and liberal Episcopalian Bishop John Shelby Spong would be important.  Both men debated on the topic “Is Homosexuality Compatible with Christianity?” in Orlando, FL back in November 2006.  The video of this debate has been made available online for free in its entirety less than a week ago.

Here’s the video:

Enjoy!

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Review: Ego Trip: Rediscovering Grace in a Culture of Self-Esteem by Glynn Harrison

Purchase: Amazon

This book is an excellent evaluation of today’s social understanding of ego and self-esteem.  It is a popular assumption in our society that the root of many problems is the lack of confidence people have.  According to this line of thinking what people need to solve their problems then is a boost of their self-esteem; thus, to increase and maintain people’s self-esteem have become the social gospel of the hour, or as the author put it, it is the  “social vaccine” with many promises (76).  But how does this square with reality?  This book argues that although it seems counter-intuitive the effect of the self-esteem movement has been more hurtful rather than helpful.

In the beginning the book gives a good survey of the historical origin and development of the self-esteem movement.  The author traces much of the incipient form of this self-esteem boosterism back to Freud although the first to coin the term “self-esteem” was the American philosopher William James.  The book also discussed how the gospel of self-esteem became popular during the “Cambrian era of self-esteem” of the 1960s (44).  The book also have a chapter describing the self-esteem movement’s agenda of passing their ideology to children when they are young and another chapter on how these ideas have even entered into the church and how detrimental it is spiritually.

After surveying the origin of the movement the book then cover the issue of whether or not “boosterism” works in chapter five.  I love the many statistics and studies that the author presents in proving his point that boosterism hasn’t delivered as promised.  The author argues that there are no hard evidences that boosting people’s self-esteem solves the major social and psychological problems that it was suppose to solve; but the author goes further to marshal data showing how the promotion of self-esteem has caused more harm than good.  Phony boost will lead to more disappointment and more problems.  I would say the author working through the data and various studies in research journals is worth buying the book.

Some of the survey of the relevant studies reveal the following:

• There is not strong positive correlation between one’s self-esteem and educational attainment and that those with low and high self-esteem try just as hard in education (98).
• According to another study risky teenage sexual behavior had very weak link with self-esteem per se; instead the link appears to be connected with factors such as background of a broken home or a lower IQ (74).
• In one study, there are two groups of students, one who were praised for their effort and the other praised for being intrinsically gifted; and the group that was praised for effort when required to anonymously report their final scored were more prone to lie (101).
• One example of how that is no correlation with one’s view of oneself and actual performance is a study that demonstrate how the lowest scoring group of people completing a task had the highest “better than average” biased rating of their performance compared to others (127).

The second half of the book was more theological in its content.  I admit that I was surprised at how biblical the second half of the book was.  Here the author offered a biblical antidote to the contemporary self-esteem movement.  The author also tells us a story in which he counseled someone where he noted the irony that he was more concerned about repentance and confession than the counselee’s pastor who was more concern with psychobabble.  I was also glad to find the author’s familiarity of good biblical resources as evident from the footnote.   I definitely recommend this book.

NOTE: This book was provided to me free by Zondervan Academic and Net Galley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

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Third Week of October 2014 Presuppositional Apologetics’ links Round up

Here are Presuppositional apologetics’ links between October 15-21st, 2014.

Which links edified you?

1.) Twenty Ways to Answer A Fool [8]

2.) The Fabrications of Scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson

3.) The Darwinian Bourne Legacy

4.) Your Character Is Just As Important to Your Apologetics As Your Logic

5.) Toward a Few Conclusory Thoughts on “Evil and the Vindication of Divine Goodness”

6.) If Evolution is True, then Truth Doesn’t Matter [An Excerpt]

7.) K. Scott Oliphint Teaches Covenantal Apologetics for Logos Mobile Ed

Last installment: Mid-October 2014 Presuppositional Apologetics’ Links Round Up

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Apologetic Sermon Illustration #25: Going Against God While Relying On Him and man who stole ambulance sent to help him

GO TO PART 24

Point:  When we evangelize it is important to make the point that the listener have sinned against a Holy God.  Even during an apologetic dialogue, a Christian apologist must not forget this; instead he or she must press the point that one who goes against God is rebelling against Him and is trying to run away from God with the very resources that God has given to help man; this sin is even more grievous in light of God’s goodness, help and mercy towards unbelievers (what in theology we call God’s common grace).  How can we further drive this point home?

Picture: On the news a few days ago there was this headline: “Man steals L.A. Fire Department ambulance sent to help him” with this story:

A man being treated by paramedics stole a Los Angeles Fire Department ambulance and led police on a chase that ended in a traffic collision, sending two women to the hospital Sunday night.

Paramedics responded to a medical call in the 200 block of North San Pedro street in downtown L.A. about 6:30 p.m., and then the man drove off in the ambulance, according to the LAFD’s Katherine Main.

The paramedics were not in the ambulance at the time, Main said.

A fire engine also responding to the original call reported the stolen ambulance, Los Angeles police said.

Officers then began a pursuit that ended when the ambulance crashed into a vehicle at the intersection of Beverly Boulevard and  Union Avenue about 7:15,  according to Sgt. Gia Rueda of the LAPD.

Two women in the car were taken to a hospital with minor injuries, Rueda said.

The suspect, whose name was not released, was taken into custody at the Rampart Station.

Here is a story of the suspect taking advantage of what was meant to be help for the suspect.  Then there is the added irony of the man getting an accident after the chase–only to have the paramedics again help him and put him in another ambulence.  That’s like man’s sinful attempt to run away from Him by hijacking God’s resources as a means of running away from Him–but we inevitably crash and even then with our self-destructiveness we can’t fully avoid God.

POSSIBLE SCENARIO FOR EMPLOYING THIS ILLUSTRATION DURING APOLOGETIC EVANGELISM

<Much apologetic dialogue takes place; now discussion is winding down>

CHRISTIAN: We have touched on a lot of philosophy and worldview issues.  I don’t want you to miss my thesis that you are in sin and that your sin is even evident in our intellectual discussion because you are trying to use intellectual resources that God has provided to help us as His creatures to be resources for you to try to escape God.

OPPONENT: What do you mean?  You are putting moralistic tones to this intellectually stimulating discussion.

CHRISTIAN: Let me explain perhaps by ways of a story of how I see it within my worldview.  Have you heard of this story: <Insert New story>.

OPPONENT: Wow!

CHRISTIAN: Here’s the image of the actual guy after the accident.  Do you see any irony in the picture?

OPPONENT: Yes!  The paramedics that he wronged are now the ones he have to rely on to help him after the attempted getaway.

CHRISTIAN: Exactly!  I love this picture because despite his attempt to get away from the paramedics, he ends up facing the paramedics anyways–and still needed their help and he’s back to square one.  In the same way, when someone tries to use God’s resources that was meant to help us such as the laws of logic, morality, etc., as a means of trying to run away from God, we end up colliding with God’s reality and yet we still rely on Him afterwards despite our rebellion.  This man is more like us than we realize!

GO TO PART 26

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MP3s of 2014 Paschal Lectures on Presuppositional Apologetics by Brian Rickett

This is a lecture series by Professor Brian Rickett on the topic of Presuppositional apologetics for the Forty-Fourth Annual William N. Paschal Memorial Bible Lectures held on October 14 and October 16, 2014 that was hosted by the Baptist Missionary Association (BMA) Theological Seminary.  Rickett is a capable teacher specializing in the Old Testament and also Presuppositional apologetics.

The messages have just been made available over at Sermon Audio.  You can download the lectures of this four part series below:

1.) Apologetics and the Contemporary Setting

2.) Biblical/Historical Justification for Apologetics

3.) Worldview and the Apologetics Tool Box

4.) Presuppositional Praxis: Applied Apologetics

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Reformed Humor: You know you are a Calvinist when you hear the letters A and W…

A light-hearted post today.

You know you are a Calvinist when you see the letter “A” and “W” together and it remind you of several good things from the Lord…

A.W. Pink

A.W. Tozer

And also of God’s common grace:

A&W Root Beer

And of course, you can’t spell “Awesome” without A and W.

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Review: The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War by Daniel Stashower

Announcement: In the past we have shared various resources on Christians and reading including “Christian Theology on Reading Series with Audio Mp3s and PDF available for free.”  For the next four Sundays we will post reviews of non-Christian books where we first evaluate the book and have a closing section titled: “What’s in it for the Christian?”

Available on Amazon

I borrowed this book because I have never heard of any attempt to assassinate Abraham Lincoln back in 1861 during his trip to Washington to be inaugurated in as president of the United States before the Civil War.  Of course we know that any attempt to murder Lincoln in 1861 was unsuccessful.  The book has a good start and even gave the background to the detective Alan Pinkerton, the famous Private investigator that eventually helped coined the phrase “private eye.”    The author wrote in a dramatic fashion and told the story like a thriller.  Perhaps the novel-like suspense eventually hurt the book since towards the middle of the book I started wondering whether there was really any attempt to murder Lincoln and by the end of the book I was totally disappointed.  For a book that was sold as a secret plot to murder Lincoln, there was in the end nothing really concrete of a conspiracy of an immediate threat that was unearth to murder Lincoln beyond rumors, drunken men talking, secret agents listening in to people in bars and brothels and some nutcases getting together filled with self-importance.  Essentially the book was about Pinkerton and others who were worried and eventually convinced Abraham Lincoln to secretly sneak into Washington DC rather than enter through Baltimore and Maryland publicly, which at that time had many pro-Confederate sympathizer.  I would say this book and the event was totally disappointing.  The only action you will get is when Pinkerton punched a Congressman when he escorted Lincoln off the railroad station because he was paranoid and didn’t know whom the Congressman was.  I thought that captured pretty accurately the paranoia of Pinkerton and what to me is Pinkerton and the author’s misjudgment.  In the end, the plotters whom Pinkerton’s men spied upon weren’t even arrested and went back to normal life without being questioned or detained which made me wonder how much of a threat there really was in the first place when proper authorities didn’t even take action.

What’s in it for the Christian:  Hindsight is always 20/20 but the people in 1861 didn’t know that Abraham Lincoln’s fate would not end in 1861.  It should remind us that as Christians we cannot know and control the future as James 4:13-14 teaches: “ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ^14 [g]Yet you do not know^[h]what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”  God is in control of history and many conspiracies by men don’t go according to plan because mankind can’t control everything.  This should comfort us.  We must be reminded of the greatest conspiracy to come in which the nations conspire against the Son of God and yet “He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2:4).

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Free E-book: Evil And Theodicy by Cornelius Van Til

This is an unpublished “book” by the famed Reformed apologist Cornelius Van Til that was put together by Monergism.com!

AVAILABLE IN EPUB, MOBI AND .PDF FORMATS

Here’s the website description:

In treating of Evil in relation to Theodicy it is quite impossible to leave out of consideration metaphysics and epistemology. The views of sin will vary as the conceptions of God and man vary. If we view God as infinite, eternal, and immutable in His being, intelligence, and will, and man his organic creation, if we accept the supernatural, grant the need of special revelation, accept the fact of special revelation and the fall of man, we must needs also come to the Biblical view of sin with redemption and restoration. If on the other hand we deny these premises, we must begin with man and experience as we find them, and construct our own views as to the nature of God and man and therefore also of sin, and we come to a fundamentally different theory of Theodicy.

We have accordingly two main theories of evil and two kinds of theodicy. The one is the product of a system of thought that bows before the authority of supernatural revelation and studies the phenomena of experience in the light of the Scriptures. The other is the product of the philosopher who also views the phenomena of experience but feels that it devolves upon him as a rational creature to give an account of things to himself, and that he is able to do so. This may lead him to skepticism or phenomenalism but he will not seek aid from supernatural revelation. “The philosopher as philosopher and irrespectively of his attitude toward the Christian faith, approaches a question as if there were no truth which claimed to be revealed. For him the plan of the world may or may not have been divinely disclosed to man; it awaits discovery or interpretation through the exercise of reason.”

Here’s the table of content:

Part 1—Philosophy

Introduction

Epistemological Basis

Greek Philosophy—Plato

Aristotle

Stoicism And Epicureanism

Philo

Plotinus

Modern Philosophy

Descartes

Spinoza

Locke And Empiricism

Berkeley And Hume

Leibniz

Kant

Hegel

F. R. Tennant

Conclusion

Part 2—Theological

Augustine

Augustine

Mediaeval Scholasticism And Mysticism

Calvin And The Reformation

Lutheranism

Arminianism

Schleiermacher And Müller

Neo-Calvinism

Bavinck

God Is His Own Theodicy

Bibliography

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