1989 Issue 8 - Speaking of Bozos and Idiots - Counsel of Chalcedon
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Transcript of 1989 Issue 8 - Speaking of Bozos and Idiots - Counsel of Chalcedon
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8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - Speaking of Bozos and Idiots - Counsel of Chalcedon
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the
two
Testaments. "The effort to e x ~
plain away the Bible's witness
to
its
plenary inspiration," says Dr. Warfield,
".reminds
one
of a man standing safely
in his laboratoryand elaborately explain
ing possibly with the aid
of
diagrams
and
mathematical
formulae - hoW
every
stone in an avalanche has a def'med path
way and
may easily
be
dodged
by one
with
some
presence
of
.mud.
We
may
fancy such an elaborate trifler's triumph
as he
would
analyze the avalanche into
its constituent stones,
and
demonstrate
of
stone after stone that its pathway is
definite, limited, and may easily be
avoided. But avalanches, unfortUnately,
do not come upon
us
stone
by
stone,
one at
a time, courteously leaving us
opportunity
to
withdraw from the
path-
way of each in turn: but all at once, in
a roaring mass of destruction. Just so
we
may
explain away
a
text
or two
which teach plenary inspiration, to
our
own
closest
satisfaction, dealing with
them each without reference
to
its rela
tion
to
the others: but these texts of
ours, again, unfortUnately
do not
come
upon us in this artificial isolation;
neither are they few
in
number. There
are scores, hundreds,
of
them;
and
they
come bursting .
upon
us
in
one solid
mass. Explain them away? We should
have to explain. away the whole New
Testament. What a pity
it
is
that
we
cannot see and feel the avalanche
of
texts beneath
which
we
lie
hopelessly
buried, as clearly
as
we
may
see
and
feel
the avalanche of stones Let us,
how-
ever,
but
open our eyes to
the
variety
and
pervasiveness
of
the
New
Testa
ment
witness
to
its high estimate
of
Scripture, and
we shall no
longer won
der that modern scholarship f'mds itself
compelled to allow that the Christian
Church has read
her
records correctly,
and that
the church-doctrine
of
inspira
tion is
simply
a transcript
of
the bibli
cal doctrine; nor shall we any longer
wonder
that
the church, receiving hese
Scriptures
as her
authoritative teacher
of
doctrine, adopted in the very beginning
of
her life
the
doctrine
of
plenary iri-
spiration, and
bas held
it with a tenacity
that knows
no wavering, until the
pre-
sent hour."
[This artie et and the others
in
the series,
flfSt
appeared m
the
magazine
Christianity
oday
J
.1936,
then
ip oookf
-
8/12/2019 1989 Issue 8 - Speaking of Bozos and Idiots - Counsel of Chalcedon
2/2
in the street
What a Bozo.
What
an idiot
And there is, alas, more, much more.
Twaddle-Talking Ted's CNN TV
net-
work program "World Report" has run
stories hailing the virtues
of
Bulgarian
communism and "proving," supposed
ly
that fanner Cuban political prison
er, Annando Valladares, lied about be
ing
tortured
in
Fidel Castro's jails.
Twaddle-Talking Ted has personally
praised Mr. Castro as
a
great guy."
And he has said (in the July 7, 1986,
Fortune magazine): "Communism is
fme with me. It's
part
of the fabric of
life
on
this planet."
What a Bozo. What
an idiot
Communism is a part of the fabric
of
death on this planet
Twaddle-Talking Ted has
also
accused
the United States of being "a colonial
power"
and
"raping the rest
of
the world
economically" to pay for our "bloated
military machine." And when we bomb
ed Libya to retaliate for
its terrorism
against our citizens,
he
accused us
of
be
ing "terrorists ourselves."
What a Bozo. What an idiot.
Twaddle-Tallcing Ted once said that
rather than fighting
in
the last war,
Italians would "rather be involved in
crime and just making wine and having
a good time." And his superstation in
Atlanta
aired
a pro-Soviet portrait
of
the
Soviet Union that was
so
bad even The
Washington Post's
Tom
Shales panned
it, calling
it
"more like a postcard from
Binky and Bi ff at Camp Whitewash."
AndTwaddle-TalkingTed--confessing
a creed which one
must admit he has
lived by--once told
a
college commence
ment audience: "You don't need to
know anything about anything to do
anything you want."
What a Bozo. What
an
idiot
[John Lofton
is
a columnist for The
Washington Times. This article is re-
printedfrom the
July 26
1989 issue of
that
newspaper ]
n
~ A special"thanks" ~
~
to all
of
you who have
~
supported this ministry
fmancially, this year and ~
~
in
years past Please know that ~
your help in
the future
is essential
~
~ for continuing The Counsel. ~
~
AN
ANTIDOTE
AGAINST
ARMINIANISM, by Christopher
Ness (1621-1705). Still Waters Revival
Books, (1988). 12810-126St. Edmon
ton, Ab., Canada Y5L OYl. 126 pp.
$6.95. Reviewed by the Rev. T. Mark
Duncan, Virginia Beach, Virginia.
"An antidote against Arminianism?
Who does Christopher Ness think he
is? He is offending an overwhehning
majority
of
the conservative and evan
gelical Church
To
maintain that Armin
ianism needs an antidote is to imply it
is poisonous "
Is Arminianism spiritual poison?
That is the question begged by the title
of Ness' short but significant work. In
the author's preface, Arminianism is
described as a "plague
and
leprosy," a
phrase which grates the ears of many in
our age of hypocritical civility.
t
is
not, however, through spirited rhetoric
that Ness demonstrates the toxicity of
Arrninianism but through logical and
scriptural argumentation.
There are perhaps many reading this
review who disagree with Anninian
theology but would stop short
of
call
ing
it
poison. Ness, using much scrip
ture and little comment, demonstrates
Arminianism's noxious side effects.
He
forces the reader to deal with the logical
implications of the system. Anninian
ism is venomous because
it
cuts the
heart
out of
Christianity.
For
if God
has done all
He
can to save sinners,
i
Christ has died for everyone, and
if
the
ultimate determinerof man's eternal des
tiny rests with man's autonomous will,
then God is unable to save
man.
Man
mu
st save himself. This is nothing
other than theological humanism.
The
autosoteriological implications
of
Ar-
minianism annul two
of the
foundation
al truths of Christianity: salvation
by
grace alone and the atoning work of
Christ Arminianism is spiritually dead
ly because it is the soteriological equiva
lent
of
Satan's oldest lie: "You can be
like God."
Ness argues that Anninianism neces
sarily impugns the nature of God. He
logically builds an argument from Scrip
ture demonstrating,
on
the the basis
of
God's nature, the impossibility of Ar
minian theology.
The
doctrine of man's
free will
is
totally inconsistent with an
infinite, eternal, and unchangeable God
who has a purpose. Ness quotes Vors
tius the Arminian to illustrate this fact:
"Things may happen that
may
bring
God
to
grief having tried all things in
vain." (p. 54) The God of Arminianism
has both hands tied behind His back by
the thongs of man's will.
The Scriptural and logical argument
Ness provides against that most sacred
of
Arrninian cows, universal atone
ment, is itself worth the price of the
book. The reasoning is most compel
ling and may he
just
the ticket to per
suade even the
mo
st militant Arminian
to embrace the doctrine of Definite
Atonement.
With
ten arguments, Ness
demonstrates that a universal atonement
is no atonement at all. The crowning
tenth argument forces the reader to con
clude that an atonement which has men,
for
whom Christ
died,
in
Hell reduces
Christianity
to
a laughing stock. (p.
71)
n Antidote Against
Annin
wmsm
is exceptionally easy
to
read;
rare for a
3
year
old
Puritan work. It
is
written in
a
concise, non-technical,
style. Still, Antidote s arguments are
persuasive. The theological novice can
easily grasp Ness' reasoning. The Bible
scholar will also find the book helpful.
Personally, Ness reinforced
in
my mind
the fact that Calvinism
is
nothing more
than Biblical Christianity. Antidote
provides
me
with a concise ready-refer
ence with which to
de f
end the Doctrines
of
Grace.
I cannot recommend the book too
highly.
It
is an ideal book to give to an
Arminian friend who is willing to
examine his belief in light
of
Scripture.
Ness' reasoning is not only impeccably
logical, there
is
little to which a pro
fessing Bible believer can object be
cause
of
the volume of Scripture quot
ed
. In four chapters, Ness sets forth the
The Counsel
of
Chalcadon October 1989 page 25