The Madness of Our Times

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Something that I have noticed in these unfortunate times is the surprisingly high proportion of people who are ‘experts’ on the covid situation, and who know exactly what everyone else should do. Fortunately for us ordinary and uneducated rubes, these people are kind enough to share with us exactly what we ought to be doing. All the time. One only has to naively sign into one’s social media account to be accosted by ignorant fools pontificating on the latest developments.

What I find extremely amusing is that many of these ‘experts’ who seek to win people over to their position, are people whose advice and common sense I would never consult in most ordinary life situations because they have never shown themselves to be competent adult citizens. Nonetheless, in one of the more unsettling ironies of our time, an inversely proportional relationship exists between one’s competence and one’s willingness to publicise one’s views on a particular topic. These people tend to be extremely zealous on social media in attempting to win people over to their point of view, which incidentally tends to be a parroting of government propaganda and poorly researched ‘facts’.

What is ridiculous about this is that such pawns would assume that intelligent critical thinking individuals would actually be interested in listening to what they have to say. Personal credibility matters.

How’s That Line in the Sand Going?

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GUEST POST – Scott Kennedy

It’s been over a week now since I went public with the article “My Line in the Sand”. What a rollercoaster ride! In this time I’ve been inundated with messages some supporting my line in the sand, some suggesting I smooth over the sand and choose a new location for the line, and others questioning my character, sanity and motivations. So in this piece I will share my reflections on the reaction to my article.

The Positives

Firstly let me reflect on some of the positives. A highlight for me has been realising I am not alone. There are a lot of us out there. Never before in my life have I received so many encouraging messages about what I am doing most of them from complete strangers. Thank you to all of you who shared messages of support. Our family was blown away with the support and humbled to see the care and concern of many for our plight, and the plight of many good citizens in New Zealand.

A number of supporters have been extremely generous. There have been suggestions and practical tips to help deal with stress and anxiety (thanks Juana from The BFD), multiple offers of financial assistance should we require it, offers of a holiday spot for the family this summer, offers of work, offers of help setting up a small business and many new contacts and alliances formed. Frankly, I’ve been astounded by the love and generosity of these people many of whom have come from the Christian community, and most who do not know me personally.

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Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8 – Original Languages Authoritative

Wednesday is Westminster Confession of Faith day! Last week we focused on the perspicuity of Scripture and found that while there are some sections of Scripture that are difficult to understand and can be twisted by a certain type of person, the things pertaining to our salvation are so clear that ordinary people by ordinary means of careful reading can understand them. Today we look at the issue of original languages and translations.

VIII. The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which, at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and, by His singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as, in all controversies of religion, the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But, because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God, who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable manner; and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.

The first thing the framers of the Confession alert us to is the importance of the original languages. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew (mainly) and the New Testament in Greek. It is to the original languages that we must go for final appeal when there is a controversy over what the Scriptures say, as these are the words ‘immediately inspired by God.’ This was written into a context where the Roman Catholic Church relied on the Latin Vulgate, a translation with some serious flaws. It’s also important to note that the framers saw the way God’s inspired Word had been kept pure by His providence. Despite the period of time between the original writings and now, we have remarkable witness in the manuscripts that testify to the accuracy of the transcription process. This is best exemplified by the finding of manuscripts at Qumran, which although about 1000 years older than the ones possessed at the time, were remarkably consistent with them.

Secondly, the writers of the Confession wanted to highlight another error of the Roman Catholic church of the time. They realised that while it was important for scholars to be able to go back to the original languages, this was not possible for the vast majority of the common people. Therefore, it was deemed right and helpful for the Scriptures to be translated into the ‘vulgar’ (or common) language of every nation to which the faith came. This would allow ordinary and less-schooled Christians to be able to let God’s Word dwell in them richly. This was something that the Roman Catholic Church was not so keen on in those days, but now is in agreement with the Reformers on.

Holding Us to Ransom?

In the past few weeks, I have begun to hear the phase ‘holding us to ransom’ a lot more frequently. Specifically, it is the unvaccinated who are apparently holding the country to ransom. Really?

Let’s imagine a scenario where a terrorist grabs two teenage children of wealthy elites and asks for a ransom from both sets of parents before he will release them. The parents of one immediately pay the ransom, and the other set, not so sure that paying the ransom will in fact lead to the release of their child, refuse to pay. The parents who have paid the ransom then turn on the other more suspicious parents and say, “Stop holding us to ransom!” While I can understand their frustration, it is in fact the terrorist who has held them to ransom. Not paying the ransom is not equivalent to holding someone to ransom.

In my mind, it is actually many unvaccinated people who are being held to ransom. Those who are teachers or nurses are being told that unless they bow to the government’s wishes they will have no job. Others who have no vaccine mandates (yet) will be denied entry to restaurants, big events and churches. Not bowing to the government on this is not holding others to ransom. It’s refusing to pay the ransom. We don’t negotiate with terrorists!

Most unvaccinated people I have chatted with are happy for the government to open up society. They have made their choice based on their own risk-benefit analysis. They tend to be a lot more clued up on the stats than many who have just gone ahead and got vaccinated. It is not they who are holding us to ransom, but our government. Our government is threatening people with loss of livelihood and like the grinch is planning on stealing Christmas too unless we all bow to their demands. Don’t turn on your fellow prisoners. Remember who the real enemy is in all of this.