Westminster Confession of Faith 1.10 – Scripture is the Supreme Judge

Things have been rather busy for Sojournal writers, and I see that it has been almost 2 months since our last WCF post. There we saw how Scripture interprets Scripture. Where the meaning of Scripture is not grasped easily, we ought to see use Scripture where it speaks more clearly to help us to interpret tricky passages. Today we complete the first chapter of the Confession (on the Holy Scripture) with the principle that Scripture is our supreme judge.

X. The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men, and private spirits, are to be examined; and in whose sentence we are to rest; can be no other but the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scripture.

Obviously, there is a historical situation that is being addressed here. The Roman Catholic Church saw itself as having the power and authority to interpret infallibly the Scriptures. The framers of the Confession begged to differ. Their point here seems to me to flow out of the authority of Scripture which they highlight in sections 1.4 and 1.5 of the Confession.

It’s not that we should despise the opinions of the ancient writers (like the church fathers), or that people who claim that God has spoken to them are always wrong. It’s that we cannot judge disagreements over Scripture and the faith by appealing to these sources. While the early Christian writers have much good to say, at times it can be demonstrated from Scripture that they are just plain wrong. The framers of the confession were themselves a kind of council, so it’s not that they thought groups of people coming together to write statements of faith was a bad thing per se. It’s that individuals and councils can make mistakes. the Scriptures do not. Therefore “Reformed Christianity,” according to Williamson in his commentary on the Confession “refuses to allow the conscience to be bound by anything except the infallible Word of God itself.”

There is a danger in this. Scripture is the Supreme judge, so certain sectors of the evangelical church want ‘a verse’ for everything. For these people there has to be a proof text for everything. However, it pays to remember that Scripture is not an encyclopedia where were can look up things like “Women” and then find the section on careers and from there find a verse that justifies or condemns the practice. Scripture does not work that way. We need to be more sophisticated in our approach to Scripture as our only infallible rule of faith and practice. A lot of what Scripture teaches is not written in bald propositional logic. And incidentally, Scripture has a lot to say about career women if we are saturated in its story.

Deluded Slaves

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Everyone is religious. Everyone is a worshiper. It’s not whether you bow before a god, it’s just a matter of which god you worship. The modern western secularist pretends they are above worship. They delude themselves (and regrettably not a few Christians) that they are neutral on the religious front. This is strategic gold as it has allowed them to promulgate the lie of separation of religion and politics, thus removing all their other competition from the public sphere and proclaiming their faith as the only permissible faith and the lingua franca of the public realm. Yet the secularist is not neutral. Sure they say they are atheists and they may write ‘non-religious’ on the census form, but they are as much worshippers and adherents of a faith as those primitives who kneel before an unseen deity.

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Wisdom and Gravity

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Introduction

Government permissions are not the same thing as freedoms. In a Christian worldview, our freedoms are natural rights granted to us by God, and civil governments are obliged to recognise these rights. In the modern secular worldview, our freedoms are gifts bestowed upon the obedient by government. The state gives and the state takes away.

The only time one person grants freedom to another person is when one of them is a slave. Since I am a citizen and not a slave, I do not wish to concede my freedoms so easily.

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Reformed Evangelism

In reformed thought, evangelism is history- and world-affirming; the gospel declares Christ’s universal providential government and cosmos-renewing intentions. Thus, we must repudiate all notions of evangelism that are intent on purely inward, pietistic concerns, seeking to escape from this world into heaven rather than seeking his kingdom coming “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10).

Joseph Boot in The Mission of God

Calvinist Political Theory

In his study of Puritan political theory, Richard Flinn discusses the important work of Samuel Rutherford and his classic work, Lex Rex. Rutherford was confronting in his time a similar question about the source of law. Some of the papists of his day had argued that the king as a man was subject to God, but in the practice of his office as king, he was not subject to God’s law. Rutherford saw that this meant that the king was either above God, or co-equal with God, which are both “manifest blasphemies.” Flinn points out that at the heart of the Calvinist view of biblical political theory is that the civil government must be under God’s law, or be blasphemous. Furthermore, “unless we are willing to grant this doctrine and build upon it, there can be no Christian politics; there can only be humanistic politics, which, when practiced by Christians, is idolatry.

Joseph Boot on Richard Flinn’s study of Puritan political theory in The Mission of God

Vocations and Kingdom Life

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Instead of laying before men their calling in Christ to minister God’s Kingdom life in every area, in their families and vocations, as priests unto God, they are told that their family, work, money, the education of their children and leadership in society and culture is merely a ‘creation mandate’ that is not related to our redemptive calling – it is ‘law’ not ‘gospel.’ Men are drilled instead to believe that the kingdom work is the work of churchmen in their institutions (the sacraments) and that their ‘secular’ role in life is to be kind and ‘loving’ at work, to be a sanctified husband and father in personal piety and then pray for the return of Christ, and if possible, on route, snatch a few brands from the burning.

Joseph Boot in The Mission of God

Squid Game and Media Musings From a Christian Perspective

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Recently, I watched the Netflix show Squid Game, and like many, I thoroughly enjoyed it. However, the show has generated some controversy, specifically surrounding violence and the issue of children watching such shows. Putting the viewing age aside, although it is certainly apparent that it would not be age-appropriate for anyone under 18, Squid Game caused me to consider an issue Christians seem to be forever talking about: how should we relate to media and various forms of entertainment?

As Christians, we ought to examine our motives for entertainment, because the chief end of man is not to have a pleasurable, comfortable life full of popcorn and cheesy rom coms. Our purpose is to glorify God in all that we do and to enjoy him forever. This conversation cannot be side-lined as media and various forms of entertainment constantly bombard us. Various television shows, movies, and video games are constantly vying for our attention; therefore, it is not as simple as switching them off and ignoring them. It is becoming increasingly vital for us to consider how best we should relate to media and how we ought to consume media.

Why this is an important issue and why we Christians should be considering how we use technology and consume media:

1. Media is not neutral

Firstly, media is not neutral, and it is dangerous to treat it as such. Yes, dangerous; we cannot just passively let media wash over us. This is not about any bias found in news media but is about forms of entertainment, like Squid Game, and how they are almost constantly sending a specific message, affirming a lifestyle, or speaking from a specific worldview. This lack of neutrality is inevitable and is a feature of any media, as entertainment is produced by finite humans who are not naturally inclined to be impartial. If we wholeheartedly believe something or ascribe to a specific belief system, as all humans do, we often produce things that affirm said worldview. It becomes a problem when we are unaware of this and subconsciously accept underlying messages which contradict what the Bible says. For example, we may think watching a trashy reality T.V dating show is harmless, but have we considered the message the program is sending? What message are they sending by having their contestants sleep with one another? What worldview are they affirming? Would this offend or grieve God?

Maybe I sound like an old fuddy-duddy or an overly pious and uptight individual. That is fine. I am not saying these shows are off-limits; that is up to our own discretion. We are not to become hermits and have our only recreational time involve churning butter or burning all electronics and ceremoniously deleting our Netflix subscriptions. Instead, we need to be conscious of this new battleground that has emerged in the 21st century. Instead of just going ‘cold turkey’, we must be filtering what we interact with through the Christian worldview, and to do this effectively means constantly being in God’s word and hearing the public teaching of God’s word.

Personally, I am certainly guilty of kicking back after work or university, laying on my bed, with my phone and passively scrolling. Frankly, I would say many people, religious or irreligious, would probably admit they spend too much time on various forms of media. It is a problem shared by many and is not aided by how addictive these forms of entertainment can be. Although, as Christians, we must remember that even if we are relaxing, the devil is always active, and these forms of entertainment are a perfect opportunity to gain a foothold. In 1 Peter 5v8, it says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”. Satan is always active, and we must not forget this.

2.As Christians we ought to be wise with our time

Secondly, we should be using our time wisely. Ephesians 5 v 16 says, “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” We only have a certain amount of time on this earth, so we ought to make that time count. A past teacher once said that we ought to “use our recreational time for our recreation,” in other words, use your downtime for kingdom-related endeavours. Of course, at the time, young me internally rolled her eyes, but my teacher, she was right. We often have limited free time, so it is wise to use some for eternal good rather than solely for fleeting, frivolous fun.

Before moving on, I must stress that this is not a black and white issue and that an additional hour of T.V is not damaging your soul. Entertainment is not inherently evil, and we should enjoy ourselves, but that is not our sole purpose. Rather, we must examine our hearts and carefully consider whether how much media we consume negatively impacts our walk with Christ. What is the first thing you do when waking up? Do you prioritise reading the Bible? How is your prayer life? What do you do on a Sunday evening? It would be hypocritical to say I do this perfectly; arguably, I’m a terrible culprit of the ‘mindless scroll.’ The majority of us enjoy various forms of entertainment, and that is all well and good; however, we must remember that we are not put on this earth for pleasure. I would argue we Western Christians, who, on average, enjoy a life of relative comfort and security, have sadly forgotten this fact.

3.A Brief mention of our call as Christians

Finally, we cannot effectively create disciples if the world’s sin entertains us. Part of being a Christian is sharing the hope we have with unbelievers and proclaiming Jesus as Lord (Matthew 28:16-20). That requires us to share a crucial part of the gospel message – confess your sins, repent and turn away from them to Jesus Christ. Additionally, we are called to be ‘salt and light’ (Matthew 5:13-16), in other words being effective witnesses and having a positive impact on the culture around us. In an “Ask Pastor John” episode on Christian engagement with media, John Piper mentions that we cannot be salt and light if we find the glorification of sin in what we watch entertaining. This makes sense! How are we any different from the world if we enjoy watching others in their sin?


Rather than overindulging in media or becoming culturally starved, and avoiding any form of entertainment, we need to bring our interaction with media under the lordship of Christ. Whether it be Instagram, a movie, or any other form of entertainment, we ought to be aware and switched on, ultimately seeking to serve Christ well with our time.

The Resistance – Evangelism and the Lordship of Christ – Part 4

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Due to the events currently taking place in New Zealand, we had to postpone continuing The Resistance series. The events including mandated vaccines for health care professionals, teachers and others as well as rules that will punish churches who choose to operate non-segregated services. This only goes to prove what we suggested at the beginning of this series.

It certainly feels like we are on the edge of something. And when I say “something”, I do not mean pink cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles. More the kind of something that Gandalf refers to when sitting with Pippin on the walls of Minas Tirith and says, “It’s the deep breath before the plunge.”

Things are certainly intensifying, fault lines are showing, and we are beginning to see division. In some ways this is healthy. All around New Zealand the reactions to what is going on are telling. We learn which pastors are courageous, and those who can only talk a good game. Those who have sold out because of their desire to look socially acceptable to the powers that be are obvious as are those who are controlled by fear of man rather than fear of God. We continue to see the divide between Christians who actually have a Christian worldview and those who have a personal faith, but have been deluded by the shallow and deceptive philosophies of this world. I suspect these divisions will become clearer and lead to changing alliances and movement among churches.

So now is a good time to once again continue our series on Christian resistance in these times. Thus far we have covered the first 3 requirements: repentance over individual and corporate sin, dependence on the Word, Spirit and prayer and confronting the dualism that has stripped the church and its members of strength.

Today we will briefly focus on the fourth requirement of Christian Resistance.

We must develop and practise an evangelism that not only calls for personal salvation, but Christ’s lordship in every sphere of life. In other words we must disciple the nations to obey everything that Christ taught and call unbelievers to recognise Christ’s kingship on earth.

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