“I entreat you now, in the morning of your life, to seek the Lord and His face” — Rutherford Thursdays No. 31

To Ninian Mure, a parishioner

Loving Friend,

I received your letter. I entreat you now, in the morning of your life, to seek the Lord and His face. Beware of the follies of dangerous youth, a perilous time for your soul. Love not the world. Keep faith and truth with all men in your covenants and bargains. Walk with God, for He seeth you. Do nothing but that which ye may and would do if your eye-strings were breaking, and your breath growing cold.

Ye heard the truth of God from me, my dear heart, follow it, and forsake it not. Prize Christ and salvation above all the world. To live after the guise and course of the rest of the world will not bring you to heaven; without faith in Christ, and repentance, ye cannot see God. Take pains for salvation; press forward toward the mark for the prize of the high calling. If ye watch not against evils night and day, which beset you, ye will come behind.

Beware of lying, swearing, uncleanness, and the rest of the works of the flesh; because ‘for these things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience’. How sweet soever they may seem for the present, yet the end of these courses is the eternal wrath of God, and utter darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Grace be with you.

Your loving pastor.

Aberdeen, 1637

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction to the “Rutherford Thursdays” series of blog posts.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• Letters of Samuel Rutherford is a nice print edition of Rutherford’s letters for under $5.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now freely available via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.
  • Samuel Rutherford: A New Biography of the Man & His Ministry. This biography by Kingsley G Rendell provides an excellent introduction to Rutherford’s life and work.

Rutherford Reads

Review: Redemption Accomplished and Applied — by John Murray

ISBN: 9780802811431 — Worldcat; Google Books
Publisher: Eerdmans (1955)
Genre: Systematic theology
Reading Level: college
Worthy read? Yes
Price: $9.75 @ WTS Books

What is this book about?

This book is about the atonement (6, 9) as it is viewed objective and subjectively, that is, the atonement seen both from the perspective of historia salutis (i.e. Christ’s once-for-all accomplishment of redemption) and ordo salutis (Christ’s application of redemption to his church). On the former, professor Murray treats the necessity, nature, perfection, and extent of the atonement; on the latter, he explains effectual calling, regeneration, conversion (faith and repentance), justification, adoption, sanctification, union with Christ, and glorification. Therefore, professor Murray treats succinctly the various topics that you may find in a larger dogmatics or systematic theology textbooks under the sections on the work of Christ and/or soteriology.

This little book’s great importance lies in how it introduces the reader to the big picture of Christ’s mediatorial work. Without understanding that Christ first accomplishes salvation for us and then dispenses his benefits to us (i.e. objective accomplishment, then subjective application; historia salutis, then ordo salutis) Christians are led into all manners of Pelagian heresies (i.e. most of what passes for American “Christianity” these days); for, without Christ’s full, objective mediatorial work, we are left in a sea of subjectivity, without a perfect law-keeper, without a perfect satisfaction, without an advocate before the Father, without a great High Priest in the heavenlies praying for us and ministering his Gospel benefits to us. In a word, then, this book is about the big picture of how the Gospel works: Christ accomplishes salvation for us; then, Christ applies salvation to us.

What is the book’s context?

John Murray (1898-1975) was a minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and a professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. This book is primarily didactic, rather than polemic. Professor Murray sets forth his arguments plainly from Holy Scripture. The few polemical elements that enter into Murray’s purview are aimed at 20th century liberalism (31) and mysticism (77, 168). All in all the reader can expect a straightforward, humble explanation of the atonement from a Reformed perspective.

What is unique about the book’s content?

Readers will appreciate Murray’s keen ability to succinctly define theological terms, such as: propitiate (30), sin (32), faith (107), justification (119), et. al. Thus, Murray leads you along and teaches you along the way, rather than speaking over your head.

Also, Professor Murray is an organized and systematic thinker. His arguments proceed in outlined form and follow logical sequences. You may disagree at points with Murray’s argument; but, you will probably never complain of Murray being unclear or disorganized.

Furthermore, Reformed readers will appreciate Murray’s confessional sensibility and creativity. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms are always humming implicitly just below the surface, popping up explicitly at times in Murray’s thoughts.

Criticisms

The one aspect of Murray’s presentation I found odd is the chapter on “union with Christ” (ch. 9). I don’t mean odd in the sense of wrong, quite the contrary–This chapter was perhaps my favorite of the whole book! However, it seems odd in the sense of out of place in Murray’s line of thinking.

In Murray’s argument, the eternal aspect of redemption precedes and grounds the entire accomplishment and application of redemption (163-164). In other words, union with Christ “is in itself a very broad and embracive subject” which “when viewed, according to the teaching of Scripture, in its broader aspects it underlies every step of the application of redemption” (161). If the eternal grounds the temporal at “every step,” then it would seem more appropriate to move the chapter on union with Christ to the beginning of the book, allowing the eternal plan to ground both the accomplishment and the application of redemption. Such a re-arrangement of chapters would allow God’s glory to come into its own as, to use the Reformed dogmatics terms, the pactum salutis would precede and ground both the historia and ordo salutis (or, to use trinitarian concepts, the opera Dei ad intra precede and ground the ad extra).

Murray’s own comments at the start of ch. 9 indicate that he himself was not comfortable with how he arranged the placement of ch. 9. However, my contention is that the principles Murray was driving at when discussing the eternal union with Christ ought to be strengthened so as to come into their rightful place in relating the heavenly realm to the earthly, giving full priority and preeminence to the former. Such an effort to ground redemption fully in God’s eternal glory may require a new title as well: Redemption Planned; Redemption Accomplished; Redemption Applied.

“The greatest part but play with Christianity” — Rutherford Thursdays No. 19

To Lady Kenmure

Madam,

I hope that ye are wrestling and struggling on, in this dead age, wherein folks have lost tongue, and legs, and arms for Christ. I urge upon you, Madam, a nearer communion with Christ, and a growing communion.

There are curtains to be drawn by in Christ, that we never saw, and new foldings of love in Him. I despair that ever I shall win to the far end of that love, there are so many plies in it. Therefore, dig deep; and sweat, and labour, and take pains for Him; and set by as much time in the day for Him as you can. He will be won with labour.

Now, Madam, I assure you, the greatest part but play with Christianity; they put it by-hand easily. I thought it had been an easy thing to be a Christian, and that to seek God had been at the next door; but O, the windings and turnings that He has led me through! And I see yet much way to the ford.

I pray God I may not look to the world for my joys, and comforts, and confidence — that were to put Christ out of His office. Now, the presence of the great Angel of the covenant be with you and that sweet child.

Yours in the Lord Jesus.

Aberdeen, March 7, 1637

Who is Lady Kenmure ?

Lady Jane Campbell, Viscountess of Kenmure, was the third daughter of Archibald Campbell, seventh Earl of Argyle, and sister to the Marquis of Argyle who was beheaded in 1661. She was remarkable for ability and Christian devotion, and for her generous help to those who suffered for conscience’ sake. She had many troubles of her own, which are reflected in these letters. She lost two daughters in infancy and her husband died in 1634. Her son, who succeeded to the title, also died before attaining his majority, in 1649. The last of Rutherford’s letters to her is dated in 1661, just after the execution of her brother. She herself lived to a great age, though suffering all her life from bad health. Forty-seven letters to her from Rutherford have been preserved, and sixteen of them are quoted in this selection.

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction to the “Rutherford Thursdays” series of blog posts.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• Letters of Samuel Rutherford is a nice print edition of Rutherford’s letters for under $5.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now freely available via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.
  • Samuel Rutherford: A New Biography of the Man & His Ministry. This biography by Kingsley G Rendell provides an excellent introduction to Rutherford’s life and work.

Rutherford Reads

“Still learning” – Rutherford Thursdays No. 14

To Lady Kenmure – Ill Scholars in Christ’s School

Madam,

Grace, mercy and peace be to you. I received your Ladyship’s letter. It refreshed me in my heaviness. The blessing and prayer of a prisoner of Christ come upon you.

Nothing grieveth me but that I eat my feasts my lone, and that I cannot edify His saints. My silence eats me up, but He has told me He thanketh me no less than if I were preaching daily.

Your Ladyship wrote to me that ye are yet an ill scholar. Madam, ye must go in at heaven’s gates, and your book in your hand, still learning. You have had your own large share of troubles, and a double portion; but it saith your Father counteth you not a bastard; full-begotten bairns are nurtured (Heb. 12.8).

I long to hear of the child. I write the blessings of Christ’s prisoner and the mercies of God to him.

Madam, it is not long since I did write to your Ladyship that Christ is keeping mercy for you; and I bide by it still, and now I write it under my hand. Love Him dearly. Win in to see Him; there is in Him that which you never saw. He is aye nigh; He is a tree of life, green and blossoming, both summer and winter. There is a nick in Christianity, to the which whosoever cometh, they see and feel more than others can do.

Now the blessing of our dearest Lord Jesus, and the blessing of him that is ‘separate from his brethren’, come upon you.

Yours, at Aberdeen, the prisoner of Christ.

Aberdeen [no date]

Who is Lady Kenmure?

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now freely available via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.
  • Samuel Rutherford: A New Biography of the Man & His Ministry. This biography by Kingsley G Rendell provides an excellent introduction to Rutherford’s life and work.

Rutherford Thursdays #6: To Marion McNaught, when persecuted for her principles

Letter #6

Well-Beloved Sister,

I have been thinking, since my departure from you, of the pride and malice of your adversaries; and ye may not (since ye have had the Book of Psalms so often) take hardly with this; for David’s enemies snuffed at him, and through the pride of their heart said, ‘The Lord will not require it’ (Ps. 10.13). I beseech you, therefore, in the bowels of Jesus, set before your eyes the patience of your forerunner Jesus, who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him who judgeth righteously (I Pet. 2.23).

And since your Lord and Redeemer with patience received many a black stroke on His glorious back, and many a buffet of the unbelieving world, and says of Himself, ‘I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not my face from shame and spitting’ (Isa. 50.6); follow Him and think it not hard that you receive a blow with your Lord. Take part with Jesus of His sufferings, and glory in the marks of Christ. If this storm were over, you must prepare yourself for a new wound; for, five thousand years ago, our Lord proclaimed deadly war betwixt the Seed of the Woman and the seed of the Serpent.

Be you upon Christ’s side of it, and care not what flesh can do. Hold yourself fast by your Savior, howbeit you be buffeted, and those that follow Him. Yet a little while and the wicked shall not be. ‘We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed’ (II Cor. 4.8, 9). If you can possess your soul in patience, their day is coming.

Worthy and dear sister, know to carry yourself in trouble; and when you are hated and reproached, the Lord shows it to you – ‘All this is come upon us, yet have we not forgotten Thee, neither have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant’ (Ps. 44.17). ‘Unless Thy law had been my delight, I had perished in mine affliction’ (Ps. 119.92). Keep God’s covenant in your trials; hold you by His blessed word, and sin not; flee anger, wrath, grudging, envyving, fretting; forgive a hundred pence to your fellow-servant, because your Lord hath forgiven you ten thousand talents: for, I assure you by the Lord, your adversaries shall get no advantage against you, except you sin, and offend your Lord, in your sufferings.

But the way to overcome is by patience, forgiving and praying for your enemies, in doing whereof you heap coals upon their heads, and your Lord shall open a door to you in your trouble: wait upon Him, as the night watch waiteth for the morning. He will not tarry. Go up to your watch-tower, and come not down, but by prayer, and faith, and hope, wait on. When the sea is full, it will ebb again; and so soon as the wicked come to the top of their pride, and are waxed high and mighty, then is their change approaching; they that believe make not haste.

Now, again, I trust in our Lord, you shall by faith sustain yourself and comfort yourself in your Lord, and be strong in His power; for you are in the beaten and common way to heaven, when you are under our Lord’s crosses. You have reason to rejoice in it, more than in a crown of gold; and rejoice and be glad to bear the reproaches of Christ. I rest, recommending you and yours forever, to the grace and mercy of God. Yours in Christ.

ANWOTH, Feb, 11, 1631

Who Was Marion McNaught?

Marion McNaught, a niece of Viscount Kenmure, married William Fullerton, Provost of Kirkcudbright. She was a close and lifelong friend of Rutherford. The manner in which he discusses with her the most profound questions of Christian doctrine and personal religion, as well as the tangled affairs of Church and State, are sufficient evidence of her outstanding gifts and graces. Forty-five letters to her have survived. Letters VI [6] and XXXIX [39] below are also to her.

About “Rutherford Thursdays”

• See my introduction.
• Selection from His Letters is a public domain text hosted by CCEL. I have arranged and formatted Rutherford’s text and Hugh Martin’s editorial comments, added headings, paragraph separations, etc., for presentation on this blog.
• For a brief biographical sketch of Rutherford’s life, see Hugh Martin’s forward to Selections. And see Martin’s glossary for help with outdated vocabulary.
• Rutherford Resources:
  • Samuel Rutherford by Andrew Thompson. This book, now a freely available e-book via Google Books, presents two parts: First, a biography of Rutherford’s life; Second, a selection of Rutherford’s letters entitled “Honey from the Honeycomb.”
  • Fire and Ice index to S. R.

To be Planted by Grace – Psalm 1:3a

(To see the Hebrew text you need the free Ezra SIL SR unicode font.)

Psalm 1:3a, Part 2

 

We have seen that the blessed man is like a tree. Now the text invites us to explore further into the nature of the blessings attained by “treeness.”

שָׁת֪וּל עַֽל־פַּלְגֵ֫י מָ֥יִם

Specifically, the blessed man is like a tree which “was transplanted by channels of water.” First, what does it mean to be planted/transplanted?

Qal Passive Participle: “to be planted/transplanted” (שָׁת֪וּל)

The blessed tree is one that is planted. (The verb can mean both “plant” and “transplant.” Here it is likely the former. See TWOT, II:960.) The passive participle used here as an adjective to describe the tree implies that there is a planter. Who, then, is the planter? The following factors help to answer this question:

• Common sense (i.e. trees do not plant themselves),
• the grammar of the passive participle,
• the transplanted tree imagery as it is used in the prophets (i.e. Ezekiel 17; Ezekiel 19; Hosea 9:13),
• and the same imagery used elsewhere in the Psalter (i.e. Psalm 92:12-15 ) all lead the reader to the answer: Yahweh is the sovereign Planter who plants the blessed tree.

What might first appear to be a minute grammatical point about a passive participle yields an important truth about man’s relation to God: No man plants himself by God’s life-giving waters; rather, God Himself plants His own blessed trees. Let no man think he can take initiative on his own in becoming a Torah-keeper (i.e. a covenant of works); God of His own initiative transplants dead, Torah-breaking stumps from their dry desert graves to His lush, life-giving riverbanks (i.e. a covenant of grace). In Matthew Henry’s words:

The divine blessing produces real effects. It is the happiness of a godly man, [1.] That he is planted by the grace of God. These trees were by nature wild olives, and will continue so till they are grafted anew, and so planted by a power from above. Never any good tree grew of itself; it is the planting of the Lord, and therefore he must in it be glorified. Isa. lxi. 3, The trees of the Lord are full of sap.

In the next post we’ll look at the next qualifier of the blessed man’s “treeness”: What does it mean to be planted “by rivers of water”?

Review: The Cry of the Soul by Dan Allender & Tremper Longman

The Cry of the Soul: How Our Emotions Reveal Out Deepest Questions About God by Dr. Dan Allender & Dr. Tremper Longman, III
NavPress, 1999; 270 pages; ISBN 1576831809

A Welcome Surprise To My Low Expectations

Though I had pretty low expectations for reading a Christian book on emotions, I was encouraged by the reassuring word in the foreword that the book is not just one more partner in the orgy of anthropocentric subjectivism that sadly seems to dominate the so-called “Christian” psychological self-help world:

These men are provocative, creative thinkers, bound by their unswerving commitment to biblical truths and by their zeal to lead lives that reflect an intimate dependence on Christ. This book is not another manual on emotions: what causes them and how we can handle them. It is not a book filled with techniques for getting over anger or relieving fear. It is not a book that lists a verse for dealing with every troubling emotion. We have enough of those books already (11).

Amen and amen! Pelagian self-help is robbing God’s people of Christ’s joy, and we don’t need any more of those kind of books. By mentioning dependence on Christ, the forward foreshadows the authors’ approach to applying Christ’s Gospel to Christians’ emotional life: the objective reality of God and His accomplishment of salvation sets the context for subjectively applying the benefits of salvation to believers. Such a Scripturally faithful approach which weds the objective realities about God and His Gospel to the subjective inner life of Christians is hard to find today, and accordingly readers ought to appreciate fully the strength of this book.¹

Thesis: Our emotions are windows into God’s revelation of Himself

So, then, what does The Cry of the Soul have to say that Christians need to hear? Forgive another quote from the forward, but it summarizes well the purpose of the book:

Rather than explaining our emotions in order to help us gain control over them, Drs. Allender and Longman take us into new country. Their central idea . . . is that our emotional life, including those emotions we shouldn’t feel, forms a window that lets us see deep into the heart of God. Their rather surprising suggestion is that we explore our emotions not to get rid of the bad ones and replace them with good ones but rather to know God more fully (10).

Strength: Finding our story in God’s

A further strength drives the success of this powerful book: the authors’ theologically-informed presuppositions (14-18).

1. First, they believe emotions are not neutral (amoral), rather emotions speak the inner workings of humanity’s depraved hearts.
2. Second, the purpose of looking inward is not merely to better yourself, but to reveal your heart’s relation to God and others.
3. Third, the Psalter is a key section of divine revelation for looking into hearts.
4. And fourth, all emotions reveal the character of God.

Notice that these presuppositions join together God’s objective self-revelation and the subjective human experience and knowledge of God via this objective revelation. The strength, then, of The Cry of the Soul is that it seeks to tell humanity’s story in the context of God’s story; the distinction between Creator and creature is maintained while explaining the partners’ respective roles in redemption’s dance.

Chapter Highlights

Ch. 1: Our souls talk

The power of explaining the nature and purpose of emotions to be our soul’s cry helped me to see that my ups and downs, rages and joys are not mere feelings to be controlled, managed, ignored, or denied. Rather, my “insides” are constantly telling me what I am believing about God, myself, and the world. Accordingly, if I can learn to patiently listen to my heart instead of running from it, drowning its voice, or deadening its promptings, I will be more fully able to glimpse God’s glory of how He is redeeming the whole of me (inside and out), giving me back my dignity, allowing me to become fully human (delighting in God’s truth both in my inner world and my outer context). Such a view frees me from the doldrums of dead emotions; for, God created me both able to smile and to frown, and the emotions behind both actions reveal God to me. Furthermore, the glorious freedom of knowing God is that I am freed to more truly know myself, even through my emotions!

Ch. 2: Our souls sing the Psalter

Not only is it revolutionary to understand (ala chapter 1) that God “chooses to reveal His perfect heart by analogy with human emotion that is stained by depravity” (39); it is further amazing how God reveals his heart through ours: according to His self-revelation in Scripture (especially in the Psalter).

In the Psalms we are invited by God “to comprehend more richly the heart of God” as we “seek to understand our internal world” (39). Rightly understood in the context of God the Creator and man the creature, the fact that man’s knowledge of God is covenantally bound to man’s knowledge of the self is a glorious mystery replete in the Psalms. John Calvin speaks of this mystery in the opening lines of chapter 1 of his Institutes of the Christian Religion:

Our wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid Wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes and gives birth to the other.

Certainly, the chief “tie” that binds together our double knowledge of God and self is God’s revelation through His Scriptures. Accordingly, Allender and Longman explain well how the Psalms disturb us into facing our heart’s idolatries in the light of God’s strange love. The Psalms shock us into the light, both by inviting us to rage, cry, mourn, call down revenge upon our enemies, question God, etc., and by constantly calling us to believe in God’s everlasting covenant love (hesed). Through the Psalms God teaches us to sing His strange song of redemption, even when we can’t hear the music or see the Conductor.

Chs. 3-15: Our souls cry through the whole range of human emotion and always within our covenantal/relational union with God

It is precisely in the long moments of not hearing the music (the “how long?” of chapter 3) that God invites us into the depths of our covenantal union with Him. The “how long, O Lord?” challenges our hearts through the whole range of human emotion. Allender and Longman focus on anger, fear, envy, despair, mockery, and shame, showing both the idolatrous and the glorious sides of these windows into God’s heart. Each of these emotions invites us to wrestle with the question “how long?” in a way that reveals God’s faithfulness more fully to us, thus enabling us to be more faithful, specifically with that emotion, in our faithfulness to others.

Chs. 16-17: Though He is mysterious, God is good

Allender and Longman set the soul’s cry in the context of God’s mystery and God’s goodness. God is mysterious because He seems to hide his presence at the very times we need it most. He seems to let the unjust prosper at the very time the just are being abused. He seems to allow us to hurt and suffer at the very times that we desire relief most earnestly. Though God’s goodness is mysterious, it is truly good.

God’s faithfulness never fails! He never breaks His covenant promises! He leads us from the dark valley to the top of Mount Zion! He turns our mourning into dancing, even making our dancing more deep and joyful because of the mourning. Just as suffering Job received much more blessing than he had suffered, so our suffering Christ received all blessing as His reward for suffering. And Christ passes on those blessings to His children, even though He himself calls us to wander as pilgrims.

Suggestion for Improvement

This wonderful book could be even better by by adding some material on what it means for one’s soul to cry corporately, in the communion of the saints. The subtle undertone of individualism latent throughout the book (i.e. an “it’s just me and Jesus” spirituality) needs to be met with further thinking on the individual’s relation to the body of Christ (i.e. ecclesial praxis). Perhaps some interesting questions along this line could be explored, such as:

• Do we ever read, sing, recite, or reflect on the Psalms in corporate worship?
• Does the liturgy of corporate worship allow time for the worshipers to pour out the cries of their souls in quiet?
• Does our pastor ever lead a corporate cry, perhaps reading or praying one of the “dark” Psalms in worship?
• Does our congregation sing exclusively “happy-clappy” songs, or do we also sing sorrowful laments?
• Does my family worship time allow my family to voice the cry of their souls?

Conclusion

The Cry of the Soul truly leads us to God by honestly taking us through the whole spectrum of our hearts’ idolatries and the full context of God’s cosmic redemption, including how God redeems our emotions by using them as a window through which to shine His Light into our souls. This book helps us to see all our hearts’ stupid idols, all of the dry breasts we so stupidly fondle as we seek for life-giving milk that only God Himself can give even as He has already done so by sending His own Son to redeem us, body and soul.

Notes

1. In this specific regard, The Cry of the Soul evidences a vast improvement over Dr. Allender’s solo publication, The Healing Path. Perhaps this improvement reveals the balancing strength that comes from uniting a professional Christian psychologist (Allender) with a professional theologian (Longman) as is the case with The Cry of the Soul.

More Books by Allender and Longman

Review: The Healing Path by Dan Allender

The Healing Path: How the Hurts in Your Past Can Lead You to a More Abundant Life by Dan Allender
Paperback; ISBN: 1578563917

Thesis: God even uses hurts to sanctify Christians

Positioning himself in a long line of Christian tradition that seeks to draw Christians onto the “way of life” (i.e. Didache 1:1-2; c.f. Deut. 30:19, Psa. 1:1-2; John 14:6) with promised blessing, healing, and restoration, Dan Allender’s The Healing Path summons doubting, despairing, and disappointed Christians to embrace these downfalls as God’s strange tools of healing along the path of faith, hope and love.¹

In essence, Dr. Allender seeks to give Christians a grand change in perspective: instead of being controlled by the devastating effects of the Fall, Christians are to see how God is controlling even the fallen world (with all of its hurts, lost dreams, devastations, etc.) in such a way as to invite them into His glorious joy, if believers will only see their lives from His perspective. In mode, Dan’s book is a cry for restoring human dignity.

Through his creative, playful, and engaging writing one cannot help but feel Allender’s keen awareness of both the majesty of human dignity created in God’s image and the devastation of sin’s defacing that magnificent dignity.² And it is in this crux of devastation, an overwhelming tension between what is and what was supposed to be, that Dan challenges his readers to live with holy discontent. He wants Christians to see that God restores our dignity-He makes us more human; He gives us back the dignity that humanity lost (and continues to deface).³ And further, Dr. Allender attempts to take us by the hand to show us how God gives humanity back its dignity amidst the brokenness of life.⁴

With this goal in mind Dan speaks to the inner parts of the heart, wooing readers to the risk of hope with evocative and earthy illustrations that put into words the heartfelt desires for redemption that are often difficult to communicate on one’s own.. He whets Christians’ palette with the taste of glory. This book is most helpful in peeling back the lid if your heart and guiding you into the dark crevices, both revealing the brokenness and hurt and then helping you to find language to express the strange pains on your insides. In other words, The Healing Path is a useful aid in learning the grammar of the human soul.

As good as Allender’s book is in terms of understanding one’s own heart, however, it evidences some serious weaknesses in terms of explaining how one finds and treads God’s healing path.

Critique: Without the objective accomplishment of salvation by Christ as the robust foundation for the application of Christ’s benefits, one risks subjectivity and Pelagianism

As necessary and useful as it is to learn how to diagnose the hurts in one’s own soul, the subjective application of Christianity’s redemption is powerless without first being robustly connected to Christ’s objective accomplishment of redemption. The one is not possible without the other. There is one mediator between God and men (1 Tim. 2:5); all of the benefits of redemption are bound up in Christ’s person and work (Eph. 1:3) before being applied as gifts to Christ’s people (Eph. 2:8-10). Therefore, it is incorrect and misleading to invite Christians onto the healing path in order to receive the benefits of redemption without drawing believers’ faith onto the accomplished work of the Mediator.

In other words, the danger of Allender’s work is not one of saying untrue things about the application of redemption, but of not clearly giving the whole story, the accomplishment in Christ before the application to believers, the objective and the subjective. This theological deficiency reveals itself time and again in Dr. Allender’s practical applications. Notice, for example, how a lack of clarity on the objective work of Christ accomplished in history on behalf of the elect leads to a confusing, Pelagian-like exhortation to meet God half-way with open arms:

Opening the heart to face the complexity of living in this world requires waiting for truth to come to us. We are to move toward reality, but we can’t go the whole distance; truth must come to us. We are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling, but change-profound, unquestionably supernatural transformation-comes not from our will, but from God’s mercy. We must stretch out our arms to life, but God arrives when he wills.⁵

The exhortation to “stretch out our arms to life” in the tension of the fact that “God arrives when he wills”–a description of the application of redemption to a world not yet totally renewed–only makes sense in terms of one who knows he is already an adopted son of God through Christ’s objective accomplishment of salvation for him. Without this objective work, the believer has no reason to wait in hope and no ability to stretch out his arms (Romans 3).

Furthermore, in terms of redemption accomplished, believers do not have to “wait for truth to come” because Truth Himself (John 14:6) has already come in Christ both in His own person and work and in His outpouring of His Spirit on all believers (i.e. Joel 2, Acts 2). “Supernatural transformation” depends wholly on God’s work accomplished in Christ objectively, in real history 2,000 years ago, being now applied by the same Mediator, our Great High Priest whose subjective application of mercy to us is grounded in His objective work (Hebrews).

Going directly to subjective application of Christ’s benefits without referring to the objective accomplishment of Christ’s earning salvation is what causes the Pelagian confusion: without the objective work of Christ believers are awash in a world of subjectivity, having no hope that Christ will “show up” or “lean into our situation” as Allender likes to say.

Another place reveals the same Pelagian proclivity. Dr. Allender again attempts to apply the benefits of sanctification directly to believers without any reference to Christ as the sanctifier of His people, the objective (outward and ordinary, WSC 88) means of grace God has given for our sanctification, etc:

We all want to change, but change requires a herculean effort that seldom brings the immediate benefits needed to reinforce the initial cost and disruption change entails. The formula for change seems to be: high cost today–no gain for a long, long, time; high gain in the distant future–if one perseveres daily in hope.⁶

Again, rather than pointing his readers first to Christ’s coming down to earth to accomplish the salvation and sanctification of His people and to Christ’s ascending to the throne of heaven to be vindicated as Lord of Heaven and Earth and to give as gifts the benefits of salvation to His children (gifts including sanctification), Dr. Allender points his readers to themselves with a vague exhortation that “reaching out to eternity is to live with an unquenchable hope, refusing to resign to being as we are in the world as it is.”⁷

This exhortation turns the Scriptural pattern on its head. For, in the Scriptures, God (eternity) comes to man on God’s own initiative and through God’s appointed Mediator; this pattern is seen most clearly in God’s sending His Son as the incarnate Christ (John 1; 3:16). God only sees His children through the lens (as it were) of the Mediator. And as it is with God, so with man: God’s children only see God in the face of Christ. It follows, then, that applying God’s benefits to man must come via the Mediator.

Dangerous Subjectivism: Faith = Memory

Dr. Allender’s penchant for subjectivism (a failure to show how the objective work of God’s Mediator relates to the subjective application of redemption) is dangerously clear in one striking passage in which he grounds faith completely on the believers subjective memory rather than in God’s gift (Eph. 2:8). Notice how this dangerous subjectivising move kills any chance for a believer to know (contra John 17:3; 21:24; 1 John 5:13) that the objective Christ did empty Himself, taking on flesh for the accomplishment of our redemption in real time and space:

The external world and our internal gyroscope are never so clear that we have absolute assurance that a personal God is at work redeeming us. Instead, we have a gallery of pictures-a wall of remembrance that holds the faces of the actors in our lives who spoke their part in the play of our redemption.⁸

Nothing but a “gallery of pictures” in our own minds? This strong subjectivity is foreign–yea an offense–to the Christian Gospel as proclaimed in the Holy Scriptures. For in the Scriptures salvation is everywhere rooted in God’s objective work in Christ; salvation depends wholly on Christ’s work outside of me, not my memory of that work inside my own head. Read 1 Corinthians 15! Without this objective work outside of me there is no salvation to be applied to me! “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”⁹

Still a helpful book if read critically

Such examples of Dr. Allender’s skipping over the objective work of Christ to directly apply the subjective benefits of Salvation abound in this book, and the discerning Christian reader will not want to skim lightly over this shortcoming. Furthermore, much more could be said on issues that stem from this root problem, such as Dan’s misguided approach to ecclesiology.¹⁰ Nevertheless, in spite of these strong concerns Dr. Allender has given Christians a book that can be of great use, especially in terms of learning the grammar of the soul, as long as the reader engages this soul-reading activity with one eye fixed firmly on the objective work of God’s only Mediator between God and man, our strong Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Notes

1. Preface, x.

2. I.e. pp. 54ff.

3. “Christians don’t seem to grasp that the goal of redemption is to make us more human. Instead, we labor to be superhuman and lose what makes us more like Jesus-our humanity” (194).

4. “I will never, never be fully God, but by taking the healing path I can become more and more like Jesus by becoming more human” (ibid.)

5. P. 38.

6. Pp. 74-75.

7. P. 75.

8. P. 115.

9. 1 Corinthians 15:14 (ESV).

10. For example, Dr. Allender, a professional psychologist (neither a pastor nor a theologian) prescribes an ecclesiological view that downplays the spirituality of the church, blends general and special office, has no use of the means of grace, etc. etc. (see chapter 12). His ecclesiological view is thus misguided in that he makes no reference to the spiritual weapons that God has prescribed for the church with which to fight its spiritual holy war: preaching of the Word of Christ, administrating Christ’s sacraments, and enforcing Christ’s discipline.

Porn’s Dark Shame Shamed by Christ’s Brilliant Victory on the Cross

Although the Gospel’s light shines into our deepest darknesses, giving God’s people freedom from sin’s slavery, the dread blackness of shame, especially shame from sexual addictions, constantly deceives Christians into shutting their eyes. Sexual sin leaves one awash in an ocean of guilt, feeling as if the True Light is not already shining. Is the Gospel of Christ powerful enough to give true and certain freedom from the power and debilitation of shame’s blinding darkness?

In his penetrating and practical article, Gutsy Guilt, Pastor John Piper points Christians to Christ’s brilliant victory. Turning to Colossians 2, Piper explains the foundation upon which Christians can boldly open their eyes to the objective light of Christ and the benefits of His victory over sin and death. Surprisingly, the way Christians conquer the shame of sin is through Christ’s shaming of sin on the cross. Only with such a powerful weapon as Christ’s shaming victory can Christians overcome the false shame of sexual sin, or any other sin.

Here’s the opening to Pipers powerful article:

The closest I have ever come in 26 years to being fired from my position as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church was in the mid-1980s, when I wrote an article for our church newsletter titled “Missions and Masturbation.” I wrote the article after returning from a missions conference in Washington, D.C., with George Verwer, the head of Operation Mobilization.

Verwer’s burden at that conference was the tragic number of young people who at one point in their lives dreamed of radical obedience to Jesus, but then faded away into useless American prosperity. A gnawing sense of guilt and unworthiness over sexual failure gradually gave way to spiritual powerlessness and the dead-end dream of middle-class security and comfort. (Read the full article…)

Related Resources

The Way of the Wicked: Psalm 1:1b

Psalm 1:1b¹

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד

“…and in the way of sinners [he] does not stand”

As we enter the next phrase of v. 1, we begin to see a pattern in the Hebrew text. The person who is blessed by God is the one who (a) avoids a fealty-motivated, loving (i.e. loyal) action within (b) a context antithetical to or set against the One True God. For example, in 1:1a the heart-motivated action is “walking,” used metaphorically for living (as in a total way of life), and the antithetical context in which this blessed walker is to avoid is walking “in the counsel/advice/way-of-thinking of the wicked.” Now in 1:1b, the action is “standing” and the antithetical context is “in the way of sinners.” Let’s unpack this latter action and context.

לֹ֥א עָמָ֑ד

“Not stand.” The verbal concept of “standing”dips deep into biblical imagery. Standing is not seen in the abstract, as if the physical action in and of itself is important. Rather, what is in view is the relational (covenantal) aspect of the standing. One of these powerful images is “standing before God” as in a mediatorial role. Many times the mediator must stand before God on behalf of the people, such as when Abraham, Moses, and Samuel “stood before God” (Gen. 18:22; Gen. 19:27; Deut. 4:10; Jer. 15:1).¹

An important correlation is that not only did the mediator stand before God, but God’s people also stood before God via the representative head/mediator. As such it is important to pause and ponder before Whom humanity stands—the majestic Lord of Heaven and Earth:

As Joseph stood before Pharaoh (Gen 41:46), David before Saul (1Sam 16:21), Abishag and Bathsheba before David (1Kings 1:2, 28), and Nebuzaradan before Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 52:12); so the believer stands before Yahweh in a position of obedience, respect, and readiness to serve. Such a position is noble in proportion to the majesty of the one served. When a person stands before Yahweh for service, there is no higher honor to which he may aspire.²

Much more could be said about “standing.” (One interesting comparative usage of “stand” to note, for example, is Psalm 33:11. This verse uses both “stand” and “counsel,” the same two words we see in 1:1.) An important aspect to note for our reflection is that standing involves loyalty. You always stand before someone or something loyal to some foundation, whether it be yourself, a club or society, a religion—you’re feet are always planted somewhere. The man who would be blessed by God cannot plant his feet in the camp of the wicked; rather, the blessed man must plant his feet in the Lord’s camp.

וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ חַ֭טָּאִים

“In the way of the wicked.” From the Fall (Gen. 3) onward, there have been two “ways”³ in which man can live: in obedience to God or in disobedience to God. At every point God’s people are faced with the fundamental choice: Do I believe God and follow His way of life in obedience, or do I disobey God and follow my own way.

The choices are mutually exclusive. Jesus boldly proclaimed: “I am the way,” precluding any other way to God⁴ In Acts believers’ identity itself is tied directly to being followers of “the Way.”⁵ The blessed man cannot follow the world’s wicked way of life since he is rather to be following God’s way. The cursed man is he who, having begun to listen to “the counsel of the wicked,” now is “forgetful of himself” and “grows hardened in wickedness”; It becomes easier and easier to sin and harder and harder to hear God’s counsel and to live in obedience to it.⁶

Footnotes

1 TWOT, I:673-5. Also see Psalm 106:23, in which Moses stands before God as the mediator; the same action is performed by Phinehas in Psalm 106:30.

2 TWOT, I:674.

3 “Way” is “the customary mode or manner of living.”

4 John 14:6

5 Acts 9:2; Acts 16:17; Acts 18:25f; Acts 19:9, 23; Acts 24:14, 22; Acts 25:3; Acts 26:13

6 Calvin points out the progression of sin: from listening to wicked counsel (walking with the wicked) to taking action upon that counsel (standing with the wicked) to scorning those who oppose the wicked (sitting in the seat of the wicked). John Calvin, commentary on Psalm 1.

Footnotes

1. To see the Hebrew text you need the free Ezra SIL SR unicode font. [↩ back]