Whilin' Away the Hours

I Protest!
(now that I've stopped sputtering with indignation and have recovered my ability to speak)
From the unofficial minutes of the 71st OPC GA:
"That the Assembly erect a study committee of seven (ministers or ruling elders) to critique the teachings of the "New Perspective on Paul," "Federal Vision" and other like teachings concerning the doctrine of justification and other related doctrines, as they are related to the Word of God and our subordinate standards, with a view to giving a clear statement to the presbyteries, sessions and seminaries, and report back to the 72nd GA;...

...the following were elected: Messrs. William B. Barcley (Professor, Reformed Theological Seminary), Sidney D. Dyer (Associate Professor, Greenville Theological Seminary), David M. VanDrunen (convenor; Associate Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary in California), Alan D. Strange (Associate Professor, Mid-America Reformed Seminary), John V. Fesko (pastor, Geneva Church, Marietta, Georgia), Richard B. Gaffin, Jr. (Professor, Westminster Theological Seminary), George W. Knight, III (Teacher, Matthew OPC, Matthew, North Carolina, and alternates L. Anthony Curto (Associate Professor, Greenville Theological Seminary) and William Shishko (pastor, Franklin Square OPC, Franklin Square, New York)."

This is utterly outrageous. I don't know how this committee could be much more stacked against a fair-minded evaluation of the FV or NPP. Four of the seven men elected to this committee, Messrs. Dyer, VanDrunen, Strange, & Fesko, are without doubt entering already determined to render a condemning opinion. Three of them, Fesko, VanDrunen, and Dyer have written scathing denunciations related to both the FV and the NPP. They have each, in one way or another, made it clear that they already are of the opinion that the FV and NPP are heretical denials of the gospel and that they lead down a path that will cost men their souls. And yet this is called a "study committee?" HA! It's a firing squad! If these were juror candidates they would be dismissed post haste. So I want to ask, loudly and clearly, what's going on here? Something smells fishy...

It seems to me that this committee is a charade. Why waste $5,000 on the ridiculous pretense of a study committee? Why not simply collate the articles and essays of the committee members and submit them as a majority report?

This Is My Father's World
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

Thanks to Puritan Divine for reminding me of this favorite old hymn. The verse above was a much needed tune-up for me today.

I can spill the beans now!
Most visitors here have probably heard that N.T. Wright will be a speaker at the 2005 Auburn Avenue Pastor's Conference. But I've been sitting on some other news since March: In addition to Dr. Wright, Dr. Richard B. Gaffin will be speaking - two of my favorite contemporary theologians together at the same conference. Let's see... only 210 days to wait and counting!

Oh well...
The best laid plans of mice and men and scarecrows often go awry. I've been unable to ascertain whether the justification issues before the 71st OPC GA are to be heard Monday on schedule. Apparently, the creation debate rages on undecided from Saturday so there is some doubt in my mind as to Monday's slated schedule and Beaver Falls is a bit of a hike to risk a hit or miss. I'm disappointed. I was very much looking forward to a profitable time observing the Assembly and to meeting a few "cyber-friends." But, as Valerie is wont to say, "Eigeap."

Hmmm...how does one pronounce 'eigeap?' Ay ghee-ahp? Ay gheep? A jeep?

R.I.P. Mr. President

Ronald Reagan 1911-2004

Thoughts on vines, grafts, sap.
"But he also takes hold of something far higher, namely, that through baptism Christ makes us sharers in his death, that we may be engrafted in it [Rom. 6:5]. And, just as the twig draws substance and nourishment from the root to which it is grafted, so those who receive baptism with right faith truly feel the effective working of Christ's death in the mortification of their flesh, together with the working of his resurrection in the vivification of the Spirit [Rom. 6:8]" Calvin's Inst.4.15.5

Jesus taught by choosing analogies people understood. The culture into which He spoke was largely agrarian and since wine was both sacramental and symbolic of God's blessings, I suspect that vinedressing techniques were fairly common knowledge. I can easily imagine that propagation by grafting was a well-known skill.

Jesus is the True Vine. He used the vine analogy to teach that life was to be found only only in Him and that life entailed obedience and fruitfulness. Later, Paul would use the analogy for the grafting of the Gentiles into the True Vine. I don't know when theologians began speaking of baptism as "engrafting" into Christ* but if the analogy holds then the practical knowledge of grafting is applicable.

Grafting Principles
Grafting joins tissue from two plants by holding cut surfaces in position until a union of living cells forms. As in any plant work there are a couple of caveats in grafting. Rejection of the grafted scion can occur and the graft union itself can be extremely fragile therefore a graft must be protected and sustained by means of binding and sealing until the union is mature and strong.

Reasons for Graft Failure
1. Stock and scion were not compatible.
2. The cambiums were not meeting properly.
3. Scions were upside down.
4. Grafting was done at the wrong time.
5. Understock or scion were not healthy.
6. Scions were dried out or injured by cold.
7. Scions were not dormant.
8. The graft was not properly covered.
9. The scion was displaced by storm, birds, or other means.
10. The graft was shaded too much by other growth.
11. The graft was attacked by insects or disease.
12. The graft union was girdled because tape was not cut or released in time.

"Right faith," (the sap of the Spirit) as Calvin put it, is the condition for a successful graft. As any grape grower would have known, the graft must be in place, bound, and sealed before sap could begin to flow. He would also have known that some grafts, though really grafted in, failed, some sooner, some later.

We want to say that a failed graft was never really grafted in but that would be nonsensical to the Palestinian vinedresser or the 16th century French winemaker. He'd carefully stripped back the bark, bound the twig to the root, and sealed it with wax with his own hands. In some cases, even though he'd seen buds begin to grow, the graft failed. Such was the common experience among vinedressers.

Not what but Who...

Isa 42:6 I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

"Let us bear in mind, that the servant of Jehovah appears here not only as one who is the medium of a covenant to the nation, and of light to the Gentiles, but as being himself the people's covenant and heathen's light, inasmuch as in his own person he is the band of a new fellowship between Israel and Jehovah, and becomes in his own person the light which illumines the dark heathen world." Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

"...Christ is the covenant itself; he is so both materially and fundamentally; he is the matter, sum and substance of it ; he is the basis and foundation of it; all the blessings of it are upon him; and all the promises of it are in him, yea and amen..." John Gill Commentary on Song of Solomon

If we are grafted into the Church by baptism, we are grafted into the Covenant of Grace and so into Christ. By right use of the ordinance, that is, as we "improve our baptisms" or, in keeping with the analogy, as the the graft matures and strengthens, baptism is received "with right faith" and we abide in the Vine. But where the binding is weak or the wax is neglected the cambium layer stops growing and the twig dries up eventually falling away from the Vine. Isn't this how the story goes in history?

**Is it right to use the analogy this way? Scripture certainly speaks of being baptized "into" Christ but when the epoch changing events of the incarnation, death, and resurrection are considered, I wonder if the transitional language of baptism is not best compared with Romans 11. This remains a question for me.

I'm an aunt...
...again! There are just no words to describe the experience of witnessing a birth.

Dad is the tall guy on the right. Number one son is next to him and (for now) slightly shorter. The lady is the paternal grandma and to the left is Dad's dad. In bed is mom and the rest of the kiddos are part of the septuple siblings.

General Assembly
The 71st General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church begins this Wednesday, June 3rd. This year there are several important overtures relating to justification on the docket. One is an overture from the Presbytery of the Midwest which demands that the OPC issue an official position statement similar in some respects to the Westminster Seminary California document. It seems to me that the position statement is only selectively confessional in that it excludes all language of covenant conditionality which is prevelant in the Westminster Standards when considered as a whole. For that reason, I believe such a statement presents a truncated view the of system of doctrine contained in the Westminster Standards and is therefore misleading. The other overture comes from the Presbytery of New York and New England and seeks to remove Romans 2:6, 7, 13, 16 from Q 90 of the LC proof texts approved by the 68th GA.

I'm planning to attend at least one day of the Assembly. My dilemma is which day to attend. My choice is between observing the Advisory Committee which will be considering the overtures and formulating an opinion or observing the floor discussions prior to the vote on the overtures. Tough call, that. My "goals" in observing are: to understand both sides, to compare my own thinking to that of the elders of the OPC, and to take the pulse of my denomination. Whichever I choose, I'm looking forward to a profitable experience.