Studying the Bible is good for your Christian life

Monergism.com, as I’ve mentioned in my previous post, is a darn well amazing site. If you don’t use it, hang your head in shame, repent and start using it LOL.

I get email updates from them all the time, and I got a good one today. They featured a list of books which, after I looked them over,  I figured to share with the folks.

The Westminster Confession of Faith, 1646

First book to make the roster is the Westminster Confession of Faith. This classic confession of the Christian faith from the 1600s put forward the great doctrines of our faith in pointed, firm terms, yet with a charitable flavour of it which makes it essential reading. You can access it at the Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics or get a print copy from the Tabernacle Bookshop.

A Body of Divinity, Thomas Watson

Next thing in my little to-get list is A Body of Divinity by famed Puritan, Thomas Watson. This book, the first in Watson’s A Body of Practical Divinity, an exposition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, sets forth the fundamental doctrines of the faith in a clear yet profound way, making it a glorious read for anyone interested in the Reformed faith, set forth in an experiential manner. You can access this gem via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library or again pick up a print copy from Tabernacle Bookshop. The other two volumes are easily acquirable – The Lord’s Prayer and The Ten Commandments.

Moving on swiftly, my final pitch for your new theological basics library is Outlines of Theology by A.A. Hodge, son of Princeton theologian Charles Hodge. My hero C.H. Spurgeon had this to say about the book:

“We commend the Outlines of Theology to all who would be well instructed in the faith. It is the standard text-book of our college. We differ from its teachings upon baptism, but in almost everything else we endorse Hodge to the letter.”

Outlines of Theology, A.A. Hodge

I’m reading this book as part of my reading schedule and it’s awesome material. I had no luck procuring an online edition of this – but you can pick it up in print from those cool guys from Monergism Books (UPDATE, April 21, 2010: Thanks to a helpful tip from Hal in the comments, this book is available online here)

Really, if you are new to theology, there is one Book you need – the fountainhead of all true theology, the Bible. It’s no good reading any of the above with consistent time being spent in God’s Word. Be a Bible student – and while you’re at it, consider what some great minds had to say about a great Book

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This question was posed to me by pricechris on Twitter:

How can Americans help to positively change or shape the theological landscape of Europe?

Good question! My short answer is this: Help us over here to help ourselves. Having lived in two European countries (Great Britain and Germany), and having visited numerous others, I believe that we in Europe have the capability, God being sovereign, to help ourselves. A high literacy rate, the proliferation of information via the World Wide Web through podcasts, blogs, YouTube, etc., an increase in interest relating to doctrine and theology – all of these are factors which I think can be put to work for a good cause. Now, unlike the UK, from what I can see, the US has a proliferation of Reformed ministries -  like Grace to You, Ligonier, Monergism, Desiring God – and seminaries like Reformed Theological Seminary, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and Westminster Seminary California to name but a few, which can assist sound believers in Europe , but there is something which I feel our brethren in the US need to avoid.

Can the US truly help Europe theologically?

Y’all need to steer clear of theological colonialism, and this is where we on the other side of the Atlantic need to sit back and take note. In the UK, we generally don’t mind visitors. We have people from all over the planet who call Britain home. Having lived in Germany, and in a major city (Frankfurt), as well as in my travels across mainland Europe as a whole, I’ve observed something and please, if you are reading this and you are American, do not take this the wrong way. By and large, Europeans are skeptical (and that’s being nice) about anything which comes from, or has anything to do with, America. Call it an unhealthy skepticism (I know I do), but the thought of Americans seemingly dictating anything is a turnoff, and that even includes religion.

What needs to happen is that these ministries and seminaries – and let’s not forget individual local churches – needs people who know the culture, know the language (if applicable), know the social dynamic and are passionate for the Gospel. That is one reason I am reservedly pleased about such things as The Gospel Coalition and its desire to start chapters in local areas. By allowing Europeans to develop resources, plant churches and do Gospel ministry in their context, rather than importing pastor-teachers and missionaries alone. [I insert a caveat here - I love folks like Doug McMasters over at Trinity Road Chapel, who come to London to serve in churches. I am not at all disparaging what many like him have done - in fact may their tribe increase]

In short, what can America do to help? Lock arms with your brethren in Europe and let’s get the Gospel work done!

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Of late, I have been loving the blog posts of Parchment and Pen (CMP, you’re a beast!). One of the posts I have really enjoyed of late has been his consideration of the need for hermeneutics which was pointedly titled It Does Not Matter What It Means to You. During the comment thread, one particular lady continued to make the point that we don’t really need theology at all. In her last post, a response to a comment I made, she said the following:

Douglas,
I think really the issues you have with me are more than just me being a little “argumentative as you have said in other places. Yes, God gave you a brain, but what does he say about puffed up intelligence?

1 Corinthians 3
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
20And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

Does that sound like God trusts us with our brains? And yes studying God through HIS word, not everybody else’s word.

Galatians 3
1O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
4Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
5He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
7Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
9So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

What? You mean the Galatians started off Spirit filled and Spirit led until someone came along and preached something else and it bewitched them? You’ve got to be kidding that this could happen to Christians. The point is not the Judaizers (if that was who was preaching it, but I think not) but the fragility and vanity of the person who was gullible enough to go along with it.

Now this line of argument – i.e. “theology is problematic/evil, but it leads to puffing up in pride – is not new to me. I live with a Pentecostal pastor (my Dad) and attend his church (long story, search the blog for “the clampdown”) and generally doctrine is looked down upon. My problem with that line of thinking is that it is directly applicable to any sphere. Anything you do can become a means for pride – my question is, “Who is to blame?” Is it theology by its very nature that makes people prideful? Hate to say it, but nope it’s not. If that were true, Paul was incredibly prideful – having penned half our New Testament.

Well then what is truly to blame for the fact that some of the most prideful people are sometimes the most spiritually prideful? The sickness of the human heart. The fact that man does not merely commit sins, but that he is a sinner through and through. It pervades into his very nature, taking even good things like theology and using them to the end of self-glorification. What my friend the commenter didn’t understand is that it’s not the thing it and of itself that leads to the pride they were discussing – it is the sin-sickness of the human heart that leads to such.

In other words…don’t hate the knowledge, hate the one abusing the knowledge. In fact, don’t even hate them – pray that the truth in their heart will become a reality in the heart…

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The (500th) birthday boy...

Well, July 10, 2009 came and went. 500 years and 1 day  ago, Calvin was born and little did his parents know that his birth was usher in one of the finest theologians in the history of the Christian Church. Love or loathe him, no one can deny the influence that John Calvin has had on the evangelical, Protestant Churches, through his magnum opus The Institutes of the Christian Religion, his many commentaries, the many preachers who went forth from Geneva and the Reformed churches which stand in the memory of Mr. Calvin.

As we thank the Lord for the gracious life of his servant, may we realise that Calvin is not the real focus of this day – the Godhead are. The Father, in eternity past, chose Calvin to salvation, just as He chose you and me for salvation (John 6:37, 44; Acts 13:48; Romans 9:6-29; Ephesians 1:4-11 – yes Calvin was not specially elected above us mere mortals ) It was the Son who went to the Cross for him, just like any one of us (2 Cor 5:21; Romans 3:21-26). It was the Spirit who drew the young lawyer-in-training to himself out of the darkness of medieval Catholicism (John 6:44) and regenerated him (John 3:3-16).

I think it’s safe to say that July 10 was not about John Calvin at all – this is a day of praise to our Triune God for being with his ever-humble servant, John Calvin, during His earthly ministry. Now he’s enjoying the day off to end all days off – eternity with his ever-living Saviour God. So, Mr. Calvin, we salute you, a humble messenger of the great God.

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Ever since I put my laptop to the productive use of blogging over a year ago, I’ve often found it both a blessing and a curse to share my concern regarding what parades itself as Christianity. Having grown up in a Pentecostal family, then becoming Reformed Baptist, I’ve seen a fair deal of what parades itself as “Christianity”. From the Word of Faith movement and its excesses to the Emergent Church and its contradictory views on everything (I’m working on a post on that, so bear with me), I can say, in all humility, I have seen a great deal of things in the Church. On Monday, I was going on the bus and started thinking, “Where did Christianity go wrong?” You only need to look at some of the things which parades as “Christian” and you’ll see there is a problem. So, for the beginning post of this short series, watch the following smorgasbord of videos, thinking, “What’s wrong here?”

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Before I cover the main content of this post, let me say this. Most evangelicals/fundamentalists would like to believe that they have no problem with settling the place of Scripture and tradition. After all, we believe the Bible to be the word with tradition having nowhere near as much importance – right?

Well I am convinced that we give tradition an undue high place in determining whether something is true or not. More often than not, the traditions become an unnecessary burden upon those they are preached to (e.g. headcoverings as a classic example). One such traditions that many Christians hold to without contemplating whether they are true is that the tithe is always ten percent of our monetary earnings. If we are interested in understanding whether the tithe is truly mandated for the Church, then it becomes necessary that before we discuss it, we define what the tithe is seen to be, and what isn’t.

THE GENERAL DEFINITION OF THE TITHE

Let’s begin with what the general definition of what the general definition of tithing is. The Encyclopedia Americana defines tithing as:

“The 10th part of produce or other income paid voluntary or under compulsion of law for the benefit of religious instituitions, the support of priests and pastors and the relief of those in need.”

As Dr. Russell Earl Kelly notes, such a definition does not:

…distinguish between ecclesiastical tithes from church laws, personal tithes from trade and agricultural tithes” (Dr Russell Earl Kelly: Should the Church Teach Tithing?, pg.6)

A similar definition of the tithe can be found in the Westminster Dictionary of the Biblem which defines the tithes as:

A tenth part of one’s incomes consecrated to God.

We could easily present several other definitions precede, however we can make an interesting observation. The tithe presented in these definitions precede the Mosaic-Biblical tithe by centuries. The Encyclopedia of Religion notes that the practice of tithing happened prior to the Mosaic Law in such places as:

Mesopotamia, Syria-Palestine, Greece, and far as Carthage (Encyclopedia of Religion, Mircea Eliad, ed.)

We see this practice even in the Old Testament – we simply do not see the word “tithe” attached to it, with the exception of one’s case. In Genesis 41:34, Joseph, having interpreted the dream for Pharoah, advises Pharaoh to store one-fifth of the grain from the years of plenty. Adam Clarke, in his commentary notes that:

It is probable that in Joseph’s time, it was not so much a fifth part, most likely a TENTH (Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Whole Bible, note on Genesis 41:34)

Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, makes a similar observation:

The measures here suggested to Pharoah were, we must suppose, in conformity with teh civil institutions of the country. The exaction of a fifth or TWO TITHES, during the period of plenty may have been an extraordinary measure, which the absolute power of the monarch enabled him to enforce for the public safety (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, note on Genesis 41:34)

Thus we see tithing as the normal practice in the land of Egypt at the time of Joseph.

In Genesis 14, a passage often quoted to support the doctrine of tithing, is another prooftext that can be easily explained as an example of this general definition of tithing. Abraham was obligated to pay 10% of his war spoils, due to the custom of the time! One more thing is worth noting – if the law failed to require 10% of war spoils (Numbers 31:25-47), and we have no command from God to do so, yet tithing is an eternal principle of God, then would Abraham do so?

Matthew Poole in his commentary sheds light as to what was “tithed” by Abraham, as to the mean of the word all (Heb. ma`aser micol) as:

Not of all the recovered goods [the doctrine of tithing would have us believe that one tithes of all their gross earnings], but of all the taken from the enemies

However the modern concept of tithes fails to recognise that the Biblical model differentiates between what is to be tithed. I will go into this topic in more details as the series of studies progresses.

TITHING AS GENERAL OFFERINGS

Now another definition of tithing, which is slightly less common yet as pervasive in modern Christianity, is the doctrine of tithing as equal with free-will offerings. A good example of this is given by Dr. kelly:

Members are urged to begin with a small percentage of giving and gradually increase the percentage according to their ability. Among these churches, there is little or no reference to an exact compulsory giving of ten percent from gross income as a legal requirement (Kelly: Tithing, pg. 14)

This position is advanced in a fair deal of liberal church and more often than not find its basis in general principles, rather than any form of Biblical exegesis, often due to the view of Scripture found in such churches

THE TRADITIONAL CONSERVATIVE UNDERSTANDING OF THE TITHE

Our third definition of tithing is by far the most well-known and accepted and the one I wish to combat in this series. I can recite the position that my dad, a Pentecostal preacher, has preached in his decade as an ordained minister:

The tithe is ten percent of your gross (he’d really emphasise gross) income. Irregardless you must give of your gross – before the tax man, before British Telecom, before the gas company – all is God’s!

Now this position holds to the belief that all are required to pay a rigid 10%, irregardless of social class, financial ability or even general desire. Be it a Baptist or a Presbyterian, an Assemblies of God church or an Independent church, this tends to be the most on which most church hope to receive their income and means to preach the Gospel, support the ministers, and in the case of the Word of Faith types, a couple hundred other things they’d rather not tell you about [if you're in their churches, wake up - and get outta there!!!].

The espousers of this definition (malicious or otherwise) believe the “tithe” to be an unchanging Biblical standard  and a eternal moral principle, fully reflective of the divine character of God, preceded by the Mosaic Law, and thus not abolished by the New Covenant. Thus, the Church, the Body of Christ, is OBLIGATED to teach the tithe. The tithe, as it is taught, must be observed by all Christians, as well as free will offerings.

This series of studies will definitely speak out against this form of the tithe as Biblically revisionistic and legalistic in its operation. Just as important, it ignores the clear teaching of such New Testament books as 2 Corinthians and Hebrews on the nature and superiority of the New Covenant, as well as the place which Christians are to give to both Covenants.

With that, I will wrap up this study on tithing. Next time, God willing, we will begin to examine the text of Scripture as to what the tithe was in the Mosaic Law and whether money was the real commodity of the tithe.

Grace and peace,

Douglas K. Adu-Boahen

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As you can already see, I want to deal with the question: Is tithing required for the New Testament Church? Now bear in mind that I grew up a Pentecostal. In my church, if you didn’t tithes, the following observations were made about you [all of which were wrong]:

1. You’re a greedy moron who hates God
2. You’re unsaved
3. You hate the church

Now, growing up and never having a job which paid well [the money from my paper round didn't stretch far enough...], I felt the guilt which comes from not paying “God his tithe”. Then I studied the Scriptures and came across some interesting facts about giving which cannot be ignored. Thus, I’m beginning a teaching series here on the blog looking at the issue of tithing and New Covenant giving. Today, I want to explain my thesis for this series, as well as some preliminary issues.

Here is my thesis:

THE PRACTICE OF TITHING IS NOT MANDATED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES, AND IN FACT, THE PRACTICE OF TITHING WE HAVE IN CHURCHES TODAY DOESN’T MATCH WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT MODEL.

Now I am not alone in this belief. My brother Alan did a post on this which was short but hit all the bases we’re going to cover in this series. Dr. Russell Earl Kelly, a Southern Baptist, has written an epic book called Should the Church Teach Tithing?, which I recommend, and will use extensively in this series. A brother by the name of George W. Greene has done a video series called The Truth About Tithing.

I will also like to say this. Churches have numerous reasons why they would teach tithing:

1. Tradition – “We’ve always done it this way, so why change?”
2. Greed – I’m talking to you, Word of Faith bunch! Tithing increases your chance of that lucrative blessing…NOT!!!
3. Stigma – If you don’t tithe, it supposedly says a great deal about you as a Christian – none of which is good.

No matter the reason we tithe, it is incumbent on us to study this out, so I hope you will join me for this series of studies regarding tithing and giving.

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Doctrine Grid

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