Today is the birthday of the great Austrian economist, Ludwig Von Mises. I have very much appreciated his scholarship and I know many others do. Perhaps today would be a good day to crack open an Austrian beer and toast it to the legacy of Ludwig. He very much established much of the intellectual landscape of the libertarian movement.
HT: Mark Horne
Kevin DeYoung, a pastor in Michigan, recently wrote an excellent blog post and I thought it was very insightful and important. It has to do with why a Christian should be a church member.
I know that some people, having been exposed to some unbiblical or perhaps “sub-biblical” ideas surrounding church membership, have “thrown out the baby out with the bath water” and forsaken the idea completely. But the fact that historically the concept of church membership has been abused does not give us the right to discard the thoroughly Biblical concept of church membership. If anything, the fact that there are abuses of the concept all the more strengthens the need for a solid, Biblical appreciation of it.
Highly recommended.
The full set of audio/video for the Desiring God National Conference, “With Calvin in the Theatre of God” is online! That’s full video/audio! You can get it here for free.
I have a confession to make. Listening to the the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, speak on The Struggle Since the Fall of Communism makes me secretly wish I was Czech. I’m sure he’s not perfect, but I just love some of the things he says.
OK, it’s been a while since I’ve shared a topic which really got my libertarian blood boiling, but here we go..
As an Eric Margolis points out in The Ghosts of Vietnam Haunt Washington (September 22, 2009), mission Afghanistan is continuing to be a disaster for the U.S. He makes a comparisons to the old British imperialist failure in Afghanistan, except with the telling assesment that “[t]he British imperialists did it much, much better and with a lot more style”.
Margolis points out how American general Stanley McChrystal is “warning that the US risks being beaten by lightly armed Taliban tribesmen in spite of his 107,000 western soliders, B1 heavy bombers, F-15′s, F-16′s, F-18′s, Apache and A-130 gunships, heavy artillery, tanks, radars, killer drones, cluster bombs, white phosphorus, rockets, and space surveillence.” The U.S. has spent $250 billion (that’s approximately the cost of 10,000 F-15s!) in Afghanistan since 2001. And each wave has caused an increase of resistance and more power for the Taliban.
After 8 years and $250 billion, the Taliban still controls 55% of the country. And get this, the commanders are still asking for 40,000 troops, even after Obama has tripled the presence there. Margolis does a fine job of exposing the sheer lunacy of what is going on over there.
And all of this is not even getting into things he brings up in other columns, such as the illegitimacy of the “elections” that the U.S. has implemented in Afghanistan–stage managed votes with canadidates hand-picked beforehand. All parties were banned, only individuals were allowed to run. It has been said that even the Soviets allowed parties to run in the elections they imposed on Afghanistan in 1986 and 1987. In the U.S.-run election, only candidates who favored continued U.S. and NATO occupation were allowed to stand. Foreign observers reported extensive fraud and vote-rigging. As Margolis has said elsewhere, “Compared to this pre-determined vote, Iran’s recent elections almost look Swiss by comparison”. Is this the democracy being exported?
This is not merely a crazed empire, this is a crazed empire on a self-destruct mission.
May some day God bless the U.S.A. with a leader or leaders that will be capable of ending this non-sense. May God spare the people of Afghanistan and us Westerners from the present and future chaos that this is causing.
Excerpted from a sermon by Mark Driscoll on Luke 1:
[Theophilus] is probably a new convert to Christianity. So there is a wealthy, prominent, affluent, significant man who becomes a Christian. And what he’s wondering is, is it really true? Is Jesus really God? Did He do what I’ve heard he’s done?…he has a lot to lose in declaring himself to be a Christian because in that day Caesar was lord, and as a Christian he would declare: “not anymore. JESUS IS LORD”. And in that day he would say “my highest allegience is my nation” and upon meeting Jesus he would have to say, “no, my highest allegience is to His kingdom”. And as a governer he would need to say “All religions are welcome, the worship of all gods is equal” and as a Christian, he would have to say “no, Jesus alone is God and savior”. This would get him in great trouble with his boss, Caesar. This could get him fired…maybe even in prison. This could cost him his income, his job, his prominence…
And so he is this man wrestling…with his faith…There’s a lot at stake. And so he contracts out, hires, funds, supports Luke. Fellow gentile, not a Jew, not looking for Messiah. Not predisposed. Educated, articulate man. Has access to apostles and the eyewitnesses and the disciples. And he says, “Luke, I need you to go find the truth. Go get the facts”…
Now, here’s what’s amazing: That was very expensive. This is a classic ancient way that someone who had been funded would acknowledge their benefactor. They would dedicate their play, their poetry, their book to their donor…So here’s what you’re supposed to understand. Theophilus paid for two books of the Bible to get written. He would have allowed Luke to take years off of work, I’m sure Luke kicked in his money as well, and to go do all the eyewitness investigation. Now think about this, 2,000 years later, had it not been for Theopholis’ generosity, we would be lacking the largest contribution to the entire New Testament.
I’ll tell you, one of the weaknesses at Mars Hill, actually one of the sins of Mars Hill is that this is a church that has not excelled in generosity. Now God’s been very generous to us, that’s for sure. But we’ve not been very generous, and in saying that some of you will be like “Oh, this is where he wants to take my money”. It’s not your money, it’s His, you’re a steward, and if it bothers you you’re an idolater. Let’s keep it simple, because you either worship your money, your status and possessions and wealth, or you worship with your money, your status, possesions, and wealth. It’s very simple. Theopholis was a man who gave generously for Luke to do his ministry
…a lot of libertarion theologians and the real hardcore liberals they’ll read Luke and say, “Well, that Gospel talks about the poor more than any other Gospel. It shows that Jesus was poor, Jesus loved the poor, and Jesus includes the poor, and Jesus is all about the poor.” And they forget that the only reason we know that is because the rich guy paid for the book that tells them that Jesus loves the poor.
You see, Christianity is not like the class warfare that you have been brainwashed in since infancy over here on the left coast. Rich people can love Jesus and they are supposed to give generously and poor people can love Jesus and they’re suppoesd to give generously, and sometimes it is rich people who pay for things so that poor people can know that Jesus loves them. That’s good. And Theophilus is that guy. I hope some of you earn a lot of money and are very very very generous…See, its not how much you make, it’s about what you do with it.
Now what Theopholis didn’t decide to do was to get a new camel with rims and get another vacation home…what he decided was: I need to find the facts about Jesus and I need to find and educated, objective, scholarly, academic historian and I need to just make an enormous financial sacrifice and let him go out and give me the facts. And we got two books of the Bible out of it. That’s wonderful, isn’t it? That 2,000 years later, a few billion of us on the earth claim to worship Jesus Christ as God, and so much of what we know about him, and how we function as a church comes from the books of Acts about the church and Luke about Jesus. Amazing. I want you to share in Theophilus’ joy. I want us to be, I want you to be, generous.
Nathaniel Macon (1758-1837) was an influential voice in the history of North Carolina and the U.S.A. in general. He fought in the Revolutionary War, had three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1781, 1782, and 1784. He also served on the CFR and had an unsuccessful run for the Vice Presidency in 1825. He was Speaker of the House during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency. He has been described as an anti-federalist and a Jeffersonian libertarian.
Nathaniel attended a Baptist church and was an intimate friend of figures such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Randolph. It should be noted that Jefferson’s famous quote about truth in advertising originated from a letter to Macon. He is known for having stood up against a Alien and Sedition acts, among other things and quite consistently stood against the expansion of federal power.
In the memoir written by Weldon Nathaniel Edwards, it is said that
“Of his political creed, it is scarcely necessary to speak. His unchequered consistency–the frank and manly avowal of his opinion on all proper occasions….Adopting to the fullest extent, the doctrine which allowed to men the capacity for, and the right of self-government…and never would consent–however strongly the law of circumstances, the common plea of tyrants, might demand it–to exercise doubtful powers.”
John Randolph commented about Nathaniel: “He is the wisest, the purest, and the best man that I ever knew”. He leaves a legacy of republicanism (with a small ‘r’) and has had a handful of towns and counties are named after him.
Here are a few exerpts from an article by Clyde N. Wilson on Macon:
“…an important Founding Father almost unknown these days. Comparing Macon with the politicians of today gives us a benchmark as to how dreadfully far America has degenerated from the principles on which it was founded…Macon was admired because he never changed from the principles with which he began. What were these principles? The federal government should be tightly bound by the Constitution. It should not tax the people and spend money any more than was absolutely necessary for the things it was entitled to do, nor go into debt, which was just a way to make the taxpayers pay interest to the rich. Eternal vigilance was the price of liberty. Power was always stealing from the many to the few. Office-holders were to be watched closely and kept as directly responsible to the citizens as possible. A few words from Macon in Congress often stopped bills that proposed supposedly attractive measures…As time went on, Macon realised more and more that preserving true republican principles was a losing cause, but in the company of John Randolph and John Taylor he never wavered…But Macon, like Washington and Jefferson, was not important and respected because he was elected to office. He was elected to office because he was important and respected. He never campaigned for an office. He never attended a party caucus. He never promised anyone patronage to support him. Macon was elected over and over and revered because of what he was….Macon was more Jeffersonian than Jefferson himself.”
No doubt Macon, along with many other founding fathers, kept slaves and had a troubling and despicable view on the slavery question. And many of these politicians and other later highly lauded politicians, including the often revered Abraham Lincoln, had very racist ideas. But nonetheless, there is much to be learned here about principles of politics and nobility in politics by looking into the history of these men. Macon, for all his warts, is an example of a early zealous “Dr No”, so to speak. In a few different ways, he should be an inspiration to those who would boldly against statism.
Here is John Piper commenting on why he invited Douglas Wilson to the upcoming Calvin in the Theater of God Desiring God conference.
And further comments by Piper on Wilson and also why he invited so many Presbyterians for the conference.
And here he also addresses a question about the “Federal Vision”,
“Encourage others each and every day–nothing’s more important than our words.
Did you know that, on average, each of us speaks about twenty-five thousand words daily? My last book didn’t have that many words. A lot of language is flowing out of our mouths every day and havin gan impact on those around us. But how much of that flow is fulfilling God’s intended purpose for our speech? How much of it reflects pride, rather than a gospel-motivated humility?”
(from Humility: True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney, p.111)
As of late, I’ve begun reading The Rebel League: The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association. I have not yet completed it, so I can’t give a final assesment, but after 60-something pages I certainly find it fascinating.
As you will probably know, once the 1960′s turned into the 1970′s various things began to start to get really shaggy. One of those shaggy things was a new hockey league intended to compete with the NHL (National Hockey League).
At one point, Dave Hanson, who would later play a role in the infamous movie Slap Shot, participated in an infamous incident where his team left their changing room pursuing an inebriated fan, only to forget that they were stark naked, and gave their fans a nice surprise. As the author says, “If you were looking for a metaphor for the WHA, you could do worse than a story about a bunch of naked hockey players running around like madmen while the rest of the world wondered just what…they were doing”
The Globe and Mail’s assesment of this book is also an apt description of the WHL itself “fuelled by fumes of the WHA’s audacity, reckless hope, violence, and economic hilarity”. The league was truly chaotic and a financial failure. But the really surprising aspect is not how much of a flop it was, but rather how much it actually accomplished.
For instance:
The WHA gave it their all, and certainly did it with a lot of “oomph”. As the author states, “The WHA survived for seven riotous seasons, producing twenty-seven teams…and, in its time, stuck a bottle of sltzer down the pants of the staid, established National Hockey League even as it revolutionized the game”. In a way it’s too bad the league is so forgotten among hockey fans. Where would the NHL be without the WHA’s crazy stand? We don’t know, we can only wonder.
If you are at all interested in the Swiss Reformer John Calvin, I must heartily commend to you The Humanness of John Calvin: The Reformer as a Husband, Father, Pastor & Friend by Richard Stauffer. In a mere 100 or so pages, Stauffer does an excellent job of a painting a portrait of Calvin. It’s probably a different portrait than what you may have in your mind, but its very accurate and corrects a lot of misconceptions of Calvin.
Calvin is slandered by his enemies (see a previous blog post), but even people who like him tend to pigeon-hole him into something he is not. Calvin was not a one-track theologian with nothing on his mind but predestination. He was not a cold, heartless exegete. He had a soft pastoral heart and a friendly, temperate disposition in many ways. One by one, Stauffer shows Calvin as a Husband, Father, Pastor, and Friend. To me, the most enlightening of these was “Friend”. The book really shows through primary sources how Calvin came along side people, cared for them, and was fiercely loyal to them. And it was not just one or two friendships that he nurtured, instead Calvin sought a handful of friendships and really himself poured into them.
The section on Calvin as “Pastor” is also very good, showing the way he cared for his people and also his humble approach, even upholding the church leadership which overthrew his own, because he felt it was still a valid church. Calvin’s pastoral heart really shines forth and refutes the idea which relegates Calvin to some sort of cold-hearted dictator. The portrayals of his sympathy and care for human suffering really dispels a lot of common misconceptions.
We also get a good glimpse into Calvin’s married life, and how he cared for his children. Their time was not an easy one, and Calvin’s faith and humanness really comes out as they go through various difficulties, including the plague.
There are two other areas that come out in this book, which aren’t part of the subtitle but seemed prominent to me. First of all, there is a great portrayal of Calvin as a Bachelor (as my previous blog post covered) and second Calvin as a Matchmaker. Calvin’s desire to encourage good matches for his friends really comes out here.
In 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Peter Boxall lists memorable and must-read works of literature ranging from pre-1700′s to 2000′s. It may not be totally exhaustive, but it traces the development of the modern novel really well.
If you want to check your progress on this list, you can download a really handy spreadsheet. All you need to do is put a “r” on the left column for each book you’ve read, and it will automatically tabulate how many of them you have read, what percentage, and also based on your age how many you will likely need to read per year if you are to have a hope of finishing it in a typical lifetime.
My progress is as follows: 31/1001 (3.10%). (I do, however, have my hands on 64 of them, which is a slightly better ratio–6%). At this pace, it looks like I may not be done until I’m 910 years old. I guess one should “never say never”, but I do not fully expect to be around that long. If I do, I will give your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandchildren my regards.
Here are a few quotes from The Humanness of John Calvin by Richard Stauffer, that give a glimpse of John Calvin’s single years (he was 31 when he married).
Teasing:
“We know that in the course of the Frankfort Conference of 1539, at which representatives of the two confessions had gathered for discussion, during a meal Melanchthon made fun of Calvin, who had been rather pensive, by saying ‘he was dreaming of getting married’. This pleasantry was perhaps not without basis.” (p.34)
On Celibacy and A Different Take On Being Dedicated More Completely To The Lord:
“‘I am inclined to be hostile to the celibate even though I am not married and don’t know if I ever will be. If I should take a wife, it would be in order to dedicate myself more completely to the Lord, being greatly freed from many worries.” (p.33)
On What He Was Looking For
“on May 19, 1539, Calvin revealed in a letter to his friend Farel that he was looking for a wife. ‘Remember well what I am looking for in her. I am not of the crazy breed of lovers, who, striken by the beauty of a woman, love even her faults. The only beauty which captivates me is that of a chaste, kind, modest, thrifty, patient woman, who I might finally hope would be attentive to my health’. “
Discouragement
” ‘I fear that if you want to attend my wedding, you may not come until much later. I have not yet found a wife, and I am asking myself whether I should search any more’ “
Who He Eventually Found
“Farel wrote Fabri telling him about the marriage of Calvin with an ‘upright and honest’ and ‘even pretty’ woman…He married Idelette de Bure, the widow of an Anabaptist citizen of Liege who had returned to the Reformed faith shortly before his death.”
I’m reading the so far excellent, The Humanness of John Calvin by Richard Stauffer. In the introduction, he speaks about the vitriolic attacks on John Calvin that were launched not long after his death. I think you can tell a good man by the extent to which his opponents have to go to criticize him. Some of the insults are really quite shocking and obviously untrue. Others, are curiously odd.
Take these examples. Secretly, I wonder whether I should aspire to getting insulted in this way. I still don’t know whether they are compliments or insults.
[John Calvin] is ” the author of a religion of the table, the stomach, the fat, the flesh, the kitchen” (Jacques Desmay, vicar-general of the diocese of Rouen)
In [John Calvin], the whole reformation only tendeth to “establish the reign of wine, women and song” (Jacques Desmay, vicar-general of the diocese of Rouen)
Wine, women, and song. Hmm.. I’ve seen worse errors. Would to God that he raises another Docteur de la Kitchen.