Monday, March 11, 2013

Throwing Calvin Under The Bus to Save Talbot?

Sam Frost, known for his pandering; even as noted by his own "friends" such as Dee Dee Warren -- Frost now attempts to throw even John Calvin under the bus so Frost can protect his mentor; Kenneth Talbot.
Talbot was recently cited as calling for the killing of people who do not "obey" him. Talbot was very clear that when he is in charge, he wants to execute people...people he calls "blights on society" and "road bumps" that he and his followers "don't want in their kingdom". (Read and listen to the comment here)

No apostle in the New Testament EVER urges killing people for their beliefs or for not "obeying" them. However Frost and his murderous mentor are trying to use Calvin to justify themselves. On March 11, 2013 Frost wrote:

"How can someone condemn the establishment of God's Law, when Calvin very clearly approved of the State carrying out the execution of Servetus for heresy? How can they, with a straight face, call Dr. Talbot a murderer?" -- source

The problem is Talbot ISN'T advocating the "establishment of God's Law" -- instead Talbot is advocating his interpretation of "God's law" then saying that whomever doesn't "obey" him and his followers when they are "in charge" will be "just quick executed". All through Talbot's murderous speech, he uses words like "us" and "we" and "our" when speaking of himself and his followers being in charge, executing people and keeping blights and road bumps out of THEIR kingdom -- not Christ's kingdom, but THEIR personalized kingdom.

Next, notice the admission here by Frost -- Calvin [approved of the STATE] carrying out execution. We'll get into the details in a moment to see if Frost posed even this correctly, but just note that Calvin didn't kill Servetus. Calvin didn't call for the killing/execution of people when they didn't "obey" him. This comes down to what Martin Luther called the "two-swords" or "two kingdoms".  Luther strongly advocated that the secular/worldly/civil sword is responsible for keeping order and peace; the outward condition of life, whereas the Church is responsible for keeping order and peace within the spiritual realm of life.

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

How Clarkian Scripturalism Undermines Christianity

Gordon Clark, originally opposed by the faculty of Westminster Theological Seminary when Clark tried to be confirmed within the OPC denomination -- enters into a new controversy even though he has been dead since 1985. Clark was initially opposed mainly because of his concept of "primacy of intellect". In this concept, Clark who was more a philosopher than a theologian advocated an almost humanistic notion that via the intellect, man could rightly conclude truth. Taken with Clark's other teachings which included that there is no such thing as paradox and that the Bible is the Word of God written, a person could approach the Bible as a logician would approach a mathematical equation. (NOTE: a paradox is only an apparent contradiction, not an actual contradiction. So, while the Bible may contain paradoxes, we Christians believe the Bible contains no contradictions)

SCRIPTURALISM: The Bible First, Then God
Clark's position is often called Scripturalism because it emphasizes the Bible over God; or that it claims God cannot be known outside the Bible. While this may at first seem a noble and Christian concept, it in effect is closer to the Islamic idolizing of the Qur'an.  No Christian would dispute that God is most revealed through the Bible but that is not the only place He has revealed Himself; and even the Bible says so.

Monday, March 4, 2013

Dear Dee Dee Warren

In 2006-2007 I left the Full Preterist movement for good. Shortly after that, the leading opponent of "hyperpreterism", Dee Dee Warren approached me to join her in a "ministry" against "hyperpreterism".  With some reluctance, I eventually accepted. For several years and with her full support, I wrote detailed articles interacting, by name with the behavior and teaching of leading "hyperpreterists".

Perhaps the main leader of the "hyperpreterists" at the time was a man named Sam Frost. Frost is known for his arrogance, elitism and his pandering. It eventually came to light that Frost was being allowed to help develop student material for a supposed Christian seminary. I sent an email to the seminary requesting verification; though I never used Frost's name specifically in the email. Next thing I know, the "president" of the seminary had released my email to Frost and per Frost gave Frost full authorization to answer for the seminary. I was shocked. In times past, Dee Dee Warren also would have been shocked and outraged.  But something changed. Talbot offered Dee Dee Warren a free tuition to his seminary. He called her on the phone and flattered her (Rom 16:17-18). At first, (before I could see the entire picture) Dee Dee convinced me we should give Talbot a chance; that there had been some sort of misunderstanding. I began conversing with Talbot on the phone. During at least one of those phone conversations Talbot joked how Frost called him up, perhaps drunk (per Talbot) rambling on about how Frost wanted to sue Dee Dee Warren. I thought perhaps Talbot was beginning to see the real Sam Frost -- a self-serving man with a huge ego.

I worked with Talbot some more. He eventually too offered me a free tuition. I was hesitant to accept it because I have a policy of being as free as possible from conflicts of interests so that I may remain as objective as possible. Talbot told me at the time he would have me forgo the eschatology portion of the course since he thought I had proven to already know this subject.