Blog - Page 280 of 318 - John H Armstrong

Vibrant Catholicism Grows in Africa

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:48-05:00January 19th, 2007|Categories: Roman Catholicism|

Catholics have long had a deeper and more developed sense of social responsibility than evangelical Protestants. They actually have a tradition and papal encyclicals since the late 19th century have addressed such issues seriously.

When I discussed growing African Christianity with several Catholic brothers at Mundelein Seminary in November I was amazed at their comparisons of how the longer, slower development of Catholicism in Nigeria was producing a much more fruitful Christian interaction with culture there than the work of charismatic and indigenous evangelicals. While evangelicals grow in number the Catholic Church is teaching and preparing priests as deeply formed thinkers and leaders for the future.

The Wall Street Journal reported in “What’s News” (January 17) that southern Nigerian Catholics have to prove that they are registered to vote in April in order to continue taking communion,according to a local paper report. As odd as this may sound to American Christians I am personally not surprised by this report at all. African Catholicism is not only vibrant and growing, but frankly maturing in unusual ways. In the next several decades […]

Baseball, Spring and Crazy Salary Demands

By John Armstrong|2007-01-18T22:40:20-06:00January 18th, 2007|Categories: Baseball|

Baseball season is not far away now. My hopes for the spring are never far behind when arbitration hearings are announced and discussed. But do some players ever miss reality when they start seeking higher salaries or what? Don’t get me wrong—the game brings in a lot of money and the players should get what they contribute to the sport. I do not begrudge them their salaries, even though they are often very large. This is entertainment and entertainers make a lot of money when they are at the top. Face it, without the players there is no major league baseball. (I know, some of you are saying, “So what” John. But indulge me here since I confess a lifetime of love for this great American game.) But some of these guys are truly beyond belief when you see the salaries they request via arbitration. Two such cases came to mind today as I read over the baseball news.

First, there is Chicago Cubs pitcher Mark Prior, limited to nine starts last season because of injuries, who was offered a cut from $3.65 […]

The Issachar Project: The Importance of Film

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:48-05:00January 17th, 2007|Categories: Film|

Last weekend I had the joy of sharing in a special meeting in Newport Beach, California, that was appropriately named the Issachar Project. This small project is the work, primarily, of my friend Andrew Sandlin of the Center for Cultural Leadership (www.christianculture.com). Andrew is convinced that there must be an intellectual and existential coalition of (1) Christians working in Hollywood and elsewhere in the film industry and (2) serious Christian thinkers in the arts.

You may recall that the sons of Issachar are described in the Scriptures as “men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do” (1 Chronicles 12:32). Their number was small but their impact was great. This unique gathering included men and women, mostly under forty. The purpose of this group was not to form a “think tank” but rather to explore the neglected dimension of knowing God through beauty and imagination, in other words to explore how we know him incarnationally, not merely intellectually.

Most of the invited participants at this unusual meeting were film and television script writers, […]

Justice and Tyrants

By John Armstrong|2007-01-16T21:26:25-06:00January 16th, 2007|Categories: Current Affairs|

David Gelernter is a favorite writer of mine. He is Jewish, has a wide grasp of the Bible’s teaching, appreciates the Christian tradition with respect, and the last I knew still lived in Jerusalem. In the current issue of The Weekly Standard (January 15, 2007) I believe that he got it about right when he said that Saddam Hussein’s death was "a triumph for one of the noblest of all causes: the sanctity of justice no matter how powerful the criminal, no matter how poor or powerless the victim."

Gelernter correctly appeals to Proverbs 24:17 which says "Do not gloat when your enemies fall." He rightly reminds us that the classical rabbinical tradition cites this very verse whem it urges us to never celebrate the death of an enemy no matter how evil he might have been. As much as I longed to see Saddam brought to justice his death was not a cause for gloating but for mourning, in the right sense. This is most especially true with regard to all the people he brutally killed who will not be brought […]

Baptism: Four Views

By John Armstrong|2007-01-15T21:57:03-06:00January 15th, 2007|Categories: The Church|

For some years Zondervan has produced a helpful series of books called "Counterpoints." These books have addressed two broad categories: theology and church life. The distinction made by these two categories is somewhat artificial but the issues the series addresses are very often important to contemporary Christian life and thought. The standard approach adopted by these Counterpoint volumes is to evaluate several views of an issue or doctrine and to survey how these views impact the church. Different authors contribute from their own perspective and show how the issue is variously understood by serious Christians. Each author is allowed to respond to other contributors in a fair and humble way. Volumes in this series have addressed issues such as law and gospel, sanctification, eternal security, apologetics, hell, creation and evolution, women in ministry, Eastern Orthodoxy, the church growth movement and and even different perspectives on worship. There are presently twenty volumes in the entire series.

The twentieth volume, Understanding Four Views on Baptism, was released today by Zondervan. I had the privilege of editing this book and writing about 35% of the […]

Relationships

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:48-05:00January 14th, 2007|Categories: Personal|

I often tell people that the kingdom of God is finally all about relationships. The primary relationship is with the king, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then as you love him you learn to respect and love those who also love him.

I realized that again today as I ministered at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. I met the pastor of Redeemer, Dr. Jim Belcher, via my friend David Bahnsen. I first met David Bahnsen about two-plus years ago because of my dear friend Andrew Sandlin. I met Andrew when he reached out to me and asked me to have lunch with him in Chicago about six years ago.

I have now met several new friends through Redeemer Presbyterian Church and this has led, just to use one example, to my serving on the board of IRD, the Institute for Religion and Democracy. (I am quite sure that more people I have met at Redeemer, even today, will also have a vital role in my life in the months and years ahead, d.v.)

What astounds me, as I […]

"I Was in Prison"

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:49-05:00January 11th, 2007|Categories: Biblical Theology|

In the great discourse regarding the separation of the sheep and the goats found in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus refers to the kinds of actions, done in obediential faith that works through love, that demonstrates those who truly love him and those who do not. I have heard a dozen different ways of explaining, or explaining away, these verses over the course of my lifetime. Many consign them to Israel and how we treat the Jews. Others say they must be narrowly limited to the actions of the apostles themselves. Others say this is about doing these deeds for those who are being persecuted for being followers of Jesus. And still others say that only if we know the person we are helping to be a "brother or sister" does this text truly apply. There is some element of truth in each of these ideas, as there often is in such exegetical debates.

But I wonder, as I often wonder about such things: "What do we miss by this kind of narrowing of interpretation? And, further, what do we gain by opening the […]

Mark's Kingdom Theology

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:49-05:00January 10th, 2007|Categories: Biblical Theology|

Yesterday I noted that the kingdom of God is "the big idea" of the Bible, especially in the Gospels. I referred to Matthew’s Gospel in that January 9 blog. Today I want to refer to Mark. The center of the Gospel of Mark is clearly the cross. In the early chapters we see the disciples trying to grasp who Jesus is and then how they would confess him as Messiah. Then comes the turning point: "He [Jesus] then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again" (Mark 8:31).

Up until this point Mark’s crisp, pointed narrative reveals Jesus as a popular teacher and miracle worker. But he had come to be a Messiah who would die. On three different occasions he warned them of his impending death but it seems none of them grasped this point in their excitement. (In fact, almost a third of Mark’s action oriented gospel is […]

The Kingdom of God

By John Armstrong|2007-01-09T07:52:18-06:00January 9th, 2007|Categories: Biblical Theology|

We sometime miss "the big idea" when we read a piece of literature. This is no less true of our reading of the Bible. It seems to me that the big idea of the Bible, especially of the New Testament, is the kingdom of God. God’s rule and reign is supreme. All things are created by him and thus all is for him. He is Lord.

In the New Testament this theme is clearly related to Christ the Messiah, who is Lord over all. Epiphany, which I commented upon Sunday January 7, is about the manifestation of this one who is Lord, especially to the Gentiles. When the New Testament opens, with Matthew’s Gospel, it reveals a kingdom that is coming through the one whose genealogy is royal. It then shows that this very Jewish King is for the Gentiles as well. Eleven times in Matthew we read, "Now this took place that what was written in the prophets might be fulfilled." All four gospels proclaim the kingdom of God but some fifty times Matthew refers to "the kingdom of heaven." This […]

Is a "Surge" the Answer in Iraq?

By John Armstrong|2021-07-02T06:23:49-05:00January 8th, 2007|Categories: Politics|

The various news sources now inform us that President Bush is about to unveil a new plan for Iraq. It calls for an increase in troop levels in hopes of securing the country and allowing a withdrawal that would leave behind a stable country politically. Though I have sought to defend the overall goals of this war, with some serious reservations, I do not think such a "surge" will solve the problem. I do not believe that I base my view on prejudice or fear. I consider my own views to be something of a mixture of "realist" and "neo-conservative" ideas about America’s international political goals. (For example, I do think a democracy, of some sort, would have been preferrable in Iraq for the overall stability of the Middle East, though I have my doubts about it happening now.)

So why do I oppose this forthcoming "surge" proposal? For the same reason that conservative columnist George Will does. He writes: "Baghdad is what Wayne White—for 26 years with the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, now with the Middle East Institute—calls ‘a […]