Iron Ink

Oh My Akin Body

“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down,” Akin said on KTVI-TV. “But let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work or something: I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be of the rapist, and not attacking the child.”

Todd Akin
Missouri Republican Candidate for US Senate

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…”

US Constitution
5th Amendment

A great deal of buzz has been created by the first quote above. Akin, the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Missouri has had calls from Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney to vacate his position as GOP standard bearer for the Missouri US Senate race.

A few observations from someone who votes neither Republican or Democrat

1.) Republicans have to meet a double standard. Joe Biden accuses Republicans of wanting to put blacks back and chains and the hub bub is a mere blip. Nancy Pelosi says that “we have to pass the Obama-care bill in order to see what is int it,” and there is a few guffaws but she doesn’t have to spend any political capital for such asinine statements. But let a George Allen make a “Macaca” comment and suddenly the press descends upon him like piranhas. Similarly with Todd Akin. At the very worst Akin was misinformed on his facts. At the very best he simply made a blunder in his communication.

However, having said that, the fact that the Democrats don’t get what they deserve when they make verbal gaffes (and Obango has made tons of verbal gaffes …e.g., — “You did not build that …”) does not mean that it is wrong for Republicans to get what they deserve when they make verbal gaffes. Yes, it is a double standard, but if gaffes are really stupid (and Akin’s was monumentally stupid) then they should be lampooned.

2.) Of course the reason that Republicans get slapped harder by the media is that their gaffes tend more to violate the narrative of political correctness and cultural Marxism. The major media outlets agree with Obango’s socialism and so try to cover for the man we call President by excusing his “you didn’t build that” comment. However, when Akin talks about “the female body having ways to shut down the whole (impregnation by rape) thing” then the media howls since abortion is one of the sacraments of a key constituent (feminism) supporting Cultural Marxism.

This is one way by which the major media outlets control conversation, and so thought, in our politically correct paradise.

3.) Akin, despite his in-artful way of phrasing matters, is on the right side of the life of the child issue. To be sure if a woman is impregnated as a result of a rape that is a burden of a consequence that has to be born by that woman. However, why should the baby the raped woman is carrying, be tortured and punished all because the baby’s mother was tortured by rape? Why should we kill the baby as opposed to bring capital charges against the rapist? Why shouldn’t the genuine criminal be visited with the death penalty as opposed to the judicially innocent baby?

4.) There was a time in history that families of criminals would be held liable for a individual family member who committed a crime. In recent history even, Communist countries would let people travel in other countries knowing that the communist traveler would know that if he sought asylum to escape Communism his family back in the old country would be murdered. The West has always thought that such blood ransoming of family as incentive for individuals to keep laws was pagan. And yet, that is exactly what is done when we abort babies conceived in rape scenarios. We murder them because of the criminal guilt of their rapist Father.

5.) Akin should have replied to the question that was asked of him,

“I believe that at conception we have a person. In believing that, the fifth amendment to the constitution forbids me from holding any person to answer for a capital crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury. When a Grand Jury begins indicting the unborn persons for capital crimes then I will have to consider again my position but until then I must honor the US Constitution’s 5th amendment by not supporting ending the life of any person not indicted by a Grand Jury.”

Caleb’s Baptism … Very God of Very God (HC Q. # 17)

Question 17. Why must he in one person be also very God?

Answer: That he might, by the power of his Godhead (a) sustain in his human nature, (b) the burden of God’s wrath; (c) and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life. (d)

In the previous question and answer Caleb we examined why it was that Christ must be very man of very man (100% man) in order to qualify as someone who could rescue the descendants of Adam from their sins. In this question the Catechizers (principally Zacharius Ursinus, and secondarily Caspar Olevianus) explain why it is that Christ must be very God of very God in order to successfully become our deliverer.

Before we get to the issue of Christ’s divinity in relation to accomplishing our deliverance we should say a brief word about the the combination of Heidelberg questions 16 and 17. In these two question and answers we have taught what is known as the doctrine of Christ’s Hypostatic Union. This is the doctrine that affirms that the Lord Jesus Christ was one person with two natures. We could get lost in all of the implications of this Caleb but suffice it to say that this is an important doctrine to embrace even if we will not understand it completely in this life. The doctrine is so important that the Church has an ancient creed that teaches on it (creed of Chalcedon) and is so important that one cannot be a Christian without embracing Scripture’s teaching on Christ’s hypostatic union.

The doctrine of the hypostatic union teaches that at one and the same time the Lord Jesus Christ has both a human and divine nature and yet within one person. The early church argued about this for centuries before affirming that Christ was perfect in Godhead while at the same time being perfect in manhood. Teasing out the Scriptures, the Church went on to affirm, as against a party in the Church called “the Eutychians” that these two natures of Christ were not co-mingled so that the Lord Christ was a kind of a being with a hybrid single nature that was partly God and partly man. Continuing to embrace Scripture, the Church, at the same time, had to correct another party that was on the other extreme from the Eutychians, and who, instead of giving us a Christ whose natures were blended into a hybrid, gave us a Christ who was two persons as well as two natures. What the Scriptures affirm and what the Heidelberg catechism teaches is that Christ is one person with two natures.

That Christ has both natures can seen with a simple glance at Scripture,

Very God of Very God

He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33)
He was called God (John 20:28; Heb. 1:8)
He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1)
He is prayed to (Acts 7:59).
He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15)
He knows all things (John 21:17)
He gives eternal life (John 10:28)
All the fullness of deity dwells in Him (Col. 2:9)

Very Man of Very Man

He worshiped the Father (John 17).
He was called man (Mark 15:39; John 19:5)
He was called Son of Man (John 9:35-37)
He prayed to the Father (John 17)
He was tempted (Matt. 4:1)
He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52)
He died (Rom. 5:8)
He has a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39)

This doctrine of the Hypostatic Union also insists, as against yet a different heretical school of thought (Apollonarians) that the Lord Christ is human as to both body and soul. Some of the errant teaching yet today, following the errant teaching from centuries ago, insist that Jesus Christ has a human body but that His Spirit was the divine spirit logos.

The denial of this important doctrine continues with us today. The same errors are taught today that were taught thousands of years ago. This is true, not only of the example mentioned in the paragraph above but it is also true of Jehovah Witnesses and Christian Scientists for example. The Jehovah Witnesses deny Christ’s divinity while affirming His humanity. The Christian Scientists deny Christ’s humanity while affirming His deity. All of these sects will marshal Scripture to prove their heresy, conveniently leaving out other Scripture that is against them.

I can’t stress enough how important this teaching of the Heidelberg Catechism is. If a person denies this Hypostatic Union of Christ they have no reason to be considered a Christian. A great deal more could be said here, but I don’t want to bog you down. For our purposes here it is important to remember that, in the words of the Chalcedon Confession that is confessed by all Christians everywhere,

(Christ is) to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ;

Now, as the Catechism deals with this issue it wants to emphasize that Christ had to be God in order to able to provide deliverance for His people. If Christ was merely human he could not have successfully undergone the intense wrath of the Father against sin. Scriptures teaches the character of God’s just wrath against sin that the Lord Christ bore for His Father’s glory,

Deut.4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Nah.1:6 Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Ps.130:3 If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

This was the wrath of God against our sins that the Lord Christ suffered in our place. That just wrath of God against sin would have consumed a merely human Jesus before the penalty against sin had been fully recompensed. So, the catechism teaches that Christ had to likewise be very God of very God in order to receive in His person the just penalty against sin.

Note a matter important here though Caleb. Note the way the catechism carefully phrases the truth,

“by the power of his Godhead sustain in his human nature the burden of God’s wrath”

Reformed theology, following Scripture, has always taught that God can not suffer, nor can God die. If God dies all the lights in the universe go out. Since this is true, Biblical theology affirms that it was Christ’s divine nature (HC — “by the power of His Godhead”) that sustained Christ’s human nature so that the person of Christ could pay for the sins of His people. Some people will say, in a sloppy manner, that “God died on the cross,” but it is more accurate to say that the person of the Lord Christ, as the lamb of God, died on the cross, if only because by definition the God of the Bible can’t die.

Clearly, what HC #17 is concerned about is the fact that the death of the Lord Christ, who is very God of very God, is a substitutionary death (a death in our place) and is so successfully, in part, because as sustained by His divine nature the person of Christ could bear our penalty in full, and win for us the life and acceptability before God that had been forfeited by Adam. That Christ was there dying in our place (in our stead, on our behalf) is clearly taught by Scripture,

Isa.53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted….

Isa.53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

And that the consequence of that death in our place (in our stead, on our behalf) is acceptability again before God and a restoration of life is likewise taught in Scripture,

Our healing is in His wounding

Isa.53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Acceptability before God dependent upon Christ’s Death

1 Pet.3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Restored brought to the elect because of Christ’s Death

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

So, Heidelberg Catechism question and answer #17 teaches us that if were to be saved, then He who would serve as our deliverer must be very God of very God.

9th Word … Types of Lies

This is our third Sunday on the 9th commandment. We have spent so much time on it because the lie … the false witness is the tell tale sign of bad character. If you show me a bad person I will, more often than not, show you a liar.

That the West embraced the warning of the 9th commandment is seen in its Literature.

Pinocchio, is one of the most famous liars in children’s literature. And though Pinocchio is redeemed at the end of the book, his redemption means the end of his lying.

When we consider one of the most popular Novels of the 20th century we find the chief villains being liars. In Tolkien’s story Tolkien presents to us Gollum, Grima Worm-tongue, Sauraman, and even Boromir as false witnesses. In contrast the Heroes of Tolkien’s works are those who are true to their promises … true to their word regardless the cost.

In the Three Musketeers the Leading Lady is a Liar and a Seductress who comes to a bad end.

In Jane Austen’s North Anger Abbey she gives us John Thorpe as the liar par excellent

Charles Dickens in Oliver Twist gives us Fagin and a gang of liar and thieves.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gives us the liar Moriarty and the one love of his life the dissembling Irene Adler

In History it is the great Liars that we despise

Benedict Arnold
Judas Iscariot
Joesph Stalin
Charles Ponzi
Bernie Madoff
Richard Nixon
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Bill Clinton
Walter Duranty
Alger Hiss

All this to say that the West has been deeply influenced by the prohibition against false witness.

Of course it was a lie told that led to the 2nd greatest historical event in the fall of mankind and it was Jesus Christ as the Truth who undid the 2nd greatest historical event by giving us the greatest historical event in His death and resurrection.

The Scripture explodes with the prohibition against lying / false witness

Leviticus 6:1-4, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour…or hath deceived his neighbour…and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein: Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty,”
Leviticus 19:11, “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.”

Job 11:3,5, “Should thy lies make men hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man make thee ashamed? But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against thee;”

Job 13:4, “But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value.”

Job 24:25, “…who will make me a liar, and make my speech nothing worth?”

Psalms 24:4-5, “He…who hath not…sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD,”

Psalms 31:6, “I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD.”

Psalms 31:18, “Let the lying lips be put to silence;”

Psalms 40:4, “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.”

Psalms 52:2-4, “Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.”

Psalms 58:3, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”

Psalms 59:12, “For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.”

Psalms 62:3-4, “… ye shall be slain all of you…they delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly.”

Psalms 63:11, “…the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.”

Psalms 101:7, “He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.”

Psalms 109:2, “For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me: they have spoken against me with a lying tongue.”

Psalms 119:29, “Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.”

Psalms 119:69, “The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.”

Psalms 119:163, “I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.”

Psalms 120:2, “Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue.”

Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”

Proverbs 8:7, “For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.”

Proverbs 10:18, “He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool.”

Proverbs 12:19, “The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”

Proverbs 12:22, “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.”

Proverbs 13:5, “A righteous man hateth lying: but a wicked man is loathsome, and cometh to shame.”

Proverbs 14:5, “A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies.”

Proverbs 14:25, “A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies.”

Proverbs 17:4, “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.”

Proverbs 17:7, “Excellent speech becometh not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.”

Proverbs 19:5, “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape.”

Proverbs 19:9, “A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”

Proverbs 19:22, “The desire of a man is his kindness: and a poor man is better than a liar.”

Proverbs 21:6, “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.”

Proverbs 26:28, “A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.”

Proverbs 29:12, “If a ruler hearken to lies, all his servants are wicked.”

Proverbs 30:6, “Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”

Proverbs 30:8, “Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:”

Isaiah 28:15,17, “Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement;…for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:…the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.”

Isaiah 30:9, “That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:”

Isaiah 32:7, “The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.”

Isaiah 44:24-25, “…I am the LORD…That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad;”

Isaiah 59:2-4, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For…your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness…they trust in vanity, and speak lies; ”

Isaiah 59:12-13, “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”

Isaiah 63:8, “For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.”

Jeremiah 7:4, “Trust ye not in lying words,”

Jeremiah 7:8-9, “Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye…swear falsely…and walk after other gods…?”

Jeremiah 9:3, “And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD.”

Jeremiah 9:5, “And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.”

Jeremiah 14:14, “Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.”

Jeremiah 15:18, “Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?”

Jeremiah 16:19, “…Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.”

Jeremiah 23:14, “I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies:”

Jeremiah 23:26, “How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart;”

Jeremiah 23:32, “Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.”

Jeremiah 27:10, “For they prophesy a lie unto you, to remove you far from your land; and that I should drive you out, and ye should perish.”

Jeremiah 29:23, “Because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours’ wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD.”

Ezekiel 13:8, “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.”

Ezekiel 13:19, “And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?”

Ezekiel 13:22-23, “Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.”

Ezekiel 22:28, “And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.”

Ezekiel 24:12, “She hath wearied herself with lies, and her great scum went not forth out of her: her scum shall be in the fire.”

Daniel 11:27, “…and they shall speak lies at one table; but it shall not prosper:”

Hosea 4:2, “By swearing, and lying…they break out and blood toucheth blood.”

Hosea 7:3, “They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies.”

Hosea 10:13, “Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.”

Jonah 2:8, “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”

Micah 6:12-13, “…the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee, in making thee desolate because of thy sins.”

Nahum 3:1, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies”

Zephaniah 3:13, “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth:”

Zechariah 8:16, “These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour;”

Zechariah 13:3, “…Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the LORD: ”

Malachi 2:6, “The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips:”

Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…false witness…These are the things which defile a man: ”

John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

Acts 5:3, “…why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, ”

Acts 26:25, “But he [Paul] said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.”

Romans 1:24-25, “…through the lusts of their own hearts…Who changed the truth of God into a lie,”

Romans 9:1, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not,”

2 Corinthians 11:31, “The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.”

Galatians 1:20, “Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I lie not.”

Ephesians 4:25, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.”

Colossians 3:9, “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;”

1 Timothy 1:9-10, “…the law is not made for a righteous man, but…for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;”

1 Timothy 2:7, “Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not)”

1 Timothy 4:2, “Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”

James 3:14, “But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.”

Titus 1:2, “…God…cannot lie, ”

Hebrews 6:18, “…in which it was impossible for God to lie, ”

1 John 1:6, “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:”

1 John 2:4, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

1 John 2:21, “I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.”

1 John 2:22, “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”

1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

1 John 4:20, “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”

Revelation 2:2, “…thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:”

Revelation 3:9, “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which…do lie;”

Revelation 21:8, “…and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:”

Revelation 21:27, “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

Revelation 22:14-15, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are .. and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

Speaking personally, and I think my children would bear this out, the greatest offense in her household was a lie told.

In Seminary I had a professor tell the members of a Class on counseling that, “I can help anybody but a liar.”

And so the Catechism says,

“but that I avoid all sorts of lies and deceit”

Here of course there is a hint that there are different types of false witnessing.

Different types of Lies and deceit

The Proper Etiquette Lie

Every culture has rules of politeness. You’re a guest in a home and you’re asked if the bed was comfortable. You know that one of the children slept on the floor so you could have their bed. And so even though you found the bed uncomfortable you saying something like, “I slept like a log.” Or when someone asks, “Do you like my new hat?” Now we may have not realized that the thing on their head was a hat but we don’t answer by blurting out, “No, its ugly.” Someone may put your baby in their face and say, “Isn’t she a beautiful baby?” You may not think so but you don’t say that. Proper etiquette is not deception none with the intent to harm the good character and honor of our neighbor.

There is the exaggeration false witness

We often see this as parents. Two of our children are arguing and one of them comes to present their case to us and, while not outright lying about their case, they tell the story in such a way that the offense of their sibling becomes a bit larger than it really was.

There is the Jester false witness

These are the untruths we tell with no intent to deceive. This is not lying because there is no intention to deceive.

Yesterday we were playing Frisbee Golf and Jake Woods found a Frisbee in the brush. Knowing he had found a unclaimed Frisbee I claimed that was the Frisbee I had just thrown and was looking for and thanked him for finding it for me. Everyone knew I was yanking his chain.

There is the incomplete truth false witness

This is the false witness that finds a husband telling his inquiring wife when she wonders why he was so late in coming home from work that he went out for a drink with the guys after work without telling her that the drinks with the guys were at a men’s club.

There is the “add zest to the story” lie

There are people who can not live without drama in their life and so when life becomes tedious and boring they begin to add zest to their life by lying. The lie is not huge but it is definitely colored to make the story and life more interesting. I have tried to teach my children, precisely because life is anything but drama free, to try and be masters of the famous English understatement. The English could speak to one another in reference to the London bombings as being “a bit of a row last night wasn’t there?”

For the Drama Queens among us life becomes a game or a stage performance and the “added zest” keeps the stage performance interesting.

Abraham Kuyper said that the world of fantasy is bigger and more interesting than the real world. Everyday life bores us and so the drama queens fall to using “zest” to make it a glorious performance.

We all are tempted to give accounts of matters that zest things up. And in some situations there is no harm in that. However, in other situations there is harm done by the drama queens among us.

Then there is, what might be called, the “lie of necessity.”

And we want to spend just a little time with this one because it is an open question as to whether or not this is a false witness.

This is commonly thought of as not lying against my neighbor but for my neighbor or for self preservation.

The common example would be Lying to the Communists in the former Soviet Union in order to protect a Christian that they are trying to seize and harm. Is it lying in order to protect someone else?

The Scriptures have several examples of this kind of lie.

A.) The midwives Shiphrah and Puah let the baby boys of Israel live after birth, contrary to Pharoah’s command. And yet they are spoken of as fearing God and as being blessed by God because of their attitude (see Exod.1:15-21).

B.) Rahab spoke falsehood in saying to the king of Jericho that she did not know where the spies were (Josh.2:4-6) and she is praised for her faith (Heb.11:31). Her faith was made complete by these works (Jas.2:25).

These women performed a service to their neighbors by means of the lie of necessity.

C.) Elisha in I Kings 6:19 in order to escape the Kings wrath.

In Church History Athanasius did something like Elisha in I Kings

Athanasius was asked by his pursuers, “Where is Athanasius?” He answered, “Athanasius is not far away; with a little effort you can find him.”

D.) Likewise Abraham and Isaac, perhaps in order to protect their lives, pretended their wives were their sisters in Egypt — (Gen.12:11-20; 20:2-18; 26:7-11).

We find nothing in these accounts that faults these actions. Indeed in one instance God blesses Abraham as a result of these actions.

E.) Then there is the deception of Military deception

The Lord recommended such tactics in Joshua’s battle against Ai and in David’s fight against the Philistines (Josh.8:1-26; 2 Sam.5:22-25).

The Catechism teaches on this commandment

“that I defend and promote, as much as I am able, the honor and good character of my neighbour.”

Now we cannot defend and promote the honor and good character of my neighbor if by telling the truth to someone who is seeking to attack not only their honor, character but their very life, my telling the truth leads to their unjust death.

So, we might form a principle that lying is acceptable when it is engaged in, in order to protect the life of the judicially innocent.

Having said this I want to let you know that the majority report of the church throughout her history rejected the lie of necessity.

Augustine argued, against the lie of self-preservation by noting that while you may die bodily, at least you won’t die in the soul.

He went on to argue that loving our neighbor as ourselves is not achieved when we sacrifice our own eternal salvation to save the temporal life of our neighbor.

And so, I am disagreeing with the majority report of the Church on this issue. I do think Scripture gives us a principle where lying is commended when it is done in pursuit of the protection of the 6th commandment.

This idea is in keeping with other Commandments that themselves allow for exceptions. The 6th commandment does not allow us to murder but we know from elsewhere that some killing is allowed (self-defense). Children are to honor their parents but we know that if parents are seeking to compel them to be disobedient to God that they must obey God rather than man. A lie of necessity, like these, is permitted, but only in dire circumstances — when life is at stake, either our neighbor’s or ours.

However, we must give a word of warning here. Once we open this door, given the reality of our sinful nature, there will be the temptation to invoke this “escape clause” as justification for lying. It seems unlikely that many of us will ever be in a situation where we must lie in order to protect someone’s life or our own life.

Lying and taking the fifth

Silence requirements of some professions

R2K … “Rubber meets Road”

Recently Dr. Mike Horton, in May wrote a piece that can be found here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2919093/posts

Elsewhere Horton has written here,

http://www.whitehorseinn.org/blog/2012/05/11/same-sex-marriage-makes-a-lot-of-sense/

In that piece you can find these quotes,

“Although a contractual relationship denies God’s will for human dignity, I could affirm domestic partnerships as a way of protecting people’s legal and economic security.”

“The challenge there is that two Christians who hold the same beliefs about marriage as Christians may appeal to neighbor-love to support or to oppose legalization of same-sex marriage.”

Dr. Mike Horton

Dr. Horton, having been queried about this statement he made in May, has recently spoken. I intend to respond here to his recent statements.

Recently Horton wrote,

(1) “I wrote several posts on same-sex marriage, arguing that because monogamous-heterosexual marriage is rooted in creation (not redemption), Christians should not treat it as merely imposing our distinctively Christian beliefs and values on society. (2) We may lose, but the church can’t surrender its witness to God’s unchanging law. (3)Thus, neighbor-love entails support for traditional marriages and family structures. (4) At the same time, I argued that there are complicated legal and policy questions over which Christians (who hold this same view) may legitimately differ. (5) One example is domestic partnerships, which I neither affirmed nor rejected. (6) My only goal there was to say that there is nothing that the gay movement can win by same-sex marriage that it doesn’t already have with domestic partnerships. (7) If they can have the latter, why do they need the former? (8) It seems to me that the only real purpose in pressing for marriage is moral: namely, to place homosexual relationships on a par with heterosexual marriage: this we cannot allow, even if it involves the coercive power of the state (via our participation in the democratic process).

(9) Also, Christianity Today asked me to provide a response to an interview in The Atlantic with the head of Exodus International, who seemed to suggest that one could be an active homosexual and a member in good standing of a church. (10) Of course, I disagreed. (11) In response to this and those other posts, I’ve received criticism from evangelicals (and others) who thought I was too hard-line on the issue. (12) So this one is a first. (13) Until this one, I haven’t seen any responses that see any of the dangers that Mr. Maurina raised here.”

In Christ,

Mike

Before getting into the entrails of these comments by Dr. Horton we should note here that as Dr. Horton does not believe that such a thing as Christian culture even exists or can exist, Dr. Horton does not believe that we can do anything to make a culture more Christian. Dr. Horton believes Christians do exist but he does not believe Christian culture exists. That observation is key in unraveling what Dr. Horton is saying here.

(1) — A.) If “monogamous-heterosexual marriage is rooted in creation (not redemption)” then why should marriages be conducted by Clergy? The R2K crowd, of whom Dr. Horton is a member, have said in the past that the Clergy has no business giving a invocation at a City Council meeting, or in being an official participant as a Clergy member at political events precisely because these kinds of events are rooted in creation and not redemption. So, if Clergy are not to be involved in events that are rooted in creation then for centuries Clergy have been violating Scripture because they have been officiating at and praying at Wedding ceremonies which are rooted in creation.

(1) — B.) If marriage is rooted in creation and not redemption and if culture can not be Christian then how is it possible to impose our distinctively Christian beliefs and values on society? Society is a reality that is rooted in Creation and so all it can ever be, regardless of what religion’s beliefs and values are imposed upon it is common. According to R2K it is possible to have Christians living in society, however it is not possible for Christians to impose their Christianity on something (society) that by definition can not be Christian no matter what.

(2) — But Dr. Horton does not believe that God’s unchanging law applies to the public square. It applies to individuals but it most certainly does not apply to the public square.

Now, it is possible when Dr. Horton talks about God’s unchanging law he is not talking about God revealed law in Scripture but rather he is speaking of God’s natural law. However, as he invokes the “Church” in (2) one is tempted to think he is referring to the Scriptures. With R2K it is hard to know what law is being referred to when statements are made about “God’s unchanging law.”

(3) — “Thus, neighbor-love entails support for traditional marriages and family structures.”

Except when we don’t. Read on.

(4) – (5) “Neither affirmed or rejected.”

Mike has said he neither affirms nor rejects domestic partnerships but he does affirm that Christians could affirm domestic partnerships and be within the orbit of Christian orthodoxy. Mike does not affirm them but he does affirm the affirmers. This is the real sticky wicket in Mike’s pronouncements. Mike, is suggesting that Christians could very well support domestic partnerships of one variety or another. If Christians were to do this, and as Mike is saying, they well could do this and remain orthodox, then that calls Mike’s (3) statement into serious question.

(6) – (8) — We agree with Mike except I do not think that the goal of the sodomite lobby is not to put sodomite marriage on part with Heterosexual marriage but the LGBT goal is to normalize sodomite marriage while abnormalizing heterosexual marriage.

(9) – (13) — We pass on.

Another missive from Dr. Horton was later forthcoming,

(1) “Being open to affirming a civil arrangement that allows partners inheritance, insurance, and other economic benefits, is NOT being open to same-sex relationships!!! (2) My point was to say that the gay lobby is not really interested in equal rights, but in equal affirmation of gay and heterosexual marriage. (3) So Christians should NOT treat the marriage debate as if it were equivalent to civil rights. (4) Some Christians do argue that we should allow a pagan state to honor “life commitments” regardless of marriage, but to argue that this should be called MARRIAGE is ultimately not a question of civil rights but of the meaning of marriage itself.

(5) I cannot help the fact that some have apparently overlooked the distinction I’ve made—and the fact that it’s part of an argument AGAINST gay marriage. (6) I can only hope that people would not spread false impressions based on where they think it will lead rather than what I actually argued.

In Christ,

Mike Horton

(1) — This sentence is a study in contradiction.

I think the famous R2K dualism is playing in here.

Mike has no problem with the legal infrastructure being set up by the Government. Mike has no problem with the objective legislation being put into place. However, Mike does have a problem if two people actually start engaging in the sodomite behavior that the legal infrastructure supports and honors.

So, his dualism allows the public structures but not the private behaviors. This is classic R2K speak. Having divided the world into the common and grace realm and having said that the Church may not make pronouncements on what the State does in the common realm, though retaining the right to speak with God’s voice regarding individual personal sin, the R2K thinker can posit a position where the public infrastructure for Sodomite behavior is legalized while insisting at the same time that they are not being open to same-sex relationships. Such a position only makes sense in a R2K Alice in Wonderland World. It’s like saying that while one is open to setting up the infrastructure for abortion in terms of abortion doctors, fetus removal systems, abortuaries, legal protection, etc. one is not, by doing so, communicating an openness to the act of abortion.

In fairness to the Doctor from Westminster Seminary Ca. it is possible that he is saying that while the act of sodomy is sinful the Church has no business to suggest that it is criminal and therefore Christians could very well support domestic unions as sanctioned by the Civil Magistrate. So, in such a scenario Christians could be Christian and support the non-Criminality of domestic partnership in theory while opposing the sin of sodomy itself. The problem here is that God has criminalized sodomy but Dr. Horton doesn’t believe that God’s unchanging law is unchanging on this point and so we are where we are.

(4) — We must keep in mind the distinction between Defacto realities and Dejure realities. Legalized domestic partnerships are defacto Marriage even if not Dejure marriage. Which is to say that they are marriage in all but title. Christians who support domestic unions are supporting defacto sodomite marriage even if opposing dejure sodomite marriage. At this point, it is all about semantics.

(5) – (6) — Dr. Horton has no one but himself to blame for people misunderstanding him. If other Christians do not think in a dualistic R2K worldview you can not fault them for interpreting R2K words through a non dualistic grid.

One more connection between R2K and Anabaptism

” … the government of Reformation led Basel considered anabaptists to be a threat to the state because the anabaptists refused to recognize any form of goverment as being Christian.”

Calvin & The Anabaptist Radicals
Willem Balke

Of course this is also true of R2K. R2K likewise refuses to recognize any form of government as being Christian. For R2K Christianity is a religion that does not impinge directly upon the public square of the common realm, though indirectly R2K Christianity does because individuals operating in the public square are Christian, though they are Christians who do not fool themselves into thinking they can have Christian culture, a Christian social order or a Christian government.