The Prophetic Presbyterian & His Narrow Way

Tim @ Red Pen Logic has posted this.    He’s one of the good guys, but he’s wrong on this one.  No, the Bible defines “conception” as the sex act itself, which is distinct from “union of sperm & ovum.”   Moreover he is using statements from biology/medicine not the text of Scripture to argue that embryos are ensouled people.  Since when has science served as a non-arbitrary epistemic warrant for our beliefs about what constitutes a human being, eg personhood?  Never — c’mon Tim you know better than that.  The Bible serves as a written account of God’s point of view concerning His own existence, attributes, & authority, & the true state of affairs relative to Himself & His moral & decretal wills.  In order to successfully argue against the Pro-Life Lobby’s present day narrative that abortion ought to be made illegal because abortion is murder in a universal moral sense, all you need to is the ask just one question —“Where does t...

  Part 1 can be found here .  In Part 1, we noted that John follows the general outline of a suzerain covenant.  Preamble (John 1:1 - 18) Historical Prologue (John 1:19 - 2:25) General Stipulations (John 3:1 - 12:50) Specific Stipulations (John 13:1 - 18:40) Renewal, Document Clause (John 19:1 - 19:42) Witnesses & Victory  (John 20:1 - 21:25) John 1:1–7 (ESV):   Preamble   1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  Historical Prologue  2 He was in the beginning with God. General Stipulations  3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  Specific Stipulations  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  Renewal/Document Clause 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  Witnesses 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that a...

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.   8  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.   9  Pray then like this: “ Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10  Your kingdom come, your will be done,      on earth as it is in heaven. 11  Give us this day our daily bread, 12  and forgive us our debts,      as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13  And lead us not into temptation,      but deliver us from evil. 14  For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15  but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

From time to time I hear a fellow Calvinist or Christian Apologist correct what they believe to be a misunderstanding of Matthew 18:15 - 20.  It’s about baby old instance of two or three people gathering in Christ’s name.  It’s about church discipline.  Consequently, using it to support another sort of gathering is a mistake.  The Bible disagrees.  Let’s take a look. Matthew 18:15–20 (ESV): If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven...

Our evaluation of Mr. Mattera’s article continues..  8. Highlighting days and months of the year Special emphasis is placed on certain days and months to saturate society with woke ideologies espoused by particular groups.  For example: Pride Month (June). Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31). International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (May 17). National Coming Out Day (October 11). LGBT History Month (October). Transgender Awareness Week (2nd week of November). Transgender Day of Remembrance (November 20). This is just a laundry list of days of which Mr. Mattera disapproves.       It doesn’t seem     to register with him that he is part of a machine that has long indoctrinated Christians in a direction that has led them to fail LGBTQ people, legalized religiously based bigotry, & cloaked that bigotry in love.       He reminds me of people who objected to MLK Day in the late 20th Century.   What does the...

4. Biblical justice to critical race theory (CRT) The biblical notion of justice is being supplanted by CRT, which emphasizes systemic oppression and racial categorization. Scripture teaches that our identity is found in being children of God through Christ, not in our skin color or ethnicity (Galatians 3:28). The gospel unites us as one body in Christ, transcending racial and ethnic divisions. In contrast, woke ideology views reality primarily through the lens of skin color and victimization, promoting division and fostering resentment. As believers, we must reject this worldview and uphold the biblical principle that all are equal before God, striving for true justice and reconciliation through the Gospel’s transformative power. That is, at best, a truncated understanding of Galatians 3:28, & his usage of this text places him at odds with his own theology of sex & gender as well as his Us Vs. Them perspective on the present state of affairs in the United States.  The text...