Theological Term of the Week

bibliolatry
The worship of the Bible instead of God. (While technically it may be possible to commit bibliolatry, high esteem for and submission to the Bible is not bibliolatry, but rather worship of God through reverence of and obedience to his revelation to us.)

• A proper attitude toward scripture from scripture:

I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.

Blessed are you, O LORD;

teach me your statutes!

With my lips I declare

all the rules of your mouth.

In the way of your testimonies I delight

as much as in all riches.

I will meditate on your precepts

and fix my eyes on your ways.

I will delight in your statutes;

I will not forget your word.

(Psalm 119:11-16 ESV)

• From The London Baptist Confession 1689:

Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures

5. We may be moved and induced by the testimony of the church of God to an high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures; and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole (which is to give all glory to God), the full discovery it makes of the only way of man’s salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God…

• From Freedom and Authority by J. I. Packer:

[I]f Jesus was God incarnate and spoke with personal divine authority, and if by sending the Spirit he really enabled his apostles to speak God’s word with total consistency. it follows that both Testaments (that which his gift of the Spirit produced as well as that which he knew and authenticated) ought to be received as “the very words of God” and as “God-breathed and … useful … so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped” (Rom. 3:2: 2 Tim. 3:16. 17). Only as we seek to believe and do what the two Testaments, taken together, say have we the full right to call ourselves Jesus’ disciples. “Why do you call me. “Lord. Lord,” and not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). Scripture comes to us, as it were, from Jesus? hand, and its authority and his are so interlocked as to be one.

Bowing to the living Lord entails submitting mind and heart to the written Word. Disciples individually and churches corporately stand under the authority of Scripture because they stand under the lordship of Christ, who rules by Scripture. This is not bibliolatry but Christianity in its most authentic form.

1. GotQuestions.org: What is bibliolatry?
2. Blue Letter Bible: Does Belief in Inerrancy Cause Worship of the Bible?
3. Kevin DeYoung: Is Bibliolatry the Real Danger?
4. Tim Challies:  Bibliolatry
5. S. M. Baugh: Is Bibliolatry Possible?

Related terms:

• authority of scripture
• inerrancy of scripture
• infallibility of scripture
• inspiration of scripture
• sola scriptura
• special revelation
  
• sufficiency of scripture

Filed under Scripture.

Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.

Grandmother On Assignment

Daughter and granddaughter

I’ve been a grandmother for less than a year, not long enough to be an expert, but long enough to know that all the grandmas who went before me were right: It really is the best thing ever. I see my grandchildren as blessings from God in a way I didn’t see with my own children, not because I didn’t know my kids were blessings, but because when you’re the parent, little blessings come with loads of work and responsibility. The unrelentingness of parenting can shade our view of the blessing side of children.

Grandmothering is not like that. Grandmothers do, of course, have responsibilities toward their grandchildren (I’ll say more on that later.), but not in the ultimate way that parents do. In the end, the kiddies go home; our joy is not tempered by day to day care.

I didn’t have much say as to whether or when I became a grandmother. I had children who grew up to have children, and the role is now mine. It is as simple as that.

Or maybe not. It is also, I’d argue, an appointment from God. In the context of writing about the family and social relationships of new believers, Paul writes:

Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him… (1 Corinthians 7:17 ESV).

There’s a general principle in there for us all: Family circumstances and relationships are assignments from God. I am called by him to be a grandmother; it is a God-given role. God summons me to serve him in the vocation of grandmotherhood.

I’ll return to this theme again, looking at what duties God assigns me in my new vocation and how I can fulfill this calling. Meanwhile, I ask you:

• Are you a grandmother? If so, how do you serve God as a grandmother? 
• Are you a mother or father? Then how has your mother or mother-in-law served God by serving you as a parent? Or your children as children?
• Are you a person who has or has had a grandmother? How does/did she serve God in her relationship to you?

A Catechism for Girls and Boys

Part III: Questions about Salvation

77. Q. Who will be saved?

       A. Only those who repent of sin and believe in Christ will be saved.

Click through to read scriptural proof.)

Click to read more ...

Sunday's Hymn: O Happy Day

O happy day, that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.

Refrain

Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.

O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.

’Tis done: the great transaction’s done!
I am the Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on;
Charmed to confess the voice divine.

Now rest, my long divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest.
Here have I found a nobler part;
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast.

High heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear,
Till in life’s latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear.

Other hymns, worship songs, sermons etc. posted today:

• Jesus, Master, Whose I Am at Fieldstone Cottage
• The King of Love My Shepherd Is at Rosemary at Home
• On Olivet a Little Band at Conjubilant With Song
• Lord’s Day 21 at Tried With Fire 
• A Sunday Psalm: The Treasury of David - Psalm 4:6-7 at Theology for Girls
• Lord’s Day 21, 2012 at The Thirsty Theologian
• Praying the Psalms - Psalm 77 at Daily On My Way to Heaven
• Faith Alone - May 20, 2012 at The Upward Call

Have you posted a hymn (or sermon, sermon notes, prayer, etc.) today and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by contacting me using the contact form linked above, and I’ll add your post to the list.

America's National Toy

I’ve started the holiday weekend early (It’s Victoria Day on Monday), so it’s a repost of an old post tonight. Yesterday I had a twitter conversation about Lego and Tinkertoys. It reminded me of this post from four years ago, so I’ve fetched it from the archives for you.

Long ago, before the age of Lego, there were Lincoln Logs. Do you know who invented them? I’ll give you a hint: It wasn’t Abraham Lincoln.

Do you need another clue? Lincoln Logs were the brainchild of the son of the architect who designed the hotel to the left. You can click on the photo for a larger view if you think that will help you identify him. Even if you don’t know enough about architecture to recognize this man’s work, you may want to take a closer look at the photo. It’s a grand building, yes, but doesn’t it look a little Lincoln loggish?

It was when this son-of-an-architect traveled with is father to Tokyo while this hotel was being built that he saw the interlocking beams in the basement, beams specially designed to withstand Tokyo’s earthquakes. These beams were his inspiration for a toy construction set.

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. In this case, invention came before necessity, but necessity was certainly the motivation behind the development and marketing of this invention. When his famous architect daddy refused to pay him a salary, son-of-an-architect began pilfering a bit here and there from the fees he collected for his father on this hotel. Daddy found out and fired him, and children everywhere benefit because the filching son was forced to fend for himself.

The Christmas ad pictured above is from the December 1928 issue of Child Life, four years after Lincoln Logs were first sold to the public. I’ve cut the copy from the ad, but you can still see the entire thing if you wish. Here’s some of it:

The very “Spirit of America” is typified by the creative possibilities of LINCOLN LOGS. A new enlarged Design Book shows many novel building ideas and suggests ways of using LINCOLN LOGS which arouse and maintain interest in this “ALL AMERICAN Toy” and make it “the most used Toy in the Playroom.”

And you thought people today overuse quotation marks. 

“LINCOLN LOGS,” we’re told, “‘Fit In’ with Other Toys.” Good to know. The playroom is no place for misfits.

A single set of logs sold for $1, a double for $2, and a triple for $3. There was no savings for buying in bulk back then. I have photos of ads from 1928 and 1934 (scroll down) and the prices are exactly the same, but by 1934, a set that includes log wheels for making “OX CARTS, WHEELBARROWS, WAGONS and CANNON of the olden times”, “modern Motor Cars,” and airplanes has been added to the selection.

My sister and I received a set of Lincoln Logs for Christmas when I was five years old. I had very few toys as a child because my family had no money for extras, and toys, believe it or not, are extras. But that Christmas three teenaged boys from the church my father pastored made each of us a big doll cradle, and they threw in a set of Tinker Toys and a set of Lincoln Logs, too.

I never did play with my cradle because I didn’t do dolls. I preferred cars and trucks, and not in the “Hi, baby truck, I’m a big truck and I’m your mommy!” way my youngest daughter did. No, I built national parks in the dirt and drove in the tourists. You can imagine how much I loved my Lincoln Logs.

The only problem with Lincoln Logs is that there are never enough of them. Do you know how many sets it would have taken to make the whole town pictured above? Remember that each roof slat is a piece, as well as each single linker used in the doors and windows. I doubt you could make the large central building from even a triple set of 166 logs. My husband solved the piece shortage problem for my own kids by making them hundreds and hundreds of additional pieces out of wood scraps from his shop. They filled whole rooms with their cities.

Somewhere in the storage room in the basement is a 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot cardboard box containing his home made Lincoln logs. Before long, there will be grandchildren filling whole rooms with cities and national parks. They will not know their grandpa, but they’ll be able to play with the toys he made. That’s a consolation prize, I suppose, but it’s better than nothing.

There is no prize, consolation or otherwise, for guessing which architect’s son invented Lincoln Logs. If you know only one famous architect and you guess him, you will probably be (w)right.

Lincoln Logs are, you might say, “America’s National Toy” from the son of “America’s National Architect.”

---

More fun with toys:

• Insist on Slinky

Thankful Thursday

I’m thankful to be a grandmother again. My oldest daughter had a baby girl on Saturday. Little Amelia was born in Vancouver, so I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m thankful for her. I’m thankful that she is healthy and doing well. I’m thankful that I’ll be flying down to see her soon.

I’m still thankful for Natalie, granddaughter #1, who just got her first tooth. I’m thankful that she is healthy and happy and sociable. Today, she crawled a tiny bit before she fell over, so she’ll probably be getting around by herself before long. I’m thankful that she’s learning new things every day.

Grandmotherhood is a gift and calling for which I am thankful.

I’m thankful for other gifts, too.

• Sunshine and warmer temps. It snowed yesterday, but it’s proper spring weather today.
• The pond behind our house. It may be a mosquito factory, but the dogs love to cool off in it, and the birds love it, too.
• That it will soon be time to plant the garden.
• That the trees will have new leaves.
• Strawberries in season.
• God-breathed scripture. How would I know Jesus without it? 

What are you thankful for?

Syttende Mai

It’s the 17th of May (Syttende Mai), National Day or Constitution Day for Norwegians. It was in 1814 that Norway broke away from Denmark after being under Danish control for several hundred years. On May 17th of that year, Norway’s constitution was established. Nevermind that Norway was part of a kingdom with Sweden until 1905, this is the day that they celebrate their independence. 

 

To celebrate the Seventeenth of May, I’m posting the words to the Norwegian national anthem, Ja, vi elsker dette landet. There’s a link at the end so you can hear it, too.

I have no idea what that one line in the English means and Google was no help. So I’ll ask you: What is a “saga night” and how does it send “dreams to our earth”? 

In Norwegian:

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt, over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem.
Elsker, elsker det og tenker
På vår far og mor
Og den saganatt som senker
Drømme på vår jord,
Og den saganatt som senker
Senker drømme på vår jord,

Norske mann i hus og hytte,
Takk din store Gud!
Landet ville han beskytte
Skjønt det mørkt så ut.
Alt hva fedrene har kjempet,
Mødrene har grett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant vår rett,
Har den Herre stille lempet,
Så vi vant, vi vant vår rett.

Ja, vi elsker dette landet,
Som det stiger frem,
Furet, værbitt over vannet,
Med de tusen hjem!
Og som fedres kamp har hevet
Det fra nød til seier
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred slår leir,
Også vi når det blir krevet,
For dets fred, dets fred slår leir.

 In English:

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged, weathered, above the sea,
with those thousand homes.
Loving, loving it and thinking
about our father and mother
and the saga night that sends
dreams to our earth.
And the saga night that sends,
sends dreams to our earth.

Norseman, in house and cabin,
Thank your great God!
It was His will to protect the country
Although things looked dark.
While fathers fought
And mothers cried,
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our right.
Our Lord quietly opened the way
So that we won our rights.

Yes, we love this country
as it rises forth,
rugged and weathered, above the sea,
With those thousand homes.
And as our fathers’ struggle has raised it
from distress to victory,
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp
even we, when it is demanded,
for its peace will encamp.

—Listen. 

Active Punishment or Natural Consequences?

Or maybe both? Quoting from Pierced for Our Transgressions: Rediscovering the Glory of Penal Substitution by Steve Jeffery, Michael Ovey, Andrew Sach:

[S]ome have argued that God does not actively punish sin, but instead allows sinners to reap the ‘natural’ consequences of their actions. The idea here is that God does not intentionally impose these consequences; they are the natural outcome of events, a moral cause and effect analogous to physical cause and effect. Thus the husband who commits adultery suffers the consequence of collapsed trust in his marriage, and the man with a violent temper experiences the inevitable decay and loss of friendship. Within such a framework, it is claimed, we should not talk about God intentionally or actively punishing sin.

But this is a mistake, because it downplays an aspect of God’s work in creation; namely, his continuing, intentional sustaining of all things. All ‘natural’ consequences, whether physical or moral, take place because God continues to will the existence of the universe and the causal relationships that occur within it. Since the moral consequences of sin are willed in this way, they have the character of divine punishment.

Of course, so-called ‘natural’ consequences of sin are not the only kind of divine punishment there is, but it is real divine punishment.

Round the Sphere Again: Theology

The Trinity
Yes, the Trinity is baffling, but isn’t that what we’d expect of the true God?

[I]f the Christian God is real, would we expect him to be easy to put together? Is the Trinity less believable, or more believable–because it’s perplexing? Isn’t any “God” who’s too transparent simply incredible? Such a “God” is obvious because such a “God” is obviously an extension of the human mind, human experience.

From The Amazing Trinity by Steve Hayes at Triablogue.

God’s Sovereignty
That our God is sovereign in everything is our comfort. 

To try to soften God’s involvement with suffering by reducing it to a mere permission rather than a definite ordinance is to weaken the spine-strengthening power that is supplied by Romans 8:28.

Learning to Suffer Well: Trusting God’s Absolute Sovereignty by Mike Riccardi at The Cripplegate. 

What Doctrine Does
From 1 Tim. 4:6-16, four things doctrine does:

1. Sound doctrine prevents us from falling into irreverent and silly myths.
2. Sound doctrine trains us in godliness.
3. Sound doctrine will save you.
4. Sound doctrine prevents confusion.

Read the whole post by Aaron Armstrong at Blogging Theologically.

Theological Term of the Week

tabernacle
The mobile place of worship constructed by the Israelites during their desert wanderings, built according to plans given by God so that he could dwell with His people. 

• From scripture:

The LORD said to Moses, “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. (Exodus 25:1-9 ESV)

• From the notes of the The ESV Study Bible:

The instructions for the tabernacle (Exodus 25:1–31:17) and the description of the instructions being carried out (35:4–40:38) make up the majority of the second half of the book of Exodus. The Lord said of Israel, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God” (6:7), and the focus on the tabernacle is grounded in the fact that it is the means through which the Lord chose to dwell in the midst of his people (see 25:8; 29:45). The level of detail in the instructions emphasizes that Israel is to worship the Lord according to his word and that the materials, design, and layout of the tabernacle signify how Israel is to relate to the Lord, who is both holy and in their midst. For example, the objects inside the tabernacle where the Lord will meet with his people are made of or overlaid with pure gold (in contrast to the materials outside the tent, which are made of bronze and silver). Although the instructions include a significant level of detail, the details are not exhaustive enough for the reader to be sure precisely how every aspect was to be made (Moses is repeatedly “shown” how to make it, 25:9). The inclusion of the details may also have been meant to ensure that any early Israelite hearing the instructions read aloud would recognize that the tabernacle in their midst was indeed the one revealed to Moses, for him to oversee in construction. At the same time, there are two important keys to understanding the symbolism of the tabernacle. First, the tabernacle is seen as a tented palace for Israel’s divine king. He is enthroned on the ark of the covenant in the innermost Holy of Holies (the Most Holy Place). His royalty is symbolized by the purple of the curtains and his divinity by the blue. The closer items are to the Holy of Holies, the more valuable are the metals (bronze→silver→gold) of which they are made. The other symbolic dimension is Eden. The tabernacle, like the garden of Eden, is where God dwells, and various details of the tabernacle suggest it is a mini-Eden. These parallels include the east-facing entrance guarded by cherubim, the gold, the tree of life (lampstand), and the tree of knowledge (the law). Thus God’s dwelling in the tabernacle was a step toward the restoration of paradise, which is to be completed in the new heaven and earth (Revelation 21–22).

• From The God Who Is There by D. A. Carson:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. ([John] 1:14)—the expression I have italicized is literally “he tabernacled among us.” You cannot help but remember that the tabernacle is what God set up at the time of Sinai, a tabernacle with this special Most Holy Place where only the High priest could enter on behalf of himself and everybody else once a year with the blood of the sacrifices. It was the place where sinners met God, the great meeting place that brought together a holy God and rebellious human beings. That is what the tabernacle was, until the temple superseded it. Now we are told that when the Word became flesh, “he tabernacled among us.” …  Jesus … is the ultimate meeting place between human beings and God. 

Learn more:

1. GotQuestions.org: What was the tabernacle of Moses?
2. Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry: Tabernacle
3. ESV Study Bible: The Tabernacle and Court, The Tabernacle Tent
4. Challies.com: The Message of the Tabernacle (infographic)
5. R. C. Sproul:  The Tabernacle (mp3)

Related terms:

• typology

Filed under Old Covenant.

This week’s term was suggested by Diane Bucknell. Do you have a term you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.

Clicking on the Theological Term graphic at the top of this post will take you to a list of all the previous theological terms in alphabetical order.