The four alternatives to worshiping God
What are the alternatives to worshiping God? There are four, according to the commandments. One is to worship a different God. This is given no elaboration, because it needs none: God has brought Israel out of slavery. What use would Israel have for any other god? A second is to make an idol. This is to worship something smaller than God, something God has made. It is to confuse the creation with the creator, to serve that which cannot liberate -- in other words, to return to slavery. A third is to trivialize God by forgetting that his name is holy, by using his name to advance our own purposes rather than his. If we frequently call on him when we don’t want him, we must accept that he won’t be there to answer when we really do.
The fourth is to make gods of ourselves. This is the underlying warning of the commandments concerning the sabbath and parents. Temptations to break the sabbath are understandable: we are needed, we are vital, we have made commitments and need this extra time to fulfill them, we don’t want to let people down, there is so much good that can be done. The temptation to break the sabbath is the temptation to do extra good. Why is extra good necessary? Because salvation is just out of reach and we are striving for it? Because we are surrounded by suffering and evil, and God can’t or won’t intervene, so we must? The sabbath is a great test of our faith in God. If we look to him, he will look after what he has given to us.
Selah.
David F. Wells, "God Spoke These Words," Christian Century
Showing posts with label rule of law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rule of law. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
The ancient boundaries
Here is a nice shot of an old boundary marker: a treeline stretching up, over the hill and in the distance. Very evocative photo... it brought to mind the divine prohibition about moving boundaries.
- You shall not move your neighbor's boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess. Deuteronomy 19:14
- 'Cursed is he who moves his neighbor's boundary mark.' And all the people shall say, 'Amen.' Deuteronomy 27:17
- "Some remove the landmarks; They seize and devour flocks. Job 24:2
- Do not move the ancient boundary Which your fathers have set. Proverbs 22:28
There is something sacred in the land granted by God; one moves the boundaries only at great detriment to himself. The lesson is enduring and graphic, in its physical intent: a protection of property and heritage, an honoring of the poor, the widows and orphans. In a spiritual sense, this applies in spades to postmoderns: we've ripped away the ancient boundaries, defining all sense and sin in relation to ourselves. The ancient Reformation understanding of the true self as defined outside one's natural self is jettisoned -- and despised. Layers of lessons! Not the least of which is the fact that this picture is posted in a time when Israel's boundaries are transgressed almost daily by terror. Selah.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
A blessed Memorial Day to you!
Hello dear friends and readers -- a blessed Memorial Day to you!
Here's a clip from the funeral of a great American, one of my favorite songs... and a quote from one of my favorite Presidents:
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Friends, there is a great work left to do for America... and it begins in the spirit. May you know that new birth of spirit so that our land may have a new birth of freedom -- freedom from the metaphysical chains that enslave so many of our citizens -- and we may once again turn as friends to that divine Law, under which real freedom is known!
Selah.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
Chief Justice Roberts: Freedom and the rule of law
Freedom inextricably linked to the rule of law
Today I listened to a speech by Chief Justice Roberts, given on 3-08-06 at the Reagan Library. Roberts was quiet in his style, but instructive…and, at times moving in his words. Here are several nuggets from the speech. Note: This is not a transcript; just my post facto remembering and writing of his words, with a few of my thoughts added in. I trust the each reader will have the brainpower to know the difference, lol! :-)
Roberts said the thing that impressed him the most about Ronald Reagan was that Reagan unalterably believed that freedom is linked to the rule of law. Reagan defined freedom as freedom under the law; in other words, justice as the foundation of freedom. Roberts gave several examples of this, but by now he had my attention. Why?
Because this is a classical definition of freedom!
In a personal sense, Judeo-Christian revelation defines freedom as the power to do what is right. In other words, we are free as we do right [personally]. J-C revelation makes this same principle national, teaching that only the people who do right will be governed rightly.
Roberts talked about the role that the independent judiciary plays in defending the true ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’ – how this is underpinned necessarily by the rule of law.
He talked about how difficult it was to build democracy when there was not a model – ever – in which the people followed a law that transcended State, with an independent judiciary.
I don’t think he mentioned Iraq by name, but the implication was there. Building democracy, he said, would be built brick by painful brick as an independent judiciary is built; and as the people learn that freedom is related to rule of law – and not just release from a dictator, or a new ability to do more things.
An independent judiciary assumes the rule of law, above State and for the people. This is a fount of freedom. And it is a novelty, for many people and countries.
Roberts went on to talk about judicial exchange, where judges travel to different countries, to interact and discuss judicial philosophy and practice. Since the point of these discussions is education and [hopefully] justice, sometimes the exchanges are sharp – irenic, but pointed.
He mentioned a time where a Russian judge pointedly asked him [through a translator]: “Is there ever a time when you rule against the government?” Roberts said that on the court of appeals he served, they ruled against the government three times before breakfast just to get warmed up [laughter]. That’s not the language he used in reply to this Russian judge, but he did express that yes, many times they ruled against the government. The law was larger than the government. The government serves the law, which serves the people. Again, quite the miracle of the American Republic [note: not raw democracy, but a true republic]! Roberts talked of this man’s response to ‘ruling against the government,’ and how American government is amenable to the law. This man was surprised, because his government, in practice, placed itself above the law and judicatory.
Another anecdote Roberts gave was quite illuminating on several levels.
This exchange occurred somewhere in Western Europe [specific names weren’t mentioned to protect the innocent, lol], when a Russian judge visited with a group of Western European judges. The judges asked him, “What judicial model are you using?” He replied, “Why, the American model, of course.”
They didn’t much like this answer. And one of them said snidely, “If all you wanted was a can of Coke, you didn’t have to come to Western Europe to get it.”
The Russian judge quietly received this. Then he looked them full in the eye and said strongly, “Sorry, I don’t much like Coke.” “I like my wine French, I like my beer German, I like my Vodka Russian…and I like my judicial institutions American.”
They got the point.
And it is a powerful example of what sets America apart. The rule of law is the foundation of freedom. This is an undeniable claim of Judeo-Christian revelation, a J-C foundational truth. And only in places where Judaism or Christianity touched is this concept now practiced.
It is an incredible gift.
And it’s one reason, for example, why a letter from the U.S. Congress asking India’s Prime Minister to take action against indigenous religious persecution carries such weight.
It’s one reason why America is a place where immigrants tear down the doors to get into. Conversely, it’s one reason that America is a place that dictators and totalitarian regimes hate.
But I’ll take the good with the bad…and also the responsibility that entails, to keep our country grounded in a proper definition of freedom. For once we lose the reality of person freedom under a transcendent Law, we will eventually lose the gift of freedom under the rule of law.
And when that light is extinguished in our world, behold! what manner of darkness!
In these words are a lesson, and a powerful obligation:
“I like my wine French, I like my beer German, I like my Vodka Russian…and I like my judicial institutions American.”
God grant we keep them that way, and accept the law that brings freedom in our personal lives.
Today I listened to a speech by Chief Justice Roberts, given on 3-08-06 at the Reagan Library. Roberts was quiet in his style, but instructive…and, at times moving in his words. Here are several nuggets from the speech. Note: This is not a transcript; just my post facto remembering and writing of his words, with a few of my thoughts added in. I trust the each reader will have the brainpower to know the difference, lol! :-)
Roberts said the thing that impressed him the most about Ronald Reagan was that Reagan unalterably believed that freedom is linked to the rule of law. Reagan defined freedom as freedom under the law; in other words, justice as the foundation of freedom. Roberts gave several examples of this, but by now he had my attention. Why?
Because this is a classical definition of freedom!
In a personal sense, Judeo-Christian revelation defines freedom as the power to do what is right. In other words, we are free as we do right [personally]. J-C revelation makes this same principle national, teaching that only the people who do right will be governed rightly.
Roberts talked about the role that the independent judiciary plays in defending the true ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’ – how this is underpinned necessarily by the rule of law.
He talked about how difficult it was to build democracy when there was not a model – ever – in which the people followed a law that transcended State, with an independent judiciary.
I don’t think he mentioned Iraq by name, but the implication was there. Building democracy, he said, would be built brick by painful brick as an independent judiciary is built; and as the people learn that freedom is related to rule of law – and not just release from a dictator, or a new ability to do more things.
An independent judiciary assumes the rule of law, above State and for the people. This is a fount of freedom. And it is a novelty, for many people and countries.
Roberts went on to talk about judicial exchange, where judges travel to different countries, to interact and discuss judicial philosophy and practice. Since the point of these discussions is education and [hopefully] justice, sometimes the exchanges are sharp – irenic, but pointed.
He mentioned a time where a Russian judge pointedly asked him [through a translator]: “Is there ever a time when you rule against the government?” Roberts said that on the court of appeals he served, they ruled against the government three times before breakfast just to get warmed up [laughter]. That’s not the language he used in reply to this Russian judge, but he did express that yes, many times they ruled against the government. The law was larger than the government. The government serves the law, which serves the people. Again, quite the miracle of the American Republic [note: not raw democracy, but a true republic]! Roberts talked of this man’s response to ‘ruling against the government,’ and how American government is amenable to the law. This man was surprised, because his government, in practice, placed itself above the law and judicatory.
Another anecdote Roberts gave was quite illuminating on several levels.
This exchange occurred somewhere in Western Europe [specific names weren’t mentioned to protect the innocent, lol], when a Russian judge visited with a group of Western European judges. The judges asked him, “What judicial model are you using?” He replied, “Why, the American model, of course.”
They didn’t much like this answer. And one of them said snidely, “If all you wanted was a can of Coke, you didn’t have to come to Western Europe to get it.”
The Russian judge quietly received this. Then he looked them full in the eye and said strongly, “Sorry, I don’t much like Coke.” “I like my wine French, I like my beer German, I like my Vodka Russian…and I like my judicial institutions American.”
They got the point.
And it is a powerful example of what sets America apart. The rule of law is the foundation of freedom. This is an undeniable claim of Judeo-Christian revelation, a J-C foundational truth. And only in places where Judaism or Christianity touched is this concept now practiced.
It is an incredible gift.
And it’s one reason, for example, why a letter from the U.S. Congress asking India’s Prime Minister to take action against indigenous religious persecution carries such weight.
It’s one reason why America is a place where immigrants tear down the doors to get into. Conversely, it’s one reason that America is a place that dictators and totalitarian regimes hate.
But I’ll take the good with the bad…and also the responsibility that entails, to keep our country grounded in a proper definition of freedom. For once we lose the reality of person freedom under a transcendent Law, we will eventually lose the gift of freedom under the rule of law.
And when that light is extinguished in our world, behold! what manner of darkness!
In these words are a lesson, and a powerful obligation:
“I like my wine French, I like my beer German, I like my Vodka Russian…and I like my judicial institutions American.”
God grant we keep them that way, and accept the law that brings freedom in our personal lives.