In preparation for Halloween Reformation Day (same difference), perhaps it is time to look at -

THIS DAY IN HISTORY – October 27, 1553

From Wikipedia:

As Servetus was not a citizen of Geneva, and legally could at worst be banished, the government had consulted with other Swiss Reformed cantons (Zurich, Bern, Basel, Schaffhausen), which universally favored his condemnation and the suppression of his doctrine, but without saying how that should be accomplished. Martin Luther had condemned his writing in strong terms. Servetus and Philip Melanchthon had strongly hostile views of each other. Those who went against the idea of his execution, the party called “Libertines”, drew the ire of much of Christendom. On 24 October Servetus was sentenced to death by burning for denying the Trinity and infant baptism. When Calvin requested that Servetus be executed by decapitation rather than fire, Farel, in a letter of September 8, chided him for undue lenity, and the Geneva Council refused his request. On 27 October 1553 Servetus was burned at the stake just outside Geneva with what was believed to be the last copy of his book chained to his leg. Historians record his last words as: “Jesus, Son of the Eternal God, have mercy on me.”

Happy Reformation Day (a few days early), Michael!

[Please do note, that Calvin requested that Servetus be decapitated, instead of burned at the stake. So don't ever say that the creator of the so-called "doctrines of grace" was a heartless, graceless guy...]

HT: VV, with more here.

* Sarah Palin has said nothing about the clubbing of innocent baby seals.

* Every year over 200,000 baby seals are clubbed to death for their fur.

* Headline reads “Sarah Palin joins the ranks with seal clubbers!”

I know, I know… that is absolutely asinine. Why would anyone ever make those jumps in logic? Well, apparently one writer over at CRN has decided to do so. Here’s the logic found in this article

* Rob Bell has made few definitive statements about homosexuality.

* The Gay Wisconsin City Cream Choir, an organization that doesn’t claim to follow Christ, is singing songs that are not theologically correct.

* Headline reads “Rob Bell Sing the siren song of the Self”

WHAT!?! How on earth do you make those conclusions and connections!?! It’s absolutely incredible that someone who calls themselves a researcher and a mouth piece for God himself would make such wild and strange statements. If you have some type of vendetta against Rob Bell, then I guess anything and everything pagan could and should be tied to him.

So much for solid research.

Friends,

I am currently reading Eugene Peterson’s newest spiritual theology Tell It Slant. Peterson is full of wisdom and his insight into Scripture is masterful. He has a way of cutting to the quick and laying out his argument with short, terse, and dead-on statements.You should read Eugene Peterson–a lot.

In the threads here, we often find ourselves in ‘conversations’ that devolve into ‘arguments.’ One person says something, another responds. Back and forth it goes. Someone is then called out and then they begin the justification of their statements. Threads are often derailed in this fashion. Peterson has fine words for this in commenting on Luke 10:25-37, and especially the scholar’s need to ‘justify himself’:

We feel the need for justification only when we sense that we are not quite in the right. Maybe there is more to life than orthodoxy. Self-justification is a verbal device for restoring the appearance of rightness without doing anything about the substance…We don’t like being thought bad or inadequate or stupid. (39)

Well, these are short thoughts, so that’s all I’ll give you. It’s just something to think about on your journey and in your conversations and in your interactions with those of Christ and those not.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Tags: Eugene Peterson, self-justification