Last month, Douglas Wilson read seven different translations of Beowulf.

There’s something wrong with that.

Here is a question I was asked today:

do you believe (in any sense at all) that we are justified and accepted by God because of the non-meritorious works that come from faith?

I am very interested to know how you would answer this question. Especially what Mark, Barb, Tim and other ‘heavy hitters’ (like maybe Rich Lusk) would say. (these links are to try to get them to see this post).

Interesting…

Forbid Them Not: Rethinking the Baptism and Church Membership of Children and Young People

This is a book by a credo-baptist. I’ve always wondered why baptists don’t accept the profession of young children, like four or five years old. I can see why they don’t baptize infants – I don’t agree with them at all, but I can at least understand where they’re coming from on that. But I’ve never been able to see why they wouldn’t believe the profession of a young child. I imagine five and six year olds telling their parents that they love Jesus, and then being told “That’s nice, let’s wait a few years and see if you still love Him”. How does this teach them anything but doubt? “Daddy doesn’t believe me, and he’s smarter than me, so maybe I really don’t love Jesus…”

(!or maybe this book is talking about children that are 12 or 13 years old…..)

In the mail yesterday, I got When Shall These Things Be: A Reformed Response to Hyper-Preterism, edited by Keith Mathison.

And so I’m putting down whatever else I’m reading and picking up this. I was telling Megan last night that, if there was a heresy that I would embrace, it would be hyper-preterism. (or would that be reading a book by NT Wright?)

I’m not actually considering it, or even really troubled by hyper-preterism at all. It’s just that I can see pretty clearly how one would come to that conclusion, and there are some questions regarding the language used in the time texts that are not quite settled in my mind. Mostly I think it’s just a lack of poetic thinking that leads to hyper-preterism, though.

But anyhow… that’s what I’m reading now.