Last week Jacob Hantla wrote about an article that had appeared in the news the day before. A girl who lives in the Minneapolis area unexpectedly gave birth to a baby. She is overweight and it seems that neither she nor her mother had known that she was pregnant. She did not want the baby and reacted to its birth by stabbing it some 135 times and stuffing the lifeless body in a trash can. She is now facing charges of first degree murder, a charge that could potentially put her in prison for the rest of her life, and is being held on $1 million bail. Jacob points out a sad and disgusting aspect of this case, saying "since it was after the baby had passed through the birth canal instead of a few hours earlier while it remained in the uterus, the law declares it first degree murder instead of abortion." As the title of his article suggests, if this girl wanted to avoid trouble, she really should have killed the baby a day earlier. Had she done this it would have been a mere surgical procedure to get rid of unwanted tissue. There may have been repercussions for this kind of late-term abortion, but not a first degree murder charge.
I came across another interesting article last week. In this one a man was appealing to the courts to have them overturn the order that forces him to pay alimony to his ex-wife. His ex, you see, has undergone gender reassignment surgery and now considers herself [or is that himself?] a man. The former husband is now arguing in the courts that it is illegal for him to pay alimony to a man and thus he should no longer be forced to pay. While he is, in many ways, absolutely right, the consensus of legal experts is that the courts will not be sympathetic to him.
These two articles reaffirmed in mind the absolute value of absolute truth. Once we, as humans, begin to tamper with what God says is true and good, we launch ourselves down a slippery slope that will necessarily lead to greater and grander error. Only when we have rejected God's truth do we need to fight about and wrestle with issues such as whether a baby killed inside its mother is morally and ethically equal to the murder of a baby outside of its mother's body. Only when we turn from God's truth do we need to wonder if a man who used to be a woman is really now a woman or a man. When God's Word is held out as the standard, these questions immediately dissolve in the light of its certainty.
It is not just unbelievers who encounter these strange and unnatural questions. When Christians are swayed from the truth and begin to introduce error into their lives they, too, have to face questions that they really have no need or right to ask. It has been my experience that when I find myself wrestling with issues that seem like they should be clear, more often than not I soon find that I have introduced some kind of error into my thinking. This error brings shades of gray to what is really black and white. God's Word is given to bring light and clarity. If it seems to bring confusion, you can rest assured that the fault is yours and not the Bible's!
Comments (16) »
1. Blake
April 24, 2007
2:58 PM
I remember one day when I was teaching a lesson to college students in an Asian country, the English exercise took the form of a discussion question. The book told of a shipwreck, and 9 survivors left in a liferaft. The 9 people spanned many demographics, including the middle-aged, the elderly, a young college athelet, and a pregnant woman. The liferaft could only hold 8 people, so one person supposedly must be thrown over, and the book asked the students to decide who. I was so surprised and a somewhat disturbed when I heard the students almost unaminously say that the pregnant woman should be thrown over! When I asked them why, they said that the boat has a population problem and the pregnant woman should be thrown over because she is really like two people.
I told them that in America, most people would say that the pregnant woman should be saved even if it meant the death of every other person on the boat. I told them that most Americans would say that the oldest person should probably be thrown over… and that maybe even some would say that the college athlete should volunteer to jump because he is the strongest.
After reading something like this—it makes me wonder how well I represented Americans afterall.
Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.
2. Pete
April 24, 2007
3:20 PM
I’d agree with your conclusions, except for that one of Jesus’ problems with the Pharisees is that in their search for certainty, they neglected the weightier matters of the law.
3. Andrew Moody
April 24, 2007
5:32 PM
Thanks Tim,
I’m reading No Place for Truth by David Wells, for a local pastor’s book club discussion I’m hosting this Thursday evening. Your post really hit home in light of Wells’ critique of Modernism, especially how it has impacted the church.
4. David
April 24, 2007
7:10 PM
I really appreciated reading about this. It is nauseating how the world can be so tolerant of evil and so intolerant of truth. Makes me glad I’m a citizen of heaven first, and an American second.
5. Roger
April 25, 2007
2:01 AM
I believe steadfast faith in religion is a curse. I’m not saying believeing is bad, but when you don’t question for yourself very bad things happen (look at the German nation in 1939). I don’t believe we should ever justify or explain something by religion, or by the existence of God. How can we ever live in peace this way? There are a lot of great things we can learn from all religions and we should respect that, however personally I have never met someone who is a steadfast practicer of any religion who is not seriously narrowminded. I do believe in some form of god however to live in harmony with all people on this planet blind narrowmindedness will never achieve this, and nor will patriotism. Have pride in yourself and your family, but pride in a nation that has pillaged and warmongered for its own gain over the years? Justify and explain things by science, believe and worship God and study religion by all means.
6. Lance M. Roberts
April 25, 2007
2:55 AM
Thanks Tim. I am grateful for your stand for the truth. This is the direction that error always takes people. They make themselves a god and do whatever is right in their own eyes. This is part of the nature of error.
Roger, I just listened to a great message yesterday by John Piper where he made the following statement: “When there is no truth that deserves assent from everybody, the only arbiter in our competing desires is power. Where truth doesn’t define what’s right, might makes right. And where might makes right, weak people pay with their lives. When the universal claim of truth disappears, what you get is not peaceful pluralism or loving relationships; what you get is concentration camps and gulags.”
7. Martin James
April 25, 2007
3:58 AM
Proverbs 1:7;23-31 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
If you turn at my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit to you; I will make my words known to you.
Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,
when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.
Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,
would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,
therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
8. Blake
April 25, 2007
2:17 PM
Roger, which person’s mind is more “narrow”?
Person A - I believe all life and civilization has arisen because of a heartless, random, natural processes. There is nothing more meaningful than this world and this life. Religion is a quaint amusement and occasional aid to society. Nothing is true other than what is observable and confirmable from science. When people die, their essence is annihilated.
Person B - I believe in a unique creator God unlike anything ever created who has made all inexpressibly complex and beautiful. Man is made in the image of this perfect God and lives out every one of his days according to a great, gloriously masterful purpose that brings praise and glory to this magnificent God. God’s law and covenant with people give them boldness for life and strength to endure and overcome evil, no matter how great. God is the reference point for all truth, and his revelation in Christ and the Bible is a comprehensive, perfectly tailored message of absolute, undeniable truth to men and women. The gateway of death will bring God’s people to full union with Him in realms of light and glory for endless ages.
9. KathleenM
April 25, 2007
9:18 PM
Roger, which person’s mind is more narrow?
Person A: I believe that all puppies and ponies and children are lovingly cared for by a Wise and Holy Creator, who — in his holy and glorious goodness — protects them and ensures that they are loved, adequately fed, and cared for.
Person B: Baloney. Children routinely starve to death, are neglected, molested, and/or killed.
Happy-face sentiments are not the same as a perceptive mind.
10. Blake
April 25, 2007
11:14 PM
protects them and ensures that they are loved, adequately fed, and cared for.
The original point of the post is the depravity of man and the atrocities that go on daily.
Children routinely starve to death, are neglected, molested, and/or killed.
Now you’re getting closer…
The question I have is: how did you get sappy sentimentalism out of what I wrote here
Man is made in the image of this perfect God and lives out every one of his days according to a great, gloriously masterful purpose that brings praise and glory to this magnificent God
I never said God’s purpose brought protection against atrocities in this life, but that his purpose brings glory to God.
11. Kathleen
April 26, 2007
1:51 AM
Roger: “I never said God’s purpose brought protection against atrocities in this life, but that his purpose brings glory to God.”
Please tell us how atrocities bring glory to God.
12. Blake
April 26, 2007
9:52 AM
The Cross.
What bigger atrocity could there be? What could be more glorifying to the Lord? This is not to say that God only brings glory to himself through atrocities, but that it is a major part of his work.
13. KathleenM
April 27, 2007
2:39 AM
Roger writes: “The Cross.
What bigger atrocity could there be?”
Oh, say, genocide or serial killings or child rape, or even the massacre at Virginia Tech. Now, can you please enlighten as to exactly how atrocities bring glory to God?
14. karin
April 28, 2007
10:26 AM
Atrocities will continue to happen for time because man-kind is evil by nature and by choice, and succumbs to his own sinful desires and temptations, acting out in all manner of evil. God, however, can and does take all the things meant for evil, and bring good out of those situations for all those who love Him. Besides, God is still in control and has His reasons for allowing evil to continue for as long as He requires and for His purposes. I don’t presume to understand His reasons, but I trust Him to do what is right. Has He not used something ‘bad’ that happened to you, to bring something good out of it? He has in my life. The ‘bad’ thing that happened to me, caused me to turn closer to Him; but that ‘bad’ thing that happened in your life, may in fact, have made you decide to turn even further away from Him. So, we’ve made a choice either for or against Him. It reveals His power to turns the hearts of people towards Him and that glorifies Him. Because He loves you, He will continue to use whatever it takes, to draw you closer to Him. It also glorifies Him, that despite rejection by people, He continues to love them.
15. Blake
April 28, 2007
5:03 PM
Karin, you are not stressing God’s sovereignty in the existence of evil enough. God doesn’t just passively allow evil, as if evil was an outside force with it’s own will and creativity, but God has ordained evil to be at work in a way that is ultimately glorifying to God.
Amos 3:6
If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?
This article says it better than I could, and I hope both you and Kathleen read it. Especially the part titled “The Mystery of God Ordaining But Not Doing Sin”, about 3/4 down the page.
16. karin
April 28, 2007
5:22 PM
My short comments were not meant to be exhaustive, lol. God is in control - sovereign! I appreciated the link to the article and had time to read it right away. We’re on the same page!
Blessings!
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