DOOYEWEERD and the DECALOGUE (with Fearghas MacFhionnlaigh)

 Fearghas,

It’s been a while since I’ve looked at it, but how is the Moral Law, i.e., the Decalogue, expressed in, by, and through the fifteen ground motives of Dooyeweerdism? For example, does “Thou shalt not steal” have any distant connection to the kinematic aspect, or perhaps a far closer connection to the economic aspect? Or “Thou shalt not lie” with the lingual aspect? Or “Thou shalt not covet” with the quantitative aspect? In other words, is there a moral aspect to the fifteen spheres? And, if so, are we to equate moral and spiritual as synonymous in these aspects?

Neil

Neil,

Your question is very good. Not so easy to briefly answer without some introductory general explanation of Dooyeweerd. Anyway, as brief as I can manage for the moment…

Insofar as we refer to the Ten Commandments as “The Moral Law” we are locating them in the Moral or Ethical Aspect of Dooyeweerd’s 15 Aspects (latter also called Modes of Meaning, Modalities of Consciousness, Law-spheres etc [but NOT “ground-motives” which are something else entirely].) Note the Ethical Aspect (second down from top) on my following Chart —

Everything which exists in time ALWAYS functions in ALL the Aspects/ Law-spheres. Please reread that sentence. So the Aspects should be thought of as “structural” laws [eg law of gravity, law of logical contradiction, laws of aesthetics etc] as distinct from directive “commands”. You and I and my iPad and the cat and the squid and the pub and the chocolate bar wrapper and the birthday party and the political party and the TV show and Beethoven’s 5th and the wind which listeth, ALL ALWAYS function by their very existence in ALL the Aspects. 

Christ in his incarnation entered into ALL the aspects (which of course are all “from him, through him, and to him” and all “sustained by his word of power”). Likewise He “reconciled all things on heaven and earth by the blood of his cross” and in his resurrection was the “first fruits of the new creation”. 

As a rough rule of thumb we can note that the traditional faculty disciplines in universities match by and large Dooyeweerd’s 15 Aspects. And each faculty is at pains (or used to be at pains) to establish the lines of demarcation between itself and adjacent departments. This was an implicit recognition that the structures of reality were being carefully (“scientifically”) and discretely identified. But more than that, there is/ was a recognition that the faculties were “mutually irreducible”. Dooyeweerd calls the latter “sphere-sovereignty “. However, not to get too tricky here, there is also a “sphere-universality” whereby in full integral CONCRETE REALITY no aspect can exist in its discrete theoretically abstract (inside-the-heid) state, but only in simultaneous coherence with all the other aspects. This “sphere-universality” is what at first sight lends a certain plausibility to all idolatrous “isms” such as “rationalism” (being an absolutisation of the Analytical/ Logical Aspect, or in other words implying that all other aspects are merely a product of Logic.)

The Scriptures also, as an incarnation of the Word/ Logos, function in ALL Aspects.  So although we may correctly see the Decalogue as anchored in the “Moral”/ “Ethical” Aspect or Law-sphere, it is nonetheless fully integrated with, and manifests analogies simultaneously in, all other Aspects. The bottom foundational Aspect is “Numerical” (in this case “10”). It is formulated in words (Lingual Aspect), and as commands which incur judgement if disobeyed (Juridical/ Legal Aspect). The Psalmist calls the Law of the Lord “beautiful” (Aesthetic Aspect). “More precious than silver or gold” (Economic Aspect). We recognise and obey its authority by “faith” (Pistical Aspect [top of chart list]). It has societal implications (Social Aspect). The Decalogue was delivered at Sinai (Historical Aspect). Written on stone/ parchment/ paper/ computer screen (Physical Energy Aspect). And so on. 

Ecclesiates tells us that God “has put eternity in our hearts”.  When Christ was asked what is the greatest law, he of course answered “Love the Lord your God with all your HEART”. That is the fulfillment of all the moral commands of the Decalogue. It is also the fulfillment of all the structural laws of temporal reality, for “without him was not anything made which was made”. 

So Dooyeweerd notes this Scriptural identification of our “heart” as the selfhood’s innermost (“supratemporal”, “time-transcending”) concentration point where all of experienced reality (“whether we eat or drink”) is directed in love and obedience and sacrifice to the Eternal Lord (or in apostasy is directed to a reductionist time-bound idol, ie an absolutisation of a single temporal Aspect or combination of Aspects). 

It should be noted here that, to avoid a reductionism of all of reality to the Ethical Aspect, Dooyeweerd carefully differentiates the manifestation of “love” in the sense of that temporal Law-sphere from the comprehensive ALL-law-fulfilling supratemporal “Love” via which in our “hearts” we ascribe the glory of entire reality to the eternal God.

Anyone still reading is greatly commended! Enough already. Here in closing then, if stamina remains, is a quote from Dooyeweerd:

“We have already referred to one of CALVIN’s statements that occurs several times in his writings: ‘Deus legibus solutus est’ (‘God is not bound to the Law’). This statement necessarily implies that all of the creation is subject to the Law. Christ has freed us from the ‘law of sin’ and from the Jewish ceremonial law. But the cosmic law, in its religious [ie ultimate] fulness and temporal diversity of meaning, is not a burdensome yoke imposed upon us because of sin, but it is a blessing in Christ. Without its determination and limitation, the subject would sink away into chaos. Therefore, Calvin recognized the intrinsic subjection of the Christian to the decalogue, and did not see any intrinsic antinomy between the central commandment of love as the religious root of God’s ordinances, and the juridical or economic law-spheres, or the inner structural law of the state. Anabaptists lost sight of the religious root of the temporal laws, and consequently placed the Sermon on the Mount, with its doctrine of love, in opposition to civil ordinances. CALVIN strongly opposed this error. He proceeded from the radical religious unity of all temporal divine regulations and could therefore radically combat each absolutization of a temporal aspect of the full Law of God, as well as every spiritualistic revolution against the state and its legal order: 

‘Christ has not received the mandate to loosen or to unbind the Law, but rather to restore the true and pure understanding of its commands which had been badly deformed by the false devices of the Scribes and the Pharisees.’” [Inst. II, 8, 26.]

(Herman Dooyeweerd, A New Critique of Theoretical Thought Vol 1, p 518) 

Fergie.

Gobha-uisge ri Plubraich | Mouse in a Glass: Luch sa Ghlainne | Muc aig an Doras | The Cosmic-Root Christian Philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd | Deep Calls to Deep: Adolph Saphir and Herman Dooyeweerd | Zen and the Art of Calvinist Epistemology | Midge/Meanbhchuileag | RÉAMHRÁ

EARTH STEWARD

Who owns the planet earth? Us, our grandchildren? The birds, animals, and fish? Wee green men from Mars, perhaps? Should we really care? Of course, the proper answer is that God owns all things. However, He has entrusted it into our care. It's part of what's called the Dominion or Cultural Mandate. The basis of our involvement in the Cultural Mandate begins in Genesis:

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He creatd Him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" Genesis 1:26-28.

So, if the Triune God owns the planet earth we are not trying to preserve it for our grandchildren, birds, animals, fish, or wee green men from Mars. We are trying to cultivate it to the glory of God. Therefore Christians are the true earth stewards, commissioned by God.

However, ever since Adam, our one time federal head and covenant representative before God, raided God's orchard and ate the stolen fruit, mankind has not always been the best earth steward. To begin with, it was Adam's wife Eve (at the instigation of the ventriloquist Satan) who plucked that forbidden fruit and gave it to her husband who knowingly ate of it in spite of God.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to be left alone. "You shall not steal" 8th Commandment. Adam and Eve had the pick of every other fruit tree in the Garden, but they coveted the forbidden fruit. "You shall not covet" 10th Commandment. And thus Adam broke his probation as he broke the Law that God had written on his, Eve's, and our heart by eating stolen goods.

However, the mandate still stands. We are to continue to have dominion over the fish, birds, and every living thing that moves on earth (see eg, Genesis 9:1-7). We are still to be fruitful and multiply. We are still to fill the earth and subdue it. This means that we are to cultivate all things to the glory of God. For even before the Fall (while still on probation), Adam was commissioned to tend and keep the Garden.

Like us, Adam was to, as God says: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it." 4th Commandment.

Notice that the 4th Commandment has as much to do with work as it has rest! Tending (cultivating) and keeping (guarding) things requires us to work. But for whom do we work? Us, our grandchildren? The birds, animals, and fish? Wee green men from Mars? Surely we work for the Triune God.

But notice that the 4th Commandment also tells us to rest the creatures under our dominion for one day every week. And, we are to give rest to our employees male and female, those who lodge with us, and whatever animals do work for us (eg, sheep dogs, guard dogs, cattle and elephants where they're used etc.)

It was the LORD who made the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them. In the Bible even the fields, crops, vineyards etc, get to enjoy yearly sabbaths (see eg, Lev. 25:1-7). There is good news for us, for "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." Hebrews 4:9.

What's happening in our own time as the secular humanists are given their fifteen minutes of fame? Who living today hasn't heard of the phrase 24/7? The big shopping malls are now open seven days a week giving no rest for the wicked! They've forgotten the sabbath that was included in the Cultural Mandate.

The Good News is that there is now a new federal head, a new covenant representative before God, the Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus. He is the new replacement Man, the Last Adam (see eg, 1 Cor. 15:45,47). Scripture says that God has given all things to Jesus Christ. Therefore, He now has dominion over creation and is presently busy in the process of progressively subduing it by His Spirit and working through His followers, "For He has put all things under His feet... Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" 1 Corinthians 15:27-28.

We can trust the new Man, the Godman, the new Earth Steward, to be obedient to His Father and to have all creation subdued to the glory of God before the Last Day. Therefore, let us all be good earth stewards in Him! 

God and Adam (Review)

Rowland S. Ward’s God and Adam: Reformed Theology and the Creation Covenant (2019) is timely reprint and updated version by Tulip Publishing of the previous 2003 publication.

Covenant Theology needs to be discovered by more Christians. What the old Adam broke, the new Adam fixed. Nay, not only did Jesus perfectly keep the Adamic pre-Fall covenant on behalf of His people, but He graciously paid the awful price they each owed, ie, the wages of sin.

Ward eloquently interacts with the history of Covenant Theology with a plethora of quotes from those involved in its development from Scripture.

This is a must read for those who want to know what Christ was really doing on that cross as the Last Adam.

A GOOD CUPPA

A Good Cuppa

How many problems have been resolved over a good cuppa? Whether with a family member or a friend, who hasn’t sat down and enjoyed some timeout with a good cuppa? I tend to think that the word cuppa originally referred to having a cup of tea. However, a good cuppa to me is all about coffee. In the Bible the cup usually contains water (Mark 9:41) or wine. But whether a good cuppa refers to tea, coffee, water, or wine it’s the moment that matters. Whether alone or with family and friends, it’s the taking pause to sup with another that’s most important. It’s a time to reflect, reset, and reconnect.

Without making too much of it, the first mention of the word cup in the Bible is a passage that refers to bread and a cup. It is found where the falsely accused Joseph (a type of Christ) interpreted the dreams of the butler and baker who were with him in Pharaoh’s prison. The butler said, ‘Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand’ Genesis 40:11. In the end, like (another couple of types of Christ) the scapegoat and the sacrificial goat (Lev. 16:8), Pharoah set the chief butler free but hanged the chief baker from a tree. In the two dreams, the cup spoke of blessing, i.e., freedom and life, and the bread spoke of captivity and death.  

‘The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’ 1 Corinthians 10:16. In the Lord’s Supper there is bread that speaks of the body on the tree (Acts 5:30). But there is also a cup that speaks of that which cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). At the Lord’s Table there is commemoration, communion, and commitment. A good cuppa bears only a faint resemblance to the Communion cup of blessing in that it is a time to pause, ponder, and parley. To be sure, a good cuppa is only good when it is to your liking. Too hot, too cold, too sweet, too bitter, too strong, too weak, too much, too little, we can be such fussy, fitful, and fickle creatures!

The Lord knows all our needs. ‘And wine that makes glad the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread which strengthens man’s heart’ Psalm 104:15. He knows how much we need. ‘He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack’ 2 Corinthians 8:15. But what about the Lord and a good cuppa? ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over’ Psalm 23:5. Isn’t that the way of it with the Lord? He gives us blessings beyond measure. ‘Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you’ Luke 6:38.

How full was David’s cup? ‘My cup runs over.’ We’re not told what was in that cup, but we know it was a good cuppa because David was in the presence of the Lord. For he says, ‘You are with me.’ The Lord walked through the valley of the shadow of death with David. Before the Lord walked through the valley of the shadow of death towards the cross, ‘He said to them, “This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many. Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”’ Mark 14:24-25. Are you looking forward to the good cuppa with the Lord?

The Time Horse (Faux) Reviews

 The (faux) reviews keep on riding into town, hitching their horses to the rail, entering the saloon through the batwing doors to order another copy at the bar...

“I dismiss all errant reviewers! I think this is one of those books where you could start anywhere depending on your mood. I mean, how would one categorize the book’s genre? What kind of book does a person like to read? We’ll, there will be something in The Time Horse that will appeal to that person, and spur them on to read the rest of it. I like all of it. Great cover design. Great contents. A galloping good read!” Alfred E. Neuman

“The Big Green Van (in the A Time for Trotting chapter) reads like a Grimms’ Fairy Tale. A tale of captured claustrophobic kids being taken on an unknown journey, only without the trail of breadcrumbs. Loved it!” Hansel & Gretel

“Loving this wee book. Like a pint in a pub where you’re not a local, I can’t put it doon (for fear of some eejit stealing it). The book’s cover has hardly any beer stains on it. Its lavvies are clean, and supplied with an abundance of toilet paper (maybe because they’re still using Izal). Empties collected, ashtrays emptied, and sleeping patrons told to wake up on a regular basis. I Partickularly loved the Running, Shoes, & Beer piece (found in the A Time for Cantering chapter). So touched and inspired was I that I began to sing the following line from the book on the way home from the pub, “They asked me how I knew / It wis Wummin’s Shoe / Ah of coorse replied / Unlike foreign beers ye buy / This wan’s fae Milngavie.” I was lifted and I’m now enjoying finishing the book on my overnight stay at the Hillhead polis station.” The Pub Spy

“A horse a horse my kingdom for The Time Horse! Shall I compare this book to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate. And did ever the golden nightingale sing so sweet a song as Glasgow Dawn?

‘Were they not great

those hours we spent

up in your Byres Road flat

discussing through the night

over a glass or two of wine

our childhood in Canada

the condition of Scotland

the meaning of life

till we noticed 

the Glasgow dawn

till we heard 

the sweet song

of the birds’

If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? Till we shuffle off this mortal coil there but remains only one Book greater than The Time Horse: Life, Laughs, Lows, & Laughter.” William Shakespeare

“Aye, yer chapter ca’d A Time for Cantering minded me o Tam’s Meg: ‘This truth fand honest Tam o’ Shanter / As he frae Ayr ae night did canter.’ I cannae help mysel. I just burst intil verse!

Aye, fair minds me o Tam gangin hame, le’in his drouthy cronies by the ingle. Maistly yon bit where Stuart and Neil are bletherin aboot yon nappy that maks ye unco happy, aye, selling ale forby: ‘Stuart McKinlay: Exemplary marketing. We could trial it with a Moody Blue sort of wistful double-vision hame-fae-the-pub crooner: Oh, Wummin’s Shoe / Tell me who Ah’m talkin’ to / Yoor like night an’ day / Annit’s hard tae shay / Which wan is yous...’

Aye, an this ploughman poet had tears gether in baith een upon reading the poem ca’d HORSE: This particular day. / This patient horse. / Uplifting my son. / My heavy heart. / Donkey me / with shouldered cross. / Ploughing our furrow / through time and space.’

Aye, a richt braw book is The Time Horse.” Robert Burns