Religion in a Glasgow Pub

Religion in a Glasgow Pub

Stuart:            
My birthday was coloured by a stranger in a Byres Road pub, where I was having a Happy Birthday To Me Pint of Guinness.

“Do you believe in black holes?” he asked.

“Why?” I asked, wondering if this was some manner of coded language.

“Do you believe in them?”

“Well, scientists tell us that stars have imploded, yet their compressed mass retains such gravitational pull that even light can’t escape, thus dark holes.”

“Aye, but do you believe in them?”

“I’ve never been in outer space,” I told him. “And, anyway, if I’d been anywhere near a dark hole, I wouldn’t be here.”

“What do you believe in?”

I told him, as I must when asked a direct question.

“Religion’s loadysh-te,” he enlightened me, “Loadysh-te.”

“Right,” I agreed, “loadysh-te.” I left my birthday pint of wallop hardly sipped.

Neil:               

Sorry to hear about the blight on your birthday celebrations. Bigoted strangers, such as the one you encountered, are what give good pubs a bad name! Mind you, I agree with his “religion’s loadysh-te” (read: “religion is nonsense”!) analysis – especially if, (as I did), you develop your view of it from standing on the soggy terracing (or sitting on the bum-wetting seats) of Ibrox (or Parkhead) watching the Saturday football match.

I remember as an eighteen-year-old, for once, actually paying attention to the words of some of the songs and the abuse we were hurling and hurtling (along with mutton-pies and bottles and “refilled!” Tennent’s lager cans) at the opposing green-hooped team and its supporters. Of course, their supporters were reciprocating with vitriol, with vim, vigour and vitality! Thus, the excremental effluvium flowed both ways! “Loadysh-te” right enough! It was King Billy versus the Pope of Rome! Our songs invariably ended with imprecatory curses, usually seeking the demise of the beanied-head of Roman Catholicism: FTP! Enough of this religious bigotry! this sectarianism! “Religion’s loadysh-te” I too thought.

From then on I became an (albeit adopted) “Son of the Rock” (i.e., a Dumbarton Football Club supporter). “‘M’on the Sons!” (i.e., Sons of Dumbarton Rock). True, Boghead didn’t quite have the electrical-storm-like atmosphere of a Ranger’s game at Ibrox, with its thunderous murderous roars punctuated with the flashes of fiery-darts of taunting chants! Aye, “religion’s loadysh-te” – especially if you grew up in the 70’s like I did on the West Coast of Scotland!

As already mentioned, whereas I found refuge from the Glasgow version of “religion” by changing teams and religiously supporting the, mediocre as it was, Dumbarton Football team, your Quantum Physicist pub-pundit seems to have found some solace from “religion” by retreating into a theoretical “black hole.” Each to their own, I say!

But what is religion, true religion? Is it about being devoted to one’s own belief-system and expressing your worldview in the hymns of sectarian-song-singing from the stands as you praise your idols? Is it about being so devoted to scientific theories that you feel the need to overtly defend your epistemological insecurities to pub-punters who’re enjoying a birthday beer? Or is true religion about seeking to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever? And, is it about loving God and your neighbour (including pub-patrons!) as yourself?

I’m sorry to hear that that “fly-in-the-ointment” left a bad taste in your mouth and put you off enjoying your birthday pint of wallop, your, as you called it, “Happy Birthday To Me Pint of Guinness.” But I am happy, nay, I’m more than happy, I’m very encouraged to hear that you stood up for true religion and answered the way you did when he asked you, “What do you believe in?” He did the asking! Obviously it was a loaded question. He simply wanted to ram his “religion” down your throat! Well, the positive thing is that this stranger got you to pub-lically confess and profess your trust in our Saviour!

May He be pleased to bless you for not being ashamed of Him! And may I be as prepared as indeed you were “to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have… with gentleness and respect.”

I’m so proud to have you as a big brother!

PAST HEROES

Past Heroes

With respect for the dead I walk silently past rows of their ‘tombstones’ in my library. ‘Quiet please!’ I draw closer to read the inscription on a dead friend’s headstone. I am mindful that I now stand in the presence of the humble but great. ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin’; ‘LEX, REX, or The Law and the Prince, Samuel Rutherford’; ‘The Institutes of Biblical Law, Rousas John Rushdoony’; ‘The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer’; ‘Communist Eschatology, Francis Nigel Lee’, among a host of others, pass before my eyes. Yes, they being dead yet speaketh.

Speaking better things than the blood of Abel, they were used mightily by God. Past heroes all.

We stand on the shoulders of giants, of men who spoke of Jesus and His Kingdom, His Covenant, as they sought to rebuild society in accordance with the blueprint of God’s infallible and inerrant Word. These past heroes wanted freedom, freedom for each of us as individuals, freedom from the tyrannical whims of popes and princes, and from all forms of unlawful governmental oppression. ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery’ Galatians 5:1.

Paradoxically, it is the Rule of Law that ensures us our freedom. In those nations influenced by Christ speaking in the whole Bible, e.g., in the West, justice is blind, which is to say that no one is above the law. Which Law? As my old professor’s bumper-sticker stated it: ‘God’s Law or Chaos!’ God’s Law teaches us how to love God and our neighbours as ourselves. Take, for example, the 8^th Commandment: ‘Thou shalt not steal.’ This applies to governments as well as individual citizens. Governments should not steal by overtaxing companies and individuals. Nor should companies and individuals steal by tax-cheating. With respect to the Decalogue, upon which Western Law is primarily based, in each Commandment ‘One and the same thing, in divers respects, is required or forbidden…’ Take the 5^th Commandment for example: ‘Honour thy father and thy mother…’ ‘By father and mother … are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth’ Westminster Larger Catechism Q&A 124. It goes on then to list what the Bible says is the honour inferiors owe to their superiors and their sins against them, and what is required of superiors towards their inferiors and their sins against them. It even deals with how we ought to treat our equals. It would seem, that all this is either being ignored or has been forgotten, (if ‘Social Media’ is anything to go by!)

Needless to say, that contemporary ‘Culture Wars’ are disturbing the peace, and are causing conflict and confusion as ‘Traditionalists’ and ‘Progressives’ seek to preserve and/or model society each according to their own image. The picture of society my past heroes had, was one in which every individual’s conscience would be bound only by the Word of God. That whether Family, Church, or State, all would be bound by God’s Law, i.e., as it applied to each of these respective spheres. In other words, my past heroes envisaged the principle of being ‘one nation under God.’

My past heroes have copies of their books in my library. But better yet, they have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!      

OUTBACK

Outback

I admit that, as a migrant, I was a wee bit confused with the Australian use of the words ‘bush’ and ‘outback.’ To me ‘bush’ meant a small tree or shrub and ‘outback’ was to be found at the rear of a house or building!  I soon learned that ‘The Outback’ is a place beyond the city limits, the outer suburbs, the satellite towns and the remote little villages. The Outback is even beyond, what Australians call, ‘The Bush.’ I suppose the Outback is the Australian version of ‘the wilderness’ in the Bible.

Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre is found in the hot deserts of Central Australia. Most of the time it is simply a salt pan with a 450mm (18 in) thick salt crust. However, every few years God is pleased to open the windows of Heaven and pour out His blessing upon The Outback wilderness, filling the lake with water, while ensuring that before it soon evaporates, it will suddenly and mysteriously teem with life above and below. For the Lord inundates it with frantically breeding birds and fish. Even the dedicated souls of The Lake Eyre Yacht Club take advantage of the periodic deluge. I learned that the lake’s smooth surface-water reflects the blue sky so much so that the horizon virtually disappears, causing one club member to remark that it is like sailing in the sky! Wow!

One is reminded of the following verses of Scripture: ‘Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever… The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing.’ Isaiah 32:15-16; 35:1-2a. The picture is one of promised regeneration.

Whether an individual or the Australian Outback, God is able to bring things back to life. He does it by His Spirit. And He does it for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ and His (human) righteousness. How so? Isaiah wrote, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”’ Isaiah 40:3. The Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John apply this to John the Baptizer as he prepared the way for the Lord Jesus. While baptizing at the Jordan River, referring to Jesus, John the Baptizer said, ‘He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.’ John1:33b-34. Mark records John the Baptizer as saying, ‘I indeed baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’ Mark 1:8.

With the picture of the Outback blossoming as the rose after God pours out His blessings from heaven upon it, let us now put it all together. The Prophet Joel wrote, ‘Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God; for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you – The former rain and the latter rain… And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh… I will pour out My Spirit in those days’ Joel 2:23; 28-29. Joel is connecting falling rain with the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Thus, John baptizes with water and Jesus with the Holy Spirit.

Who would have thought the Outback could be so interesting?

The Summary of God's Covenant of Redemption

The compilers of the famous Westminster Confession of Faith (1647) spelled out what the eternal triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, had in mind before He created creation.

The Father promises to the Son a people innumerable, upon condition that the Son becomes like them in every way apart from their sin, and lays down His human life for them, to redeem them from the just punishment of their sins.

"The sum of the Covenant of Redemption is this: God having freely chosen unto life a certain number of lost mankind, for the glory of His rich grace, did give them, before the world began, unto God the Son, appointed Redeemer, that, upon condition He would humble himself so far as to assume the human nature, of a soul and a body, unto personal union with His divine nature, and submit Himself to the Law, as surety for them, and satisfy justice for them, by giving obedience in their name, even unto the suffering of the cursed death of the cross, He should ransom and redeem them all from sin and death, and purchase unto them righteousness and eternal life, with all saving graces leading thereunto, to be effectually, by means of His own appointment, applied in due time to every one of them. This condition the Son of God (who is Jesus Christ our Lord) did accept before the world began, and in the fullness of time came into the world, was born of the Virgin Mary, subjected Himself to the Law, and completely paid the ransom on the cross: But by virtue of the foresaid bargain, made before the world began, He is in all ages, since the fall of Adam, still upon the work of applying actually the purchased benefits unto the elect; and that He does by way of entertaining a covenant of free grace and reconciliation with them, through faith in Himself; by which covenant, He makes over to every believer a right and interest to Himself, and to all His blessings."

Excerpted from "The Sum of Saving Knowledge, Head II."

Writers & Movies

Writers & Movies

Many Bible stories have been made into movies, some successful, and some not. I tried once to watch one called ‘Noah’, but was horrified to see how little resemblance it had to the Genesis story! I was left wondering why the writers didn’t stick more closely to the Bible. Of course, not every writer sees the Bible as I do, i.e., as God’s infallible and inerrant Word. Indeed, writers who write books and articles attempting to disprove the Bible’s reliability are legion. Invariable they attempt to show the reader that the Bible is full of contradictions. Then there’s the plethora of writers who convincingly demonstrate the exact opposite!

The Bible was written by around forty writers writing over a period of around fifteen hundred years. Beginning with Moses writing the first five books of the Bible around 1400 BC and ending with the completion of the New Testament, probably before AD 70 and the destruction of the Temple. However, Genesis 5:1 needs to be noted, ‘This is the written account of Adam’s family line.’ The words ‘written account’ or ‘the book of the genealogy of Adam’ suggest the possibility that Moses inherited a ‘book’ dealing with the histories of Adam and his descendants all the way down to Noah and the Flood. For, Genesis 10:1 begins differently. There’s no mention of the word ‘written’: ‘Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood'.

Who, ultimately, were the Bible’s writers writing about? We know the New Testament writers wrote about Jesus, but what about the Old Testament’s writers? Speaking to some Jews Jesus said, ‘You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they that speak of Me’ John 5:39. And, after His resurrection, Jesus spoke to a couple of His disciples on the road to Emmaus, ‘“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures’ Luke 24:44. Thus, Jesus also believes in the veracity of Scripture, and that He is the primary subject!

Jesus even referred to Jonah and the fish, that story that is so hard for some to swallow: ‘For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth’ Matthew 12:40. And, keeping in mind the ‘Noah’ movie with its invented storyline, Jesus says, ‘But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be’ Matthew 24:37-39. Thus Jesus treated Jonah and the fish, Noah and his ark, the Flood etc., as historical events featuring historical people. Therefore, if you are a writer and you are thinking of writing a screenplay about a Bible story, you ought to keep in mind what Jesus Himself thinks about the Bible, Old and New Testaments and their stories: they speak of Him!

Why needlessly get Christians offside by false portrayals of Bible stories? But more importantly, why get Jesus offside?    

Robert Burns & Hyper-Calvinism

There’s no doubt that Rabbie Burns  (1759-96) had an aversion to Calvinism. I see this aversion in his own writings. Also, I’ve just finished (re-)reading James Barke’s quintet novelization of Rabbie’s life story, in which he brings out Rabbie’s anti-Calvinism loud and clear. However, it tends to be a caricature of Calvinism that’s being attacked by him – what we theologically-minded folk call “hyper-calvinism”.

William Fisher (buried in Ochiltree Cemetery) of “Holy Willie’s Prayer” fame (or infamy) is a prime example of hyper-calvinism (which, of course, has as much to do with Calvinism as Arminianism!) Also, James Barke in “The Wonder of All the Gay World” (the third volume of Barke’s Burns quintet) makes a big deal out of Rabbie supposedly demolishing the morality of one of the Bible’s heroes of faith, ie, King David, (adulterer, murderer etc.) Barke (and maybe Burns himself) seem totally oblivious to the fact that, unlike Freemasonry, Christianity (and certainly Calvinism) is not a system of morality! King David, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses et all are pathetic examples of morality. As am I! These all show our need of a Saviour, ie, that perfect human being, Jesus Christ! In other words, all human beings (apart from Jesus) are immoral. This is what Calvinism teaches.

Though Burns does seem to warm towards “Daddie Auld”, a Presbyterian minister in Machline, “Holy Willie” (as portrayed by Burns) is a gross distortion of Calvinists. Holy Willie is a straw-man argument that has served to help Calvinists like me get verbally whacked in Scotland! Eg, on two different trips to Scotland, I have been verbally abused by militant Atheists. Upon my being introduced as a Presbyterian minister, they have felt the need to declare their hatred for God while gnashing their teeth and swearing at me – before I have even uttered a word! Also, I was amazed at the way some Scots spit at the mere mention of the name “John Knox”. When pressed, they are unable to articulate why they hate Knox, but only that they hate him! For all that, Calvinist Knox is still one of my Scottish heroes! I’m presently enjoying reading “John Knox” by Jane Dawson, (a book that a friend kindly sent me as a gift).

Anyway, back to the subject we are discussing (ie, Rabbie’s aversion to Calvinism). From what I can see, Rabbie never attacked Calvinism! I qualify this bold statement by stating the following: It was that gross distortion called hyper-calvinism that was the subject of the indelible and vitriolic ink that filled Robert Burns’ immortal poison-pen. Therefore, from this Calvinist, kudos to Rabbie for showing the hypocrisy of hyper-calvinism!

Footnote: To become a Freemason, Rabbie would have had to declare a belief in an albeit undefined Supreme Being to gain entrance into the inner workings of the Masonic Lodge. This declaration qualifies him, at the very least, to be called a Deist.

In his “Holy Willie’s Prayer” Burns paints the Mauchline Parish Church’s Elder, William Fisher, as a religious hypocrite. Apparently, he would literally spy through bedroom windows and visit pubs etc., collecting intel (read “gossip”) and report it back to the Church’s Session (ie, Board of Elders), and the local Presbytery (ie, an administrative court consisting of a body of elders and ministers). The hypocrisy is that at times he himself would be guilty of indulging in the debauchery he was condemning.

In the poem, “Holy Willie’s Prayer”, Burns, while acknowledging Calvinist teachings, (such as Original Sin, Predestination and Election), shows that “Holy Willie” is offside with his Church’s Session and with the Presbytery, when these failed to admonish a friend of Burns, one Gavin Hamilton, for travelling and working, instead of reading his Bible, on the Sabbath. This serves to illustrate that Fisher was in conflict with the Church. Eg, “Holy Willie” prays the following:

“Lord, hear my earnest cry and pray’r,
Against that Presbyt’ry o’ Ayr;
Thy strong right hand, Lord mak it bare
Upo’ their heads;
Lord visit them, an’ dinna spare,
For their misdeeds.”

Fisher viewed Burns and Hamilton as “non-elect”, and as such, and in accordance with his Hyper-Calvinism, had no love whatsoever for them, nor showed any grace towards them, believing that he was operating in accordance with God’s view of them. Hyper-Calvinism does not hold the Calvinist Doctrine of “Common Grace”, which teaches that God’s grace extends to all people that on earth do dwell, and not just His elect. Apparently Gavin Hamilton eventually died in a ditch…

LOVE & WAR

Love & War

‘All’s fair in love and war.’ I respectfully disagree with this adage! I do understand the need for deception in war. Propaganda or ‘fake news’, as it’s being styled nowadays, has its place. For who wants an enemy knowing what you’re really up to? But what about ‘rules of engagement’? These are needed if atrocities are to be avoided, and also the propaganda war to be won. Therefore, all’s not fair in war. But what about in love?

What is love? We know what war is. War is enmity. But where does enmity come from? The Bible has an answer for everything! ‘Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?’ James 4:1. Wars, according to the Bible, come from desires that battle within each of us! But what about love? Where does love come from? ‘God is love’ 1 John 4:8b. God is the Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Therefore, love begins with the Triune God. From all eternity to all eternity the Father loves the Son and the Spirit, the Son loves the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit loves the Father and the Son. Each Person in the Godhead loves the Other Members of the Godhead. Thus, God loves God and He loves His Neighbour (i.e., the Other Persons in the Godhead) as Himself.

The Triune God created humans in His own image. ‘He created them male and female, and blessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created’ Genesis 5:2. Do you have ‘desires for pleasure that war in your members’? Yes? Do you wrestle with cravings?  E.g. for sex, certain foods and drinks, and other things that bring you pleasure? Well, that’s not the way God created you! There are no lusts, cravings, i.e., covetousness in the Godhead. God keeps His 10^th Commandment!

Like the Members of the Godhead, all ten of the Commandments interconnect and interpenetrate the others. This is because the Decalogue is an expression of the character of God in whose image we were made. The Decalogue is summed up thus: Love God and your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:30-31 with Deut. 6:4-5 & Lev. 19:18). We don’t do this. According to the Bible, this is where wars come from!

Obviously God didn’t create us like this. Where, then, did it all go wrong for us? It happened in the Garden when Adam sinned against God, i.e., when he broke God’s 10 Commandments that He had written on his heart (e.g. Rom. 2:14-15) by eating the fruit God had forbidden him to eat. See if you can spot the beginning of wars in the following verses spoken between God and Adam right after he’d eaten the forbidden fruit: ‘And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate”’ Genesis 3:11-12. War within? ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ War with God and with neighbour? ‘The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ Don’t forget the Serpent’s primary role, i.e., Satan, the father of lies, the false propaganda-ist, the ‘fake news’ reporter (John 8:44; 1 John 3:12): ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ Genesis 3:1b.

The Gospel is about reconciliation – first with God, then with neighbour and with self! The Spirit working with the Word in your heart changes war into love – love for God, neighbour and self as God’s image.