Deus Misereatur

  If I have it figured out, William Symington, a Scottish Covenanter for the 19 th Century, wrote “Messiah the Prince: The Mediatorial Dominion of Jesus Christ” as an apologetic for his branch of the Scottish Reformed and Presbyterian Churches in Scotland, many of whom had immigrated to the America, but also had congregations in Ireland, France, and beyond.   His points (in a nutshell) seem to be: 1. Jesus fulfills the threefold office of Prophet, Priest, and King. These three offices, though having different functions, are indivisible. To receive Christ as (atoning, saving) Priest, one has the whole Jesus – including his royal office (King) and declarative office (Prophet). One can’t pick and choose. It is very much the way the saving LORD (Isaiah 32:5-6) puts it in Isaiah 32:22, “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”   2. As the prophetic, priestly King, he exercises his whole authority for his church, “A...

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt My rating: 4 of 5 stars Evolutionary biology and psychology, neurobiology, sociology, developmental and moral psychology...it's all in there, along with some artfully crafted chutzpah. Jonathan Haidt, the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business, who is ethnically Jewish, religiously atheist, and vocationally a moral psychologist, has pulled together an intriguing read that skillfully and sportively answers - from his perspective - his subtitle "Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion." Since there are thousands of reviews of the book that have already been broadcast, I'll simply say three things. First, it was fun to read, thought-provoking, instructive and insightful. As a Christian minister I can't, and don't, go along with many of his premises (evolution, utilitarianism, etc.); nevertheless, I...