Monthly Archive for December, 2007

The Lesser of Two Evils?

Published
by
David
on 2007-12-20
in Constitution, Current Events, Philosophy and Politics
. Closed

I am trying to cement a voting strategy. I think I have a candidate: Ron Paul. I have long thought that I should not vote for a candidate that (as I said in an email the other night) I would not let my daughter marry. Look! my daughter is six, and he is only about 70 years her senior, love is blind! But, seriously, I am not convinced that if they were more appropriately matched I would be willing to see my daughter marry him.

Based on his YouTube Videos that he ostensibly endorsed, I think his libertarianism outweighs his Trinitarianism:

  • I found a button on one of them that shows him and around his head is the phrase “Oh my God I’m Winning”—Taking the Lord’s Name in vain.
  • His record-breaking fund-raising effort was initiated on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party:
    • That was a Sunday—breaking the sabbath.
    • The Tea Party was seditious act that led to a terrible revolt—the Bible likens rebellion to witchcraft.

Ron Paul is an appealing candidate in the most plain terms. But he is primarily a constitutionalist and a libertarian. He seems more moral than I presume a Southern Baptist pastor would be. But he has already shown substantial shortcomings in his recent activities for the reformed believer. I am a willing recipient of libertarianism, not a proponent. I am opposed to it practically, because it is generally held that those things that are left to an individual’s conscience or more appropriately state’s rights are things that are morally incumbent upon us to prohibit: abortion, sabbath breaking, adultery, etc. But I like that it leaves me free to practice what I believe without fear of reprisal.

I have not thought all of this out. From here, I am tempted to vote for him, to be sure. But I cannot endorse him whole-heartedly, and that is something I think I ought to be able to do before I vote for someone. While talking with my wife on the way home from church this evening, she asked me: would you vote for a Presbyterian (RPCNA) for president? I answered that I did not know. There are two real questions I am left with:

  • Is it a Christian’s duty to vote?
    • If so, based on what?
  • What are the criteria a candidate must meet in order to be worthy of a Christian’s vote?

If you have the answers to these questions, I would definitely like to hear them. Please email me (david.eldridge@darkroastwebs.com).

Some More on the Sabbath…

Published
by
David
on 2007-12-16
in Meta
. Closed

Having looked some more on the issue of the Sabbath, it seems reasonable that (even in the old economy/​covenant/​testament) the sabbath would have run from midnight to midnight. If it was not that, it seems that it would have been between midnight and some point in the earliest and dark hours of morning. Greg Price (a presbyterian, who I think is affiliated with the Still Water Revival Group in Canada) made an able defense of the perspective.

I have asked him if he would allow me to repost it on my website (Reforming Worship) so I can link the references for easy study. I am looking forward to his response.

When Does the New Testament Sabbath Start? End?

Published
by
David
on 2007-12-08
in Meta
. Closed

Let me give a little spoiler: I don’t know the answer to the question I am posing here.

I have been studying a little on the subject of the sabbath. I don’t know whether it should be practiced from sundown to sundown, or midnight to midnight (or—as I just found some held—dawn to dawn). In Genesis it is said “and the evening and the morning were the [X] day” (Gen 1.5,8,13,19,23,31).” The New Testament, however, does not seem to have the same view of the boundaries of a day. Consider the following:

Matthew 28.1: In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.

Mark 4.35: And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

Mark 16.9: Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

Luke 24.1: Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

John 20.1: The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

John 20.19: Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

Acts 20.7: And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.

You may also consider for further study, the London Baptist Confession, or the Nave’s Topical Bible.