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Thursday 31 October 2013

Happy Reformation Day



Today is the day (or, night) that many will turn their attentions to trick or treating and reveling in all things spooky. Protestants, however, have (or, should have) something far more significant to celebrate: Reformation Day.

Reformation Day remembers the hammering of Martin Luther's 95 Theses to the door of All Saints Church, Wittenberg on 31st October 1517, and the events that transpired thereafter, sparking The Protestant Reformation. For a brief round-up of the history and importance of Reformation Day, see here and here.

The legacy left by Luther extends far beyond those active in the Protestant churches. The effects of the reformation live on throughout the Western world and had a profound impact on society that is still felt today.

So, whilst the rest of the world indulges in Hallowe'en, let us not forget the importance of Reformation Day. If Hallowe'en was initially intended to turn our minds to departed saints, who better to remember than Martin Luther and the events that sparked the Protestant Reformation?


HAPPY REFORMATION DAY! 

Saturday 19 October 2013

Some thoughts on the Strange Fire conference

First off, let me share four blog posts, from across the spectrum, outlining differing views of the Strange Fire conference (some written before, during and after events):


  1. Adrian Warnock: 'Why cessationists are wrong about prophecy'
  2. Thabiti Anyabwile: 'Why you should care about the "Strange Fire" discussion'
  3. Tim Challies: 'Strange Fire Conference: MacArthur's appeal to his continuationist friends'
  4. Gary Benfold: 'Strange Fire...'

Much has already been said beyond the views expressed in the above articles so I will limit myself to the following points:

  1. John MacArthur is absolutely entitled to hold a conference offering a reasoned defence of the cessationist position. Charismatic believers have run conferences promoting charismatic theology so promotion of the cessationist view in this way represents no problem
  2. The issue for many is that Strange Fire appears to go beyond a legitimate defence of cessationism. Instead, it leans heavily toward attacking all views that are not out and out cessationist and denounces as outside the faith those who are evidently brothers based on a secondary issue that is not a marker of orthodoxy
  3. Interestingly, John MacArthur - in writing his recent book and taking this approach - now aligns himself with the ultra-separatism of Peter Masters and the Metropolitan Tabernacle. Not only is the "Charismatic Movement" one of Peter Masters' favourite hobby-horses but he also seems to delight in denouncing as unbelievers those who adhere to gospel truth based on a matter of secondary import (significant though that issue may be in practice). MacArthur now similarly dismisses gospel-believing brethren in this same shabby way
  4. MacArthur has defended himself against the charges of being unloving, lacking care about offending people and of attacking brothers by reiterating his denunciation of many brethren, claiming that he cares more about offending God than offending people and stating the most loving thing to do for someone is tell the them the truth. Frankly, this is the sort of rhetoric people usually employ when they are being both unnecessarily aggressive and unkind. Many is the person that claims they are "persecuted" for Christ's sake when, in reality, they are facing difficulty because they themselves have been unnecessarily offensive!
  5. The conference clearly lacks nuance. The idea that cessationism can be pitted against continuationism in such stark terms is a false dichotomy. The range of views outside absolute, unerring cessationism are plethora (even more than the typically cited 4 broad positions outlined in Grudem's book 'Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?').
  6. Beyond merely lacking nuance, the conference lumps all continuationists together and argues the "more reasonable" end of the spectrum lends credence to the "extreme lunatic fringe". It is wholly unreasonable to suggest, as MacArthur has done, that individuals such as John Piper and Don Carson lend an air of credibility to those who peddle a health and wealth gospel. These men have actively denounced such false teaching unequivocally and regularly (see here, for example). It is nothing short of slanderous to lump them in the same category as Roman Catholics and those who deny the Trinity.
  7. The conference singularly fails to accept that many out and out Charismatics, as well as those who would consider themselves continuationist without labeling themselves Charismatic, are as opposed to the excess and abuse of Charismata as MacArthur claims to be. MacArthur suggests it is only the cessationist who truly decries such abuse of scripture when, indeed, all those who are genuinely spiritual find such things equally repellent.

Saturday 12 October 2013

Leveson, Hislop and Press Regulation


I am painfully aware of the unpopularity of this position. However, I tend to agree with the view outlined by Ian Hislop on this issue.

We already have laws against phone-hacking, libel, harassment, contempt of court and a plethora of other crimes in which significant parts of the press have been indulging. More to the point, we already have an "independent regulator" in the form of the judiciary. This newly proposed press regulation will add nothing to the laws we already have and would do nothing to stop the illegal acts that were carried out and led to this whole debacle coming to the fore. What is needed is for our existing laws to be applied properly and miscreants brought before the courts (as has been happening in the wake of the phone hacking scandal).

Is there a debate that needs to be had about access to libel? Yes. It is true that, unless you are super-rich, access to justice regarding lies printed about you in the press is hard to come by. Will press regulation resolve this issue? I fail to see how. This is a legal access issue and one that would be better aided by a discussion of legal aid than press regulation. The phone-hacking, harassment and contempt of court issues are clearly only dealt with when the law is enforced as it was intended.

At heart, this question revolves around whether the press are free to say what they will or whether politicians should be allowed to censor what they print. The laws listed above are laws that govern everybody - press, politician and individual person alike. Press regulation leads us into the dangerous territory of politicians deciding precisely what will be allowed into the public domain.

As with all issues of free speech, the answer very rarely lies in censorship and further regulation. The response, as Ian Hislop put it in relation to the Daily Mail, is not to ban it but simply "don't buy it". Surely the last 20 years worth of sales figures for The Sun newspaper in Liverpool show the effectiveness of this policy.

For me, the press should remain free to print what it will. Similarly, the law should be enacted fairly to bring about justice when the press behave in the heinous ways we know they can. The answer is not further regulation but fair and equitable implementation of existing laws. If harassment, contempt of court, libel and phone-hacking are things that will see me standing before a judge then the same should apply to the press. 

Further regulation will not make one jot of difference to these existing crimes; fair and equitable implementation of the rule of law will.

Friday 4 October 2013

John Stevens - 'Eliminating the Poverty of Nations': A Response

John Stevens has written a piece titled 'Eliminating The Poverty Of Nations: Development Through Free Markets, The Right To Private Property, Democracy & The Rule of Law Are The Only Long-Term Solution'.

I was rather troubled by his ability to speak of Socialism without nuance whilst managing to be more subtle when it came to describing forms of Capitalism. Socialism and Marxism were used interchangeably whilst his own view, a self-stated branch of Capitalism, was tempered and distinguished from other types. Indeed, gainsaying Socialism with reference to Animal Farm - a book written by an avowed Democratic Socialist - is rather like rejecting Christianity based on a critique of the Baptist Union by an adherent of the FIEC. It is simply incorrect to suggest all forms of Socialism are the same. Like it or not, whatever one feels about Michael Foot, he was not advocating the politics of Stalinist Russia!

Stevens comments: 'The central question concerns the way in which prosperity, and hence economic security and well-being, is to be sought by the state for its people. Should this be through socialism or through a responsibly regulated market?'. However, these things are not in dialectical opposition - most Socialists would argue for "a responsibly regulated market" (as would most Capitalists). The issue is not whether we have Socialism or a regulated market (both sides want the latter), it is where and what we regulate that is in view. This is simply a false dichotomy. Nor is it fair to phrase the question as 'are “enterprise,” “competition”, “private” and “profit” dirty words, or the engine of economic growth and efficiency?' as many Socialists are not against those things in principle either. Rather, the question revolves around when and where those things are appropriate and what we do to help those for whom "enterprise" and "profit" do not come so easily.

Stevens' argues:
If history is anything to go by the reality seems to be that socialism consistently fails to deliver the economic utopia it promises. To me it seems that in a sinful fallen and flawed world Marxist socialism tends to deliver equal poverty for all (with the exception of the privileged party elite who run the system – cf George Orwell’s Animal Farm), whereas a responsibly regulated free market tends to deliver marginally unequal prosperity for the vast majority (with the exception that it tends to create a tiny super-rich elite). Countries that have attempted to implement a fully socialist vision through a state controlled command economy (eg USSR, Eastern Europe, Moaist China, Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, many post-colonial African Countries) have impoverished and oppressed their people. On a global level western style liberal property-owning democracy is spreading and delivering greater prosperity for many.
Here, we see Communist regimes used to denote Socialism at large. We may argue Marxist Socialism, or Communism, is not a means to economic growth (though China would dare to be an exception). However, this is not the sum total of Socialism. With the possible exception of Venezuela, whom most observers would recognise is not so similar to the others, all these are examples of Communist regimes, rather than varied forms of Socialism. At best, this suggests Communism is a flawed system rather than showing Socialism is altogether a failure. Of course, this is not a claim with which many Socialists would disagree (cf. George Orwell's Animal Farm) for not all Socialists are Communists. The 1945-51 Attlee Ministry was avowedly Socialist, yet pursued a series of policies that couldn't conceivably be compared to any of the regimes Stevens lists. Similarly, several post-war French governments have pursued a Socialist agenda and yet could not be deemed similar to any of the above. Equally, as mentioned, Michael Foot cannot seriously be compared to Maoist China or Stalinist Russia.

Stevens continues by asserting:
Marxism and socialism fail because they do not reflect the aspirations of most people. Human beings everywhere aspire to own their own property, to have some measure of control over their lives, and to be able to better themselves and their families by enjoying the fruits of their labour, initiative and enterprise. They do not ultimately want to find their identity as part of a class collective, except when this is a necessary intermediate stage necessary for the overthrow of a ruling feudal elite who monopolise wealth and opportunity for themselves... 
As Christians it should not surprise us that the model which seems to deliver most prosperity for most people, albeit imperfectly, is liberal free market democracy, because this most closely reflects the pattern established by the creator God and enshrined in his laws for his people in Israel. This is also reflected in the prophetic hope for their future (cfMicah 4v4). These laws embed the fundamental principles of private property ownership, the rule of law and fair justice, the elimination of corruption, regularly renewed opportunity for all (jubilees, debt cancellation and land redistribution), and a measure of ongoing redistribution (both compulsory and voluntary) to care for the genuinely poor and needy. They also reflect the centrality of the family, as opposed to the state, as the basic unit of society. These principles that ought to have led to prosperity, but sadly they were never properly implemented and obeyed.
Whilst Marxist Socialism (as opposed to other forms of Socialism) may not reflect the aspirations of people, why should aspiration form the basis of political policy? The idea that aspiration and "personal betterment" are somehow inherently good doesn't strike me as Biblical at all. Many aspirations are down right sinful and most Christians would not advocate building a society on such things. Consumerism, materialism and greed are the driving forces of Capitalism and most Christians agree such things are not good Biblical values. As I recently commented here, my conclusion supported by right-wing blogger Archbiship Cranmer (except for the Margaret Thatcher bit), home ownership (a common aspiration) is not a basis for economic improvement nor should it be the ultimate goal for most people. We may argue that people "do not ultimately want to find their identity as part of a class collective" but, whilst not class-based, doesn't the gospel call us to exactly this sort of collectivism? Are we not called to be a body of believers, based on the gospel, giving to those who have need and taking from those who have means? Such a rejection of collectivism in favour of individualism - the very notion at the heart of Capitalism - seems fundamentally unbiblical and antithetical to the gospel itself.

Interestingly, Stevens concedes that the Biblical model he puts forward - which he states most closely apes liberal free-market democracy - was never implemented properly. Surely, if we are to assess Socialism (more accurately, the Communism being addressed) with reference to the "fallen world", as opposed to the ideal world, then we must do the same with the model Stevens puts forward. As with Communism, the issue he faces on his model is that it was never implemented properly. Those in power created the system and made it work in their own interests rather than for the benefit of all people. So, his model hardly escapes the same charge as the Communist system. In both cases - on both Communism and Capitalism - the issue is the same, individuals look after me and mine rather than the collective good. On a Communist system, this works itself out by making leading elites prosperous at the expense of the general population. On a Capitalist system, this works out by making those with pre-existing privilege and money more powerful and those without such things increasingly worse off.

Stevens is right to say the irony of the recent Daily Mail hoo-ha, which prompted his post, is that "no serious political party in the UK is really advocating socialism, or indeed untrammelled free market capitalism". Since Labour dropped Clause IV under the leadership of Tony Blair, the British Labour Party have not advocated wholesale collective ownership and indeed continued the privatisation plans enacted under Margaret Thatcher. Similarly, the Conservatives do no advocate a totally unregulated free-market. None of the major British parties advocate the extremes of either position. As Stevens rightly notes "only small marginal differences in overall state spending, and minor changes to the tax and benefit system, are at issue".

In a fallen world, it strikes me that free-market Capitalism simply cannot address the needs of the nation. It better serves those with entrenched privilege than those without and appeals to the more base aspirational values of materialism and greed. Any casual observation of the recent recession will show that greed is not fundamentally good and an unsupervised market has significant knock-on effects in global economies. In a system that encourages greed (usually dressed up as "aspiration"), how will the poor and vulnerable be helped? Indeed, how can we subscribe to the doctrine of Original Sin whilst simultaneously suggesting that those with lots of money will naturally be charitable and seek to look after those reliant on their support? The history of business, since the industrial revolution, has broadly not been one of caring support for workers and increased benefit to communities at large. The notable exceptions to this are usually Christian philanthropists, specifically motivated by the gospel which teaches something radically different to the values enshrined in Capitalism. Businesses, as a general rule, are very good at making money and particularly good at keeping it. It is notable that the world's most profitable companies seem to be amongst those paying the least percentage of tax - this is Capitalism at work!

Capitalism has knock-on effects for the individual. It plunges people into debt because it creates a culture of the "must-have" - again, fundamentally based on aspiration - and encourages people to own what they can't afford and seek what they needn't have. Home ownership is the worst culprit but countless examples of debt for goods can be cited. It is a sad product of the system that debt has become a business of it's own. Payday lending companies use this culture of consumerism to prey on the very poorest who who are least able to handle the debt into which they are plunged. Free-market capitalism creates such a culture - it allows businesses of this sort to thrive (free-market) and encourages the very poorest to utilise these companies because of the greed-led, aspirational, consumerist culture it promotes.

Would Socialism fare any better? Certainly not the Marxist Communism being addressed by John Stevens. However, a system that seeks to redistribute wealth - from those with means to those with need - strikes me as fundamentally biblical. A system that does not rely on good will and philanthropy to trickle down to the most vulnerable seems to be a good response to the issues presented in Genesis 3. A system that publicly owns certain enterprises - determined by fundamental need - and runs them for community benefit hardly strikes me as a bad thing. At heart, Socialism is concerned with collective benefit whereas Capitalism is concerned with the individual. Even when Scripture deals with the individual e.g. personal salvation, it is usually with an eye on the wider community (cf. 1 Jn 1:3,7). 

For my part, I am not so sure free-market capitalism is seen all that clearly in the pages of Scripture. It strikes me when the gospel is preached and people come to know the Lord for themselves the results are rather closer to Socialism than Capitalism (cf. Acts 2:41-47). That is not to say Socialism is necessarily the best system for secular governance nor to suggest Socialism should be implemented uncritically. However, when people are living as they ought, under the gospel, it appears they are closer to a Socialist mindset than a Capitalist one.