What is Justice?

Is justice relative to the individual or will of the community, or is there actually a place where justice is grounded? In this short clip Dean Donald McConnell of Trinity Law School gives a few thoughts.

Christianity, The Church, and Government

Why is it that many Christians who decry Christian political involvement (read Tony Campolo types) because power and politics are tools of Satan, then go on to argue for government solutions to global warming and health care? Do they really want Satan and his tools cooling our plannet and running our health care? Perhaps a more balanced approach is needed.

Should Christians be involved in government? Isn’t Christ our hope not politics? Is any influence of Christian thought on the state a violation of the separation of church and state? In this episode of Apologetics.com radio, Dean, Donald McConnell of Trinity Law School, Doug Eaton, and Lane Chaplin discuss several questions that pertain to the Christian’s role in government and the governments role in Christianity.

http://www.apologetics.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=385:christianity-the-church-and-government&catid=43:kkla-995-fm-los-angeles&Itemid=74

This show can also be downloaded for free as a podcast in itunes. Simply search for apologetics.com in the itunes store.

Christians and the Courts with Mark From ProclaimHisWord

Recently I was interview by Mark From ProclaimHisWord. Be sure to visit his youtube channel and check out his videos.

Gay Marriage: Rights, Scripture, and that Whole "Love Your Neighbor" Thing.

After stating that homosexual marriage will not have consquences on those who hold to a traditional view of marriage, a friend of mine made this statement...

"The real issue is that Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate rights presently guaranteed by the California Constitution. That is a hateful thing to do so some of our neighbors. Jesus said "Love your neighbor as yourself".

A response to a friend...

It would seem to me that anyone who denies that there will be legal and social ramification on those of us (and our children) who do not believe that marriage includes homosexual couples is willfully choosing not to look. Also, homosexual marriage is not guaranteed by the California Constitution. Only recently, as you know, four radical judges completely reinterpreted what has always been there to include homosexual marriage. Prop 8 does not seek to eliminate an actual right given by nature and nature’s God, but instead seeks to eliminate an artificial "right" created by these four radical judges within the last few months.

The issue has nothing to do with equality either. Homosexuals always have had, should have, and will continue to have the right to marry. They can find someone of the opposite sex and marry them. There has never been a law or ruling that denies them this right. When we look at this way it really begins to clear up the issue. What they want is not equality, but a radically new definition of marriage. Anyone who argues for equality is simply begging the question that the definition of marriage includes same-sex couples.

The Biblical definition of marriage and the natural understanding of creation and the family have never included same-sex couples. In fact, scripture itself testifies that someone who embraces homosexual lusts and does not fight against them has been handed over to their lusts and are receiving the due penalty for their perversions.

Rom 1:26-27 Because of this, (denying God and degrading their bodies), God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Now I realize that those who support homosexuality as compatible with Christianity tend to read this as saying they changed their natural desires for unnatural ones. Meaning that if someone was heterosexual, they became homosexual which was unnatural to them, or if they were homosexual they became heterosexual because that was unnatural to them. This however is not found in the text. The text only states that men went with men because it is unnatural to do so, and women with women. There is no indication that the text includes homosexuals becoming straight. Further, it would make the text meaningless because this unnatural lust is actually a penalty, and what penalty would it be if someone who was homosexual actually started to desire being with someone of the opposite sex. This goes to show further that the term "natural" is not speaking of the "desires" but the design of bodies. Men’s bodies are not designed to go together in sexual relations and neither are women’s. A simple lesson in anatomy makes this clear.

This brings us to your assertion that we should love our neighbors as Jesus said, and denying them the right to marry actually fails to do this. Instead, as you say, it would be to hate them. I am sure that you are aware that when Jesus was asked, "what is the greatest commandment," He said to love the Lord your God, and then when He was asked the second greatest, He said, "to love your neighbor as yourself." I also assume that you understand that He was making the most basic summary for the first and second tables of the law. And I also assume you understand the first and second tables of the law are summaries of the entire law, and included in the moral aspects of the law we find laws against homosexuality (Lev. 20:13). Now it is true that all of the ceremonial laws and many of the judicial laws of the Old Testament have been altered by the coming of Christ, but Christ did not alter any of the moral aspects of the law. And the continuation of the immorality of homosexuality is clearly evidenced in the New Testament. It is found in Romans 1, which was just stated, and many of the other passages of scripture that speak of sexual purity. There would be no justification in the New Testament that when it speaks of sexual purity that it would include homosexual acts, which have been so clearly denounced in the Old Testament. If someone does this, it is clear that they are letting the current culture in which they live dictate their interpretation of scripture instead of letting scripture dictate their culture.

All of this is said to make the final point that when Jesus said love your enemies, He no doubt expected us to look to the moral law to figure out how to do this, because this is what He was summarizing. To love someone is to do what is best for him or her. It is not loving to encourage someone to live a sinful lifestyle. On the contrary it would actually be hateful to encourage someone to act in a way that would bring the judgement of God upon him or her. A parent does this all the time. If a child desires to do something they think will make them happy or something they think they need, a loving parent should deny it to them if they know it is harmful to them no matter how much temporary dissatisfaction it would bring them.

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)"

-Doug Eaton-

Gay Marriage: The Myth of Governmental Neutrality

Often, when the topic of homosexual marriage comes up, there is an argument raised that suggests that even if we think marriage is between one man and one woman, we should not force our morality on others who disagree. The government, it is declared, should be neutral.

Now if we really spell this out, it quickly becomes apparent that governmental neutrality on this issue is impossible. The argument is essentially saying that since the government should be neutral, it should recognize, validate, and honor marriages between same-sex couples. But is a government that recognizes, validates, and honors same-sex marriages really neutral? Of course not, it is saying that same-sex marriages are valid, and if anyone refuses to recognize them the courts will step in to make sure that they do. In reality, the moral acceptance of gay marriage will be forced on people with differing moral views; the very thing that those who make this argument say the government should not do.

The crux of the argument is that the government should be neutral on controversial moral issues, but the absurdity of this becomes clear when we understand that the idea that “the state should be neutral on controversial moral issues,” is itself a controversial moral issue. Not everyone agrees with this. This would mean that the government should be neutral on whether it should be neutral or not, which is an absurd impossibility. Just like the idea that the government should be neutral on homosexual marriage.

Doug Eaton

Evangelism: The Law and the Gospel Cuts Deep

In this video, James White, Dr. D. James Kennedy and Ravi Zacharias discuss evangelism along with a moving example from Way of the Master.

"Christians Shouldn't Hold to a Political Party"

“Christians shouldn’t hold to a political party. After all the kingdom of God transcends political parties, and it’s not like one party is God’s party.” How many times I have heard statements like this in recent years would be impossible to number. What I find interesting about the times these statements have been made to me, is that they are usually the result of someone not liking the fact that I have stronger allegiance with one party over another. It’s almost as if it is a last ditch effort to get me to follow their allegiances which inevitably line up with a party other than the one I find the strongest.

It is true that the kingdom of God transcends political parties and that no party is inerrant, but that doesn’t mean that a Christian is breaking some kind of moral law if they join the ranks of a party in order to accomplish something greater as a group than they would be able to do on there own.

Will there have to be some compromise in certain areas? Of course there will, there is not a human organization that we could be apart of that doesn’t involve some compromise. If the criterion for Christians to support or participate in an organization is infallibility, then we should withdraw from all associations, even Christian ones.

Christians should be wise in their efforts to promote the good and restrain evil. William Wilberforce was one such man. He joined ranks and became part of parliament not because parliament was God’s organization, or because somehow parliament epitomized the kingdom of God, instead he saw it as an opportunity to create positive change to promote the kingdom of God. Because of his work, slavery was abolished and we made a giant leap in promoting justice in this world, and justice certainly is an aspect of the kingdom of God.

The hope of this world is found in Jesus Christ not political parties, but a Christian has been called to love his neighbor, and being a neighbor implies being part of community, or society, and also includes a state, a country, and even the world. If we think that the policies that govern these communities have nothing to do with loving our neighbor because “the hope of the world isn’t found in politics”, it would be like saying, “I love you but the unjust policies which govern your life, I will not work to change because that’s politics and the kingdom of God transcends that. Besides, if I happen to choose a side there is probably a political party that holds strongly to those issues and then where would I be? I would be one of those Christians who thinks that God actually has a position on these issues and that he might actually agree with one party more than another. Crazy, I know… Good luck with your oppression or any other problems you may be facing because of public policies. ‘Be warmed and be filled.’”

Doug Eaton

Michael Farris to Speak at Trinity Law School.

Trinity Law School Presents:
Homeschooling: A Right or an Evasive Privilege
With Michael Farris: Chairman of the HSLDA.

Friday and Saturday, September 26-27,
Friday - 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday - 10:00 a.m. – 12 noon.
Location: 2200 N. Grand Ave, Santa Ana CA 92705

For More Information visit www.tiu.edu/law/speakers.

Alexandra Snyder, Trinity Law School, and the Fight to End Abortion

This is a good friend of mine.

For more information on Trinity Law School visit www.TLS.edu.

Doug

In The Public Square with John Snyder

John Snyder, a good friend of mine, is hosting a new radio show called...

In The Public Square

Be sure to check out his site and download his radio show. It will be worth your time.

God Bless,

Doug

Crucial Issues for Christians Lecture MP3's

Below are the MP3 downloads of the lectures from the Crucial Issues for Christians Seminar. These lectures can be downloaded by right-clicking the link and selecting, "save target as."

Abortion, Euthanasia, and Embryonic Stem Cell Research - Donald McConnell

The New Atheism - Christopher Neiswonger

Aesthetics and the Christian - Lindsay Brooks

Postmodernism and the Emergent Church - Doug Eaton

Trinity Law School Lectures

Trinity Law School has begun to post a few lectures and is planning on adding more soon. Most of them are on youtube but they are starting to add the MP3 downloads for these lectures also.

You can find the first few at the Trinity Lectures page.

God Bless,

Doug

Human Rights and the Real Life Results of Bad Bioethics

This is a clip from a lecture given by Wesley Smith at Trinity Law School. In it he discusses the results we are already living with because of bad bioethical theories.

The entire lecture can be viewed on Godtube

Doug

A Look at the California Ruling on Homeschooling

This video is of Dean of Trinity Law School, Donald McConnell discussing the recent ruling by the California appellate judges against homeschooling parents. Visit www.hslda.org to sign a petition to have this opinion depublished.

Doug

A God and Governing Conference? How Good Could it Be?

I tend to get pretty interested when I see an amazing line-up for a pastors conference or some kind of biblical or theological conference, but most of the time when I see a line-up for an evangelical conference on government I’m less than enthused. My lack of enthusiasm is not due to an indifferent attitude toward the Christian’s responsibility to be involved in politically, but more to the shallow nature of many of these types of gatherings. After all, many of these conferences tend to deal with the artifacts of culture more than the worldviews that produce them, much like a doctor focusing only on the symptoms and failing to address the disease. You probably know what I mean when we as evangelicals spend so much time focusing on trying to get department stores to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays”, or to have nativity scenes allowed on city property. Now there is a place for some of this type of thing but so often it is all surface level, and rarely is freedom of speech addressed in its constitutional understanding or a correct understanding of the establishment clause ever really dealt with, and almost always what is left out is a discussion of the worldviews that are driving these aberrant understandings.

Then about a year ago Trinity Law School began to plan for the God and Governing Conference. This conference was going to be different. It was going to look, theologically, philosophically, and historically at the political issues facing us today, and that is exactly what took place.

When you have speakers like David Wells, Dallas Willard, and Os Guinness, you are in for mental stimulation that will keep you going for some time. The lectures were of a wide range. From Dallas Willard and Pat Nolan reminding us of the importance of character as we engage in politics, which has been lost due to the lack of focus on sanctification in contemporary Christianity, to Os Guinness bringing to mind the framers understanding of freedom and that it is our job to maintain this balance of freedom in order not to loose it to too much security one the one hand or license on the other.

David Wells in his usual brilliance linked the breakdown of evangelical theology to much of the disarray that is found in today’s Christian involvement in Government. One of the primary issues being the loss of human nature in the philosophical worldviews of modernism and post-modernism that have made inroads into contemporary Christianity.

Vishal Mangalwadi, reminded us of the tyranny that tends to accompany paganism, and gave ample examples of the corruption of freedom in pagan India where he currently resides. Then he pointed out the many inroads paganism has made into the United States and college campuses and pointed to the popularity of tantric sex and the Da Vinci code, among others as mere symptoms of a deeper issue.

Paul Marshal dealt with many different issues regarding evangelical involvement in government such as those who tend to follow the Anabaptist model and contradictorily decry governmental power and then the minute they see a social ill they desire the government step in and fix it.

Donald McConnell spoke to us about ten ways to improve the evangelical involvement in Government and Dr. Stephen Kennedy spoke to us about natural law and a rights theory which flows from a Trinitarian theology and belonging.

Now some people might hear of such a conference and think that this group got together to work toward establishing a theocracy, but it was quite a contrary message that was given. In fact it is the Christian faith that drove the establishment clause in the first place and it is only the intolerant who want “freedom of religion” to become “freedom from religion.”

When it was all said and done, the attendees left with an enrichment that they will carry for some time. We were both challenged and inspired, as all of it was built upon the foundation of the inerrant and infallible Word of God and driven home with times of prayer. Pastors, teachers, theologians, philosophers, lawyers, laymen or anyone who loves the Word and God and wants use its light to think through the political issues facing us today would benefit from this conference. And rumor has it that the audio for these lectures will soon be available.

Doug Eaton

Trinity Law School: Seek Justice

Here is the new promotional video for Trinity Law School!

God and Governing Conference this Week

This is the week of the God and Governing Conference hosted by Trinity Law School and we are busy putting together all the final pieces in preparation for a great conference. We are still taking last minute registration if you are able to attend. Contact Chris at 800-922-4748 for more info. With all the work to be done, this will most likely be my last post until next week.

God Bless,

Doug



Here is more info on the conference if you are interested...

God and Governing Conference:

A Conference on Ethics, Virtue, and Statesmanship

February 1-2, 2008Westin South Coast PlazaCosta Mesa, California

Featured Speakers:
Os Guinness Distinguished writer and speaker,Cofounder of The Trinity Forum

Dallas Willard Professor of Philosophy,University of Southern California

David Wells Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology,Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Paul Marshall Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom

Stephen Kennedy Associate Professor, Trinity Graduate School and Trinity Law School

Donald McConnell Academic Dean, Trinity Law School

Vishal Mangalwadi International Lecturer, Social Reformer, Political Columnist Author of Thirteen Books

Pat Nolan President, Justice Fellowship, Prison Fellowship Ministries

Sponsored by: Trinity Law School and Trinity Graduate School.

The Letter Kills, But the Spirit Gives Life

The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. (2 Cor. 3:6)

The law of God is holy and just and good; it is inexorable, and we have fallen under its just condemnation. That is at the bottom what Paul means by the "the letter killeth.’ He does not mean that attention to pedantic details shrivels and deadens the soul. No doubt that is true, within certain spheres; it is a useful thought. But it is trivial indeed compared with what Paul means. Something far more majestic, far more terrible, is meant by the Pauline phrase. The letter that Paul means is the dreadful handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and the death with which it kills is the eternal death of those who are forever separated from God.

But that is not all of the text. The letter killeth, Paul says, but the Spirit maketh alive. There is no doubt about what he means by ‘the Spirit.’ He does not mean that spirit of the law as contrasted with the letter; he certainly does not mean the lax interpretation of God’s commands which is dictated by human lust or pride; he certainly does not mean the spirit of man. No real student of Paul has doubted, so far as I know, but that he means the Spirit of God. God’s law brings eternal death because of sin; but God’s Spirit, shed abroad in the heart, brings life. The thing that is written killeth, but the Holy Spirit in the heart gives life.

The contrast runs all through the New Testament. Hopelessness under the law is described in the seventh chapter of Romans. "Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" But this hopelessness is transcended by the gospel. "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord… For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death.’ The law’s sentence of condemnation was borne for us by Christ who suffered in our stead; The handwriting of ordinances which was against us—the dreadful ‘letter’ of which Paul speaks in our text—was nailed to the cross.

-J. Gresham Machen-

God and Governing Conference

I thought a few of you might be interested in this...

God and Governing Conference:

A Conference on Ethics, Virtue, and Statesmanship

For teachers, professors, students, pastors, church leaders, journalists, attorneys, chaplains, those working at any level of government, or anyone who believes that morality has a place in American politics.

February 1-2, 2008Westin South Coast PlazaCosta Mesa, California

Featured Speakers:
Os Guinness
Distinguished writer and speaker,Cofounder of The Trinity Forum

Dallas Willard
Professor of Philosophy,University of Southern California

David Wells
Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology,Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

Paul Marshall
Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom

Stephen Kennedy
Associate Professor, Trinity Graduate School and Trinity Law School

Donald McConnell
Academic Dean, Trinity Law School

Vishal Mangalwadi
International Lecturer, Social Reformer, Political ColumnistAuthor of Thirteen Books

Pat Nolan
President, Justice Fellowship, Prison Fellowship Ministries

Sponsored by: Trinity Law School and Trinity Graduate School.

Christian Law School

Looking for a Christian Law School? There are only a handful of Law Schools that truly teach law from within the Christian worldview. Trinity Law School (in Southern California) is one of the few schools which does just that.

Trinity is a dynamic Christian law school dedicated to legal studies from a Augustinian natural law perspective, Trinity Law School prepares men and women to fulfill their callings as lawyers, judges, public officials, legal advocates, and professionals in vocations that require a solid legal education.

Trinity is also affiliated with Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.