Some articles that I like

Here are a few articles from Dr Mohler's blog that i like.

Why Sing the Hymns?

Consider this statement on the disappearance of hymns from worship from Paul S. Jones:
The postmodern church, like the rest of Western culture, is self-obsessed and seems uninterested in the rich heritage of church music imparted to us from the saints of previous generations. Although worship has become a buzzword in all ecclesiastical circles, minimal attention is given to biblical teaching concerning worship. As a result, we find evangelicals slipping away from biblical worship and justifying their practices on the basis of the Zeitgeist. A hedonistic, narcissistic, relativistic, 'me-focused' age, though, is hardly one that should inform and define our approach to God. And yet, it does. We measure our success by numbers, our relevance by how technologically integrated and up-to-date we are, and our worship by how good it makes us feel. In the minds of contemporary saints, hymns clash with the spontaneity, simplicity, and style that have come to rule in the modern evangelical church.

Paul S. Jones, "Hymnody in a Post-Hymnody World," in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship, edited by Philip Graham Ryken, Derek W. H. Thomas, and J. Ligon Duncan (Philllipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2003). The book is a collection of essays celebrating the life and legacy of the late James Montgomery Boice. Jones is music director and organist at Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, where Boice was pastor for many years. See the church's excellent statement, Our Philosophy-Theology of Music, adoped just this year, as well as the congregation's Mission Statement.



The Ten Most Harmful Books of the Last Two Centuries

Human Events asked "a panel of 15 conservative scholars and public policy leaders" to identify the ten most harmful books of the 19th and 20th centuries. The list:
1. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
2. Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
3. Quotations from Chairman Mao by Mao Zedong
4. The Kinsey Reports by Alfred Kinsey
5. Democracy and Education by John Dewey
6. Das Kapital by Karl Marx
7. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
8. The Course of Positive Philosophy by Auguste Compte
9. Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Nietzsche
10. General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money by John Maynard Keynes
It's hard to argue with that list, but it seems a bit weighted toward economics. I would argue for putting The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin in the top ten, and Coming of Age in Samoa by Margaret Mead wouldn't be far behind. Any suggestions?
SOURCE: Ten Most Harmful Books of the 19th and 20th Centuries, Human Events, May 31, 2005


Star Wars and Christian Truth -- A Collision of Worldviews

George Lucas' Star Wars saga is now complete, or so we are told. With the cinematic release of Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith, the story is fully developed and the massive film project is certain to be a commercial success.

The Revenge of the Sith is a gripping story, and the movie is propelled by generally strong acting performances. This episode's central story line is the tranformation of Anakin Skywalker into Darth Vader -- a Sith warrior. This moral transformation turns Anakin into a dark lord -- an unmistakable representation of evil. By the movie's end, the Sith rule the galaxy and the stage is set for the good guys -- the Jedi warriors -- eventually to return and defeat the evil Empire.

As in the other Star Wars films, the movie is a mechanism for introducing Lucas' own blend of Eastern mysticism and New Age concepts. The films focus on "The Force," a vaguely supernatural power that blends pantheism and metaphysics. It is decidedly not the personal and transcendent God of the Bible.
In my extended commentary, The Faith v. The Force: The Mythology of Star Wars, I traced the influence of New Age and Eastern ideas on George Lucas, and pointed to the influence of the late Joseph Campbell as something Lucas has acknowledged.

Here are the most relevant sections: Conspicuously absent from Lucas's cosmology is anything connected to biblical Christianity. Though oblique references to faith abound in the film, the central religious motif is "the Force," explained by the Smithsonian guide as a combination of "the basic principles of several different major religions." Further, "it most embodies what all of them have in common: an unerring faith in a spiritual power." Lucas explained "the Force" as "a nothingness that can accomplish miracles." This is, the Smithsonian's Henderson asserts, "reminiscent of Zen Buddhism."

"The Force" is not analogous to Christian faith, but is a form of personal enlightenment and empowerment. Faith in "the Force" is simply faith in mystery and some higher power--mostly within. As Lucas instructs: "Ultimately the Force is the larger mystery of the universe. And to trust your feelings is your way into that." The last thing Americans need to be told is to trust their own feelings.

The mythology of Star Wars is perfectly adapted to the spiritual confusion of postmodern America. "Go with the Force" is about all many citizens can muster as spirituality. When Christianity ceases to be the dominant worldview of a culture, paganism is quick to fill the void.
Some see a very different picture, with Lucas and his Star Wars series presenting a religious allegory that is compatible with Christianity, at least in part. In Christian Wisdom of the Jedi Masters, film critic Dick Staub makes some truly incredible claims for the series. "One of Star Wars' great contributions to contemporary belief is the reinforcement of the centuries-old teaching, advanced by all religions, that something mysteriously spiritual is at work in the universe," he asserts. "Star Wars creator George Lucas named this phenomenon 'the Force.'"
This one of the movie's "great contributions to contemporary belief?" Can this be a serious statement? The Force is a blend of light and darkeness, good and evil. It is impersonal and seductive. Such a concept is not compatible with Christian truth, and it hardly ranks as a great contribution to anything. It is merely a vehicle for the telling of George Lucas' story -- and for the promotion of his New Age ideas.

Staub also relates that the concept of God "is not foreign to George Lucas, who in an interview with Bill Moyers embraces mysticism over certitude in his understanding of God." [See my article on this interview.] Staub then turns to application: "Likewise, the Jedi type of Christian embraces divine mystery humbly, professing a similar modesty about our knowledge of God, who though personal and accessible is also aurrounded by what one mystic called 'the cloud of unknowing.'"

This is profoundly, dangerously, tragically wrong. A Christian cannot embrace anything like Lucas' brand of mysticism and agnosticism about the nature and character of God. We are completely dependent upon God's self-revelation [that's the true basis for humility] and we are fully accountable to that revelation. We are to know and to embrace everything that God reveals about Himself -- and this is nothing akin to George Lucas' brand of mysticism. Of course, there remains much about the infinite reality and glory of God that we do not know, but we are commanded to know all that He has revealed about Himself. The living God of the Bible has revealed Himself in the Son, Jesus Christ, not in an impersonal force.

The turning point in The Revenge of the Sith comes when the sage-like Obi-Wan Kenobi tries to convince Anakin to resist the dark side of the Force. "If you're not with me, you're my enemy," Anakin says. Obi-Wan's reply: "Only a Sith thinks in absolutes." So, only the dark lords believe in absolute truth. The enlightened Jedi know better, of course, and Lucas wants his viewers to embrace Obi-Wan's counsel.

Here we face the reality of the New Age vision -- no absolutes. At the same time, this is also evidence of the inconsistency at the heart of any denial of absolute truth. For Lucas does present the dark side as truly evil. That's an absolute, of course, but it is precisely the kind of politically-correct absolute promoted by those who deny absolute truth. Listen as your friends and neighbors talk about this film. The conversation will reveal more than they intend. This is a film about worldviews, and Christians should know how to point directly to what matters.
REVENGE OF THE LINKS: Mark Pinsky, Many Faiths See Religious Allegory in Star Wars, The Houston Chronicle. See also reviews by Jeffrey Overstreet in Christianity Today and Gene Edward Veith in World.