1993 Issue 8
The simplicity of the historical record of the birth of Jesus is in marked contrast with the unparalleled, momentous significance of this event.
Although "scholars once questioned Luke's accuracy concerning the historical details of Jesus' birth, Bible-believing Christians have never doubted his accuracy, since what he wrote is the Word of God. Moreover, now a mass of papyri and inscriptions give sufficient evidence that Augustus did issue the census decree which Luke mentions, "that it was a new, epoch-making measure, and that inaugurated a periodic enrollment in the empire which continued for over two centuries at intervals of fourteen years." - Lenskt
Each month the "Cross-Examination" column presents a summary statement of a Reformed and Reconstructionist conviction in theology or ethics, and then offers brief answers to common questions, objections or confusions which people have about that belief. Send issues or questions you would like addressed by Dr. Bahnsen to the editor.
The finest expression of the theology of God's inspired word - its "pattern of sound words" - can be found in the masterful, systematic expression of Reformed theology known as the "Westminster Confession of Faith." This year marks the 350th anniversary of the English Parliament's convening of 121 godly theologians from the entire realm (and later, eight commissioners from Scotland) to the Westminster Assembly.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
These words, taken from an Emma Lazarus poem, The New Colossus are inscribed on the Statue of Liberty's pedestal in New York Harbor. The statue is no doubt a welcomed sight to the millions of immigrants that have settled in New York City upon their arrival in America.
For several months we have run ads for Christ College in The Counsel. This month we would like you to get to know the institution and some of its faculty better. Christ College is conservative, evangelical college committed to the Reformed Faith. The college has recently relocated in Greenville, SC after having been established in Lynchburg, VA in 1989. During a recent visit to Greenville I had the opportunity to meet with two of the men that are intimately involved in this operation, Dr. Ken Gentry and Dr. Jerry Crick. The College's temporary location will be Reedy River Presbyterian Church where Rev. Gentry is the Pastor.
If you are around forty (or older), you can remember, no doubt, one of the more famous anti-litter television commercials of the mid-sixties. The "typical American family" is shown tooling down the road in their Chevy having a typically American good time, when suddenly, they throw trash out of the car window. The camera slowly pans from the trash in the highway up to the roadside where a stately Indian sits on horseback. As the camera moves in, we see a big tear roll down his cheek. The lesson was clear and powerful: "If it wasn't for these low-life paleface slobs, the country woμld be neat, clean, and beautiful" (Ie., like it was when the Indians had the land all to themselves). Because of this ad campaign, nearly the entire "Tee-Vee" generation grew up ashamed of being of European descent.
