PURITAN NEWS WEEKLY

www.puritans.net/news/

RUNNING NEWS AND COMMENTS

By J. Parnell McCarter

Due to time constraints, I had to cease writing regular Puritan News Weekly articles. But in lieu of that, I offer this Running News and Comments webpage in a blog-like format.

11/20/09 – EU and US

With respect to the issue of the US as the "Babylon" of Revelation 17-18, I look at it as an educated guess that time will clear up whether it is right or wrong.  In contrast, the doctrines outlined in the Westminster Standards are already clearly true.  I have my share of some wrong as well as right educated guesses.  An example of a more recent wrong one was that I thought the EU would select devout Romanist (and former Protestant) Tony Blair as its first permanent EU president.  Obviously, I was wrong about that.  But I was right it did set up a permanent presidency and it selected a devout Romanist as its first permanent president:

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFinancialServicesAndRealEstateNews/idUSLI45257420091119

"he was educated at the Jesuit Sint-Jan Berchmans College in central Brussels, then studied philosophy and economics at the Catholic University of Leuven...

Flemish Christian democrat...Van Rompuy is a Catholic and has often gone on religious retreats in the Abbey of Affligem (Flemish Brabant) to renew his faith and meditate."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Van_Rompuy

"Van Rompuy is a strong opponent of Turkey joining the European Union. In 2004, he stated "Turkey is not a part of Europe and will never be part of Europe. An expansion of the EU to include Turkey cannot be considered as just another expansion as in the past". He continued "The universal values which are in force in Europe, and which are fundamental values of Christianity, will lose vigour with the entry of a large Islamic country such as Turkey."^[10]

I think the EU is still on track for eventually making the Romish Church the established church of the EU and the Pope as its spiritual head.

And I think the USA is still on track for a fall.

11/19/09 - Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS)

As explained at http://www.puritans.net/news/prts111909.htm , Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary (PRTS) is in need of significant repentance and reformation.

11/12/09 – Musical Instruments in Public Worship

1. It would have been a dangerous thing to be joining Nadab and Abihu in worship with strange fire.  It would call the judgment of God down upon oneself to be worshipping along with them using the strange fire.  (And it should be noted the judgment came after Nadab and Abihu did it but once, and we have the advantage of their example, which they did not have.)

2. Musical instruments in public worship are strange fire.  Although the judgment of God upon infractions might not be the same as that upon Nadab and Abihu, it can be very real.  One such judgment I have perceived in many is a blindness imposed upon them relating to the Regulative Principle of Worship because of their generally cavalier attitude relating to the strange fire of musical instruments in public worship.  And who knows but some of the other problems in various denominations stem from this?

11/12/09 – Presumptive Regeneration, Baptism and Preaching

First, it is nonsense to assert that paedobaptism is predicated on presumptive regeneration.  Neither God nor Esau's parents were presuming Esau was regenerate when he was circumcised.  That was not the basis of it.  The bases of it were:

1. The command of God

2. The duty of a covenant head to dedicate and commit everything under his headship (insofar as his station allows) to Christ and Christianity.

3. The duty of all to bow to Christ: Nothing is neutral, so everything not dedicated to Christ is anti-Christian.  Leaving a child unbaptized is effectively saying the child is dedicated to rebellion against Christ (though I realize Baptists would not admit that).

Regarding preaching, man’s native and natural condition (no matter whether born of a Christian parent or not) is depraved and in need of conversion.  The starting point has to be the need for conversion, not the assumption of conversion.  And even communicant members need continually to hear the duty of conversion in the preaching, for purposes of self-examination because we are easily deceived as to our true state.