Paul's Passing Thoughts

Here we go again. Dignified Protestant mysticism is offended by the fruits of their redemptive interpretation of all reality. You know, the Bible isn’t a book of do’s and don’ts, every verse is about what Jesus did, not anything we do. It is a book that shows us more and more how sinfully depraved we are which results in more and more gratitude for the cross which results in obedience being, as John MacArthur has stated, “never bitter—always sweet.” The mystic exploits of the who’s who of Calvinism is hanging on the Reformed tree in plain view for everyone to see—it’s totally old news.

Yes, on the one hand, the Bible is a gospel meta-narrative, but on the other hand, when a Reformed philosopher king or queen isn’t nuanced enough, all of a sudden, Calvinists start covering up with a grammatical interpretation of Scripture. Hark, all of a sudden the plain sense of Scripture is appealed to in order to reassure the herd that said weirdness isn’t “orthodoxy.” It reminds me of Steve Camp whining and moaning about Jesus is my boyfriend music while holding to the same Reformed gospel that is destined for various and sundry stuff that you couldn’t begin to make up.

The latest How are we going to explain this one? comes in the form of Dort damsel  Ann Voskamp claiming that she has sex with G__  __ . Usually I type His name out, but not in that sentence along with that thought—way too creepy.

Here is the problem: the Reformed camp uses the Redemptive Historical or Christocentric method of interpreting the Bible (and all of reality as well, but that is another post). So, in The Song of Solomon, what is written, which is pretty steamy in places, has to necessarily be symbolic of the relationship between Christ and the church. Poke the Reformed wild pig anywhere; this is their take on that book. And that my friend is pretty darn creepy. And of course, this idea runs so deep in the Protestant psyche that even Arminians quickly attest to the “fact” that we are the what?…right, “bride of Christ.”

Such are we: while ratcheting back in horror at Voskamp’s assertion, we speak ourselves of “intimacy with God” etc. Reformed authors who are wildly popular in our day speak of our relationship with God in these intimate terms on a continual basis. One example is the book Crazy Love written by Francis Chan which reeks of Jesus is my boyfriend theology from cover to cover. Chan asserts in the book that our relationship with Christ should feel like our first love of the opposite sex. He states in the book that such exhilaration is proof of a true relationship with Christ. Duty, he says in the book, “feels like work,” but true love “feels like love.” According to the Sola Sisters blog, Voskamp states the following in her wildly popular book, One Thousand Gifts:

I fly to Paris and discover how to make love to God. (One Thousand Gifts, p 201)

I think how lives, whole generations, were laid down to built this edifice, to find a way in. But they thought the steps to God-consummation were but three: purgation, illumination, union. (One Thousand Gifts, p 208)

I remember this feeling. The way my apron billowed in the running, the light, the air. The harvest moon. I remember. The yearning. To merge with Beauty Himself. But here…….Now? Really?…….I am not at all certain that I want consummation…….And who wouldn’t cower at the invitation to communion with limitless Holiness Himself? (One Thousand Gifts, p 211)

I run my hand along the beams over my loft bed, wood hewn by a hand several hundred years ago. I can hear Him. He’s calling for a response; He’s calling for oneness. Communion (One Thousand Gifts,  211)

This invitation to have communion with Love—is this the edge of the mystery Paul speaks of? A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one (Ephesians 5:31-32). The two, Christ and the church, becoming one flesh—the mystery of that romance. Breath falling on face, Spirit touching spirit, the long embrace, the entering in and being within—this is what God seeks? With each of us? (One Thousand Gifts, pp 212-213)

If Christians would only abandon Protestant orthodoxy and read the Bible with the mind God gave them. The Bible states plainly that we are the guests of the Bridegroom, we are not the bride. The bride is New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven immediately after the new heavens and new earth.

Look at the unstoppable crazy train that is Protestantism for yourself. Whether it is ghost sex, John Piper’s scream of the damned etc., it is going to continue to get crazier and crazier.

Come out from among them and be separate.

paul