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The Week in Review

2/28/2014

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Well!!

Since last I put fingers to keyboard here on "The Adventures of a Middle Kid" quite a bit has happened...more or less. :P Would you like a quick run-down of all the happenings?

You would??

Great! Hang on to your hats! ;)

                                                                        Monday
This was a busy day. I was grouchy all day long too, which didn't help anybody--much less myself. Most particularly poor Granddaddy whom I blew up at while making supper. Yes, I lost my self-control and barked at the old man for not staying put, but instead, coming back into the kitchen after I had already taken him out once. I felt really bad about it and apologized to him once I quit shaking with irrational fury.

Anyway, the day was spent doing last minute things to get ready for the arrival of one young man by the name of Andrew. My parents and Savannah went to pick the "Man from Tomorrow" up at the airport, leaving around 3:30 (pm). Andrew is courting Savannah and has been for several months. He's from Australia so there are definitely some different things about him. He's also left-handed. ;) Not that that has anything to do with anything...but the really funny thing about that is he shares a birthday with another man we know (and love!) who is likewise left-handed. (And yes, that's some of that "Racheal's Trivia" stuff that collects in the resesses of her skull....) We fixed him up a bedroom in the living room...this isn't the first time we've had a young man crashing in our living room, so it's no big deal.

Monday evening I had a few 'things' happen with my computer that I hadn't had happen in the past...it was weird, but my thinking that it needed to go to the shop was heightened.

                                                                    Tuesday

Tuesday I turned on my computer and promptly turned it off. Daddy would eventually get ahold of a computer repair man that day...but on to more important stuff.

Of course, that "more important stuff" falls into the category of usual daily chores (on my front) at anyrate. (Hopefully I'm getting my days straight here!) This means: Laundry! (Yes, that's right...I did Andrew's laundry that day as well as two loads of Granddaddy stuff and at least one of our stuff). Dishes! Cooking! (You wouldn't believe how many onions I massacre in the making of a single meal--I LOVE them cooked.)

Naturally, I did some eavesdropping...don't ask me what the topic(s) of conversation were. I don't remember.

Mama went to town and while she was gone, Daddy and Savannah gave Andrew a "walking tour" of the place and introduced him to Grandma and Grandpa. Katherine was doing her school and during this time I sat on the piano bench and thumped my way through a hunk of my guitar repertoire. On Andy Kenway's reels I jumped down to B (or up rather) with the most ease that I think I've ever had with them. I was quite pleased. I guess I've played enough recently that my D to B jumps on the (high) E-string have improved due to the extra hand stretching and loosening.

                                                                           Wednesday

Daddy took my computer into the shop (boy, you'd think that was pretty important!) 

                                                    {break here for family worship}

Anyway, Wednesday was a lot of the same...only I did read a chapter out of God and Government, Vol. 2. I'm gaining something of a wee bit more knowledge of biblical economics. For some reason, a uncomplicated understanding of that particular subject is rather elusive to my brain. 

                                                                            Thursday

For being rather "useless" (or so I felt yesterday), I guess I really did alright.

Other than doing the usual laundry and dishes, I played my guitar (sitting in the cold room) for a while. I haven't been through that particular book (and I only got about half way when my toes got too cold to stay in there any longer) in over a year--which is understandable since it was one I sent with Katherine when our family temporarily split up!

I also read both my philosophy/theology (and economics) and my history too. I was having a ball with the history reading. I had Shelby Foote's Narrative open over here, my Long's The Civil War, Day by Day open over there, my Generals in Gray in my lap, and a book concerning WBtS's battlefieds containing maps in one hand. As I was reading about First Manassas (or the First Battle of Bull Run for my friends of Union stripe ;P), I naturally had the battlefield guide open to that particular engagement's map and Long's Day by Day open to July 21st, 1861 (which was a Sunday). I referred to Generals a couple of times to put faces to names of particular Confederate generals. Naturally, I already have facial recognition with Beauregard, Joe Johnson, and Stonewall, but I couldn't reall what Gen. Bee looked like and "who was this guy??" There are SO many generals (on both sides) that most of us have never heard of.

Other things of note: both my cats got spayed. Curio is still kind of sleeping off the drugs. Runty seems mostly back to normal. My biggest question is an incredulous "How do you expect me to keep cats from jumping up onto the furniture [bed, treadle machine, chair, vanity]?" Most particularly since their favorite napping spots are all up and not down?

I have done like I was supposed to and checked their incision sites a couple of times today. They look fine--not red or swollen. The glue on Runty's incision is mostly gone (they are stitched internally, then glued shut), but so far is still fine. Curio is still growling at me a little when I pick her up...like I said, I think she's still a little doped. (I imagine they gave her a little more 'stuff'.)

Mama did most of the cooking on Thursday.

                                                                                Friday

That's today! I started the morning with laundry (actually just flipping the wash machine on when I got up--I had a load of socks soaking overnight), letting a groggy white and black cat out of her carrier (I let Runty out last night [she slept with me most of the night--as is usual] because I couldn't stand listening to her fussing and rattling the door), drinking my coffee and reading my Bible--with said black and white cat sitting on my stomach. She doesn't usually sit in my lap for any length of time, but she curled up there and promptly went to sleep. Runty joined in the nap curled against my knee (question...why do cats pick the side between you and the edge of the bed and never the side between you and the wall??)

Speaking of coffee...by day two in our house we had "created" another black coffee drinker. :) Tuesday morning (or was it Wednesday?) Daddy was still asleep, but all the ladies and Andrew were awake, so we sat around talking--and drinking coffee. Someone offered Andrew some and he accepted and took it black since the rest of us were and decided he actually liked the stuff.

Today, I did the cooking, most of the dishes (thanks, Katie, for doing the supper dishes several times this week!), some paltry amounts of laundry, some eavesdropping (of the obvious sort :D). It got kind of funny as I was "waiting for the onions" before I could make supper this evening. Mama and Daddy had gone to town (hey, you wondered where/when I got my computer back, didn't you? ;P) and I knew she was going to buy more onions (I used the last three at lunch time--by the way, I cook with a mightly lot of onions--to quote Gen. McDowell [US], I think them "monstrous fine!" {only he was referring to a watermelon...}).

I didn't get any history reading done today though I did get through the next chapter in God and Government. Instead of reading history, I scribbled out a letter. (Okay, so I really did try to write neatly...) You who are destined to receive that letter (you know who you are) can probably read my messing handwriting by this point--afterall, you've been doing it since those long ago days when we lived but an hour (or so) apart. I also, strangely, used a pencil instead of a pen. I "always" use a pen...but I actually write neater with a pencil (besides which I can erase). But anyway...that's neither here nor there.

I am, currently, in possession of "the ear" (aka the baby monitor by which we listen to Granddaddy while he sleeps/wakes/etc.) I will gladly hand it back to Daddy when he finishes his shower. I'll pass back the hat he placed on my head with a little less enthusiasm however. Andrew got him this white "boat-hat" that says "Capitan" on it. It looks adorable on Daddy and good on me (vainity!) and I like it a lot. I also made the discovery that I can wear it over my braids cross on top of my head. Nifty...

By the way, I'd put some pictures up...but it's getting late and I haven't been able to locate Savannah's camera cord recently--and I definitely won't bug her post-10 pm for it! I'm going to sign off here and spare you all the details of the evening that had me in stitches a couple of times. I can't remember what they all were anyway...

        Racheal

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The Eternal Plan of God: Part 1

2/23/2014

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The fifth chapter of Dr. Morecraft's Authentic Christianity is "The Eternal Plan of God" and covers the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth questions of the Larger Catechism:
Q. 12: What are the decrees of God?
 A. : God’s decrees are the wise, free and holy acts of the counsel of his will, whereby, from all eternity, he hath, for his own glory, unchangeably foreordained whatsoever comes to pass in time, especially concerning angels and men.

Q. 13: What hath God especially decreed concerning angels and men?
A. : God, by an eternal and immutable decree, out of his mere love, for the praise of his glorious grace, to be manifested in due time, hath elected some angels to glory; and in Christ hath chosen some men to eternal life, and the means thereof: and also, according to his sovereign power, and the unsearchable counsel of his own will, (whereby he extendeth or withholdeth favor as he pleaseth), hath passed by and foreordained the rest to dishonor and wrath, to be for their sin inflicted, to the praise of the glory of his justice.
 
Q. 14: How does God execute His decrees?
A. : God executeth his decrees in the works of creation and providence, according to his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will.
He begins by defining the decrees of God as the forordiation of whatsoever comes to pass. There are four presuppositions that we must understand as we study the decrees of God. First, God's sovereignty:
Until a person learns that God is sovereign, he never really knows God at all. God is King, man is subject. God is Creator, man is creature. God rules, man submits. God commands, man obeys. God is totally sovereign in all his plans and actions. Man is  totally accountable to God in all his plans and actions. “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9). (398)
Second, the meaning of the word 'decree':
God’s decrees are His plans, orders and purposes for His creation. (398)
Thirdly, the meaning of 'foreordination':
God, the King of creation, causes everything that happens in this life to happen according to His eternal plan. He has foreordained, fore-planned, fore-decreed
everything that comes to pass; and everything that comes to pass, happens just as He has decreed. (400)
Fourthly, the comprehensiveness of God's decree:
To speak of God’s limited sovereignty is to speak in absurdities. Either God is sovereign and His sovereignty extends over everything in the universe, even to the thoughts and intentions of the human heart, or else God is not sovereign at all. We can no more speak of God’s limited sovereignty than we can speak of God’s limited
knowledge, or God’s limited righteousness, or God’s limited holiness, or God’s limited wisdom. (401)

And so we see that God’s perfect plan and God’s sovereign control are so comprehensive that even the sinful activities of man serve His purposes. God even causes the rage of evil men to please Him (Ps. 76:10). (403)

In this discussion of God’s decrees, it is important to point out that God not only predetermined the result and outcome of things, He also predetermined the ways and means by which those results and that outcome would be accomplished. (403)
He takes the time to point out that though God decrees sin, He is by no mean the author of that sin.
God’s plan includes the sinful actions of people, which God works together for good (Rom. 8:28), without being the author of sin (James 1:13), or without forcing people to do what they do not want to do, or without doing violence to the human will. (403)

According to the Bible, man’s choices and actions are FREE and PREDESTINED at the same time. Man chooses freely whatever he wants to choose and does whatever he does because that is what he wants to do. And yet, at the same time, those choices and actions were decreed by God before the creation of the world, so that it
was absolutely certain that they would happen when they did. (407)
We next turn to the Character of God's decrees--of which there are six deliniated for us. God's decrees are first, Eternal:
God’s decrees are eternal: “He chose us in Him BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD,” i.e., in eternity before the creation of the universe (Eph. 1:4). He determined His purposes for His creation before His creation existed. (413)
God's decrees are Unchangable:
“He, whose hope of success rests on a failure of the divine purpose, will meet a dreadful overthrow.” 25 Man cannot change God’s decrees, and God will not change them, because “the firm foundation of God stands” (2 Tim. 2:19). 25. William S. Plumer, Psalms (Edinburgh, Scotland: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 415. (414)

God’s plans are unchangeable, because God is unchangeable. (414)

God does not change His decrees in response or reaction to anything man does or to man’s changing condition. (414)
God's decrees are Wise:
His wisdom and knowledge are especially manifested in His decrees, His plans for His creation....In God, wisdom is His knowledge and power working together to
foreordain everything to happen in such a way that would bring Him the most glory and His people the most benefit. (415)
God's decrees are Free:
God’s decrees are free, but not capricious, arbitrary or irrational. They are absolute, purely unconditional, and independent of any influences or causes outside of the being of God. (415-416)

God is in no way dependent upon any creature. (416)
God's decrees are Holy:
Nothing God has decreed is unjust, unrighteous, unwise, or unholy...God’s holiness is His impeccable purity, His transcendent glory, and His total self-consecration (1 John 1:5). (416)

God cannot command unholy acts, nor does He secretly inspire evil in His creatures...Nor does He force anyone to sin against his will. (417)
Finally, God's decrees are the acts of the counsel of His own will:
God’s decrees are determined purely according to His good pleasure and the counsel of His own sovereign will... (417)

God not only knows whatever comes to pass, but God has willed whatever comes to pass, so that nothing happens in this universe that was not decreed by God. (418)
This leads directly to the next point (and the final one for us today)...God decrees everything for the purpose of His own glorification.
Because of His own God-centered nature; God cannot go against what He is, and plan as His highest purpose anything else but His own glory. Since His glory is the
most excellent of all motives and goals, the infinitely wise God cannot plan anything short of it, as His own chief and highest end. (419)
I would have read further today, but this was a convenient breaking spot and being somewhat slow on the uptake today, I figured I'd do best to stop there. But I did make it past the page 400 mark today!! (Heehee...that leaves me not quite 4,250 pages left to read...)

        Racheal

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Busy Days

2/22/2014

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I know my posting has started slacking off again...I just can't seem to think of ways to make the "mundane" things of daily life to be "exciting and fascinating". I mean, how many ways can you say: "I made lunch today...", "I washed several piles of dishes...", "I did Granddaddy's laundry (plus some)...", "I 'baby-sat' Granddaddy...", etc.

Anyways, I've been rather busy with this that and the other. One of the biggest and most important daily tasks that everyone takes part in (some more than others--depending on time of day, what's going on, and such like) is keeping a constant watchful eye or ear on Granddaddy. He is still out of his head a fair bit of the time--that or asleep. He fell asleep over breakfast several time...wake him up and not three minutes later, he was asleep again. It's almost funny to watch him in one of his out of his head, half-asleep moments "eating"...I guess he must be hungry. I was folding clothes earlier and I glanced over at him and I do declare, I think he was folding clothes too! That rather tickled me...

He doesn't like the buckle on his chair, so sometimes I get downright stern with him about leaving it on. I plain and simple would rather argue with him multiple times a day about it than have him hit the floor on his noggin.

Granddaddy is doing a little better than last week/earlier this week...he's picked up where he left off with the habit of going back and forth to the table (though not quite so frequently). I really work on that not bugging me.

I was pretty out of it yesterday, tired and inarticulate so I didn't do any reading. I felt like I wasted a huge chunk of time, but I guess I didn't function too badly for the way I felt--I did all of my usual "chores" (chores does not have a negative connotation to me, thus the quotations) and made lunch. Seems like I did something else too, but I can't remember what it was. Oh, yes I do! I peeled the rest of the apples! I had four grocery sacks full to do this week and I got three of them done on Wednesday. I would have done them all on Wednesday, but I ran out of crockpots.

Anyways, I wonder if I ought not go stare at the stove and figure out what's for supper...Mama just mentioned something about supper in the other room, so maybe she knows what we're supposed to be eating. Either way, I have to put something in my stomach because it's burning again.

Cheerio!

        Racheal

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Health, Food

2/20/2014

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Yes, that comma is intentional. :)

I wonder sometimes how long a particular "symptom" has been going on and I haven't really noticed it--until it gets bad. My particular topic of thought this time has to do with my stomach. I wonder, how long have I been ignoring these times of stomach burning, passing it off for my 'hunger-burn'? Was I fighting this while still in Florida?

Probably yes. The first time I can put the pains on the calender though, was mid-September at the Chickamauga reenactment (that's not exactly true, I had similiar pains at Brooksville, come to think of it). Even then, I chalked it up to "not-enough food and irregular feeding times" (not to mention a jaw so dasterdly that I could barely open it wide enough to poke food into, much less chew painlessly). It passed.

Then came that long awaited, de-lightful weekend in Illinois at the Reformation Day Faire. I tried not to complain (since who wants to listen to someone moaning), but my insides hated me that weekend (but for all that, I did have a ball). True, I wasn't eating regular, but it wasn't just my normal somewhat upset stomach. That was made doubly evident when it took me a good three days after we got home for my stomach to quit hurting--even with regular meals and snacks.

Since then, I've been paying much better attention to the state of my stomach. I get these burns (though with regular meal times less severe than the above mentioned) pretty regularly. Eating doesn't actually make them go away completely, but it sure helps relieve some of it as it gives my stomach juices something else to work on. It's not like acid reflux either...I never have heartburn.

Anyway, this whole post was prompted in part by my remark to Mama (who was in the process of making lunch) this morning. As I sawed myself off a slice of coconut bread to munch on (forget that lunch would be ready in 30 minutes!), I said, "I'm going to end up being like one of those people with hypoglycemia...I'll have to carry something to snack on with me everywhere I go!" (I guess to an extent I already do this--some of those in my family do best to eat every two hours--at least.)

I guess it's a good thing I like food. :)

        Racheal

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Attempted Changes

2/19/2014

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With a friend flying in from Australia next week, we're attempting to get things in a slightly more functional state (well, perhaps "neat" and "organized" would be better words--we are functional amidst the chaos). With that in mind, I turned my attentions to the mud-room/hall closet yesterday afternoon.

I hauled everything out--shoes, boots, multiple bags of plastic sacks, paper sacks, gloves, and some tools and hardware. I ended up taking all the plastic sacks down to the basement. Savannah and I organized the gloves and boots and stuck them back in neatly on the south side of the closet. I removed the laundry (or most of it; I left the Granddaddy stuff) from the bathroom and put it in the north end of the closet. We have tried this before and it didn't last, but we decided to try it again because the laundry overload mess spilling out from between the washer and drier is both unsightly and clastrophobic.

I rearragned the coats/jackets so that most of them (and definitely all the long ones) are more on the south side of the closet. That will keep them out of the laundry as it mounds up. (Just to explain, with Granddaddy, we have to do at least two loads of laundry a day--but because of the amount of urine he gets on his sheets, blankets, chucks, and clothes [poor guy can't hold it very well], we rinse everything before we wash it so it takes the time of doing twice as many regular loads. We don't necessarily have the time {or soft water} to do our own stuff, so the piles grow.)

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to focus my endeavors today...I'm kind of sleepy. Maybe I can get Mama to order me around. ;P I am functional and capable of working, just not initiating an organizational idea.
Henry V - Non Nobis Domine by City Of Prague Philarmonic Orchestra on Grooveshark
Crank this up and see if it doesn't give you some sort of lift. :) I love it....

        Racheal

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Adventures in Caretaking

2/17/2014

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My Granddaddy is out of his head--big time--and has been so for about four days now. At first we thought it was just because he had started chewing his metoprolol again (it's a medication meant to regulate the heart; I don't quite understand why he's on it since he has a pacemaker, but anyway). The metoprolol is a time-release pill, so when he chews it, he gets the whole dose right at the same time.

Anyway, it's been one of my jobs over the past couple of days to kind of keep on top of him--making sure he doesn't try to get up (and therefore fall down), or fall out of the chair, and things like that. In fact, I'm sitting here right now with the baby moniter next to me so if there is any unusual noise I can catch it--like right now!

Right, so I'm back...he looked like he was fixing to fall out of the chair (he's currently seated in the yellow chair, not the wheelchair).

In some ways, Granddaddy is easier to deal with like this--out of his head. He doesn't go back and forth, back and forth all the time--which drives me nuts. He's not as demanding and is more patient (because he's practically asleep, I guess). On the other hand, it's hard because he is so out of it. There is something painful about watching any elderly person be as helpless as he is in this condition.

However, I was going to tell a few stories from this morning.

Mama and Daddy went to town, leaving little ol' me as the commander of the downstairs department...

(Laundry break)

As I was saying, I was in charge of downstairs as everyone else was occupied upstairs. I spent the morning keeping an eye on Granddaddy (and admittedly, the TV...I do so enjoy Ironside) and making lunch. (And you probably can't tell, but I had yet another break there in that last sentence. ;P)

Because Granddaddy is for the most part more asleep than he is awake in the state he is in, I find the best way to talk to him is to sit on the foot-stool down at his feet and tell him, "Open your eyes!" Then, he can see me even with his eyes only slit open...

I had to do this a couple of time about the safety belt on the wheelchair. Because he tips forward so dangerously when he goes to sleep, I feel it necessary to belt him in. It also slows him down if he thinks he wants to get up and go into the bathroom. I try to talk reason to him and he actually seemed to listen to me this morning, agreeing with me that he didn't want to fall out of the chair and hit his head--after that, he pretty much left the belt alone--except that is, when he needed to go to the bathroom. :)

He got pretty frustrated about the arm of the wheelchair at one point (he was swearing at that arm yesterday) and kept talking about it being "stuck"--all while he was sitting there with his eyes shut.

He also asked me if Daddy was going to be home tomorrow. I guess he must have realized vaguely that Daddy wasn't in the house.

He laughed about something at one point--what I'll never know, because he was asleep. It made me grin because he isn't necessarily the most laughing man you'll ever meet. At least he wasn't having bad-dreams like yesterday.

[Newsflash! "Come fix my feet..." "Yes-sir!" *grin* They were sliding off the footstool.]

I responded to "Son, come here" once, but for the most of the part it was "Honey" or "Darlin'" if he was actually addressing me at all. He muttered and mumbled all morning. If I suspected he was actually talking to me, I'd sneak over and lean over and look into his face. If his eyes were even slightly open, I'd answer, but if not, I wouldn't.

I spent some time this morning, in between this, that, and the other, grabbing him by the shoulders and forcing him back in the chair. He's been leaned over to the right ever since he hit the wall of stupor he is in and he must have a terrible cramp in his back. Right now he is actually sitting up pretty straight in the chair out there with the blanket pulled up under his chin. That's a good thing.

After lunch, I worked on getting his left leg straightened out some. He didn't like it much and I know it hurts something awful to have a big girl pushing down against a siezed up tendon, but it must be done in order to straighten his legs out. That leg in particular has a rock for a muscle up the back of it. (I've done the same things with my Grandpa and his legs--so I know exactly what I'm doing here.)

There was another story I wanted to tell...but it has by this point slipped my mind, so you'll just have to miss that one. Sorry. :) It probably wasn't all the exciting anyway.

I better go transfer the cloth chucks from the washer to the dryer now...and then I think I'll take my books into the other room so I can see him...I'm still on watch-dog duty.

See ya later!

        Racheal

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The Holy Trinity, Part 3

2/16/2014

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Mama and I stayed home from church this morning to keep an eye on Granddaddy. The poor man is out of his head. Anyway, between ups and downs to help him with particular things, I managed to finish Chapter 4 of Authentic Christianity this morning!

Picking up where we left off last week: The Holy Trinity and Our Salvation.
In the Bible we find that the plan of salvation takes the form of a covenant, not only in history between God and His people in Christ, which we call the Covenant of Grace; but also in eternity between the three Persons in the Trinity, which we call the Covenant of Redemption. (See Larger Catechism Questions 30f.) In this Covenant of Redemption the three Persons agreed upon a “division of labor” in the gracious salvation of sinners, each Person voluntarily agreeing to a particular aspect of this redemptive work. In this Covenant the Son agreed to become subservient to the Father, and the Spirit agreed to become the agent of the Father and the Son in the work of redemption. (374)

God the Father agreed to the work of election, creation and effective calling. God the Son agreed to the work of accomplishing redemption for God’s elect as the incarnate Mediator, acting as prophet, priest and king, to satisfy God’s offended justice and to reconcile sinners to God by His own substitutionary life and death in
their behalf. And God the Holy Spirit agreed to the work of applying redemption to God’s elect by means of revelation, regeneration, sanctification and glorification. (374)
As with most doctrines (if not all), some folks raise objections against them. The three Dr. Morecraft notes are roughly as follows: 1) The doctrine of the Trinity is illogical, 2)"John 17:3 suggests that only the Father is God to the exclusion of the Son and the Spirit.", and 3) 'In John 14:28, Jesus says “for the Father is greater than I,”'--thus meaning there is some sort subordination or degrees of deity. He responds to all three objections:
[1] As a matter of fact it is NOT logically contradictory, for in order for that to be the case the same thing would have to be affirmed and denied at the same time, which is not the case with reference to the doctrine of the Trinity. God is one essence
subsisting in three persons.

[2] This verse cannot be used against our doctrine of the Trinity, because its focus is on the fact that God the Father is the only true God, not in exclusion of the Son or the Spirit...

 [3] In Christ’s deity, He is equal with God the Father (Phil. 2:6), and one with the Father; however, Jesus’ statement in John 14:28 has reference to His humanity and to His office as Mediator, in which capacity the Father calls Him “My servant” (Isa.
53:11). (376)
Dr Morecraft then talks about the Athanasian Creed (found on pages 377-380).
“God then means the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, and no two Persons of
the Trinity are greater together than a third, nor are all three Persons together anything greater than each severally.” 120. Rushdoony, The Foundations of Social Order, 90. (380)

The creed defines the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity; the humble believer is required to believe it, not to understand it in all its implications. (380)
He then goes on to discuss the dangerous heresy of subordination.
"Subordinationism places one or two persons in the Godhead on a lower level than another. ....Usually, it is the Son or the Spirit or both who are subordinated to the Father. ...In any and all cases, subordination undermines and finally destroys Biblical faith.

We have already noted one form of this, i.e., placing grace, law, and love on different levels and as supposedly contradictory. Very commonly, subordinationism treats God’s law or justice as somehow a lower attribute and
grace as a higher one.

The Trinity in God’s own being is without subordination. The Trinity at work…can see differing persons of the Trinity, depending upon the context of history, taking priority, as in creation, atonement and Pentecost….

Subordination of persons or attributes means a limited religion also. Thus, those who see grace as basic and subordinate the law and other attributes to grace, will stress mainly salvation. The broader requirements of God’s word are bypassed. Politics becomes almost a non-Christian or anti-Christian concern…" 122. R. J. Rushdoony, Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1994), 1:174– 176. (381-382)
The effects of subordinationism on the early church were two:
(1) It treated God the Father as the true God, but gave a lesser status to the Son and the Holy Spirit...(2) As a result the revelation of God in the Bible took a lesser place, a “back seat,” to the creation and its order of power, the state. (383)
Dr. Morecarft then addresses another creed: The Nicene Creed. This creed was formulated to state orthodoxy against the Arian heresy. Arianism believed: 1) Christ was created, 2) Christ was not eternally existant, and 3) Christ was not of the same essence as the Father.

It was because of this belief that the framers of the Nicene Creed added in what is called the filioque clause. (Filioque means, in Latin, "and the Son".)
This “double” procession follows from two Biblical truths: (1) The Father and the Son are of the same essence; and (2) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and
the Spirit of Christ. (385)

"The Arian and generally heretical depreciation and subordination of Jesus Christ was the depreciation of revelation. To the degree that revelation was slighted, to that degree nature was asserted as the primary and basically self-sufficient order."
128. Rushdoony, The Foundations of Social Order, 122–123. (385)
Finally then, we come to the practical application of the doctrine of the Trinity.
In God, all three, individual Persons are perfectly related to each other. The one, living God is fully expressed in each person; and God made life to reflect His glory, the way He is (Ps. 19; Rom. 1:19f). All aspects of life are equally created by God,
dependent upon God, and significant in themselves and in their relation to each other, as determined by God. (387)

In God’s being, there are no individual persons not perfectly related to the one God; and there is nothing in the whole being of God that is not fully expressed in the three, distinct persons. Therefore, since all creation has God’s signature imprinted on it, and since God’s glory is revealed in it, then all aspects of created reality are equally created, and no one aspect of reality may be regarded as more ultimate than any other. ...The material and physical aspects of creation are not to be debased for the sake of the nonphysical, immaterial aspects f creation, anymore than the nonphysical, immaterial aspects of life are to be neglected because of a love for the material and the physical. (387-388)

The implications of the doctrine of the Trinity offer a remedy for socialism (collectivism) and individualism (libertarianism). (388)

A Christian Trinitarian perspective on life and society stands above and over against these views, for it believes neither in the sovereignty of the state nor in the sovereignty of the individual, but in the sovereignty of the Triune God. It exalts neither the group to the exclusion of the individual, nor the individual to the denial of the group. (388)

If there were no Trinity, there could be no incarnation, no objective redemption, and therefore, no salvation; for there would be no one capable of acting as mediator between God and man. ...The doctrine of the Trinity and the doctrine of salvation stand or fall together. ...God the Father planned salvation in eternity (Eph. 1:3–14). God the Son accomplished salvation in history, Hebrews 9:12. God the Holy Spirit applies salvation throughout history, John 3:6. (390)

To these three Persons we are surrendered in holy baptism, and in their name the covenant of grace is confirmed to us. 134. Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 1:176. (391)

The doctrine of the Trinity is a “mystery,” in the Biblical sense of the word. ...The doctrine of the Trinity, therefore, is an object of faith... (391)
And there are my notes, puncuated by mulitple unseen trips into the other room and a veriety of hand-washing details...perhaps I shall begin Chapter 5 later today.

        Racheal

1 Comment

February 14th, 2014

2/14/2014

2 Comments

 
It seems my posting has kind of slacked off lately...maybe because of routine. Nothing overly exciting or out of the way has been happening. I've been managing some of the cooking (I even made enough lunch yesterday!), so my Latin has been being cut from the morning schedule. I guess I've been getting going too late or something because I got it fit in this morning and it's just about time for lunch prep to start.

I went to town with Mama yesterday. We just went grocery shopping, but it was nice to get out of the house.

I wrote the above before lunch...it's now getting much, much closer to supper time than it is lunch time, but I'll just pick off where I dropped the ball.

I fixed lunch today--it was a special lunch (after all, it is Valentine's Day). Scallops and fresh salmon (baked in the oven). The scallops were served over sauted onions and Chinese cabbage. We also had broccoli and califlower which I managed to stick slightly. Oh yes, and peas. I didn't quite get those as done as I could have (done, but not really done); but that was because as soon as they boiled, I took them off the burner because I needed it. As far as I could tell, everybody thought it was good.

Upon thinking further on the opening words of this post, I think that some of my lack of posting comes from the fact that the reading I am doing sends my brain down all sorts of very interesting rabbit trails. I would post about them, but the trails never seem to be clear enough to articulate.
 
I find that my theological and historical reading are in a way parallelling each other. The theological reading is also political theory (God and Government by Gary DeMar still--I'm in the second book) and then I'm also studying the War Between the States...the parallel between the foundation of our country on biblical principles and the reasoning behind the Confederacy's secession is quite fascinating and the one reading compliments the other. In other words, my brain is tied into all kinds of neat knots and I at time feels overwhelmed at the scope of it all. Ever since I first studied of our founding documents/political thought/practical outworking in high school it has been one of the areas I can say that I really enjoy. (For all that, modern politics leave me in befuddled knots.)

So, to see the similarity between the thoughts behind the first and second wars of Independence is quite fascinating. Add on top of that a love of military history and weaponry and you have one absorbed kid--that is, so long as she is not hungry.

I found the following quote by Stonewall to be both encouraging and a challenge that our people need to hear.
"What is life without honor? Degredation is worse than death. We must think of the living and of those who are to come after us, and see that by God's blessing we transmit to them the freedom we ourselves inherited."
        ~~ General Thomas Jonathan Jackson
Of course, one must come to this with a realization that God is Sovereign. Like today, in my God and Government reading on "Sovereignty and Dominion"--Christians have to believe and act as though all things are under God's sovereign command (which they are) and therefore obey Him to the utmost of our beings.

That last is so much easier said than done. A little trial comes and we want to roll over and "let it pass". However, rolling over and playing dead is the exact opposite thing that we should do. We must stand fast, hold fast, and actively be obedient--no matter how much is looks/feels/smells like the "world in going to hell in a handbasket". Whether this means standing with the praise of God on our lips (or at least in our heart) facing a firing squad, or working in whatever way we are called to promote godliness in our civil government, or just doing the mundane chores of everyday life.

Ahem, well...to get off my "philisophical soapbox" (Who? Racheal on a soapbox?? Really???), I decided to make a surprise chocolate cake for my family (and me! I might as well be honest about it!) Unfortunately, for my delightful scheming, the entire family was aware of it before it was done (most of them before it was even in the pan), so so much for the element of surprise. :D Anyway, hopefully it is good and not too sweet and sweet enough (if that makes sense). We all love our chocolate and we like it dark. It doesn't have to be real sweet. Dark chocolate and a cup of black coffee--mmm, mmm...

But I digress. Once I took it out of the oven, I kind of 'hid' it on the counter farthest away from Granddaddy. I don't want him getting into it before it's time--for two reasons, I know the way he handles the breads--just tears a chunk out; and secondly, the man doesn't wash his hands and could care less about it. Now, I'm no germ freak (never have been, probably never will be) but I do know what those hands have on them and I don't want that on my bread/cake/food.

However, to leave you with something much more amusing:
Picture
Gotta love him!!
Oh, yes, and I also found the time today to switch out the kitty litter in the cat-box! I don't like that pellet stuff I've been using (it looks like sweet feed). I much prefer the other kind (which for the life of me, I cannot remember the name of at the moment!)

Oh well...I think we're having soup for supper, so not many dishes to do afterwards! ;)

        Racheal

2 Comments

Fuel

2/11/2014

0 Comments

 
I have to go start on supper here in a minute, so this post is going be be real short.

Mama and Savannah left after lunch for an overnight trip. They will be seeing Savannah's new Lyme doctor tomorrow morning. Anyway, that leaves me in charge of the food for this evening through tomorrow. (Well, I made lunch too, so I guess I kind of had food duty all day today. ;})

To continue, Daddy, Katherine, and I spent the afternoon getting wood stacked in the basement. Both Daddy and Katherine were pitching it down the chute and I was collecting and stacking as fast as my short legs could carry me. (I was also trying to make neat piles since they are safer--or so I think.)

After the first two boxes of wood (this are huge boxes, you could fit ten of me in them I think), they came down and helped with the stacking.

Then, the next two boxes came down and I stacked until they were done pitching down the chute, then I closed the window into the basement, still leaving quite a pile in the coal room (Daddy had told me to).  Somewhere in this time, I heard over the baby moniter, aka "The Teather" something that sound like someone falling up-stairs. Sure enough, Granddaddy had fallen out of his wheelchair. I don't know how really and I haven't asked yet.

Minutes later, I heard, "Help me! Help me!" Well, I reported through the open window that "Granddaddy is hollering for help" and went right on stacking wood. Granddaddy continued to yell until Daddy got in. I have no idea what it was he needed that time, but Daddy took care of him.

If this all sounds sufficiently boring, I'm sorry. However, I have no more time to tell tales or make apologies...the kitchen calls! (And you can bet--literly--that by 5:30 [it's roughly 5 o'clock] Granddaddy will have started the ol' back and forth routine from TV room/bedroom to dining room and back again routine.)

Bye for now! I hope I don't under or over cook the fish cakes... ;)

        Racheal

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The Holy Trinity, Part 2

2/9/2014

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We return this week to Chapter 4 of Authentic Christianity, with the first point after the Introduction; namely "God is One".

Under this point there are three subpoints discussed. The first is the singularity of God:
There is only one, living and true God. (333)

Romans 1:18f makes clear that everyone on earth knows that God is one; yet, the anti-Christian, still unregenerate and dominated by rebellion against God, suppresses that truth in self-deception so that he can go on living in sin without the
possibility, (or so he pretends), of being confronted by God. (334)
He goes on to emphasis that God IS.
He IS in the most absolute and ultimate sense of existence. With him there is no becoming. He IS necessarily and eternally. He alone IS in this way. He did not begin to be. He always has been and IS. His existence is of himself. He is of himself existent and of himself sufficient. All other beings ultimately have their existence as the result of creation. They have become. Only God has not become, but has always
been…. There is no more ultimate truth about God than this, God IS. God is absolute, ultimate, independent and unoriginated Being. 20. Morton Smith,  Systematic Theology, 2 vols. (Greenville, SC: Greenville Seminary Press, 1994), 1:125 (334)
There are multiple emphasis on this singularity of God:
BECAUSE GOD IS ONE ABSOLUTE, INFINITE, PERSONAL GOD, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE ABSOLUTE, UNCHANGING, ALL-EMBRACING LAW. (335)

BECAUSE GOD IS ONE, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE INFALLIBLE WORD AND ONE TRUE GOSPEL (Rom. 3:29f; 10:12). (335)

BECAUSE GOD IS ONE, THERE CAN BE VICTORY ONLY FOR HIM AND HIS PLANS. (335)

Because the Lord is one God, and besides Him there is no other, we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind: “And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). (336)

This primary and eternal duty and privilege of Christians—to love God with the totality of our being—means that we will devote ourselves and our families to the worship and service of this one true God with pure and intense affection. Love for God is the fundamental motive of all godly human actions (Deut. 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:4). It characterizes the entirety of life of the true worshippers of the living God (Ex. 20:6). It flows out of our gratitude to God for His undeserved mercy to us (Deut. 5:12). It compels those who are filled with it to conscientious observance of all of God’s commands (Deut. 11:1, 22). And it involves the devotion of the whole being, intellect, personality and character of a person (Deut. 4:29; 10:12; 30:16, 20). (337)
The second point is "The Unity of God":
God is numerically one and He is unique...His uniqueness is confessed in
Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!” The Hebrew word for “one” here may also be translated “an only,” stressing the fact that Jehovah is the only God entitled to the name Jehovah. (339)

God is His perfections: “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). The Westminster Confession describes God’s unity in these words: “a most pure Spirit, invisible, without body, parts or passions” (WCF, II, i). (339)

Every divine perfection “is identical with God’s being by reasonof the fact that every one of his virtues is absolutely perfect.…With creatures there is a difference between being, living, knowing, willing.... But God is one in every respect. He is whatever he has.” 27. Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, 168. (339)

God’s Being subsists in Three Persons. He is one Being in three Persons, and this is His eternal, unchangeable and necessary manner of existence. These three Persons are “the same in substance, equal in power and glory” (LC, Q. 9). (340)

All composition, i.e., the combining or uniting of parts into a whole, implies imperfection, dependency and capacity to be divided into parts. If God were a composite of parts, imperfection would exist in Him, since a composite whole is more perfect than each individual part; but nothing in God is less than God. (340)
The reason this particular doctrine is important is as follows:
(1) It has preserved the Church from an ancient form of polytheism that sees a different god in each of the divine perfections. (2) The old philosophy of Gnosticism, which keeps raising its ugly head in various contemporary forms, tried to account
for the different perfections of God as various emanations from God. According to this view, God Himself is totally unknowable, but various emanations come from him, with decreasing degrees of reality, the farther they emanate from him. Hence, in this view, God is an essence that is an empty abstraction without content or reality. (3) Since God’s being, essence and perfections are one, we have in God an absolute (tri-personal) personality...(4) Albrecht Ritschl, one of the leading fathers of modern liberal theology, taught that the doctrine of the Trinity is a matter of  speculative thought: “Personality is the form in which the idea of God is given through revelation.” 34 He believed that the terms, Father, Son and Spirit are man’s attempts to explain the self-revelation of God, and that it is impossible to say anything about God in Himself, or even about any distinctions in Him as He reveals Himself. Our doctrine preserves us from this modern form of the old heresy of Sabellianism or modalism, which taught that God is one person who expresses himself in three modes. 34. Erickson, God In Three Persons, 120 (341-342)
The second of the main points in chapter four is that God is Three, just as He is One.

Dr. Morecraft first defines our terms for us:
To call God, the “Trinity,” is to say that in the Being of the one true God, there are three distinct Persons, the same in being, equal in power and glory. These three Persons may be distinguished by their unique individual distinctions, and yet each one is truly and fully God. (342)

“Trinity” means “three in unity.” By “Godhead” we mean the infinite, eternal and unchangeable nature and being of God common to all three Persons (Rom. 1:20; Col. 2:9). By “Person” we refer to a distinction in the being of God that is beyond human comprehension...A “Person” has a distinct individual existence, a personality, which has perfections common to all three, but who, nevertheless, is unique. “Substance” refers to the one, indivisible, uncreated, independent being or essence of the one true God. “Subsistence” refers to the manner in which that Being
exists. (342)
With the definitions in place, he then addresses the legitimacy of using non-biblical (i.e. words not found in the Bible) to explains doctrines. I thought the following quote from B.B. Warfield summed it up nicely:
“No ambiguous meanings should be permitted to hide behind a mere repetition of the simple words of Scripture, but all that the Scripture teaches shall be clearly and without equivocation brought out and given expression in the least indeterminate [imprecise and unclear] language.”36. Benjamin Warfield, Calvin and Augustine, ed. Samuel G. Craig (Philadelphia, PA: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1956), 218. (343)
We then jump right into the doctrine of the Trinity.
Three persons are in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three persons are one, true and living God. They are the same in essence, equal in power and glory, although distinguishable by their unique, individual distinctions.
“The great mystery of the Trinity is, that one and the very same substance, can subsist as an undivided whole in three persons simultaneously [John 14:10–11; 17:21, 23].” 41. W. G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology, 3 vols. (Nashville: Thomas  Nelson Publishers, 1980), 1:297. (344)



I"n this Trinity there is an absolute equality. In Divinity the Father is not greater than the Son; nor are the Father and the Son together greater than the Holy Spirit; nor is any single Person of the Three anything less than the Trinity itself.” 43. Augustine, Augustine: Later Works, ed. John Burnaby (Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press, 1955), 39. (345)

The distinctions of Persons in the Godhead are not differences of being or essence, but they are real distinctions within the Being of God...These three Persons are distinct but not separate. They are co-substantial, co-equal and co-existent. (345)

An order of relationship of Persons is present within the Godhead, without implying levels of power, glory or ultimacy. Without implying that this order involves priority of time or glory, we must speak of the Father, as the first Person of the Trinity, the Son, as the second, and the Holy Spirit as the third. (346)


(1) The Bible consistently gives us the names of the three Persons in this order. (2)
The names, Father, Son, and the Spirit of the Father and the Son, indicate this order of their personal subsistence in the Godhead. (3) The Bible presents us with this order when it speaks of the works of the Trinity in creation and redemption. (346-347)

There is no subordination with reference to the Persons in the Divine Being, i.e., in “the ontological Trinity”; but the Bible does present us with a subordination in “the economic Trinity.”...By “the ontological Trinity” we refer to the triune God as He has existed from all eternity—one God in three Persons, the same in being, equal in divine perfections. By “the economic Trinity” we mean the Trinity as manifested in creation and redemption. (347)

The phrase, “the ontological Trinity” means that WITHIN the Godhead there is a certain order—the Father is the First Person, the Son is the Second Person and the Spirit is the Third Person. This does not imply that one existed before the other or that one is senior to the others. Each Person is God in His own right and the  Persons are equal. The phrase, “the economic Trinity,” refers to the fact that the relationships of the Persons in the Trinity are reflected in the way God acts and reveals Himself to human beings. “Everything that God does springs from the Father. He is first. It comes to pass through the Son. He is second. And it is effected by the Spirit. He is third. All God’s works are works of the three Persons jointly.” 51. Olyott, The Three Are One, 80–82. (347-348)
Having established the one-ness and the three-ness of the Godhead, we turn toward the basis for the doctrine. We first look at the Old Testament.
The Hebrew word for God in Genesis 1:1 is Elohim, which is in the plural form, indicating more than two persons, (not the dual form which indicates two persons), and takes a third person singular verb “created.” (348)

Moreover, it denotes a plurality of persons in the one being of God. The Creator is one God in being and essence, yet more than one in manner of existence. (349)

Therefore, we can see in the very first chapter of the Bible, a triune, or threefold, cause of the origin and preservation of the entire universe. God first thought of the
universe; then He called it into existence by the almighty Word of God; and once created, the universe does not have an independent existence, apart from the life-giving and life-sustaining Spirit of God. (349-350)

A few verses later in Genesis 1:26, we read: “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness” (also see Gen. 3:22 and 11:7). In this verse we learn three important truths. (1) God addresses Himself, as is evident from the content of what He said...(2) The God who is speaking is ONE God: Then “God said.” Although God is a plural noun, Elohim, the verb, said, is in the third person SINGULAR. (3) A plurality of persons subsists in the one Divine Being as is obvious
from the plural noun, Elohim, and the plural pronouns, us and our. (350)

The point of these verses is twofold. (1) The Old Testament, with reference to its teaching on the Trinity, is a richly furnished room, dimly lit until the full light of the New Testament shines in. The doctrine of the Trinity is thoroughly Biblical, being
intimated in the Old Testament and clarified in the New Testament. (2) The entire Old Testament history and revelation rests on this triune Divine principle, which is the basis of creation and redemption. (351)
With that we turn to the New Testament...
As in the Old Testament so in the New Testament God’s oneness and unity are
emphasized (John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:4); but this One God exists as Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and He manifests Himself in the incarnation and baptism of the Son and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. In Luke’s narratives of Christ’s birth, Christ is called “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32), the Father is called “the Lord God” (1:32), and Christ is conceived in the Virgin Mary by “the Holy Spirit” (1:35). (353)

The fact that the God of the covenant is triune becomes very clear now: it becomes evident that he must needs be triune, and that salvation itself rests upon a threefold principle. This trinitarian revelation is not limited to a few texts; the entire New Testament is trinitarian in character. God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the source of all blessing, comfort, and salvation. 63. Bavinck, The Doctrine of God, 264. (354)

All three Persons of the Trinity are mentioned in a variety of places in the New Testament (Luke 1:35; Matt. 3:16–17; 28:19f, John 1:1–5; John 14:26; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 12:3–31; 2 Cor. 3:3; Eph. 4:4; 1 Pet. 1:2). (354)

Matthew 28:19 especially clarifies the oneness and threeness of God, when it refers to “baptizing them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” “In the name” is singular, but it is followed by three persons. Disciples are baptized into the ONE NAME OF THE THREE PERSONS. (355)

A Trinitarian consciousness pervades the entire New Testament... (355)
Dr. Morecraft briefly addresses the "Biblical case for the unity and equality of the Three Persons of the Trinity as One God":
Divine perfections, actions, titles and worship are equally ascribed to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. None of these perfections, actions, titles and worship can be ascribed to man or to anything or anyone less than God Himself. All three persons are said to be eternal (Isa. 44:6; Rom. 16:26; Rev. 1:17; Heb. 9:14). All
three persons are said to have created the universe (1 Cor. 8:6; John 1:3; Job 33:4).
They are equally omnipresent (Jer. 23:24; Matt. 28:20; Ps. 139:7). Each one is incomprehensible and omniscient (Matt. 11:27; 1 Cor. 2:10). Each is true, holy and good (John 7:28; 10:11; Ps. 143:10). Each has His own individual, sovereign will, although in perfect harmony with the others (Eph. 1:11; Matt. 11:27; 1 Cor. 12:11). Each is the fountain of life (Ps. 36:9; John 1:4; Rom. 8:10). Each strengthens, comforts, and sanctifies God’s people (Ps. 138:3; Phil. 4:13; Eph. 3:16). Each fills the soul with the love of God (1 John 2:15; 2 Cor. 5:14; Rom. 15:30). Each is said to have given the Law of God (Ps. 19:7; Ezek. 2:4; Gal. 6:2; Col. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 13:2). Each dwells in the hearts of believers (1 John 1:3; 2 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 3:17; John 14:17). Each is called Jehovah and God (Ex. 20:2; Isa. 40:3 with Matt. 3:3; Luke 1:76 with Matthew 11:10; Ezek. 8:1, 3). (356-357)

Moreover, the Bible commands us to worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each by Himself and all together are to receive our adoration, worship, praise and prayers. (358)
Then follows the biblical case for the distinction of the Three Persons in our One God:
First, in many passages we see one Person acting upon or acting through another Person. (358)

In John 15:26, we once again read of all three Persons of the Trinity, the Son, who is speaking, the Father, and the Spirit who is sent by the Son and who proceeds from the Father: “When the Helper comes whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me.” ... “where God the Father is said to send, to enthrone, to appoint to sacerdotal office, to uphold, to reward the Son, and the Son and Father to send the Holy host.”
79. Robert L. Dabney, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, [1878] 1972), 177. (359)

Second, in several passages mutual love and affection are said to exist between these three Persons in the Godhead. (359)

Third, many Biblical passages speak of each Person of the Trinity exercising His will with reference to created beings, and yet in perfect harmony between the three. (359)

Fourth, many more passages ascribe to these three Persons individual actions toward created beings. (360)

The titles—Father, Son and Spirit—are not the names of the same person manifesting himself in different ways at different times. These titles identify Persons, equally God, but distinct from each other. (360)

“There are three who are God, and each can say I; and none of them says ‘we.’” 80. Olyott, The Three Are One, 55. (360)
Each Person of the Trinity is self-existant:
Each Person of the Trinity has self-existence, therefore each Person can be designated the self-existent God. (361)

Whenever Christ is identified as Jehovah incarnate, this divine Name “carries with it the self-existence of Christ with respect to His deity.…‘For if He is Jehovah, it cannot be denied that He is the same God who elsewhere cries through Isaiah (xliv. 6), “I, I am, and besides me there is no God.”’” 86 In other words, all that is properly ascribed of God can be ascribed to each Person in the Trinity. Therefore if God is self-existent, it can be rightly said that each Person in God is self-existent. 86. John Calvin, quoted in Warfield, Calvin and Augustine, 242. (362)

The whole essence of God belongs to each Person; hence, each is truly and fully God. (362)
The Trinity has It's own interpersonal fellowship:
The three persons of the Godhead enjoy an internal life of love and fellowship (John 8:42, 16:26–27; 17:8; 15:26)...The three persons of the Trinity enjoy an eternal friendship with each other in the one divine essence. (363)
Each Person of the Trinity has His own uniqueness: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. First, of Christ:
(1) The living Word is eternal; (2) The Person of the Word enjoys fellowship with
the Person of the Father, (the preposition “with” in Greek denotes this); (3) The Person of the Word subsists in the Divine Being equally with the Father; and (4) The Word is the expression of the Father, and is what He is because of the Father; so that, without the Father, there would be no Person in the Godhead who is the Word. (364)
Second, of the Spirit:
God the Holy Spirit PROCEEDS eternally from the Father and the Son...In Romans 8:9, the Holy Spirit is called “the Spirit of God” and “the Spirit of Christ,” meaning that is originates, as a Person, from God the Father and from God the Son. (364)
Next, Dr. Morecraft expounds on the uniquenss of the Father and Son together:
Thus God the Father is the first in order and in operation, sending and working through the Son and the Spirit. God the Son is the Son of the Father, from eternity the only begotten of the Father. God the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Father and the Son, from eternity proceeding from them. He is sent by the Father and the Son, both of whom act through Him, and He acts immediately upon the creature. (365)

Thus the Father is called the Beginning, Cause, Root, Fountain, Origin and Head, with reference to the Son. And the Son is called the Word, Wisdom, Son, Firstborn, only-begotten, Image of God, with reference to the Father. (367)

The Son is of Himself with respect to His Divine Being; and is of the Father with respect to His Person. (367)

God the Father is self-existent, and He has given, or “generated” to the Person of God the Son the same kind of living, self-existent personhood. God the Father did not give to the Son His Deity or His Divine essence; rather, He eternally gives to Him His personhood as Son. God the Father eternally begets God the Son. Insofar
as the Son is of the same substance with the Father, He is self-existent; and insofar as He is a Person subsisting in the Divine Being, He is begotten of the Father. (368)
Then Dr. Morecraft returns to the uniquness of the Spirit (the reasoning makes better sense if you read the passages quoted in full).
The proceeding of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son is also an eternal act of self-communication taking place within the divine being. This “proceeding” puts the Holy Spirit in “possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation or change,”103 in much the same way as the “begottenness” does the
Son. 103. Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 97. (368-369)

The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son in a way that can best be described as “to breathe,”...That the Holy Spirit proceeds from or is breathed forth by the Father and the Son is confirmed in several passages. (369)

The Holy Spirit works in this world as a continuation of the ministry of Jesus because of His intimate relation to the Father and the Son in the Trinity. He
proceeds from the Father and Son into the Church of Christ, because He eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. (370)
A brief description of the difference between "generation" and "procession" follows:
“They speak more wisely who, stammering in a matter so difficult, place the distinction in three things: (1) In the principle, because the Son emanates [flows from as from a fountain] from the Father alone, but the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son together. (2) In the mode, because the Son emanates by way of
generation [begetting], which terminates not only on the personality, but also on the similarity (on account of which the Son is called the image of the Father and according to which the Son receives the property of communicating to another person the same essence; but the Spirit by way of spiration [breathing forth], which terminates only on the personality and by which the proceeding person does not receive the property of communicating that essence to another person). (3) In the order, because as the Son is the second person and the Spirit the third, generation in our mode of conceiving precedes spiration (although they are really coeternal).”
106. Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 1:309. (370-371)

And Augustine says: “There is a difference between generation and procession, but I know not how to distinguish them because both are inexpressible.” 109. Turretin, 
Institutes of Elenctic Theology,  1:309.
(371)
The final point from today's reading is why this discussion on the uniqueness of the Persons of the Trinity is important.
This discussion on the unique individual distinctions of the three Persons in the Trinity is an attempt to deal faithfully, accurately and fully with several passages in the Bible that speak to this issue. (371)
I don't know about you, but I find the Trinity to be a mind-boggling doctrine. An awesome doctrine that leaves me feeling very, very small and wondering.

        Racheal

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    New post on The Bee Project! 04/26/18
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    The Middle Kid

    I chose to title this blog "The Adventures of a Middle Kid" because that is exactly what I'll be detailing (mostly). I chose 'kid' over any other word, like 'girl' (I am the middle girl so it also would have worked) or 'child'
    (since I am no longer exactly a child).

    I am a middle kid and I will always be a middle kid--even when I'm 80!

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