All posts by Wintery Knight

https://winteryknight.com/
News

Report: Biden administration preparing for “widespread rollback” of abortion restrictions

9 Comments
Major pro-abortion group endorses Joe Biden for President
Major pro-abortion group endorses Joe Biden for President

Daily Wire:

The incoming Biden administration is reportedly preparing a “widespread rollback” of many pro-life policies inked during the Trump administration, according to NBC News.

The initiative will likely restore Title X funding to Planned Parenthood, expand abortion providers’ ability to operate abroad using taxpayer funds, eliminate protections for religious employers who do not want to pay for employees’ contraceptives, and could even eliminate the Hyde Amendment, which protects American taxpayers from directly funding abortion, the outlet notes.

Biden is expected to expand abortion rights dramatically within the first 100 days of his presidency.

Overturning Trump’s pro-life laws and policies:

“Reproductive rights advocates expect Biden to quickly overturn Trump-era rules, like banning federal funds for foreign and national health organizations that promote and provide abortion and giving employers more freedom to deny free contraceptive coverage for their workers,” NBC reported Tuesday.

At issue is the “Mexico City Policy” or, as abortion rights groups refer to it, the “global gag rule,” which prevents non-governmental and aid organizations that operate abroad from receiving grant money to fund abortion services. When President Donald Trump reinstituted the Mexico City Policy early in his term, he cut off a major source of funding for Planned Parenthood’s international arm.

Also at issue is Title X, which, at one point, allowed Planned Parenthood to receive millions in government resources to provide family planning services to low-income populations. Trump updated Title X to cut off any organization providing abortion services alongside family planning, effectively eliminating Planned Parenthood from the program unless it stopped doing abortions. The organization chose, instead, to walk away from the program.

Despite Supreme Court rulings siding with religious employers over Affordable Care Act authors who wanted to force groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide contraceptives free of charge to their employees in direct conflict with their closely held religious beliefs, Biden has pledged to strengthen such mandates, leaving many Catholic and Christian groups in the line of fire.

DISRN also reports that “Biden has promised to ‘codify’ abortion into federal law in an effort to prevent any potential Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade and combat the increasing number of state policies that seek to protect the life of the unborn” and that “both Biden and Congressional Democrats have also discussed repealing the Hyde Amendment in 2021, which would allow taxpayer dollars to be directly used for aborting children.”

[…]As The Daily Wire reported earlier this year, Biden also appointed former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to head his Health and Human Services department, which is its own threat to the pro-life movement. Becerra tried to force pro-life pregnancy centers, which assist pregnant women without offering them the option to abort, to provide women with information on the abortion procedure and refer patients to abortion clinics. The Supreme Court struck down Becerra’s order.

So, I was having conversations with some of my young evangelical friends who follow the likes of Russell Moore, Beth Moore, David French, and other prominent Never Trump conservatives. They did urge Christian voters to support the candidate who would prevent the Equality Act or the Reproductive Health Protection Act from becoming law. These are Democrat bills which passed the House and will likely become law under a Democrat Senate and a Biden presidency. The Never Trump Biden-supporters don’t even know about these bills, or what’s in them. How could they? They scoff at Parler as a “conservative echo chamber” and swallow anything CNN and NPR spoon-feed to them.

Many of these Never Trump conservatives loved to tell me how Kamala Harris was not really liberal, despite vote-rating organizations on both sides calling her the most liberal senator. And they assured me that if the Democrats won in November, none of their policies would ever become law. After all, the important thing is to prove one’s own virtue to one’s peers by wailing about Trump’s tweets, or whatever “scandal” the news media has decided to focus on, instead of the CORE ISSUES THAT MATTER TO CHRISTIANS.

Now, my Never Trump friends often send me articles from pastors like Russell Moore, trying to respond to my concerns about POLICY with tirades about Trump’s character. But I am not concerned about Trump’s character – I am concerned about Biden overturning abortion restrictions. It is more important to me that we protect unborn children than that we allow ourselves to be led around by the progressive mainstream media about their priorities. We knew about this pro-abortion agenda, because we could see the legislation that the Democrats had already passed, as well as what Joe Biden was promising to do. There is no excuse for Never Trump conservatives who will now see what their votes for Biden achieved.

News

Expect the Biden administration to follow Canada in using Covid to persecute churches

1 Comment

Lots of pious “Christian” leaders were desperate to proclaim their virtue by talking incessantly about Trump’s deplorable character during the last 4.5 years. “Look at me”, they said, “I’m so moral – and isn’t that the point of the Christian religion? To make me look moral to other people?” Their goal was to get more non-Christians to accept them. They didn’t know or care about legislation or judges. They cared about their own happiness.

But more intelligent Christians understand that elections are always about laws, policies and judicial nominations. All that will now be decided by secular leftists for the forseeable future. We can look to Canada to see where our new secular left overlords will take us.

Press release from a Canadian church:

January 8, 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PASTORS, ELDERS, AND CHURCH CHARGED FOR WORSHIPING TOGETHER

MAXIMUM TOTAL PENALTY IS $10.8 MILLION PLUS JAIL TIME IF CONVICTED

This week two pastors of Trinity Bible Chapel received two charges each for violating the Reopening Ontario Act on January 3, 2021.  An additional pastor, three additional elders, and the church itself received one charge each for violating the Reopening Ontario Act on the same date.  Each personal charge carries a maximum fine of $100,000 and one year in jail, while the charge to the church as an institution carries a maximum fine of $10,000,000 if convicted.  Please note that the fine to the church poses no personal risk to individual members.  This is all for gathering a congregation to worship Christ in obedience to Scripture.  The elders and the church have retained legal counsel from the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) who plan to represent us in court.

Our congregation gathered for worship from June 14, 2020 until December 24, 2020 with no reported outbreak of COVID-19 and with no interference from the authorities.  The only difference is that the Province of Ontario entered its second lockdown on December 26, 2020.

This is the second week in a row that all elders have been charged.  Last time members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service delivered our summonses to us at our homes, but this time they were delivered by regional by-law officers.

Being advised by the JCCF, we will not hold in-person gatherings in excess of 10 persons at Trinity Bible Chapel, commencing immediately, until the end of the current lockdown period on January 23. We plan to conduct drive-in services on the Lord’s Day.  We know that this decision is heartbreaking for the many people who have found hope during our church services and who are also already burdened with despair by the destructive measures of our government, but we believe it is in the best interest of the church for various reasons, which we might make clearer in due course.  We are committed to regathering as a congregation in person as soon as possible.

As we walk through this storm, our eyes are joyfully fixed upon our Saviour who can end this trial with one small word.  He is a kind and gentle Saviour, and we can trust Him.  “I lift my eyes to the hills.  From where does my help come?  My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2).

In order to demonstrate your commitment to gathering for worship, we ask that you attend our drive-in worship service this Sunday at 10:30 AM.  We do ask that all who attend our drive-in service remain in their vehicles in accordance with provincial regulations.  The Province of Ontario considers it unlawful and dangerous for you to exit your vehicles to speak with each other on the church property, but you are apparently free to exchange greetings amidst the crowds of shoppers at Walmart which is 3.6 kilometers from our lot.

Further internal communication will come to our congregation at a later time.

News

Bible study: Was the resurrection body of Jesus spiritual or physical?

1 Comment
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are going to take a look at the data
Sherlock Holmes and John Watson are going to take a look at the data

So, everyone from left to right accepts the early creed in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 being dated to 1-3 years after the death of Jesus, even atheists like Crossley, Ludemann and Crossan. The thing is, some people are not sure that the appearances of Jesus to individuals, groups, and skeptics really were physical appearances. They say “well, Paul’s appearance was non-physical, so the other ones must have been, too”.

Let’s take a look.

Here’s a paragraph from my friend Eric Chabot, from his blog Think Apologetics. He explains why Paul’s use of the word “resurrection” to describe what the other witnesses saw means bodily resurrection.

He writes:

If Paul did have a vision then the term “vision” is vague and must be defined. As Licona points out, visions are either objective (i.e., something that is seen without the use of our natural senses) or subjective (i.e., a  product of our minds). The real  problem is with the vision hypothesis is that it doesn’t explain Paul’s use of resurrection to explain what had happened to Jesus.  The two words are used for resurrection in the New Testament “anastasis” (rising up) and “egersis” (waking up), both imply a physical body. Furthermore, the use of the word “opethe” (the Greek word for appeared) shows the Gospel writers did believe that Jesus appeared physically. “There you will see (opethe) him” (Matt. 28:7); “The Lord has risen and has appeared (opethe) to Simon” (Luke 24:24). When they used “opethe” here, it means that He appeared physically to them.

So when Paul gives his list of appearances in 1 Cor. 15, the issues becomes whether the appearance to him is the same as it was to the disciples. There is no doubt the post resurrection body of Jesus (after the ascension) had to be somewhat different than the body the disciples saw. Also, whenever the New Testament mentions the word body, in the context of referring to an individual human being, the Greek word “soma” always refers to a literal, physical body.Greek specialist Robert Gundry says “the consistent and exclusive use of soma for the physical body in anthropological contexts resists dematerialization of the resurrection, whether by idealism or by existentialism.” [9] Furthermore, in N.T. Wright’s  The Resurrection of the Son of God shows that the Greek word for resurrection which is “anastasis” was used by ancient Jews, pagans, and Christians as bodily in nature.

Now, I think my view on this, and I’m not sure if Eric would correct me, is that Paul got an objective but non-physical vision of Jesus. There was something there that everyone else could see and hear, in my view. But in my view Paul’s “veridical” vision was post-ascension, and so non-physical. Paul uses the word resurrection to describe what the other eyewitnesses saw (and he met them at least twice, according to Gal 1 and Gal 2), and that means physical resurrected body.

Eric Chabot writes this in another place:

Acts 9- Paul’s Damascus Road Experience

Here we see whatever happened,  this was after the ascension. Hence, to say Paul saw the exact same Jesus before he ascended is hard to infer from the text. There simply isn’t enough information here.  The Bible says, “they heard” the same voice Paul did ” (Acts 9: 7). But they “did not see anyone ” (Acts 9: 7). Notice  Paul was physically blinded by the brightness of the light.  One way or the other, the experience involved something that was external to Paul. It wasn’t something that was the same thing as a vision that Paul talks about in 2 Cor. 12:1.  Furthermore, the phrase “he let himself be seen’” (ōphthē , aorist passive, ), is the word Paul uses  in 1 Cor. 15:7 to describe of his own resurrection appearance as the other ones in the creed. As Paul Barnett says:

“It is sometimes claimed that the word appeared (ōphthē) means a mystical seeing, as of a vision, and that since this was what Paul “saw” it was what the other apostles “saw.” In other words, after death, Jesus was taken directly to heaven whence he “appeared” to various people, mystically, as it were. This however, is not all the meaning of Paul’s words. First, the word ōphthē, “appeared” is not limited to visionary seeing it is also used for physical seeing. Moreover, the verb raise used in the phrase ‘raised on the third day” is used elsewhere in combination with the words “from the dead” which literally means “from among the corpses.” Thus raised preceding  appeared gives the latter a physical not a mystical meaning. Christ, as “raised from the dead” ….appeared.”  Furthermore, when Paul asks “ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?”(1 Cor. 9: 1), he is using the ordinary word horan, “to see” for physical sight. If “seeing” the Lord “raised from the dead” qualified others to be apostles, then Paul is, indeed, an apostle. It was no mere subjective vision that arrested Paul en route to Damascus. (8) .

In the end, word studies can’t entirely resolve this issue. We need to remember the etymological fallacy as well. We  would have to look at all the texts that speak of resurrection (including the entire 1 Cor. 15 chapter in their entire context as well as the anthropology of the New Testament. We also need to study the resurrection in light of the Second Temple Jewish period. See our reading list here for some resources that may help.

But conservative ancient historian Gary Habermas seems to think that Paul got the physical body as well.

He says:

Now, I said before in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul could have chosen to only use the word pneuma. He doesn’t. He does say “spiritual,” but he’s got an adjective there. He also says, soma, “body.” What did Paul mean?

Philippians Chapter 3. It’s a short chapter. There are 21 verses, but Paul says three things in one chapter that indicate he’s talking about a physical resurrection. In the opening verses he says, “I was a Hebrew of the Hebrews” and “as touching the law,” he says, “I was a Pharisee.” Now, it’s very well known that the Pharisee believed in a bodily resurrection. In fact, according to Acts 23, as Paul was being taken captive by the Romans to prevent his being killed, he shouted out to the group of people and said, “Why are you taking me? Because I believe in the resurrec­tion of the dead?” He meant a literal resurrection.
When the Pharisees heard that, they said there’s nothing wrong with this guy. But the Sadducees [who didn’t believe in the Resurrection] didn’t like it. So as a Pharisee, he’s agreeing with the Pharisees.
So, the first evidence is from Philippians 3. As a Pharisee, Paul believes in a physical resur­rection.
Secondly, in verse 11 he says, “That I may attain the resurrection of the dead.” Now, the normal Greek word for resurrection is anastasis, but in this passage, Philippians 3:11, he puts a prefix on there, ek anastasis. Ekanastasis, according to all Greek scholars that I know of, is translated in this passage: “The out resurrection from among the dead.” Paul said, “I want to attain the out resurrection.”
Now, to a Jew, “out resurrection” means “what goes down is what comes up.” You come out from death. And then just a few verses later, Philippians 3:20,21, he said, “From Heaven, we look for Jesus who will change our vile soma (body) to be like unto His glorious soma (or body),” when he should have said pneuma, according to this other view.
So he’s a Pharisee who believes in a physical resurrection. Ek anastasis—“resurrection from out among the dead ones.”
Thirdly, Paul says, “He Jesus will change my body to be like His body.”

So right there in Philippians 3 alone, I think the picture of Jesus being some wispy spirit that appeared to him on the road to Damascus doesn’t fit Paul’s own data.

Yes, that’s why Philippians is my favorite book. You can get so much useful theology out of it. Something about the resurrection in Phil 3, something about Jesus’ divinity in Phil 2, and loads of practical advice on stewardship, charity, fellowship, endurance and practical love for others throughout. Some of it takes a little digging, but that’s what commentaries are for, am I right? But I digress.

If you want to read something a little more challenging, I found a paper from the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) from their journal, where it talks more about soma and anastasis. If you want a bit of a challenge, download the PDF and read it. It’s by Kirk R. MacGregor and the title is “1 Corinthians 15:3B–6A, 7 And The Bodily Resurrection Of Jesus”.