Enjoyed this article. Your comment on regarding JC Ryle as an example of Puritans focus on the heart can be tempered with their additional writing on acting out of one's new creation heart. E. g. Ryle's book "Thoughts for Young Men"
Regarding the college students there’s a fascinating author nomme de plume The Last Psychiatrist who is an actual real psychiatrist who has interesting principle. Namely that any immediate reaction to a problem is probably a defense against the truth. I don’t know if TLP is a Christian, it’s hard to tell with him, but I think that might be going on.
On the flip I think the students who feel cool talking to the college minister about perfectionism might actually be having problems with legalism; those who don’t wouldn’t be inclined to discuss it at all. Perfectionism can also ricochet into excess paradoxically; it creates tensions and reactions to address those tensions.
From the hip, legalism is an outward manifestation of what might be various internal disorders, like a runny nose could be allergies, infection, an obstruction, etc. Some legalism is trying to go outside in to get to God, a misunderstanding about God’s love, a manifestation of OCD, even an attempt to trick God, an intellectual absurdity but an instinctual, psychological possibility.
Thank you for this excellent commentary. I couldn't agree with your thesis more. I laughed out loud at your comment about Presbyterians, because I am a Presbyterian who has seen the disembodiment you speak of firsthand. I was expecting to see James 2:14-26 before things wrapped up but you made the point succinctly in Romans. Fortunately, I am blessed to belong to a small Presbyterian church in Monroe with a pastoral team that practices sound expositional preaching and teaching delivered with real world practical application. It's great to know of another Reformed Protestant writer on Substack that is here in SW Ohio.
I found this article extremely interesting and helpful , in that you accurately describe and explain the problem of most (all?) CCM, but then you move beyond the music to show it as a symptom of the much greater issue of Gnosticism in many churches.
Church music has been a big bugaboo for me for a couple of decades now and this article helped me add a few more pieces to the puzzle. Thank you.
Enjoyed this article. Your comment on regarding JC Ryle as an example of Puritans focus on the heart can be tempered with their additional writing on acting out of one's new creation heart. E. g. Ryle's book "Thoughts for Young Men"
Well written man! So glad to see someone on here who appreciates the Puritan strategy on life and putting Jesus as Lord of all
Thank you for this.
Regarding the college students there’s a fascinating author nomme de plume The Last Psychiatrist who is an actual real psychiatrist who has interesting principle. Namely that any immediate reaction to a problem is probably a defense against the truth. I don’t know if TLP is a Christian, it’s hard to tell with him, but I think that might be going on.
On the flip I think the students who feel cool talking to the college minister about perfectionism might actually be having problems with legalism; those who don’t wouldn’t be inclined to discuss it at all. Perfectionism can also ricochet into excess paradoxically; it creates tensions and reactions to address those tensions.
From the hip, legalism is an outward manifestation of what might be various internal disorders, like a runny nose could be allergies, infection, an obstruction, etc. Some legalism is trying to go outside in to get to God, a misunderstanding about God’s love, a manifestation of OCD, even an attempt to trick God, an intellectual absurdity but an instinctual, psychological possibility.
Thank you for this excellent commentary. I couldn't agree with your thesis more. I laughed out loud at your comment about Presbyterians, because I am a Presbyterian who has seen the disembodiment you speak of firsthand. I was expecting to see James 2:14-26 before things wrapped up but you made the point succinctly in Romans. Fortunately, I am blessed to belong to a small Presbyterian church in Monroe with a pastoral team that practices sound expositional preaching and teaching delivered with real world practical application. It's great to know of another Reformed Protestant writer on Substack that is here in SW Ohio.
Brother Foster,
I found this article extremely interesting and helpful , in that you accurately describe and explain the problem of most (all?) CCM, but then you move beyond the music to show it as a symptom of the much greater issue of Gnosticism in many churches.
Church music has been a big bugaboo for me for a couple of decades now and this article helped me add a few more pieces to the puzzle. Thank you.