April 2022

The Truth in Both Extremes

The Truth in Both Extremes: Paradox in Biblical Revelation, by Robert S. Rayburn★★★★★

This book was read in digital format on my iPad. I did this for two reasons. First, the printed version was considerably more expensive than the digital version. Secondly, the book is very heavily referenced, and the references were quite valuable to read, which was much easier to do in the digital format. Rob Rayburn was my pastor for approximately 25 years, and the book was written in a pastoral format, quite easy to read, as though Dr. Rayburn were speaking directly to you. Rayburn gave a series of 8 sermons in 2001 which were the core of what this book was all about. In those sermons, pastor Rayburn summarized what is contained in this book. This book expands upon his sermons and provides a more systematic approach to the notion of opposing tensions in Scripture that are not intended to be reconciled.

The first two chapters develop the concept of opposing and seemingly contradictory truths presented in Scripture, with no Scriptural mention of how to explain these diametrically opposite truths. As Rayburn notes, he did not invent the notion of doctrinal tensions in Scripture. Giants of the faith, including Augustine, Calvin, many Puritans, Spurgeon, as well as JI Packer develop this notion that complex truths are presented in Scripture, both of which are to be believed, both of which must be held with equal weight, and both must not be attempted to be synthesized into a “new” truth, à la Hegel.

Subsequent chapters each individually cover a specific topic of two truths held in tension. I use the phrase “held in tension” as Rayburn frequently will use that term, though it is a tension that is held only if it really bothers you that a Biblical truth might be presented in two extremes. The first is that of the doctrine of the Trinity, that God is one, yet God is three. It doesn’t seem right, but then, why would we assume that God is ontologically “simple”. (N.B., in a way, God is ontologically simple, but I am not interested in arguing this point at this time). The next chapter discusses how Jesus was both man and God, and not a fused entity (tertium quid), both natures present and distinct, both without suggestion that Jesus was “half-man, half-God”, but instead, fully man and fully God simultaneously. Next, Rayburn attacks the “sticky” dilemma of the sovereignty of God and freedom of man, i.e., man’s full responsibility for sin, yet God foreordains all that would come to pass. In my own humble opinion, for a God that exists outside of time and space, the converse would be more challenging for God to create; man’s full freedom without God’s sovereignty or the very dull and uncreative possibility of God’s sovereignty without man’s freedom. This doctrine shows God to be super-cool!!!!!

Pastor Rayburn then waxes pastoral (what he does best!) in the challenge of man’s assurance of salvation yet the need for attention to carefully walk the Christian life. This segues into the issue of how many people will be saved, few or many? The Scripture rightfully answers “both” without explanation, save for the admonishment to carefully attend to one’s own salvation. Are we saved by faith, or by works? Both. We are saved fully by faith, and fully by works, yet we have no reason to boast. It is God’s work. The Christian response to joyfully accept both polarities is most appropriate. The next chapter addresses two vexing issues. 1. Scripture promises both a life of wealth and blessing, as well as a life of troubles. Seeing both extremes in Christians throughout the ages leaves no doubt that both aspects may be true, and certainly with Job, that both may be true with the same person. 2. Does God answer our prayers? Yes and no. Whatever we ask in His name will be granted to us… or, will it? Scripture partially answers this question, as sometimes we ask selfishly or for evil gain, sometimes our prayers will be granted in the distant future, but often we may not ever realize an answer to our prayer. Yet Rayburn, in his inimical fashion, provides a good argument to continually seek the Lord in prayer, and that we will do.

The chapter on Biblical ethics and the dialectical truths contained therein is a bit problematic, and I find Rayburn’s arguments occasionally to be weak. Suffice it to say that Rayburn quotes (perhaps a touch critically) the ethical writings of John Murray, though I tend to lean in favor of Murray and not Rayburn. Yet, there is much in the Ethics chapter that is not controversial. Proverbs will often present opposing truths and expect a heart of wisdom to know when each truth should appropriately be applied. Issues of dealing with sinners in the church, dealing with the Government, dealing with the ordination of women in the church, and other issues are all discussed and not necessarily controversial. Then, Rob goes on to discuss the issue of lying vs. telling the truth. Should one lie to save a life? Doesn’t the Scripture occasionally advocate lying and show examples of God telling a lie? I tend to lean with Murray on this issue in the way he suggests that certain Biblical historical events are not necessarily normative. I feel that the issue is made problematic in that ethicists will usually present the dilemma as an either-or situation. Conversely, rarely do ethicists ever suggest that there might be a third alternative, and the ethical dilemma is more a fabrication than the way we should be thinking in complex situations. Finally, Dr. Rayburn delves into the sticky issue of unity in the church, while preserving the church from falsehood and heresy. Clearly, this is an issue that demands wisdom from on high, and will not be answered by weighing either unity or division too heavily.

Pastor Rayburn concludes by summarizing the need for the Christian to acknowledge that many of one’s beliefs will be two competitive, dialectical truths, both of which must be assumed to be true and yet both must equally be believed and acted upon by the Christian. To that, I heartily agree. There are just a few points that I wish would have been better developed in the book.

  1. How is a biblical Christian dialectic different from a Hegelian dialectic? Is not a Christian concession that two dialectical truths suggestive that A and non-A are both true caving in to the notion that truth does not or cannot exist? Rayburn perhaps should have committed one chapter to the philosophy of Biblical dialecticism.
  2. What are the boundaries to the dialectical principle? What about applying the dialectical principle to the issue of gender confusion? Could it be okay to say that one is both male and female as a dialectic? What about theological issues? Is Scripture the word of God or the word of man? While we accept the notion that Scripture contains man’s personality, is it possibly a dialectal issue that we can occasionally dismiss, as Karl Barth and others have done? How can the dialectical principle be abused in interpreting Scripture? If the 8th commandment against bearing false witness may be dialectical, what about the other nine commandments? Might there be an occasional reason, out of love, to commit adultery? Might I occasionally bow to other gods to save skin? Perhaps in edition 2 of this book a fuller argument might be presented.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It is heavily referenced, and the references were also a delight to read. The book discusses a truth that is often poorly presented to Christians, leading to more confusion than good. It is a book that I would recommend to all Christians. It is not written in an academic style, and thus should be able to be consumed by most intelligent Christian folk.

You did what????

Our home in North Las Vegas
The view of Gass Peak from our front yard (looking North)

Some people are a touch agast when informed that we just moved to “Sin City”. Actually, we don’t live in Sin City (Las Vegas), but in the town of North Las Vegas, and are about 1/2 hour drive from the Strip. People outside of the Strip almost never visit the Strip except when entertaining friends and family. We have now lived in North Las Vegas for slightly more than a month. If you would have asked me a year ago about moving to southern Nevada, I would have responded with an “absolutely not” answer, that is, until Betsy and I took the time to check it out. We are totally loving our new abode, and couldn’t be more content with our decision. Yet, an answer is in order as to why we changed our mind about our decision to move.

A year ago, we were still living in Puyallup, WA, but noted that the town was being very poorly managed. Traffic was becoming unbearable, taxes were out of control, and der Führer of Washington, Jay Inslee, felt quite comfortable with oppressive declarations that defied the US constitution. I loved living in the shadow of Mt. Rainier and loved the beauty of the woods. Still, the weather restrained outdoor activity, and 8 months of the year, trails in western Washington demanded either long hikes through snow, or else slogging through endless mud puddles and swampland. Roughly about last May, we received notice that my brother Gaylon from Portland, OR was moving to Ocala, FL, and soon afterward my brother Lewis (also from the Portland area) decided the same thing. We realized that a move was in order for us also. Much of my hiking in 2021 was placed on hold as we quickly decided to put our house up for sale and get out of Dodge. Our house was able to sell quickly. In the meantime, we (Betsy and I) sought desperately an alternative location to live. We considered Idaho, Florida, Arizona, Texas, and even out of the country (like Belize) as well as Nevada. The decision was to first live in an apartment and then gauge from there as to a more permanent location. We did a trip to Las Vegas and nearly signed on an apartment when I decided that perhaps a temporary move to the Spokane area might be a wiser decision.

We lived in Spokane Valley, WA for six months with mixed feelings. There were lots of outdoor activities, yet the fall and winter proved to be quite cold. I got in some snowshoeing but found that the trails were even muddier than in western Washington and less conducive to vigorous activity. Betsy found Spokane more akin to living in a refrigerator. I was VERY uncomfortable with the two churches we attended in Spokane. Thus, the thought of moving across the border into the Coeur d’Alene area was immediately stricken. We saw several options still persisting. Boise, Idaho? I would have loved Boise, yet it was colder in winter than Spokane, and hotter in summer. We wished for easy access to our grandchildren, some living in western Washington, and some in northwest Iowa, which was not convenient from Boise. Iowa? Iowa was VERY tax unfriendly to retirees, and bitterly cold in winter, with summers that were hot and humid. Perhaps Sioux Falls would be a good choice, though the weather issue remained. What about Florida? Florida was miserably flat, and though the weather is warm, it is also quite humid, and I tolerate humidity very poorly. We lived in the south (Biloxi, MS) for two years, and somehow did not find it as appealing as many others did. Arizona? Arizona is not terribly tax-friendly and is much more expensive to live in than many other places. So, that was out. Our thoughts returned to the Las Vegas area.

Originally, I didn’t want to live in a 55+ community, feeling that it would be desirable to have mixed ages. What we learned in the apartment in Spokane is that a broad community can be quite noisy, and crime is also much higher. Thus, we both felt comfortable with the possibility of a retirement community in Las Vegas. On another trip down to Las Vegas and a tour of several 55+ communities, we fell in love with a home in North Las Vegas in Sun City Aliante. It was not a gated community, yet the crime rate was very low, the HOA fees were very low, and housing prices were not astronomical. The 55+ community was not so isolated to leave one feeling that you had no one but old fogeys around you. It was close to outdoor activities, and we could move in within a month. Betsy and I both agreed without hesitation to make the move.

We were able to terminate our lease in Spokane Valley early without too great of an expense, realizing that in the long run, we would be saving a large amount of money by doing so. We had Gaylon fly up from Florida, and he drove a 26′ UHaul truck from Spokane Valley to Las Vegas. The route was simple with only one turn, driving east on I-90 to I-15 and then south to North Las Vegas. Gaylon was a real trooper for which we are deeply grateful. There was minimal furniture damage in the process, and we were able to arrive home in NLV completely intact. The back porch of our home overlooks the golf course, which is actually owned by the city, and thus of no cost to us. Here is our floor plan…

Our home actually has the optional casita, which is a perfect guest house. This means that if you come to visit us, you have your own little “hotel” room, with a kitchenette, bathroom, and entertainment tv screen (which was there when we arrived). The garage is the only issue to me, in that it is a little small, yet ingenuity is allowing us to make-do quite nicely.

We had to quickly make some house modifications. There were tv mounts in almost every room, none of which were usable. We took one down, changed several others, and thus left a tv in the living room, in Betsy’s den, and in the casita. We pulled up the rugs in the master bedroom and master closet as well as the second bedroom (my office) and put in vinyl planking. The house is 17-18 years old with minimal improvements. It was originally owned by the madam that ran the brothel in XXX, NV, and she didn’t seem to do much to the infrastructure of the house. We will be replacing the air conditioning/heating unit, installing solar panels, and eventually putting in a garage floor surface, and possibly pavers for the driveway and patio between the house and casita, as well as extending the back patio. All in all, it has been a joy to be able to make a home again that has a personal touch, while simultaneously improving the home value.

Public transportation will take us down to the Strip or to the airport/bus station allowing us to easily get to either Iowa or the Northwest or to Florida, or anywhere else in the USA. Las Vegas tends to be very accessible by the airline! We are 45 minutes away from snow (present 8 months of the year) on Mt. Charleston (elevation 11,900+ ft), 30 minutes from Red Rock Canyon, 1 hour from the Valley of Fire, 2.5 hours from the Grand Canyon, 4 hours from Phoenix, AZ or San Diego, CA, and 3-6 hours drive from the Utah National Parks. Thus, we remain close to outdoor activities. Hopefully, I can get Betsy back into camping!!!!!

Those who know us well also know that we consider church to be of great value. We had our hopes on one church about 20 minutes distant, only to learn that they were turning more radical and of a theological flavor that we had learned to dislike. It is a church that would have worked if there was nothing else. Contrary to what seems intuitive, there are a number of orthodox, Reformed churches in the Las Vegas area, and we were able to find one a bit closer to home. The pastor is blind but has a real heart for God. They are Baptistic in their orientation, but we can live with that, should that be their only theological fault. Almost by accident, we discovered that one of the deacons of that church is also one of Betsy’s cousins! It’s a small world. It will probably be the church that we stay at. Las Vegas is a veritable mission field; one need not go overseas.

Summer tends to be hot. We know that, but it is less hot than Phoenix, AZ where Betsy grew up. This summer, I plan on completing more of the PCT. Betsy plans on visits to the grandchildren. Even in the heat of summer, mornings and evenings can be quite comfortable since the humidity is very low. There are very few bugs, so we don’t need screened-in areas in order to sit outside. I sit outside now almost daily and read. We just purchased a small Recteq barbecue (Lew’s recommendation), and hope to be making animal sacrifices quite soon on the bbq.

You are welcome to come to visit. Our casita (guest house) is begging for visitors, especially children, grandchildren, and siblings. Summer is not the most advisable time of the year to visit, and chances are high that we will be gone at least part of the summer. Neither Betsy nor I have a burning interest in acting as Strip tour guides; if you wish to visit the Strip, you are on your own. As we have learned, there is so much more to Las Vegas than the Strip. Please notify us in advance. You do not need a personal invitation from us, and we will let you know if the timing would work out for us.

Going through the Desert…

The Red Rock Canyon Grand Circle Loop, hiked on 16APR2022

I am now starting to do longer hikes in preparation for the summer hiking season. Today, I decided to hike the Grand Circle Loop, which encompasses all that would be seen should one choose to drive the Red Rock Canyon loop, yet there is much more that can be seen.

It was a beautiful day but very windy, with gusts up to 60 mph. The wind was a blessing, as it kept me feeling quite cool. The route was mostly very well marked, though there were just a few areas in the Calico Hills where I had to retrace a bit to find where I was going. Here are some photos…

Calico Hills 1
Calico Hills 2. I waited forever for those dudes to move, and then finally just snapped a shot and ran.
More Calico Hills
Getting to the Quarry (white rocks ahead)
The view back to the Quarry and Turtlehead Peak
White Mountain Loop area
Desert Beauty
Panorama shot of the Red Rock Canyon. The visitors center (where I started and ended) is off in the
central distance, close to the Calico Hills.

This was a most enjoyable hike, and I will definitely do it again, probably in conjunction with the White Mountain loop to add on a few more miles. Desert hiking can be quite cool, but hydration is most vital, and shielding oneself from the full brunt of the sun, using a broad-rimmed hat and long sleeve shirt with full length pants. It seems like it would be hotter being fully clothed, but it is just the opposite, so long as you are not wearing cotton.

Close by (within 10 miles) is Charleston Peak, at an elevation of over 11,900 feet, and still with snow on it. I will probably soon start attacking that peak. There I will encounter less of a desert environment and more of a bristlecone pine forest terrain. If I can talk my hiking friends to come visit, a chance to do the Grand Canyon will be in order, which is only a few hours drive from us.