Kids Baptism Part 1 from Rodney D. Chrisman on Vimeo.  (If you need the mobile version of this video, you should be able to get it by following the links to the video on Vimeo.)

Part 1 of the baptism of my children on Reformation Day (October 31, 2010.) We joined Providence Church and they were all baptized on the same day. This came as a result of our changing theological views to paedobaptism, etc.

I had been meaning to put this up for months, but my old laptop just couldn’t do it.  But, with the help of my new MacBook Pro, here it is!

“You may have heard the Middle Ages called ‘the Dark Ages.’  Don’t believe it.  There were indeed a few ‘dark’ centuries after the collapse of Roman civilization in Europe.  However, a new Christian civilization rose to take its place, with a powerful intellectual culture of its own centered in the leading monasteries and universities.”  J. Budziszewski, Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law, 53-54.  (For a brief explanation of my view on natural law, read my post A Bunch of Knaves Ruling a Rabble?.)

It seems like the modern church is ever in the process of aping the world.  Rather than being the best at everything–music, architecture, art, science, politics, philosophy, etc.–as Christians once were, modern believers are content with being just good enough to get by (or to get a crowd or sell a few CDs or DVDs to other believers or whatever.)

This aping of the world has reached the point of being really embarrassing. [continue reading…]

The term “natural law” has come to mean so many things to so many people that it has nearly lost its usefulness.  I do not generally consider myself a natural law adherent in the most common (as far as I can tell) modern use of the term.

I do believe general revelation is real, that it is a gift from God, and that it does communicate to all people.  (See, for example Psalm 19:1-6, Proverbs 6:6-11, and Romans 1:18-32 and 2:12-16.)  Of course, I also believe in the superiority of special revelation or Scripture.  (See, for example Genesis 2:15-17, Psalm 19:7-14, Romans 10:14-17, and 1 Timothy 3:14-17.)  However, I believe that both are necessary. [continue reading…]

Local governments rely heavily on the revenues produced by taxes on real property.  Many government services depend upon these taxes.  The government schools are a notable example.

However, are these real property taxes Biblically legitimate?  In The Institutes of Biblical Law, R. J. Rushdoony argues that they are not.  He writes:

Since Scripture declares repeatedly that “the earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof” (Ex. 9:29; Deut. 10:14; Ps. 24:1; 1 Cor. 10:26, etc.), a land tax is not lawful.  A tax on the land is a tax against God and against His law-order. [continue reading…]

Most nations in the Western Legal Tradition have elaborate systems for recording the ownership of real property and transfers of ownership in real property.  In addition, the transfer of real property in the West has normally been accompanied by some type of ritual to mark the solemnity and importance of the transaction at hand.  In times past, this included wax seals, witnesses, and sometimes a twig or handful of dirt from the land itself.  While these peculiarities are less common today, the transfer of interests in real property still includes a specialized document form that must usually be recorded in the local land records.

Like much of our law, this special treatment of real property appears to have some origin in antiquity in general and the Bible in particular.  For instance, the Bible contains examples of property transactions and related rituals.  (I have included three prominent examples at the end of this post.) [continue reading…]

Albert Mohler just posted a great essay to his blog regarding the importance of the evolution v. creation debate in our time.  He does a wonderful job presenting the history of and issues in this debate in a concise and useful way.  Further, he clearly and cogently argues that theistic evolution (despite its appeal) is a disaster (and worse than a compromise, it is actually a capitulation to Darwinism.)  Here is a quote from his post:

Given the stakes in this public controversy, the attractiveness of theistic evolution becomes clear. [continue reading…]

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

Judge Richard Posner has written of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. that he was and is “the preeminent figure in the history of American law.”[1] Prof. Bill Long has written here that Holmes “has taken on symbolic or iconic status.  Well, it might be more accurate to state that he holds semi-divine status in American law.”

These statements line up with the way that I viewed Justice Holmes for a good part of my life.  I thought of him as one of the greatest lawyers of all time.   [continue reading…]

Oliver Wendell Holmes said the following in speech regarding a lawyer named Sidney Bartlett on March 28, 1889. (You can read the entire speech in Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Speeches.)

It seems to me that we are apt to take short-sighted views of what constitutes power, and of how a man may serve his fellows. The external and immediate result of an advocate’s work is but to win or lose a case. But remotely what the lawyer does is to establish, develop, or illuminate rules which are to govern the conduct of men for centuries; to set in motion principles and influences which shape the thought and action of generations which know not by whose command they move. The man of action has the present, but the thinker controls the future; [continue reading…]