Phil Gons

Bible & Tech

My First Attempt at Building a Computer

by

Due to some problems I was having with my three-year-old Dell Inspiron 5150, I decided to get a new computer. Instead of buying from Dell or elsewhere, I ended up building my own computer from scratch. I purchased all the individual components, assembled them, installed the OS and drivers, and then installed all my software. I thought I’d share my experience as a first-time builder for those of you who have considered doing the same thing.

Hardware

Here are the components I purchased:

$778 total (includes shipping and after rebates)

[Read more…] about My First Attempt at Building a Computer

The Pronunciation of “Propitiation”: The Mystery Solved

by

This is my final post on the pronunciation of “propitiation.” I promise.

The Oxford English Dictionary, “the definitive record of the English language,” has the answer to the mystery behind Carson’s unusual pronunciation of “propitiation” as prō-pĭs-ē-ā-shŭn. As I suspected originally,1 it is an older pronunciation formerly used in England and France. Here’s the relevant portion from the pronunciation section: “Anglo-Norman propiciatiun and Middle French propiciation, propitiation (French propitiation, †propiciation).”2

No doubt, then, Carson picked it up in French Canada or during his studies in England at Cambridge University.

See also the previous two posts:

HT: Mark L. Ward Jr., who sent me a PDF of the entry.

  1. In my original post, I said, “Just a guess, but I wonder if it is British or reflects Carson’s knowledge of French. (Carson grew up in French Canada and studied in England.)” [↩]
  2. Cf. also this: “Forms: lME propiciacioun, lME-15 propiciacion, 15 propiciacyon, 15 propiciatyon, 15 propitiacion, 15 propycyacyon, 15-17 propiciation, 15- propitiation.” [↩]

“A Debtor to Mercy Alone” | Augustus Toplady

by

Here’s another solid text from Toplady that I enjoyed meditating on this morning and last evening.

A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on,
My person and off’ring to bring.
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s’ obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.

The work which His goodness began
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is yea and amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Not all things below or above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo,
Or sever my soul from His love.

[Read more…] about “A Debtor to Mercy Alone” | Augustus Toplady

What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?

by

Revelation 21:1 reads,

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Does this text teach that the new earth will not have large bodies of water (θαλάσσας)—no more lakes, seas, or oceans? Most think so.

The “sea” . . . must disappear before the eternity of joy can begin.1

The first hint of what the new heaven and new earth will be like comes in John’s observation that there will no longer be any sea. That will be a startling change from the present earth, nearly three-fourths of which is covered by water.2

Why would this be? Most argue that the sea symbolizes evil (or death or disorder), and thus the eradication of evil necessitates the removal of the sea.

[Read more…] about What Does “No More Sea” in Revelation 21:1 Mean?
  1. Grant R. Osborne, Revelation, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2002), 743. [↩]
  2. John MacArthur, Revelation 12–22 (Chicago: Moody, 2000), 263. [↩]

Windows Live SkyDrive

by

For those of you who don’t have a website with access to FTP and have an occasional need to share with others large files too big for email, you may want to consider Windows Live SkyDrive. It’s free and easy to use and gives you 500MB of space, handling up to 50MB individual files. Gmail allows up to 20MB attachments, but anything beyond that can be difficult to share over the web.

SkyDrive gives you three types of storage: personal, shared, and public. You can create as many different folders as you want.

[Read more…] about Windows Live SkyDrive

“Faith Reviving” and Bob Kauflin

by

I blogged a week or so ago about the lost gem of Augustus Toplady’s text “Faith Reviving.” I was curious of its availability on any vocal musical recording, so I emailed Bob Kauflin, the Director of Worship Development for Sovereign Grace Ministries, and asked him if he was aware of any. I received a very kind reply from him saying that he was not aware of any CD with this hymn on it and that he wasn’t familiar with this text. I also asked him if he would consider writing a new tune for it and including it on a future Sovereign Grace CD, and he said that he would. He will probably adjust the lyrics a bit as well so that they are more understandable to a modern-day audience. This is exciting news. Keep an eye out for this song on a future Sovereign Grace recording. (Though I’m not a big fan of Sovereign Grace’s musical style, I really appreciate many of the solid texts that they are putting out.)

See my previous post: “Faith Reviving” | Augustus Toplady.

Economic Trinitarian Relations

by

Pastor Timothy Mills recently submitted a review of Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology to our PastorBookshelf Reviews website. His comments were generally positive, but not as positive as I would have hoped for such a fine introduction to biblical doctrine.

One area where he disagreed with Grudem was in his handling of the Trinity.

His choice, however, of the model of the Trinity as a hierarchy setting the pattern for the marriage relationship (454) is problematic. The Trinity is a tri-unity, while a marriage is merely dual-mutual. Yes, the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is head of the church (Eph. 5:23), but that is a relationship between the husband and wife, as between Christ and the church; but not as between the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. No where does the New Testament make that comparison.

I suggested to Pastor Mills that that is precisely the connection Paul makes in 1 Cor 11:3: “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.” Just as a husband is the head of his wife, so the Father is the head of the Son.

[Read more…] about Economic Trinitarian Relations

Update on the Pronunciation of “Propitiation”

by

I recently wrote about the various pronunciations of “propitiation” that are in use by pastors, theologians, and scholars, making particular reference to D. A. Carson’s peculiar pronunciation: prō-pĭs-ē-ā-shŭn.

According to the poll, the majority of the readers of this blog follow the pronunciation that I use: prō-pĭsh-ē-ā-shŭn. A couple prefer prō-pĭt–chē-ā-shŭn or prō-pĭch-ē-ā-shŭn. But no one—at least from my limited readership—follows Carson’s prō-pĭs-ē-ā-shŭn.

[Read more…] about Update on the Pronunciation of “Propitiation”