The Storm.

I

f as the windes and waters here below
                            Do flie and flow,
My sighs and tears as busy were above ;
                            Sure they would move
And much affect thee, as tempestuous times
Amaze poore mortals, and object their crimes.

 
Starres have their storms, ev’n in a high degree,
                            As well as we.
A throbbing conscience spurred by remorse
                            Hath a strange force :
It quits the earth, and mounting more and more,
Dares to assault thee, and besiege thy doore.

There it stands knocking, to thy musicks wrong,
                            And drowns the song.
Glorie and honour are set by till it
                            An answer get.
Poets have wrong’d poore storms : such dayes are best ;
They purge the aire without, within the breast.

—-George Herbert 

So far I have only one additional post to include in tomorrow’s weather report. (Thank you, Pam.) You can help make the next weather report fun and interesting by telling us what’s going on in your weather or posting a weather picture (or poem, like this one) and sending me the link.

Of what use is the moral law to all men?

The moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God,[1] and of their duty, binding them to walk accordingly;[2] to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives;[3] to humble them in the sense of their sin and misery,[4] and thereby help them to a clearer sight of the need they have of Christ,[5] and of the perfection of his obedience.[6]

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Theological Term of the Week

 

For the next few weeks, the theological terms will be the names of some traditional arguments used to justify belief in the existence of God. As you might imagine, there is quite a bit of disagreement about the validity and usefulness of these proofs.

 

Teleological  Argument

An argument for the existence of God that begins with evidence of order, complexity, pattern and purpose in the universe and argues from that evidence that the universe must have an intelligent and purposeful designer.

 

• From William Paley’s Natural Theology (1802), a bit of his watchmaker analogy, which is an example of a teleological argument.
  

  In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone, and were asked how the stone came to be there; I might possibly answer, that, for anything I knew to the contrary, it had lain there forever: nor would it perhaps be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place; I should hardly think of the answer I had before given, that for anything I knew, the watch might have always been there. (…) There must have existed, at some time, and at some place or other, an artificer or artificers, who formed [the watch] for the purpose which we find it actually to answer; who comprehended its construction, and designed its use. (…) Every indication of contrivance, every manifestation of design, which existed in the watch, exists in the works of nature; with the difference, on the side of nature, of being greater or more, and that in a degree which exceeds all computation.     

Learn more

1. Teleological Argument from Theopedia
   
2. The Teleological Argument from Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry
   

This series of theological terms was suggested by Kim of Hiraeth. The graphic at the beginning of the post was also done by Kim. See more of her work at Bookworm Bookmarks.

 

Have you come across a theological term that you don’t understand and you’d like to see featured here as a Theological Term of the Week? If you email it to me, I’ll seriously consider using it, giving you credit for the suggestion and linking back to your blog when I do.