Dave Sterrett

Uganda Trip Highlights

Dave Sterrett — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:21:19 -0800

Thank you Community Fellowship Church in Staunton, VA and all of my ministry friends who sponsored my Ugandan trip with my father and Larry Barrett. We left on December 12. The previous two weeks were some the busiest of the year as I wrote four papers for three graduate courses I was taking at University of Dallas, as well as grading dozens of short papers from online students at Liberty University. We connected in Washington D.C. and then London and finally to Uganda.

When we arrived, it took us hours to get settled, because our original hotel room was overbooked. We only received a couple hours of rest, before we showed up to Back to the Bible Institute in Kampala. Honestly, I had no idea how I was going to stay awake. Our driver who took on what felt like a crazy excursion through Kampala of dodging of people, random obstacles in the street, motorcycles sometimes with up to three people on the back, cows, and children. This however, did not keep me from wanting to fall asleep. However, when we arrived, I looked in the building, the orphanage, then looked at the faces of five hundred African young adults in their twenties who cheering and giving us the warmest welcome. Their friendly and enthusiasm woke me up immediately and automatically I felt an adrenaline rush. They were the reason we were on this trip. Then the leader of Back to Bible Institute, Alex Mitala, who is currently leading about 20,000 born again churches stood up to welcome us. Alex spoke in English with his translator speaking fervently in the native Lugandan language.

Alex started addressing students from every region of the country. He then started talking about my father, Clay, whom they call “Boombah” which is the Lugandan word for “Mud.” He started telling these students that Boombah and his team were here in train them to be prepared for biblical living and doctrine. Alex started naming all the regions in which students were represented and he told them, “Boombah has been there. He’s trained your home pastors.” Alex continued, “You in the south of Uganda, Boombah’s been there too. He has trained your pastors. Boomhah’s been in the West. Boombah’s been to the East. He has been coming to Ugandan since 1987. Now he has brought his son, Dave and friend Larry.” The young people exploded in applause.

As I listened to Alex, I really felt encouraged by the work that my dad has done. I was only seven years when my father took his first trip. I still remember him returning and giving me a large African drum, that wouldn’t pass airport inspections today. But I as I listened to Alex, I really felt grateful for God’s work through my father in working with Ugandan pastors. Then Alex encouraged the young people not to just sit with those from their own region but to get to know people from other parts of the country. I was so grateful that CFC funded the transportation of bus passes for these young people to come to Kampala. For some of them, this was their very first time to the capital city.

I felt an urgency to preach. After dad and Larry spoke for a couple hours, they fed us. I actually liked the food. The pineapple was my favorite. After lunch, I spoke for a couple hours. I spoke on, “What is truth?” and gave a brief introduction to the Christian practice of apologetics, which means to provide an intelligent defense for the faith. I told young Ugandans that the economy continues to grow that the generation that they are training will have greater opportunities for travel, education, medicine, and business that previous generations under dictators did not experience. I told that them that these opportunities were good, but along with, they will be exposed false teaching like naturalism in science courses that teaches that all of reality is only material or natural. I warned them they would be exposed to atheism but also other forms heretical Christian faith like Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and that it would be very important for them to have a Christian worldview. I also said that as they practice law, medicine, business or even go into politics, that they will need to use their minds to the glory of God. I told that apologetics was important for three reasons. 1) To Shape Culture. 2) Evangelism. 3) To stay strong in the faith, when the emotions aren’t there.

The students were very responsive. As we continued to teach, Larry talked about the importance of having a daily Bible reading plan, but also to be faithful, accountable and obedient to the older leaders in the church. Dad spoke in greater detail about Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnessess. He also gave a talk about recognizing what Christ did for each on the cross. One evening we also met with Pastor Joel and talked on the ratio about importance of relationships, marriage and purity. Joel’s radio show is on one of the largest stations in Ugandan and goes out to a several million listeners.

At Back to the Bible, Alex’s school has about 1800 orphans and Joel’s school has several hundred orphans as well. The orphans come from all around the country. Some of their orphans came from the Northern African and were victims of Joseph Coni, the terrorist who lead Lord’s Resistance Army, and forced children to shoot their parents. Last year, when Dad spoke on forgiveness, he remembered meeting one young man who had to shoot his parents and another young lady who was brutally raped multiple times. Both of them experienced a new freedom through Christ’s forgiveness. These students are trained with the English language, as well as mathematics and science.

Out 84 schools in the region, the students at Joel’s school and orphanage were ranked number one in academic testing. Joel, like Alex is a visionary leader and both oversees the educational training of the children and also serves in preaching and pastoral leadership. Both men are constantly raising up young leaders and sending them out and rapidly multiplying. At Joel’s school, the students also learn different trades. We are very thankful for the electricity that Community Fellowship provided for his school. The students also learn trades that will provide for them financially. Both Joel and Alex as well as another leader named John all encourage their students work hard. At the youth conference, we worked with Joel, Alex, and John to encourage their young pastors to be willing to work another job as well. Larry, my father and myself have at different times in our lives have worked other jobs to support our income.

On the final Sunday, Alex had brought in another group for training. These 150 students were children of Pastors. They were probably about fourteen years old or so. I talked about some of the struggles of being a the child of a minister. I encouraged them to respect their parents, but pray for their parents as well. I told them that their fathers will make mistakes and might let them down, but I encourage them to forgive their fathers and ultimately trust God. The three points that I emphasized to them through a long teaching mixed with my own stories and the example of Joseph’s life was to 1. Know what you believe. 2.) Know Why it is true. 3) Forgive as Christ forgave you.

The students were very attentive and took notes. Alex then encourage called them out and asked them to repeat what I taught. I was very encouraged with how each student got up and boldly and clearly recited what I said. One student remembered my own talk more accurately than I remembered myself. I was very impressed with the details that a couple students remembered.

I walked away, knowing that the work of this trip was very important because the Ugandan young people were hungry for teaching. As we sat in the home of one of the lead pastors John and talked with him and Alex, we asked what was the need for Uganda. They encouraged us to come back and provide training for youth pastors. Alex explained that in the history of the country, there have been many conferences but never have Americans come over and provided the type of conference with doctrinal training and the leaving behind of material. For this tip, we had written an 80-page booklet for the youth pastors to study, take notes, and then take an extra copy back to their home pastors. We also gave them our books, Why Trust Jesus? and Safeguards for the Saints.

Dad told Alex that we want to continue to work under them and we don’t want to just be dogmatic with what we think is best. Alex told Dad that we need to continue to provide training for youth pastors and pastors in the areas of doctrine, Christian living, Bible study, apologetics and marriage. Alex asked if we could train another five hundred youth pastors next year. He said that Americans pastors often want to come over and either do big scale evangelism events or do church planting multiplication training. Alex said that they definitely don’t need help in either one of those areas. The Ugandans have many gifted leaders in evangelism and church planting. However, he emphasized that they needed deeper training in doctrine, apologetics and Christian living.

First, I want to thank everyone who sponsored this trip. Second, if you have funds to help with their orphanages and schools, they can certainly need your help. Third, on one of our trips Joel’s rented van broke down. If anyone would like to buy Joel a newer used van, please let my father know. Fourth, please pray if we should lead another conference like this next year in 2012. I am very open to returning, but we will want to pray about it and ask God to give us wisdom.

Abraham Lincoln and Thanksgiving

Dave Sterrett — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:12:39 -0800

I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. Maybe this year, you haven’t made as money as you would like. With our economy, many people have had a tough time, but I want to encourage you during this Thanksgiving season. Maybe like me, you have wished at times, that things were a little different here in America. Nevertheless, I still believe we still live in the greatest nation in the world. You and I have a lot to be thankful for. We still have a great opportunity to go out and be innovated and make money. We still have the rights to own property and make decisions and pursue education. We still have the freedom to worship through the religion we choose.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to invite you to think about the words of Abraham Lincoln. Hundreds of thousands of Americans had died during a horrible civil war, but he encouraged the American people to set apart a day to be thankful. Here’s what he wrote in proclaiming a day of thanks:

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings.

Augustine’s Confessions

Dave Sterrett — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:00:21 -0800

In book ten (specifically chapters twenty-seven through forty-three) of Confessions, Bishop Augustine reveals a connection to the first nine books. Although Augustine speaks frequently of hope, towards to the future, he also recollects the memory of sin and struggle between options. Thirteen years have now passed since the death of his mother, Monica, which he recorded in book nine. Now as Bishop of the Catholic Church in North Africa, Augustine shepherds and teaches the community whom he is writing. Book ten is a transition, but as Carl Vaught writes, “Augustine has still not reached the end of his journey.”[1]

The Bishop recollects willfulness and the dissipation into many things. His remorse is that he not only missed out on being filled with God, and God filling him, but that he sought finite things that lead to nothingness. Augustine’s hope is turned to the one and only true mediator, who is both man and God, Jesus Christ. Though Augustine received Christ’s forgiveness in book eight, Augustine looks to the future in hope to be filled with him, healed by him, and continually praise him.

Augustine begins chapter twenty-seven, “Too late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient and so new, too late have I loved you! Behold, you were within me, while I was outside: it was there that I sought you, and a deformed creature, rushed headlong upon these things of beauty which you have made. They kept me far from you, those fair things which, if they were not in you, would not exist at all. ”[2]

Augustine’s mind regrets seeking finitude and contingent things rather the only true being who is necessary, who is God. Before this chapter, Augustine rhetorically asks God, “When then did find you, so that I might learn to know you?” [3] He also said, “Everywhere, O Truth, you give hearing to all who consult you.” Augustine speaks of both the transcendence, omnipresence and omniscience of God. Vaught writes that this is “the experiential correlate of the transcendent side of God” in which Augustine experienced in chapter seven when God took him up. Augustine sought God’s mysterious transcendence in book seven. ‘When first I knew you, you took me up, so that I might see there was something to see, but that I was not yet one able to see it.’”[4] Augustine’s description, in book ten, of God as the provider of hearing, recalls chapter eight, in which Augustine hears God through the voice of the child. Augustine wrote in book, eight, “I interpreted this solely as a command given to me by God to open the book.”[5] God provision to Augustine, included Augustine ability to hear the voice of the Lord.

During chapter book ten, chapter thirty, Augustine wrote, “In truth, you commanded me to be continent with regard to ‘the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the ambition of the world.” You have commanded me to abstain from concubinage, and in a place of marriage itself, which you permit, you have counseled something better.’”[6] This portion of chapter ten, connects with multiple parts earlier of Augustine’s struggle including some of book six: “Since it would be two years before I could have here whose hand I sought, and since I was not so much a lover of marriage as a slave to lust, I procured another woman, but no, of course as a wife.”[7]

In chapter six, Augustine was filled with lust. During book ten, Augustine also refers to the theme of rest and restlessness, a theme he recollected from the beginning of Confessions. In book one, chapter one, he had stated his confession, “our heart is restless until it rests in you”[8] and in then in chapter five, he asks God, “Who will give me help, so that I may rest in you?”[9] Now, even though he has received rest in God, Augustine in book ten still seeks and writes of the abundant grace he is seeking. He also speaks of lustful movements in his sleep, still hoping that God can give him a better rest even at his present age. Augustine writes, “Is not your hand, O God all-powerful, powerful to heal all diseases of my soul, and by your more abundant grace to quench even the lustful movements of my sleep. Lord, more and more will you increase in me your gifts, so that my soul, freed from the clinging mire of concupiscence, may follow me to you, so that it may not rebel against itself so that even in sleep it will not commit those base corrupting deeds.[10] Even now, Augustine wants God to heal his soul so that he can enter into better sleep.

The themes of “rest” and being “filled” by God have been remembered in book ten. Also the threefold sin of 1 John 2 and “concupiscence” have been focused upon again. In book ten, chapter forty one, he wrote, “Thus, therefore, I have considered the sickness of my sins in that threefold concupiscence, and I have called your right hand to bring me health.[11]” Throughout his mentions of these sins, one can also remember earlier scenes in Confessions, although Augustine may not cite them specifically. For example, Carl Vaught sees a connection in chapter thirty-one to Augustine’s pear-stealing episode. Vaught writes, “Here Augustine faces a problem that reminds us of a pear-stealing episode (2.4.9), where this problem can be understood as a condition that makes the earlier problem possible and that reflects its structure at the distinctly reflective level. In the orchard, Augustine loves the act of stealing rather than its object (2.4.9), but now he discovers that this act presupposes the passages from emptiness to self-accentuation.” [12]

Perhaps, more significantly is Augustine not only recalling the three fold sins, but also mentioning his need of a true mediator. In chapter forty-two, Augustine speaks of multiple false mediators of prayers, rites and then powers of the air. Augustine then later calls this false mediator sin. However, a reader could think of Augustine’s transition from Manichaeanism and Platonism, and yet still in need of perfect mediator, even though he is intellectually converted in book seven. Vaught wrote, “The devil disguises himself as an angel of light and be becomes counterfeit version of the Light of Truth that Augustine encounters in Milan (8.12.29), and that he sees again when he moves beyond his memory to the God beyond the mind (10.17.26).

The devil who identifies himself with counterfeit light is able to lure those who are proud because he imitates God by not having a body (10.42.67); and since the typical Neo-platonist wants to escape from the body, it is natural that the mediator they seek does not have one.”[13] In book seven, after Augustine has been intellectually converted, he knows that he needs a mediator. In chapter eight, Augustine experiences the true mediator through faith, who is Jesus Christ. Vaught also correctly sums up the summary of this “filling” and “Mediation” in chapter ten. Vaught says, “Earlier Augustine says that even though he catches a glimpse of God, he is unable to be filled with him (7.17.23). Now he says that he wants to be filled by participating in the sacraments of the Church and by interpreting Scripture (10.43.70). [14] Book ten concludes, with Augustine praising the one who gives rest and fill. That one is the true mediator Christ, who has redeemed with his blood. Augustine, now as bishop, can celebrate that filling of Christ, and share it with others in his community.

[1] Carl G. Vaught, Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions, Books VII-IX, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004), 81.

[2] Augustine, Confessions, 10.27.38

[3] Confessions, 10.26.37.

[4] Confessions, 7.10.16.

[5] Confessions, 8.12.29.

[6] Confessions, 10.30.41.

[7] Confessions 6.15.25

[8] Confessions 1.1.1.

[9] Confessions 1.5.5.

[10] Confessions10.30.42

[11] Confessions, 10.41.66.

[12] Vaught 84.

[13] Vaught, 97.

[14] Vaught, 99.

Trusting God Instead of Self

Dave Sterrett — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:16:33 -0800

In my book, Why Trust Jesus?, I refer to Augustine’s journey and wrestle with trust, but as I have been taking a course this semester at the University of Dallas with Dr. William Frank, I decided to come back and revisit that theme of trust. I still agree with what I wrote in my book, Why Trust Jesus? but I wanted share another one of my short papers that I wrote for this class. I will eventually submit a couple more papers on this Conversant blog about Augustine. If you have read the Confessions multiple times or are brand new in studying Augustine, please write your comments and let me know what you have observed in the text.

In Book VIII of Confessions, Augustine recollects the experience of internal turmoil, indecisiveness, self -knowledge, and temptation of old memories and habits. Augustine encounters Lady Continence, urging him to trust God. Throughout this eighth book, we see multiple pictures and stories, each in its unique way, reinforcing one of this book’s main themes of trusting God rather than self. As Continence speaks, trust seems to be such a simple act, but complex emotions including fear, lust and pride are at stake. Continence challenges, Augustine, "Why do you stand on yourself, and thus stand not at all? Cast yourself on him. Have no fear. He will not draw back and let you fall. Cast yourself trustfully on him: he will receive you and he will heal you.”[1] Trusting God, specifically through Jesus Christ, was included in the final passage that brought a peaceful light streaming into Augustine’s soul. “Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in strife, and envying; but put you on the Lord Jesus Chris, and make not provision for the flesh in its concupiscence.”[2]

Contrary to trusting God, trusting in self could include the comfortable dependence on temporary pleasures and lusts of flesh, like “drunkenness,” or lust of the eyes, “impurities” or the pride of life, such as “envy.” The Bishop Augustine reflecting on this encounter with the lady of continence, says, “hosts of youths, men and women of every age, grace widows and aged virgins…were born of you, O Lord, her spouse.”[3] She smiles at the young Augustine and says, “Cannot you do what these youths and these maidens do?”[4] This challenge not only challenges the young Augustine to consider the simple of faith of uneducated, but also seems to be climatic of these previous stories in the book that the Bishop Augustine has told.

Earlier in the book, Augustine recalled how Simplicianus, who was mentor of Ambrose, told Augustine a story about Victorinus. The story of Victorinus was the first of several stories of showing how a person, with influence in the eyes of the world, at one point, gave up trust in self to “cast themselves trustfully on God.”[5] James O’Donnell’s summarizes the book: “Book Eight, consists almost entirely of a series of specific recalled episodes; the first two (conversations with Simplicianus and Ponticianus) containing embedded narratives of other conversation stories, the third (the garden scene) being Augustine’s own conversion story.” [6]

Victorinus was a Roman rhetorician, with wider fame than Augustine. For a while, Victorinus was convinced intellectually that Christianity was true, but did not want to submit his will and trust to the worship of the Holy Eucharist. Finally he submitted and made a public profession of faith. Previously, Augustine wrote on his own intellectual conversation, but the conversion of the heart, includes a decision of trust. The older bishop Augustine now sees the similarity of both conversion stories of Victorinus and himself. O’Donnell writes, “Nowhere in book eight, does Augustine offer the slightest suggestion that he had any remaining intellectual doubts about Christianity.”[7] This indicates that the purpose of this book is to show the will of decision, the attitude of the heart and surrender of trust.

Augustine references multiple times, “the world.” Concerning his contemplation of Victorinus, he mentions, “Thus by the burdens of this world I was sweetly weighed down, just as a man often is in sleep.”[8] As Augustine mentions “world” and “self,” he seems to be indicating a spiritual dimension. According to Augustine, “self” is not just the physical, materialistic body of Manichaeism. Neither is the “world” always, purely the physical world. It is true that Augustine’s struggle was with the material world to some extent, as he recollects his transition from Manichaeism to the ideas of Neo-Platonism. He recalls Platonism persuading his mind away from the philosophical materialism of Manichaeism. However, Augustine, who references St. Paul’s letters of Romans and Ephesians throughout this books, wrote, “Thus I understood from my own experience what I had read, how ‘the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh.’”[9]

As Augustine’s battle is not entirely the physical world (though the physical can be included), he seems to be referring to the world defined by St. John in 1 John 2:15-17. Earlier, the Bishop Augustine had referenced, St. John who wrote, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”[10] It seems that St. John, whom Augustine alludes, was bringing a clarification in terms, that the world does not mean just the physical world, rather than the ‘lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life.’” Otherwise St. John (and Augustine) would seem to be contradicting himself, in his gospel account of Christ. John wrote, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[11] So the “world” is not merely physical, but can also include the soul’s inward desires and choices towards lust and pride.

Next Augustine has a conversation with Ponticianus. Ponticianus speaks of the courtiers of Trier who gave up everything that had to follow God. He references the influence of the men reading Anthony, the Egyptian monk, who grew up in wealth yet forsook it. Carl Vaught says, “Augustine’s shame intensifies as Ponticianus continues to speak, and hidden dimensions of himself of which he has been unaware for so long begin to emerge from behind his back. When his friend has finished his story and leaves Augustine standing in the garden with Alypius, the young Rhetorician begins to talk to himself. He lashes his soul to make it follow his will; and the ethical side of himself no longer winks at his sin (8.7.18). Yet in this moment of perplexity and indecision, he continues to turn away from the transformation he seeks.”[12]

Augustine has wanted success has a rhetorician, yet he is still holding to not only pride, but specifically lust. It was not that anything was wrong specifically, intrinsically with the material goods of this world including bodies and possessions, but Augustine, must as Continence says himself trustfully on God. This indicates Augustine no longer trusting finite goods, nor trusting his own false infinitude. Collin Starnes says, “The problem with these finite goods was simply that they were finite. The difficulty was not that nature was evil as such, but its goods were temporal and limited and in this way they were inadequate to his rational desire for the eternal and infinite good.”[13] Starnes adds, “Sexual desires were the main thing that held him in the world and so the forms in which he saw Continence were examples of sexual chastity. As opposed to nature’s way which urged Augustine to an infinite pursuit of finite goods, Continence (=the church) invited him to follow a single way to the infinite good.”[14] In chapter twelve, soon after hearing the voice a child, Augustine will think again about Anthony forsaking all earthly pursuits to trust that he will have treasure in heaven.

Augustine believed that Christianity is true, but he knew that he had to surrender his trust just like Anthony and the others in this book of VIII. Augustine opened the book, and the chapter in which his eyes fell told him to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Thus, Augustine finally submitted to the words of continence, to not stand on his own self, but to cast himself trustfully on God.

[1] Confessions 8.11.27

[2] Romans 13:14 cited, Confessions 8.12.29

[3] Confessions 8.11.27

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] James O’Donnell, Augustine’s Confessions, Vol. III. Commentary, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 3.

[7] James O’Donnell, Augustine’s Confessions, Vol. III. Commentary, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1992), 8.

[8] Confessions, 8.5.2

[9] Ibid.

[10] 1 John 2:15-17 NIV

[11] John 3:16 NIV

[12] Carl G. Vaught, Encounters with God in Augustine’s Confessions, Books VII-IX, (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2004), 84.

[13] Colin Starnes, Augustine’s Conversion, (Waterloo: Wilfried Laurier University Press, 1990), 230-231.

[14] Starnes, 231.

The Metaphysical Nature of Sin in Augustine’s Pear Theft and Theater

Dave Sterrett — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 21:18:20 -0700

In Book two, of the Confessions, Augustine recollected the evening in which, late one night, he and his buddies stole pears from his neighbor’s vineyard. At first reading, this does not seem like too big of a deal. Obviously, most ethical theories understand that stealing is wrong, but do not most boys steal at some point in their lives? Why would stealing fulfill Augustine’s deep description of depth of foul lust and carnality in the opening in this book: “I wish to bring back to mind my past foulness and the carnal corruptions of my soul.”[1] Augustine wrote, “For in my youth, I burned to get my fill of hellish things. I dared to run wild in different ways of love.”[2] Burning to get his fill of hellish things, does not seem to describe a few young teenagers stealing pears from a neighbor’s orchid and feeding them to pigs. But Augustine’s aim is not merely autobiographical, to tell stories of his hell raising pear theft, but to allow the reader to see the metaphysical nature of sin. Carl Vaught reminds the reader, “The pear-stealing episode is not simply Augustine’s story, but also our own.”[3]

In these early stories like that of the pear, theft as well the theater scene, Augustine described his sin as disorder and movement into nothingness. Colin Starnes wrote, “Unlike animals, man can steal because he places the things in the world in a rational relationship with himself.”[4] Augustine begins the pear theft story by simply stating that he sinned against God by rebelling against God’s written revelation, but also the natural law written on the hearts of men. Augustine did not need the pears, but he willed to commit theft and drove himself into destruction.

Augustine also revealed that sin is the denial of the rationality, which distinguishes human beings from other creatures. Starnes seems to be in agreement with Vaught on this point. Starnes said that this is pure violation of the law of non-contradiction. He wrote, “Animals cannot steal because they ‘know’ no other form of ownership than immediate possession. But, having once recognized the rational ordering of things- ‘the pear belong to my neighbor’- the thief goes on, in one and the same breath, to deny that order to suit his own particular interest- the pears are mind. This is the purest self-contraction which, in relation to property, is the universal form of theft.”[5] Theft can only be done by humans, but the action self contradicts human nature, because it does not consider the rationality of other persons nor himself.

Augustine, later in book two, wrote about a division of the goods that God has placed in the universe. When Augustine denied the law, in order obtain a pretended liberty, he imitated God, by feeling a false sense of omnipotence. He sought to break God’s rational order as he willingly sought sin for its own sake. Augustine therefore showed us that the root of sin has nothing to do with the pears in of themselves. He wrote several times in book two that he did not need the pears, nor was he hungry. “But I willed to commit theft, and I did so, not because I was driven to it by any need.”[6]

Starnes provided a clear description by calling Augustine’s descent the negation of being. “He has shown that in his adolescence he willed nothing less than the negation of being, life and truth of the universe as a whole. Through his fornications and through the theft of pears he had tried to pervert the natural and rational orders, themselves, considered qua orders, to his own private desires. And in both, but in the latter especially and self-consciously, he set himself in absolute opposition to the universe and to the designs of its maker.” [7] Augustine’s sin became negation of being.

Augustine says that he turned away from God and therefore erred. He implies that err is missing the mark of God’s moral nature. Because Augustine turns from God’s nature, he becomes a wasteland. Though God’s character is unchanging, Augustine moves into a changing spiral of longing and thirsting after counterfeit and self-destruction.

Just as the pear theft gave Augustine a counterfeit sense of God’s metaphysical attribute of God’s omnipotence, the theater provides Augustine a counterfeit experience of God’s moral attributes. God in his nature is merciful, love, joy and just. However, Augustine sought a counterfeit of these attributes in the theater. He watches a counterfeit of love on the stage, but it is not true love. For true love takes action of providing and protecting. Augustine experienced a feeling a love, but did not have to commit to the actors of stage. He felt mercy but does not have to show justice. The more moved Augustine’s heart longs for the fictions, the less he is free. Though God in his nature is free, Augustine rejected God’s character and turned to counterfeit freedom that only leads to bondage. Carl Vaught observed that sin is that which is counterfeit. “The theater is filled with images of his own misery and because he can identify his own predicament with what he sees depicted there. On the other hand, he distances himself from the theater by insisting that he does not want the tragic events enacted there to happen to himself. As a consequence, his love for the theater becomes a counterfeit version of his life and a counterfeit solution to the problems generated by his own misery.”[8] Longing for fictions provided counterfeit, but took away true freedom.

The sin of Augustine’s heart in the theater, is encountering a low level of being. Vaught wrote, “they point away from the themselves to the nihil to which the pear-stealing episode calls our attention.”[9] Though we see distinction between the two sins, the movement towards nothingness is parallel in both the pear story and theater scene. The actors are not real and their love is not as good as true love in real life. Likewise, earlier Augustine had stolen the pears, even though they did not look, nor taste as good as the ones in his own vineyard. Augustine said that he would not have stolen the pears alone, but later he said that friendships were nothing.[10] This is evil without purpose, a denial of humanness and the intrinsic knowledge of laws of logic. Vaught described this sin: “willfullness plunges beneath the continuum of finite goods, displaying an infinite attachment of its own infinitude.”[11] Augustine’s illusion of his own infinitude negates the love of knowing and finding rest in God. Sin is a disorder, illusion, and lunge into bondage and ultimately nothingness. Augustine has shown as that sin descends in lower levels moving in a negation of being, but it often begins with the exchange of the truth for a lie “tending down towards lower things, forgets you, its creator, and loves your creature more than yourself.”[12]

[1] Augustine, Confessions, 2.1.1.

[2] Augustine, 2.1.1.

[3] Carl G. Vaught, The Journey Toward God in Augustine’s Confessions, Books I-IV, (New York: State University of New York Press, 2003), 51.

[4] Colin Starnes, Augustine’s Conversions, (Ontario: Wilfried Laurier University Press, 1990) 40.

[5] Ibid.

[6]Confessions 2.4.9.

[7] Starnes, 40.

[8] Vaught, 69.

[9] Ibid., 72.

[10] Augustine 2.8.16.

[11] Vaught, 61.

[12] Augustine 2.3.6.

The World's Biggest Coffeehouse Video

Dave Sterrett — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 15:49:20 -0800

Here is the final video of the World's Biggest Coffeehouse, streamed live on February 23. Josh McDowell and I took questions from a global audience and interacted on the most important questions of faith and doctrine. Hope you enjoy it!

Did Christianity Copy From Pagan Religions?

Dave Sterrett — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:55:23 -0800

In one of the scenes of the Coffeehouse Chronicles, my new novella series, Nick a student who is questioning his own Christian faith, watches the popular Zeitgeist YouTube video.

The video tells a story about religious leaders throughout history who had similar characteristics to Jesus. The video implied that Christianity simply plagiarized from other religious stories that were circulating years before. Names like Attis of Greece, Krishna of India, Dionysus of Greece, and Mithra of Persia were included in the video. The narrator described how these religious leaders, based on astrology were born on December 25, born of virgin, discovered by a star in East, adorned by three kings, became a teacher at twelve, baptized and started ministry at thirty, had twelve disciples, and performed miracles, were known as the “Lamb of God,” “The Light,” crucified, buried for three days, and resurrected.

Perhaps, you are familiar with the video, but I want you to pretend you are sharing your faith with a young critic who has been influenced by this theory. What are some solid responses you can give to critic who says Christianity stole from pagan religions. If you have never seen the Zeitgeist video, take a look:

There are multiple responses in books 1 and 3 of the Coffeehouse Chronicles. Jamal, a doctoral student cites responses from several scholars. Here are few.

Dr. J. Smith of the Encyclopedia of Religion writes, ‘The category of dying and rising gods, once a major topic of scholarly investigation, must now be understood to have been largely a misnomer based on the imaginative reconstructions and exceedingly late or highly ambiguous texts.’”[1]

Dr. Greg Boyd, who earned his doctorate at Princeton Theological Seminary, and Dr. Paul Rhodes Eddy, who earned his doctorate at Marquette write:

The very category of ancient “dying and rising gods” has been called into question by most contemporary scholars. In short, when each of these myths is analyzed in detail, it turns out that either there is no actual death, no actual resurrection, or no actual “god” in the first place![2]

Not only are the differences far more profound than the alleged similarities, but as Sean McDowell notes, “Parallels prove nothing.” Sean asks, “What if I told you about a British ocean liner that could carry 3000 passengers, had a top cruising speed of 24 knots, and had an inadequate number of lifeboats? What if I told you that this ocean liner hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage, which tore a hold in the side of the ship causing it to sink along with 2000 passengers? Mostly likely you would think this was the Titanic. But you would be mistaken. I am describing the Titan, a fictional ship described in Morgan Robertson’s book, The Wreck of the Titan. It was written 14 years before the sinking of the Titanic. While the similarities between the two accounts are striking, they do nothing to undermine the historical evidence for the Titanic.”

Even a similar story did exist, this would not undermine the historical evidence of Christ life, burial in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea , the resurrection and eyewitness accounts of Christ’s appearances.

In our book, the students watch this debate about the uniqueness of Christ resurrection with Dr. Habermas and Tim Callahan:

What are your thoughts?

[1] J. Z. Smith, “Dying and Rising Gods.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, ed. M. Eliade, vol. 4 (New York: Macmillan, 1987), 521., quoted by Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy, Lord or Legend? (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007), 53.

[2] Gregory A. Boyd and Paul Rhodes Eddy, Lord or Legend? (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007), 53.

Coffee, Spiritual Conversations and Dr. Martin Luther King

Dave Sterrett — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:42:38 -0800

Last week, I started up a spiritual conversation with man who was sitting across from me at the local Starbucks. He was editing a Christian book for his father, who was the chaplain of a major university in the city of Dallas. I asked this young man if he was a Christian and he said no. After we talked awhile, this young man admitted that he was a practicing homosexual and he didn’t think it was right for Christians to say that homosexuality was wrong. I hadn’t told him that homosexuality was wrong at this point, but I asked him, “Well do you think that there is anything absolutely wrong with anything?”

He replied, “No, it’s just a matter of perspective and personal experiences. Different people feel different ways about certain actions.”

I responded, “Well, what about child rape? Would you admit that’s absolutely wrong or is that just relatively wrong?”

He hesitated. After his hesitation and uncertainty, I asked a couple more questions to help him discover his inconsistencies. Then, I appealed that the determining factor of morality cannot be humans or individuals. The rapist might feel his action is morally acceptable to him. However it’s still wrong.

The giver of this law is not you and it is not me. We recognize that throughout history certain societies have behaved badly, so we observe that the giver of the moral law cannot be a particular society, either. The giver of this law must be something or someone transcendent, something or someone beyond us. Today, as celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I’m reminded of his convictions in moral absolutes. He said:

But I’m here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It’s wrong to hate. It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong. It’s wrong in America, it’s wrong in Germany, it’s wrong in Russia, it’s wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it’s wrong in 1954 A.D. It always has been wrong, (That’s right!) and it always will be wrong. (That’s right!) It’s wrong to throw our lives away in riotous living. No matter if everybody in Detroit is doing it, it’s wrong. It always will be wrong, and it always has been wrong. It’s wrong in every age and it’s wrong in every nation. Some things are right and some things are wrong, no matter if everybody is doing the contrary. Some things in this universe are absolute. The God of the universe has made it so. And so long as we adopt this relative attitude toward right and wrong, we’re revolting against the very laws of God himself.[i]

Martin Luther King Jr. strongly believed that an absolute moral law exists; and, therefore, that a moral lawgiver must exist. He called this moral lawgiver God. In our three new books, the Coffeehouse Chronicles, Josh McDowell and I try to give examples of how to take ordinary conversations, using the Socratic method, and point the conversation towards truth. We hope these books will encourage you to turn your spiritual conversation towards the Moral Law Giver and Christ, the morally good King, who died for our sins.

[i]Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. recorded on multiple sources including www.standford.edu/group/King/publications

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Dave Sterrett — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:16:22 -0800

George Washington's Proclamation: A National Thanksgiving, October 3, 1789:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

Interview with Jonathan Merritt

Dave Sterrett — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:39:57 -0700

Jonathan is a faith and culture writer who has published over 100 articles in respected outlets such as USA Today, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Washington Post's “On Faith," BeliefNet, The Huffington Post, and Relevant magazine. He is author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet (2010). As a respected Christian voice, Jonathan has been interviewed by ABC World News, NPR, PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, Fox News, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.

Jonathan, you are very gifted writer. Briefly tell ConversantLife, why you wrote this book?

I felt compelled to write this book after having an epiphany in a theology class. It’s funny, really. I became an environmentalist at a Southern Baptist seminary. I was sitting in class and we were discussing the revelation of God, that God speaks to us through both the Bible (2 Pt 1) and nature (Rom 1). It occurred to me that most Christians don’t live a life of reverence towards God’s revelation in nature. For the next year, I scoured the scriptures writing down every time I read something about God’s plan for our planet. This became the beginnings of Green Like God.

Why do Christians, specifically need to read your book?

Because these things are rooted in the scriptures. Many Christians are completely oblivious to the creation care mandates throughout the Bible. We need to rediscover these forgotten truths. Additionally, we live in a world where people equate living an others-focused, sustainable life with being a good person. If Christians are seen treating the world and those who depend on earth’s resources in callous ways, it hurts our witness.

To the Christian, what are a couple significant passages in Scripture that speak of God’s love for creation?

In Genesis chapter 1, God created the earth. And we could just stop there. The fact that God made it is reason enough to care for it. But in the same chapter, God ascribes value to the planet by recognizing that it is “good.” In Genesis 2, God places Adam in the garden to “cultivate it and care for it.” In Genesis 7-9, God enters into a covenant “with every living thing…the whole earth.” In Psalm 19 and Romans 1, we see that the earth is here to declare God’s glory. Jesus asked us to love our neighbors and care for “the least of these,” and as we know, environmental problems disproportionately affect the poor. Finally, in Revelation 11 we find that God has set aside a time of judgment for “destroying those who have destroyed the earth.” And … this is just to name a few. We should never do anything that could be construed as worshipping the creation. But we should always honor the Creator who made a “good” creation and asked us to steward it.

For the most part, I agree with your ethical solutions. However, a page that caught me off guard, was page 66 that said in the margin, “The Bible doesn’t teach the sanctity of human life, but sanctity of all life.” You write, “Is human life sacred because it is human? No.” Jonathan, I disagree with this statement, but perhaps you could expound on your thoughts. I do agree with you that God is the creator of all life, but don’t believe that all life has intrinsic ‘sanctity’ (even though God did create it all). How do you define “sanctity of life?”

By sanctity, I mean sacredness imputed by a blessing from God. As we learn from the scriptures, God “loves all that he has made” (Ps 151). The Bible says he watches over deer and mountain goats during their pregnancy until they give birth. It says that he has given every star a name and he notices if a single sparrow falls from the sky. While we affirm that a human is worth more than many sparrows, we also realize that what makes something sacred is not “humanness” but rather that it has been created by God and is the object of his love.

On page 83, you say that one of the most common names you find in emails is ‘Al Gore.’ You provide a brief biography of Gore. What is your evaluation of Gore’s environmental philosophy of man made global warming?

I am not a scientist, and I have never done any research on climate change. I didn’t really address climate change in Green Like God except in an appendix. In that appendix, I build an approach to the issue based on Christians virtues (honesty, integrity, justice, and prudence). In the face of conflicting evidence like we are seeing on climate change, we should act prudently. As far as Gore, I believe he is probably a sincere person, but I happen to disagree with him on several things especially when it comes to some of his proposals to curb climate change.

How well has the Obama administration responded to the Oil Spill in the Gulf?

I’ve been disappointed at how the Obama administration has responded. The response was slow, foreign countries that offered assistance were turned down, and the willingness to meet with BP executives has been weak. I believe the American people are going to remember the administration’s failures for some time.

What are your thoughts on how churches could help this particular crises?

I think we should begin with mourning and prayer. Then we need to begin providing relief for the hurting people of the Gulf region. Finally, we need to require government officials to make sure the proper regulations are in place that will keep this type of problem from recurring. The eyes of America are focused on this tragedy. We have a great opportunity to turn their gaze on the Creator who stands behind the creation. I hope we do.

To what extent, do you believe the role of government should play in the protection of the environment?

I like what Russell Moore, Dean of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, recently said in response to the oil spill:

“Because we believe in free markets, we’ve acted as though this means we should trust corporations to protect the natural resources and habitats. But a laissez-faire view of government regulation of corporations is akin to the youth minister who lets the teenage girl and boy sleep in the same sleeping bag at church camp because he 'believes in young people.'”

The government exists, in part, to restrain humans from doing evil. At the same time, we have to remember that over-regulation or over-taxation is not an appropriate use of governmental power. There is a fine line between proper regulation and governmental overreach. I am not a policy expert, but we need some good Christian political minds helping us think through this.