ANOTHER PLEASANT VALLEY TEWSDAY

The above title, now that I think about it, should be dedicated to Pastor Jerry Tews, the man who was my boss when I first came to Mendota and I started practice in St. John's Lutheran Church where there used to be a school. Yes, yes, it's a long story but I honor him in absentia.

Speaking of pastors, my pastor used the famous Pogo quote, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" , on Sunday, but had no idea of the source of the original quote or that this was a parody of the quote, "We have met the enemy and they are ours!" It seems some of the commonalities of historical statements are no longer so common. The original quote comes from Adm. Oliver Hazard Perry after a set-to in the war of 1812 in which Adm. Perry captured numerous British vessels in the Battle of Lake Erie and wrote those words to the then future president William Henry Harrison and also included a more sundry account of the spoil, all of which is easily captured online, FYI.

My pastor, Steve Adamson, is also loaning me the book, "Stanley M. Horton, Shaper of Pentecostal Theology." At least two of my pastors have had Dr. Horton and at one time early in my Christian life I wrote to this gentleman with some personal/scientific questions and he was gracious enough to send me a reply on at least two occasions, replies which were not only helpful and timely but extremely practical. By this time he is known around the globe at least in Pentecostal circles. His original training was in science but he found he had a gift for teaching and a passion for higher education and so has he had a tremendous worldwide influence on literally millions of people.

I would imagine by now I have lost two thirds or three quarters of my audience. Maybe 100%!

Most other non-Pentecostal denominations and pastors do not believe there is such a thing as Pentecostal theology, systematic or otherwise, and frankly wish that Pentecostals would simply go away. I don't want to get in an argument on this basis but I am recounting that I owe a lot to this man personally as well as theologically. He is now in its mid 90s and still fit and active, still doing some writing and teaching and so forth. He does have his credentials from Harvard and also went to Gordon Divinity School; but the real point is that Dr. Horton, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, cut his theological teeth on liberal theology. Sadly, it was largely the liberal theologians of Germany who went along with Hitler along with the vast majority of German Christians. To say that these theologians, to whom the whole world looked at the time, did a tremendous and organized job of undercutting people's confidence in Scripture, would be to contradict the clear record of history. "Higher criticism", which originated in Germany for the most part not only survived Adolf Hitler and his Reichs-church which encouraged this kind of theology, but their systematic (but doubtful) doubt went on to unabashedly grow in worldwide influence even up until the 70s and 80s, basically until mainline denominational members in the Third World began to question and challenge the basic assumptions of these writers and scholars.

So Dr. Horton came from one world, immersed himself in another, and came to the conclusion that I have frequently come to myself, which is that the dividing line between contemporary liberals and conservatives in the seminary at least, is the willingness to countenance the supernatural existence of God as opposed to the cultural construct view of "God." Of course this is the same division as I have shown to have existed between Pharisees and Sadducees.

Dr. Horton is certainly not of the opinion, any more than Jesus was, that one is necessarily better than the other. I believe he would affirm the view that the only way to transcend this duality is by the genuine reception of the Holy Spirit and by a gradual "putting away of childish things," which not only includes the new toys of the progressives but the old toys of the conservatives. As Jesus said, the blind cannot lead the blind and expect to find anything other than the gutter. "Blind guides" is an equal opportunity designation for anyone at all who would purport to lead and that probably encompasses our political leadership as well.

"We have met the enemy and he is both of us!"