Reformed dithering and Roman Catholic resolve...

(NOTE FROM TB: Those clicking in from somewhere else should carefully read through John Bulsterbaum's comments below, noting Pastor Bill Smith's easy dismissal of John. Pastor Smith has regularly demonstrated his inability to engage with others without employing diversionary tactics and mockery. We want men who will advance arguments and respond to those who disagree with them. Scoffers like Bill discourage such helpful exchanges, so we've removed Bill's commenting privileges.)

The thing about Roman Catholicism is that secularists' vicious hatred has stiffened her leaders' resolve at the gaps in the wall. Not so much Reformed pastors and teachers: our hearts palpitate as we note the contrast between the world's hatred for Roman Catholicism and the universal adulation of Tim Keller. Hoping to escape the former by embracing the latter, we name our churches "Redeemer this-and-that" and weave Kellerisms like "human flourishing" into our sermons and conversations. Fondly we hope we may escape the hatred and persecution Jesus guaranteed His faithful witnesses.

And thus faithful witnessing is left to Roman Catholic sacramentalists such as Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke who, in a recent interview, spoke forthrightly about his own church's abandonment of Biblical sexuality and...

manhood:

I think there has been a great confusion with regard to the specific vocation of men in marriage and of men in general in the Church during the past 50 years or so. It’s due to a number of factors, but the radical feminism which has assaulted the Church and society since the 1960s has left men very marginalized.

Unfortunately, the radical feminist movement strongly influenced the Church, leading the Church to constantly address women’s issues at the expense of addressing critical issues important to men; the importance of the father, whether in the union of marriage or not; the importance of a father to children; the importance of fatherhood for priests; the critical impact of a manly character; the emphasis on the particular gifts that God gives to men for the good of the whole society.

The goodness and importance of men became very obscured, and for all practical purposes, were not emphasized at all. This is despite the fact that it was a long tradition in the Church, especially through the devotion of St. Joseph, to stress the manly character of the man who sacrifices his life for the sake of the home, who prepares with chivalry to defend his wife and his children and who works to provide the livelihood for the family. So much of this tradition of heralding the heroic nature of manhood has been lost in the Church today.

All of those virtuous characteristics of the male sex are very important for a child to observe as they grow up and mature. The healthy relationship with the father helps the child to prepare to move from the intimate love of the mother, building a discipline so that the child can avoid excessive self‑love.

During the first meeting of the Council on Biblical Manhood I attended, I was shocked to listen to council members voicing opposition to the suggestion that the council speak out against women serving as military combatants. They said it was not something CBMW should take a stand on and during the ensuing years I worked as CBMW's Executive Director I became increasingly disillusioned by CBMW's pathological desire to be liked by God's enemies.

Give an Evangelical a choice between cultural accommodation and Biblical clarity and he'll choose accommodation every time. Then he'll have the audacity to tell you he's chosen accommodation, and you should too.