Miscellany – Page 5 – Gregory Scott Blog

Great Awakening Travel Journal-Day 4

Our day began with a drive to Newburyport, Massachusetts that should have lasted an hour but took nearly two because of traffic and a stop at Dunkin Donuts. If you’ve not been to Boston, you may not know Dunkin Donuts has taken dominion over Boston. We counted five on a one-mile stretch on the road out of Boston, so we felt compelled to stop and see what all the fuss was about. I’m still trying to figure it out.

We went to Newburyport because that is the location of Old South Presbyterian Church (see pic above), where George Whitefield is buried. He died there on September 30, 1770, the morning after insisting on preaching the gospel one last time as he felt he was passing from this life to the next. He was buried in a crypt under the church.

Only, we made the mistake of coming on a Saturday when the church was closed, so we could only wander around outside and did not see the crypt. It was a disappointment to be sure, but with the disappointment came a surprise: the house next door was the house where William Lloyd Garrison (1805-1879), one of the most influential abolitionist of his day, was born.

Great Awakening Travel Journal-Day 3

Today we visited Concord and Lexington, Massachusetts, suburbs of Boston where the American Revolutionary War began. Ann is a bit of a revolutionary, which I think also fuels her Reformation spirit and anti-popery, and The Wife has always considered rules mere suggestions. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that the visit to Concord and Lexington was orchestrated by them.

I went along, but only after finding some eyewitness testimony to the Great Awakening in Concord. This took the form of an anonymous letter written to a minister in 1742, which is part of Jonas Bowen Clarke’s Collection of Papers at the Congregational Library in Boston. I wisely kept the content of the letter to myself until lunch, after The Wife and Ann had fully exercised their revolutionary impulses and were ready to get back to our trip’s theme.

On the drive to Lexington and Concord, I couldn’t help but try to provoke Ann and The Wife by asking if they thought a disagreement over taxation (i.e. taxation without representation) was a valid reason for revolting against authority.

Does Wearing a Mask Demonstrate a Lack of Faith?

We’ve now had at least two couples leave the local church I attend because we have required attendees to wear a mask during the pandemic. Both couples have accused us, directly or in directly, of lacking faith by wearing masks and by requiring those who attend our service to do so as well.

I’m hearing similar arguments from other believers as well, even some family members. So I thought it time to address it here. I’ve already addressed the difference between trusting and testing God in the pandemic, and I need not repeat that here. But there are a few more points to be made on this issue.

First, if you are one who believes wearing a mask shows a lack of faith, ask yourself a few questions: Do you look both ways before you cross the street, do you lock your doors before you go to bed at night, or do you own a gun? I guess you lack faith; or maybe you don’t lack faith; maybe you are just employing common sense to protect yourself and others in a fallen world. It is irresponsible to take needless risks with your own health; it is unethical to do so when it puts the life or health of others at risk.

The Banana Apologetic

There has been a lot written, beginning with Darwin, about how the existence of the monkey proves man could have developed without God.

I think those who make such arguments have skipped a few steps. Specifically, they have skipped over the banana. Man is complex to be sure, but he is flawed. The banana is perfect, and if the banana is perfect it, never should have survived.

First, the banana is the perfect size. It fits perfectly into one’s hand, regardless of the size of one’s hand, and it’s slight curvature makes it easier to hold. The banana is the ultimate hand fruit.

Chesterton on Gender

“A woman is only inferior to a man in the manner of being not so manly; she is inferior in nothing else.”

G. K. Chesterton