December 1997 New Horizons

"Show Us the Father"

by Paul S. MacDonald

Did you hear about the little boy in Sunday school who was scribbling on his take-home paper? The teacher looked at his paper and asked what he was drawing a picture of. "God," he said. "Why Johnny," she said, "you can't do that—because nobody knows what God looks like." "They will when I'm finished," he assured her. A Physical Manifestation of God That story presents concretely, almost blatantly, the very human tendency for us to conjure up in our minds some image, some picture, some idea of who God is. As adults we are probably more subtle and refined in our conceptions, but we are no less presumptuous than the boy in Sunday school. Even when we know that the second commandment forbids the making of any image of God, including mental images, it is still hard for us not to imagine God as a larger version of ourselves. It was from my seminary roommate that I first heard the quip, "In the beginning, God created man in his own image, and man has been returning the favor ever since." So ... Read more

The Way of True Happiness: A Meditation on the First Psalm (Part 2)

by Geoffrey C. Smith

God's people are always surrounded by wicked influences. The psalmist, aware of this danger, devotes himself day and night to meditation on God's Word as his sturdy defense. He knows that through the Word, the Holy Spirit draws near to his people with words of solace, guidance, encouragement, rebuke, and promise, protecting and reassuring them as they dwell in the midst of unrighteousness. So why has meditation become a lost art? Are there mightier fortresses than our God? Is there a safer refuge for the saints than the protective wings of Jesus Christ? Jesus' instruction in Matthew 7:24-27 is very much to the point: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built ... Read more

The OPC and Abortion

by Charles Wingard

Abortion has become the most significant moral issue of the last half of the twentieth century in America. Do Orthodox Presbyterians believe that God's Word has anything to say about abortion? The General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church adopted a statement on children and abortion in 1971. It placed the denomination squarely in the pro-life camp. It reads in part: Unborn children are living creatures in the image of God, given by God as a blessing to their parents. Between conception and birth they are the objects of God's particular providence and care as they are being prepared by God for the responsibilities and privileges of postnatal life. Scripture obligates us to treat unborn children as human persons in all decisions and actions involving them. They should not, therefore, be destroyed by voluntary abortion in the absence of valid medical grounds demonstrating the necessity of such abortion to save the mother's life. . . . Presbyteries, sessions and congregations [are] encouraged by ... Read more