Last week’s discussion of internet etiquette seems to have struck a cord with many. While some misconstrued my comments as seeking to address the topic of male-female roles (in fact, I was urging proper etiquette for everyone), there appears to be a fairly common sentiment that rudeness runs rampant on the internet. In this context, I sought to issue a call for civility of discourse while taking advantage of this wonderful new medium for dialogue.

A few months ago Albert Mohler, in a blog entitled “Blogs and the Survival of Civilization,” cited Daniel Henninger of The Wall Street Journal as saying that “the world of blogs may be filling up with people who for the previous 200 millennia of human existence kept their weird thoughts more or less to themselves.” Henninger noted that the internet seems to be filled with those who he calls “disinhibited.” He wrote,

“Disinhibited vocabulary is now the normal way people talk . . . [o]n the Web and on the street, more people than not talk like this now. . . Intense language like this used to be confined to construction sites and corner bars. Now it is normal discourse on Web sites . . . the blogosphere is also the product not of people meeting, but venting alone at a keyboard with all the uninhibited . . . thinking, suggestion and expression that this new technology seems to release.”

Mohler adds this observation of his own: “Civilization requires a certain level of trust and a set of manners that determines what is and is not acceptable speech or behavior. Right now, the blogosphere is something like a wild, wild West with no sheriff in town. There are few rules and a great deal of anarchy. Bloggers are often ‘disinhibited’ and worse.” Nevertheless, Mohler notes that the web log is “not going away anytime soon.”

When in my previous blog I talked about my love of open spaces but the need for boundaries and self-restraint—for everyone!—I was not talking about male-female relationships or roles, but about civility of discourse—“internet etiquette,” per the title of my post. We all should submit to the biblical standards for courteous, Christlike conduct, whether in the family, the church, or on the internet. Surely that’s something on which we can all agree.

Technorati Tags: internet etiquette, Kostenberger, Mohler

With the proliferation of blogs in cyberspace, there is a need to address a topic not often considered: internet etiquette. It may be surprising to hear a biblical scholar talk about internet etiquette, but a vacation in the beautiful, and cool, Canadian north can do wonders in providing fresh perspective and resetting one’s compass for another year of academic work.

Mind you, I’m not one of those etiquette gurus who try to catch others in every tiny infraction of proper conduct. In fact, I am a free, independent-type spirit who loves nothing more than wide open spaces and plenty of room to roam. At the same time, I am not an anarchist, but do appreciate the need for civility, respect, and sensitivity in one’s relations with others.

Have you ever noticed that people would say things to others on the internet they would never tell them in person face to face? I recently had someone tell me, via blog, that they would never read anything again that I wrote. That strikes me as a rather rude statement, especially since I had done nothing to offend that person, other than to point out what I perceived to be a minor inconsistency in their argument. More importantly, that person and I had never previously met. Is that the way we talk to virtual strangers?

I hasten to add that I have met many very nice, considerate, courteous people on the internet. It seems, though, that blogs are the type of medium that lend themselves to quick, unedited, and sometimes inadequately considered comments that a person may later regret. We all have sent messages we later wished we could take back.

For this reason may I issue a reminder to all of us in the blogosphere to cultivate Christian grace and Christlike character? Rather than duplicate the kinds of shouting matches that are all too common on cable TV news programs, let us be more concerned with reasoned, civilized interchange than with getting our point across or winning an argument. Agreed?

A proper approach to parenting needs to leave adequate room for the relational component in parenting. Christian parenting should be undergirded by wisdom derived from meditation on Scripture, the filing of the Holy Spirit, advice from others (this is where quality literature on parenting can be very helpful if it is balanced and based on biblical principles), and relational experience with the child. Ultimately, we should be careful not to rely on any one human method that, no matter how biblical it may claim to be, is always one step removed from the Bible. Our supreme trust should be in God and in his Word, and we must humbly acknowledge that our understanding of Scripture is not to be equated with the teaching of Scripture itself.

In this relationship of parenting, there must be a balance of unconditional love, spiritual nurture, and discipline (Eph. 6:4) in a context of discipleship and Christian growth (2 Pet. 3:18). Biblical parenting requires that parents understand that children are not merely disobedient, they are also sinful, and they are disobedient because they are sinful. Hence, children ultimately need salvation, not merely parental discipline. Moreover, as mentioned, children are also “simple” in the scriptural meaning of that term (see Prov. 1:22), which requires parental instruction, training, and constant cultivation, much like a garden needs to be tended continually and consistently.

Parents, too, are sinners, and so must guard against putting their own interests above those of their children. Are they concerned that their children disobey in public simply because this causes them embarrassment? Do they want them to do well in school simply because this brings prestige and recognition for them as parents? Do they want them to choose a particular career or to choose a particular mate because this renders them socially more acceptable or desirable? Do they make decisions regarding their children’s education primarily on the basis of their own convenience daycare, babysitters, grandparents, etc.) rather than on the basis of what is best for their children?

This selection is excerpted from God, Marriage, and Family (Crossway, 2004), 154-55. For further study on this topic see the material on marriage and family posted on this website.

Technorati Tags: parenting, Christian, Scripture, Kostenberger, family, Bible

“Whatever happened to truth?” Look at him there, standing in front of Pilate, bearing witness to the truth, calmly stating that his kingdom is not of this world. “Behold, the man!” Here is the Truth, beaten and bruised for our sins, hung on a tree-look at him now, crucified.

Who would have thought? Truth is a person. What is more, truth is a crucified person, Jesus the Messiah, the one-of-a-kind, sent Son from the Father. Three days later, that Truth rose from the grave. Death could not keep him. He showed himself to many and is now exalted with God.

“Whatever happened to truth?” In one sense, the answer is, “The truth is just fine, thank you.” Jesus, the Word, continues to speak to those with ears to hear in his word, the Scriptures. He has returned to his glory with the Father and awaits his return from there at the Father’s appointed time.

In another sense, however, truth is languishing in a state of crisis in our day. In much of contemporary culture, truth has been supplanted by a kind of paranoia that is so skeptical toward any finality of knowing that it is prone to believe conspiracy theories, no matter how far-fetched (witness the Da Vinci Code pehnomenon). All of this contributes to a sense of uncertainty that holds that all knowledge is provisional and subject to constant revision as new facts surface that need to be considered. In this context, can truth, “true truth,” to quote Francis Schaeffer once again, long survive? Or is it time to declare the death of truth just as some declared (prematurely, one might add) the death of God in a previous generation?

The preceding selection is excerpted from the epilogue of Whatever Happened to Truth? (Crossway, 2005). You are encouraged to read the excellent contributions by Albert Mohler, J. P. Moreland, and Kevin Vanhoozer in this volume.

Technorati Tags: truth, Jesus, Messiah, Kostenberger