Miracles and the Peculiarities of Human Psychology (11/01/05 - 0 Comments)
"A miracle is a violation of the laws of nature; and as a firm and unalterable experience has established these laws, the proof against a miracle, from the very nature of the fact, is as entire as any argument from experience can possibly be imagined" (David Hume). That quote, taken from David Hume, the Scottish philosopher and historian, would summarize what the average person believes about miracles. Miracles are impossible because they violate laws of...
The Metaphysics and Phenomenology of Divine Action (10/25/05 - 0 Comments)
Over the past few days I have been reading The Benefits of Providence, a newly-published book written by James Spiegel. It is a deeply challenging book that is filled with weighty subject matter. It has given me a lot to think about and meditate upon. I look forward to attempting to summarize this book in a meaningful in an upcoming review. I am sure it will be quite a challenge.
The book is, of course, an examination of divine providence with corresponding application to the life of the believer. It is far more than "mere theology," but is filled with useful application. Today I would like to discuss one small section of the book. In the second chapter the author compares and contrasts two views of providence, the high and the low.
Open Theism in Action (09/07/05 - 0 Comments)
My favorite class in high school was Latin. Strange choice, is it not? The reason I so loved the class was that the teacher, Dr. Helder, formed the lessons in such a way that he made a dead language come alive. He showed us how Latin is alive and well in many areas of our culture, either in terminology or in the roots of other languages. I think he touched on an important principle - that for teaching to be interesting it must also be shown to be relevant.
Challenges to the Church - Open Theism (06/27/05 - 0 Comments)
This is the first in a series of articles that will examine various doctrinal and societal challenges the evangelical church must face early in the 21st Century. Today we will look at the doctrine of open theism. Future articles will examine the Emerging Church, ecumenism, postmodernism, and a variety of other topics.
Open theism is a relatively new doctrine that has only gained popular prominence since 1994 with the release of the book The Openness of God which was written by five evangelical scholars and edited by Clark Pinnock. What began on the fringes of scholarship has quickly gained a popular following, in part because of the publication of entry-level titles such as Gregory Boyd's God of the Possible and in part because of the acceptance of the doctrine by various popular authors.
Book Review - Their God Is Too Small (12/16/04 - 0 Comments)
Open Theism, once a doctrine known only to Christian academics, is slowly becoming mainstream among evangelicals. While it continues to be a minority position, it is gaining wider acceptance and several popular Christian authors are teaching it or teaching principles derived from it, even while denying their belief in it. This represents one of the battle-lines of the contemporary church and it is important for Christians to know what this doctrine teaches and be prepared to give a defense of the traditional view of God. This short book, written by Bruce Ware, sets out to teach believers the basics of what they need to know to defend the traditional doctrines.
Put simply, open theism is a doctrine that teaches that God does not fully know the future, for he cannot see what humans will do with the free will He gives them. Therefore, God has taken a great risk in giving us freedom. Of course this contrasts with the biblical teaching of God's omniscience - that He sees and knows everything in the past, present and future - as well as God's omnipotence - that He not only knows these things, but controls them as well...
The Openness of God (12/15/04 - 0 Comments)
I have said much in the past year or two about the doctrine known as Open Theism. This is a doctrine that began on the fringe of evangelicalism but is slowly becoming increasingly popular. Many evangelicals, though not willing to embrace the view, are open to regarding it as a non-essential, optional doctrine. They do not believe it is important enough an issue to fight against. In this article I want to first define Open Theism and then provide some quotes from its main proponents. Following each quote I will provide a brief commentary. I believe that allowing the Open Theists to speak for themselves will be more valuable than having me summarize their positions. So first, a definition which I blatantly copied from Monergism.com (apologies to my friend John!).
Open Theism is a sub-Christian theological construct which claims that God's highest goal is to enter into a reciprocal relationship with man. In this scheme, the Bible is interpreted without any anthropomorphisms - that is, all references to God's feelings, surprise and lack of knowledge are literal and the result of His choice to create a world where He can be affected by man's choices...
Book Review - The God of Yes (09/30/04 - 0 Comments)
I'm going to be straight with you: I did not finish this book. Generally I will not review a book until I have read it from cover-to-cover, but in this case I just couldn't do it. I got about two thirds of the way through and had to call it quits. It wasn't that the book was so heretical I just couldn't take it anymore (though there were a few theological problems) and it wasn't...
