The Boxing of God (III)

This is the third article in a series that discusses that tendency Christians have to put God in a box. In the first article (link) we saw that we tend to feel insecure about God unless we have contained Him within a box in our minds and then saw that God has revealed Himself to us in a way that is incomplete, but which we can understand. God’s revelation of Himself provides a framework within which we can understand Him. …

The Boxing of God (II)

This is the second article in a short series dealing with the tendency Christians have to put God in a box (click here for the first article). Several people, commenting on this first article, remarked that this is a topic usually reserved for people attacked Reformed theology rather than defending it. Bear with me and I think you’ll have to agree that we, even as Bible-loving Christians, can put God in a box. We can find ourselves feeling insecure about …

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The Boxing of God

A couple of years ago I got thinking about the idea of putting God in a box. This is a charge people often level at conservative Christians and Reformed folk in particular. It is not unusual for us to hear that we seem to feel that we have got God figured out, stuffed and mounted on the wall. And to some extent this may be true. I began to write about this and soon came up with a short series …

A Favorite Poem

I wrote a couple of days ago about poetry and its power in communicating. I do love poetry in general, but certain poems stand out. And there is one that I love more than all others. I thought I’d share it with you today, though I suspect most are already familiar with it. It is John Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud.” Donne lived from 1572 to 1631 and was a prolific poet. He also coined a couple of immortal phrases …

Unity Through Theology

My morning reading today took me to the fourth chapter of Ephesians. This is a chapter that deals primarily with the topic of unity within the body of Christ. Through the first three chapters of the book Paul has been laying the theological framework for the life of good works he describes in the final three chapters. The first topic he discusses in this regard is unity. He encourages believers to live together in humility and patience, bearing with one …

Open Theism in Action

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 …

Calvinist Theology = Biblical Theology

Writing for a forum as public as the internet provides ample opportunity to receive criticism. While I rarely take the time to respond to people who post on other sites long, drawn-out criticisms of myself and what I write, I always respond to those critcisms when they are directed at me through the forums or through email. I make my contact information readily available for anyone who would wish to contact me and I am always genuinely thankful for brothers …

An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism (Part 4)

This is part four of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to a comparison of the two views. I present this as a “quick …

An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism (Part 3)

This is part three of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to the “five points of Arminianism” which arose in response to Calvin’s teachings. …

An Introduction To Calvinism & Arminianism (Part 2)

This is part two of our series studying the differences between Calvinism and Arminianism. Please note that this is only a brief overview of a vast topic. A thorough discussion of this topic can (and often has) filled many books. At the conclusion of the series I will provide a list of helpful resources should you wish to pursue this study further. Today we turn our attention to the “five points of Calvinism.” John Calvin (1509 – 1564) was born …