Archive for June, 2005
« Previous EntriesWorship: a Response to the Divine Initiative
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005Introduction John Calvin’s doctrinal magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion, begins with what seems at first glance to be a remarkably unoriginal statement: the knowledge of God and ourselves are interrelated. What is more remarkable is that, after a general explanation of that connection, he leaves its essential nature untouched, and begins immediately to examine […]
Land, Seed, and Blessing in the Abrahamic Covenant
Sunday, June 19th, 2005The character of the promises first made to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, and later reiterated and expanded in 12:7; 13:15-17; 15:1,4-21; 17:1-9,19; 21:12; and 22:16-18 has long been recognized, in some sense, as foundational to all of redemptive history subsequent to this epochal event. How we understand the precise nature of these promises, therefore, will […]
A Defense of the Reformed Understanding of the Human Will
Sunday, June 19th, 2005Introduction The complacency with which many evangelical Christians today regard the question of free will in humanity is an unmistakeable indication of the radical shift in mainstream Protestantism from its Reformed moorings. To Luther and Calvin alike, the idea of a human will that is in all respects bound by its corrupted nature was not only […]
Monergism in Sanctification: A Study in Semantics
Sunday, June 19th, 2005In the Church’s pursuit of theological accuracy during the past two millennia, two obstacles have ever been present to obstruct the doctrinal pathway: one is semantical confusion, and the other a misplaced loyalty to tradition - loyalty to scriptural interpretations, theological systems, and terminology. The two problems go hand in hand: if a term grows […]
Your Kingdom Come
Sunday, June 12th, 2005A Cursory Examination of the Eschatological Expectation of the Scriptures It is an interesting observation that the subject of “the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Tit. 2:13), has a greater portion of scripture dedicated to its detailed examination than almost any other single subject; and […]
Is It Possible to Prove the Existence of God?
Thursday, June 9th, 2005The Nature of Proof It is universally recognized that proof demands an objective system of criteria by which the thing to be proved is evaluated, and which is external to that object of proof. A thing cannot prove itself, because, before it can be a standard of proof, it must first be solidly established, or proved […]
Speculative Physics (part 1)
Thursday, June 9th, 2005Our conception of time is generally based on our understanding of motion: that is, time appears to us ordered by events of change in the relationship of one thing to another in space. That occurrence of change in space which seems to us the most fundamental and predictable we understand to be our truest indicator […]
Speculative Physics (part 2)
Thursday, June 9th, 2005The physical world in which we live is perceived by us both materially and temporally: we are fundamentally aware of space; without the apprehension thereof, we can have no empirically-based cognition; we are secondarily aware of matter: matter is possible only in space, but space is possible without matter. We can conceive of no other […]
Critiquing the Dispensational Hermeneutic
Wednesday, June 8th, 2005An open response to a letter positing a necessary hermeneutic for the understanding of Scriptures; or, in fact, any extension of knowledge Dear _________, For the sake of the name of our precious Savior whom we both serve, and in the bonds of his love, I trust that you will not count amiss my intrusion into your […]
Is Dispensationalism Biblical?
Wednesday, June 1st, 2005The interpretive grid which sees a literal fulfillment of certain Old Testament prophecies mandating a futuristic, national restoration of ethnic Israel as an earthly people of God enjoys much currency today. Is this hermeneutical framework biblical? The question is not primarily eschatological, although it does have necessary eschatological implications. Neither is the question exclusively one […]
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