Doug’s Theological Thoughts

It is possible for a system to be internally consistent and yet false. For instance a system might assert five truths, call them A, B, C, D and E. Suppose that someone who holds this ABCDE system is asked to prove the A. Suppose then that person says, B proves A. Suppose the proof is…

Here is a good article on free will and determinism which deals with some of the common objections to the Free Will Defense; Overcoming Objections to Self-determinism (Free-will).

Why Walk on Water? The Gospels tell us that Jesus walked on water (Mat 14:23-32). At first glance this might seem like something that is too showy for Jesus. Why walk on water? Does this miracle story play a crucial part in the Gospel? Would it still be the Gospel without the story? The story…

How Do We Understand the Bible? N. T. Wright, in his book, “The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is” addresses the question of how we are to understand the Bible in our modern world. Wright starts with an carefully developed historical view of first century Palestine. He puts his scholarly focus on…

A syllogism is sometimes posed in order to prove that regeneration precedes justification: 1 – It is pleasing to God for someone to repent 2 – Those who are in the flesh cannot please God 3 – Therefore those who are in the flesh cannot repent The desired conclusion of this syllogism is that a…

Some Preliminary Thoughts on How the New Testament Writers Quote the Old Testament 1 – The NT writers frequently quote OT passages. 2 – The audiences of the NT writers have varying familiarity with the OT texts. 3 – The audiences may have people that know the OT text quite well since there are probable…

Does God answer prayer? Sometimes in their life everyone has an experience which makes them wonder if prayer is futile. Some Good and Bad Reasons for Prayer 1 – No need to pray because whatever will be, will be. Que sera sera… 2 – We pray because it is commanded but we don’t expect what…

It is often said that “dead men can’t respond” or “dead means unable to respond“. This is used in relation to the passages which speak of our condition before we came to Christ. It is said that since we were dead, and dead men can’t respond, then we were unable to respond to God. The…

Where Does Faith Come From? The New Testament has a lot of verses on faith but not too many passages clearly identify where faith comes from. There are several Scriptural possibilities for where our faith comes from. One is that faith is from God, and the other is that faith comes from somewhere inside a…

What isn’t Christian Apologetics? Christian Apologetics is not giving an apology for the faith as if there is something deficient in the faith. The Christian faith is God’s self-revelation to mankind. There is nothing deficient in that revelation. What is Christian Apologetics? Apologetics comes from the Greek word; apologia, ap-ol-og-ee’-ah; a plea (“apology”):–answer (for self),…

Real or Imaginary Hypotheticals A hypothetical can be either a real or an imaginary hypothetical. It is important to classify the sort of hypothetical that is intended when reading an author who is using hypotheticals. For instance, “if pigs can fly” is an imaginary (not possible) hypothetical. Pigs do not normally have wings. There could…

Anglican Bishop, N. T. Wright, writes: By “the gospel” Paul does not mean “justification by faith.” He means the announcement that the crucified and risen Jesus is Lord. To believe this message is to give believing allegiance to Jesus as Messiah and Lord” is to be justified in the present by faith (whether or not…

The founder of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, Dr. C. F. W. Walther, gave a series of lectures starting in 1884 on the distinctions between Law and Gospel. These are published as a set of thesis in a book entitled, “The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel“. The book provides a set of six rules/guidelines…

The dominant method of pastoral caregiving today is based on Rogerian therapy. In this method, the therapist repeats back the words of the person being cared for. The therapist may ask probing questions, but those questions are always to be based upon something that was given from the patient in the conversation. In this method,…

I have been thinking a lot lately about a question that is deceptively simple. The question is “What is the Gospel?” The answer is surprisingly evasive for a number of reasons. One of these is that there are few clear definitions of “the gospel” in Scripture. Another reason is that the word “gospel” seems to…

A recent story has the warned from Lyle Schaller warning his Northern Illinois Conference of the Methodist Church that they are headed to extinction. Schaller’s words ought to be listened to because he is a well-known expert on church growth. But more importantly Schaller is knowledgeable on church decline. Schaller sees all of the signs…

The Grammatical-Historical-Contextual (GHC) method is the method used by many people to understand Scripture. Using the GHC method a person is said to be able to come away with the original meaning of the Scripture as the author intended. There is much in the GHC method to commend itself. There are also weaknesses in the…

What is the place of parachurch ministries? Should Christians participate in parachurch ministries? Does support of parachurch organizations take away from the church or does it add to it? Is the mission of the church diluted or built up by parachurch organizations? Definitions A few definitions are in order. A parachurch ministry is one that…

Ephesians 2:8 is often quoted as evidence that faith is a gift. The Greek text makes this interpretation a difficult one, however. It may be the case that faith is a gift from God but this verse is inconclusive as proof. Greek has a concept known as gender agreement. Nouns, pronouns and adjectives share the…

For some, this question is like asking “Reformed or Pelagian?” They view things in particular categories that were historically formed hundreds of years ago or more than fifteen hundred years ago in the battle between Augustine and Pelagius. Today, for many, calling someone “Arminian” is a curse. Who was Arminius? Jacob Arminius was a Dutch…

Relecting a bit this morning about creeds and the the purposes they serve. Function of Creeds Historically, creeds served a purpose. They were the road markers for the faith. Issues were clearly delineated by the creeds. If a person strayed from the creed they went too far from the faith. Creeds provided a confessional unity.…

Romans 9:13 is frequently by double predestinarian advocates as Biblical evidence of individual election. The passage has: Romans 9:13 – Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” At first glance it appears that this passage is referring to the historical individuals, Jacob and Esau. The story is so familiar that…

Paradigms. That’s the fancy word for systems of belief. Definition #3 at dictionary.reference.com gives the definition of paradigm as: A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality for the community that shares them, especially in an intellectual discipline. Everyone has a paradigm. In fact, everyone has a paradigm…

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about eternal security and thought I’d lay out my own thoughts. Take them for what they are worth. There are a lot of different ways of approaching this subject and mine is not unique by any means. I need to start with a confession of humility of what I…

Are there female angels? In the book of Genesis, the angels that visit Abraham were men. Other angels in the Bible have masculine names (Gabriel, Michael). These names describe attributes of God. Genesis 6 describes the sons of God that married the daughters of men. In all of these examples, angels are manifested as men.…