This (re)post is a “stand-alone.” But I think it is rather important in its own way. I apologize for the formatting. “When the Christian sets forth his outlook he will stress the kind of God to whom he is committed, the nature of the world in relation to God, and the nature of man as God’s creature. The Christian God is totally self-sufficient, and in Him there is an equal ultimacy of unity and diversity (being Triune). Everything outside of …
Category: Theology
After a ridiculously long delay, I have started to finish off my series on the Parameters of Meaning beginning with this one on Typology. I believe these guidelines will help Bible students avoid many pitfalls in interpretation by setting limits on what constitutes legitimate hermeneutics. For those of you interested here are the previous installments: Parameters of Meaning – Introduction Parameters of Meaning – Rule 1 Parameters of Meaning – Rule 2 Parameters of Meaning – Rule 3 Parameters of …
Here’s an older piece which I thought worth bringing out for perusal. It’s fairly long, but I hope some folks will like it: Introduction The Christian must take his or her position upon the words of Scripture. Not after it has been granted that the Bible really is the very Word of God, but it must be the great presupposition, the ultimate commitment of every child of God. We must insist that there is, in fact, no alternative to the …
Part One God is not, in any of the great theistic traditions, merely some rational agent, external to the order of the physical universe, who imposes some kind of design upon an otherwise inert and mindless material order. He is not some discrete being somewhere out there, floating in the great beyond, who fashions nature in accordance with rational laws upon which he is dependent. Notice that Hart has in mind the general consensus among theistic religions about God, not …
Part Eleven This is the final part of this exploratory series on the rapture of the Church. It’s main purpose has been to show that none of the competing positions on the “taking out” of the saints merits more than an “inference to the best explanation.” Within the Rules of Affinity this would be a C3. I have looked at posttribulationism and midtribulationism in the last post; here I shall look at the prewrath and pretribulational views. PreWrath This view …
Domain For Truth have posted some Presuppositional Apologetics materials by Dr. Brian Rickett. Worth checking out! https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/presuppositional-apologetics-2014-paschal-lectures-by-brian-rickett/ P.S. There is also a fine essay by SLIMJIM about teaching Systematic Theology. …
Part Ten As I bring this series to a close, I want to provide some summaries of the various rapture positions, along with a few pros and cons. Of course, I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, and I understand that much more could be said in support of each position. Still, my main goal has been to come at the doctrine from a slightly different angle and to present the theological issues which arise. Posttribulationism The posttrib position …
A review of David Bentley Hart, The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss, Yale University Press, 2013, 376 pages, paperback. Among the most learned and entertaining, if not sometimes infuriating writers on the theological scene today is David Bentley Hart. He is the author of such notable books as The Doors of the Sea, The Beauty of the Infinite, and Atheist Delusions. Alongside this is his impressive portfolio of articles (in particular for First Things). His ‘Christ or Nothing’, ‘Laughter …
Part Nine This installment may be thought of as a digression, but I think it belongs to the overall argument. Imagine a world where the removal of the saints from Planet Earth happened but no one had the foggiest idea of when that might be. If the NT alluded to such a thing there would still be some hope that we just may be the ones to get called up. The doctrine of the rapture would still be a “sure …
Parts Three and Four Here are the fifth and sixth videos of my TELOS Conference presentations of Biblical Covenantalism. These presentations cover the pivotal role of the Lord Jesus Christ in “the Creation Project” set out in God’s Word; especially in His Covenants: Fifth Talk: CHRIST AND THE NEW COVENANT Sixth Talk: CHRIST AND THE CONSUMMATION OF ALL THINGS I hope that these six presentations elucidate my approach more clearly for some visitors to this blog. …
