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The teleological argument

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I was prompted a recent episode of Premier Christian Radio’s ‘Unbelievable’ programme to do a little bit of reading around this subject. That episode featured an interview with noted Christian apologist William Lane Craig, who at the end of last year participated in a panel discussion which also involved Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins repeated his oft-expressed view that although the universe seems to be designed, this is illusory. Design implies purpose, and purpose implies mind. There is no mind, and therefore not purpose or design in the universe at large.…

Flavel on guidance

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John Flavel (1628-1691) offers much in very few words:-

If therefore, in doubtful cases, you would discover God’s will, govern yourselves in your search after it by these rules:

1. Get the true fear of God upon your hearts; be really afraid of offending him.

2. Study the Word more, and the concerns and interests of the world less.

3. Reduce what you know into practice, and you shall know what is your duty to practice.…

Substutionary atonement: a note to preachers

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Critics of the doctrine of penal substitution, as well as a number of its more thoughtful supporters, have commented that the illustrations of it that preachers use are often misleading or even inept.

Tom Smail, for example, says that the story of ‘the judge who pronounces sentence on the criminal and then divests himself of his robe, comes down from his judgement seat and says, “I will bear this punishment in your place” is, in terms of justice, a quite scandalous story.’…

Love for Christ

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The love that a Christian has for Christ is a practical, as well as an emotional thing.  It has its own distinguishing marks.

J.C. Ryle expressed it very well, I think:-

1.  If we love a person, we like to think about him. We do not need to be reminded of him. We do not forget his name or his appearance or his character or his opinions or his tastes or his position or his occupation.…

That’s not what I call preaching 3

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Joel Osteen is senior pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.  He preaches to thousands who attend services at the church, as well as to millions more across 100 different countries via television.

Osteen is a mild-mannered man who is never seen in public without a smile.  As far as I can tell, he is unlike most other television preachers in that he does not go out of his way to ask for money.  When challenged, as he often is, about why his preaching is devoid of biblical content, he disarmingly replies that others are better than he at explaining the Bible.  …

That’s not what I call preaching 2

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Willow Creek Community Church is one of the largest and most influential churches in the world.  Its senior pastor, Bill Hybels, travels globally, teaching church leaders how to manage their congregations more effectively.

The following Issues Etc. podcast drew my attention to a recent sermon of Hybel’s:-

Review of ‘Jeremiah’s Tough Assignment’

The sermon itself can be accessed here, but you have to pay up to $10.50 for it.

Hybel’s message can easily be summarised: when Jeremiah was given tough assignments by God, he never gave up. …

Philemon – 2nd Sermon

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Onesimus, a slave, had run away from Philemon. He had met Paul in Rome, and there become a believer. Paul sent him back to Colossae with a letter, asking the master to forgive the slave, and to receive him back.

What was Paul’s motivation? Clearly, he had come to love Onesimus as a Christian brother. Clearly, too, he believed that all people are equal in the sight of God. (Gal 3:28) ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’…

Philemon – 1st Sermon

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[This was the first of a pair of sermons preached on this wonderful little letter of Paul.  The aim was to summarise the letter, while encouraging the listener to get into the feelings and experiences of the individuals involved.  The main applications came in the second sermon.]

THE MESSAGE OF PHILEMON

I want to take you back in time to a day in the year AD 61. It is early evening, and Philemon and his wife Apphia are looking out from the veranda of their home in Colossae.…

Molinism – the doctrine of middle knowledge

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Luis de Molina (1535-1600) was a Spanish Jesuit theologian who attempted to reconcile the apparently contradictory doctrines of divine sovereignty and human free will by postulating that God has a ‘middle knowledge’ (scientia media).

Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) had taught that God has two kinds of knowledge.  The first is a knowledge of the actual: a knowledge, arising out of God’s absolute decree, of what exists in the past, present and future.  The second is a knowledge of the possible: of what could exist in the past, present and future, but does not, because God has not decreed it.…

Carson on open theism

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I’m going to summarise a helpful review of open theism given by D.A. Carson in the following lecture:-

Openness of God Theology

1.  Definitions and key people

Leading figures in this movement include Clark Pinnock, Greg Boyd, and John Sanders.

According to Sanders, there are no-risk and risk views of divine providence.  The no-risk (or classical) view is that God ordains everything.  But this would mean that God ordains evil, including suffering and death.  Open theism takes a ‘risk’ view of providence.…