Tim at challies.com has posted an excellent article on open theism. I thought it was worthy of a trackback as some of the discussion is related to a post I made about judging God.

Essentially what we have here is man trying to humanize God and it is a very dangerous teaching that seems to be quite popular in the minds of Christians today.

AMDG

Just a little bit about me…

I will be extremely brief.

• I am but a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
• I go by the name of BA and/or Brian (AMDG is just my sig, I will let you figure that one out).
• I have been studying the Scripture for nearly 20 years.
• I have been happily married to my lovely wife for 13 years (as of 2005).
• We have been blessed with two wonderful children (boy & girl).
• We are homeschool advocates.
• I work in the technology industry. (internet/network/computer/security 15+ years)
• I also work in the media industry. (photography/video/production ~20 years).
• I enjoy surfing, fishing, and hunting (just to name a few).
• Most of all I enjoy studying the Scripture, following / serving Christ, and spending time with my wife and kids.
• I already posted a brief statement of faith, however, I agree with the 5 solas:

Sola Scriptura - by Scripture alone.
Solus Christus - by Christ alone.
Sola Gratia - by Grace alone.
Sola Fide - by Faith alone.
Soli Deo Gloria - Glory to God alone.

…tha-tha-tha-tha-tha-that’s all folks.

AMDG

JOLLYBLOGGER: “I Think, Therefore I Blog” t-shirts are now available at his website.

I suppose people that are nuts about blogging might like them.

I personally like the text but don’t like the logo at all. It looks like a dude sitting on the pot. Couple that with the fact that most people don’t know what “blog” means and you have a recipe for…

…I wonder what that means…looks like a guy sitting on the toilet thinking…is that short for big log…so he is just thinking instead of reading while he is going #2…etc etc…

Let me first say that I don’t really keep up with the who’s who in Christianity or in the Christian blogosphere. It seems most of my concentration is on the Scripture and I guess you could say “I don’t get out much” in relation to knowing who all these guys are. I do run across names here and there though and I have been trying to spend a little more time checking such things out.

Most of my comments on blogs and whatnot are objective to the post itself since I usually have no idea who the author is. I do have a few links in my blogroll and I do frequently read some of the more heavily trafficked Christian blogs (since there is usually quite a bit of discussion there).

A good example of the above is linking to Phil Johnson’s blog. Before he started blogging I had no idea who this guy was. I still don’t really know who he is. I do know that a lot of people seem to think that he is “all that” and they love the fact that he is blogging. On the other hand, some people seem to really have it out for him. I really don’t see anything special about his posts. I agree with some of the stuff he posts and some of the stuff I don’t agree with. His posts are not groundbreaking or earthshattering IMO. Though I must admit, I haven’t run across any blogs that are (including mine) and I don’t expect to. He posts frequently and gets a lot of feedback so I like checking his blog. He does go way overboard on the fire graphics though…not quite sure what that is all about (other than a waste of bandwidth).

This post is what prompted me to comment on his blog. So below is my constructive criticism of Phil’s blog.

First off, I think he should keep the blogspotting. He seems to be pretty equal on who he mentions in the blogspot posts and what would it matter even if he wasn’t. One, it is his blog he can do what he wants with it. Two, it isn’t like it means anything if you are mentioned in some dudes blog.

Secondly, what’s with not having trackback capability (or did I miss it somewhere)? Why is he using blogspot.com? Get a domain and get someone to host it for you. Start using some decent software like WordPress. I am sure there are many Christian brothers that would be willing to help (including myself).

Thirdly, lose the fire graphic obsession. It is cute at first but quickly becomes nothing more than a waste of bandwidth. I understand the whole pyromaniac name thing and a few nice graphics…but having some sort of fire related graphic on every other post is just overkill.

Fourthly, hmm, I guess that’s it.

I personally hope he keeps the blogspotting posts and I hope he keeps up the current level of blogging.

You can usually bite off quite a bit of good reading material from just a few sites: challies.com, PyroManiac, and Adrian Warnock’s. They are definitely a good place to start at least.

AMDG

No better time than the present to discuss my thoughts on the free will of man.

To put it simply, man does have a completely free will.

Now, if a person somehow thinks this free will of his can thwart, is outside of, or apart from God’s will, he is severely mistaken. Nothing takes place outside of God’s will, ever. God holds everything in the universe together. Every breath (of the saved and the wicked) comes from God.

We have finite minds and our understanding of everything is put against the background of time. As I type these letters (inside the scope of time) they are original, they are my thoughts that I am freely typing. I can decide to stand up right now and if I do stand up it is me doing it, it is my free will to do things. I am not a robot or a puppet. The greater understanding of this is that I know these things are not taking place apart from God’s will. Everything is happening in accordance with God’s will. God does not let things happen (He is not hands off), God does.

So as not to confuse things at the moment, I will not go into the even deeper issue of freedom as one of the elect vs bondage as one of the lost. Suffice it to say, the chosen truly are free whereas someone who has not been regenerated is totally and utterly depraved and is a complete slave to his sinful nature.

While I am on the subject I will comment on some other issues worth thinking about. Do you ever wonder where the idea of free will comes from? Well, nearly all of the Scripture has a tone of free will. What I mean by this is nearly everything that happens in the Scripture supports the idea of free will. Even the men of God in the Scripture (how they interact with God and how the Scripture is worded) support the idea of free will. Yes, there are a few verses that the dorts love to beat into everybody’s head. However, the verses that give an idea of “free will” far outnumber those few verses.

To be clear here, I am in no way stating that God is not Sovereign over everything. You only need to look at my posts on the subject to see where I stand. In addition, I am not talking about two contradicting views. I am stating that these ideas must be reconciled.

Back to the point. Why is it that the men of God we see throughout Scripture do not speak as if they are diehard calvinists (at least in the sense of the mantra/dogma I see calvinists trying to push today)? Would such a calvinist today ask God to change His mind about something that has been predestined? People in the Bible did. Why does the Scripture reveal (some of) God’s nature as one which can be swayed by human interaction?

You see, the arminian viewpoint isn’t just created out of thin air or a misinterpretation of a few verses…nearly all of the Scripture leads them to their viewpoint. They err when they make assumptions about those Scriptures with their “reason” in charge. They further err when the logic they are using dims the clear teaching on the Sovereignty of God. On the other hand, the calvinist errs in that it seems he is so focused on those few verses that teach God’s Sovereignty that he neglects the overall tone of the Scripture. As a man, why should they be overly concerned about things outside of time, by which we are all bound?

Again, I am not stating that the Sovereignty of God be dismissed, on the contrary, I think that teaching the Sovereignty of God is very important. However, I am raising a question about where the focus is and what is overlooked, minimized, or left out. I am raising a question about making assumptions (and creating doctrine) based on a few verses and human logic. We need to let Scripture speak for itself and conform our minds and logic to the Word of God, not the other way around.

Could Christ have died for all and yet only the elect will be saved? Yes.
Can there be only One God and yet three beings that are God? Yes.
Can man have a free will with God being completely Sovereign. Yes.
Can we see as God sees? No.
Can we completely understand the full nature of God? Of course not.

AMDG