Accusations of heresy are thrown around quite liberally at times. This has been seen most pertinently in recent times in the dispute about Eternal Functional Subordination. Some of those on the EFS side have been quick to presume that their interlocuters were slipping into heterodoxy and falling for modalism. However, the louder accusations have come… Continue reading When to use the H word (on calling brothers and sisters heretics)
Category: Theology
On the frequency of dreams and visions in the early church
I wanted to pick up on something I saw in a recent article looking at the question of dreams and visions. I’m not going to unpack the whole question of dreams and visions here except to say that I believe that these are available for Christians today. As I’ve mentioned previously, we talk about God… Continue reading On the frequency of dreams and visions in the early church
Bavinck, The Trinity and EFS
I recently saw some discussion on Facebook about a quote from H Bavinck. The quote is as follows: Nevertheless, this doctrine of the pact of salvation, despite its defective form, is rooted in a scriptural idea. For as Mediator, the Son is subordinate to the Father calls him his God (Ps. 22:2; John 20: 17),… Continue reading Bavinck, The Trinity and EFS
Are you ready to vote?
There are likely to be some big elections this year. The US Presidential election will take place in the Autumn and at some point, Rishi Sunak is likely to call a General Election in the United Kingdom. Generally speaking, I don’t like it when pastors and elders attempt to tell people how to vote and… Continue reading Are you ready to vote?
If God predestines, why bother with evangelism?
There was an old apocryphal tale of little Calvinistic churches that didn’t put up notice boards with service times because if you were part of the elect, then you were predestined to be at church at the right time. I am not sure if anything like that has ever really happened. However, this has been… Continue reading If God predestines, why bother with evangelism?
One less God?
“You don’t believe in 3000 gods, I just happen to believe in one less than you.” It’s one of the great claims atheists make against Christianity.[1] The argument is that there are so many possible options for a god to believe in, what is to say that your god is the true god? What makes… Continue reading One less God?
What have we learnt about God and from God?
What we’ve learnt We started looking at “Who is God?” by seeing that we can end up believing all sorts of lies about God. These include that God is not love or that he could not love me, that God is weak, he lacks the power to act, that God is distant, unapproachable and so… Continue reading What have we learnt about God and from God?
How important exactly am I – when we demand too much in friendships
And now to Precosia. In some respects, I find this the saddest of all the scenarios we have looked at. Why do I say that? It’s not to diminish the seriousness of the other situations. However, I think that generally speaking we are more likely to get what is stake with the other ones.[1] When… Continue reading How important exactly am I – when we demand too much in friendships
Learning to Enjoy God – An Alcoholic meets the good God
When we came to Methuselah, the alcoholic, we intuitively went to Ephesians 5:18: “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Here we see that being filled with the Spirit is contrasted – not compared – with being drunk on wine. I think that one… Continue reading Learning to Enjoy God – An Alcoholic meets the good God
The doctrine of God and a marriage on the rocks
Now we return to Tom, Gladys and Ethel. Tom had been giving Ethel lifts to home group whilst his wife Gladys stayed at home. When we first met their situation, we talked about a gut instinct that things were wrong and that we weren’t getting to hear the whole story. Tom had admitted that his… Continue reading The doctrine of God and a marriage on the rocks
Faithroots 