Tag: systematic theology

Why does what we call God matter?

Throughout our look at who God is, we’ve kept coming back to the point that what we believe affects how we live. This means that when we talk about The Doctrine of the Trinity, belief that God is Sovereign or the question of Predestination, we’ve not just been engaging in an intellectual exercise. These beliefs… Continue reading Why does what we call God matter?

What is God called?

What’s in a name? Different names have different meanings.  My name means “loved.” My wife’s name, Sarah, means “princess.”  Generally speaking, though, we don’t tend to pick names primarily for a specific meaning associated with the child. Names are given based on how they sound or because there is a family tradition. For example, I… Continue reading What is God called?

The pastoral power of predestination

The problem when we approach predestination philosophically Predestination is often (almost always) seen as one of those tricky doctrines to be explained and defended (a bit like the Trinity). It’s something controversial and complicated. However, just like with The Doctrine of the Trinity, if we treat Predestination as one of those embarrassing relatives to be… Continue reading The pastoral power of predestination

Predestination or free will?

The Big Question So, this is the big question that has stumped theologians and divided Christians. If God is sovereign and predestines, then what freedom do we have to make choices and thus what responsibility do we have for our actions. This is a question we will come back to in more detail when we… Continue reading Predestination or free will?

God creates, sustains, judges and redeems

We follow on from saying that God wills and decrees to look at some of the specific things he wills and decrees.  We are going to look at these in far more detail later on when we come to look at Creation, Humanity and New Creation. However, I want to just highlight those three things… Continue reading God creates, sustains, judges and redeems

The goodness and greatness of God: Implications for spiritual warfare

If God is completely sovereign and knows all things, past present and future, then is spiritual warfare real?  Or to put it the other way round, given that the Bible talks about spiritual warfare and given our experience in life of an ongoing struggle between good and evil, doesn’t this challenge our understanding of God’s… Continue reading The goodness and greatness of God: Implications for spiritual warfare

God’s Goodness and Greatness: Implications for prayer

Another response to God’s character should be a lively prayer life. In fact, this is part of worship. Prayer is an obvious response to God’s goodness. God is love and so prayer is about a relationship with him, knowing God and knowing that he loves to hear us. We can be confident that a good… Continue reading God’s Goodness and Greatness: Implications for prayer

God’s goodness and greatness: Implications for worship

Our first response to God’s goodness and greatness is worship. In fact, Calvin says that our first priority in life is to seek to be worshippers: “We should consider it the great end of our existence to be found numbered among the worshippers of God.”[1] We exist in a Christian culture where worship is often… Continue reading God’s goodness and greatness: Implications for worship

God in the dock: objections to his greatness and goodness (part 2)

The second big objection to God’s goodness and God’s greatness we are going to look at is atheism. This says that if we have a problem with saying that God is good or that God is great, then the better option is to deny both: to say that God is neither good nor great.  In… Continue reading God in the dock: objections to his greatness and goodness (part 2)