Guilty by Association

Even after we’ve successfully struggled past the first two-thirds of the word “Calvinism,” often we’ll find a second red herring swimming amongst those last three letters.  I’m referring to the common practice of equating of Calvinism with the humanistic philosophies of fatalism and/or determinism.

Convicted Prior to Trial

If we’re looking for examples of misguided argumentation in the soteriology debate previously introduced, we need search no deeper than the very names by which these theological positions have been identified.  Even on this most basic, easily understood level, straw men are propped up and blown away.  Let’s look at the first of two common red herrings that do nothing but distract from the real issues at hand.

Shootin' Up Tulips

Although controversies in any area of theology can degenerate into the kind of misdirected argumentation mentioned in the last post, it seems, at least in my experience and observation, that one area is subject to more confusion and misrepresentation than several others put together.  This would be the area of soteriology–the study of doctrines pertaining to salvation.

Friendly Fire

Canada’s into a federal election year.  This means that we Canadians will be subjected to a more-than-tolerable amount of political character assassinations and governmental villainizing from every direction.  What makes it so time consuming to get to the truth of any candidate’s actual and fuller views on a given issue, however, is each party’s shameless tactic of mis-representing their opponent’s positions to make themselves look like White Knights by comparison.  Shady, frustrating, but unfortunately not shocking.

Controversial History

Last post was a brief look at the day-to-day life-size value of becoming familiar with the various theological controversies that have arisen throughout the church’s 2,000 year history.  In looking into any given controversy, it’s valuable to see not just where the positions or arguments are now, but where they started.

Experiencing Truth

My enjoyment of “theological non-fiction” has been growing steadily for the past several years.  I love reading the truths that minds much bigger and wiser than my own have been able to extract from the Scriptures.  God’s Word just seems to get deeper and deeper all the time; new-to-me insights into verses that I’ve read many times before never cease to make my heart rate climb.

Tricked Out of Our Treat

I’ve noticed in the last few years that each time we get close to October 31st there’s a firestorm on the internet among Christians regarding the right or wrong of participating in that day’s popular activities.  I feel more strongly about the whole thing than I used to so I’m going to throw in my two cents.

Gov't

“Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well.” - I Peter 2:13-14
“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” - Acts 5:29

Sending in the Troops

I really enjoy observing different peoples’ reactions when I tell them my boys are homeschooled.  Maybe it’s just the people I’ve come across, or maybe it’s our society’s dread of offending others, but I can’t recall a single negative reaction.  The majority of people I’ve mentioned our homeschooling to have been unbelievers, and they’ve still had nothing but encouragement and good things to say about the practice.

Abdication and Usurpation

Although most of us Christians would (hopefully) be quick to affirm that the Bible is indeed the sole rule of our faith and practice, there seems to be a frustrating natural tendency to mold what we read in the Bible to fit our own pre-conceived ideas of what’s “normal” or “reasonable.”