Posts Tagged ‘Systematic Theology’

SysTheo Class Study and Presentations

Great work CCS Systematic Theology Classes! After 60+ hours of combined work, these are pretty good overviews. The Father is truly amazing!

See slides here and learn your class’ approach.

God the Father student presentations

Post to Twitter

Singing with our brother, Job. Only God can give us this . . .

May we learn a lot from our brother, Job. Good work Systematic Theology Class!

YouTube Preview Image

Post to Twitter

DailyTheocentrism: Omnipresence and Omniscience are the same thing – to be fully aware is to be there.

Spurgeon:

Psalm 139:2
“Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising.”


Me thou knowest, and all that comes of me. I am observed when I quietly sit down, and marked when I resolutely rise up. My most common and casual acts, my most needful and necessary movements, are noted by thee, and thou knowest the inward thoughts which regulate them. Whether I sink in lowly self-renunciation, or ascend in pride, thou seest the motions of my mind, as well as those of my body. This is a fact to be remembered every moment: sitting down to consider, or rising up to act, we are still seen, known, and read by Jehovah our Lord.

“Thou understandest my thought afar off.”


Before it is my own it is foreknown and comprehended by thee. Though my thought be invisible to the sight, though as yet I be not myself cognizant of the shape it is assuming, yet thou hast it under thy consideration, and thou perceivest its nature, its source, its drift, its result. Never dost thou misjudge or wrongly interpret me, my inmost thought is perfectly understood by thine impartial mind. Though thou shouldst give but a glance at my heart, and see me as one sees a passing meteor moving afar, yet thou wouldst by that g!impse sum up all the meanings of my soul, so transparent is everything to thy piercing glance.

Psalm 139:7
“Whither shall I go from thy spirit?”


Here omnipresence is the theme, – a truth to which omniscience naturally leads up. Not that the Psalmist wished to go from God, or to avoid the power of the divine life; but he asks this question to set forth the fact that no one can escape from the all-pervading being and observation of the Great Invisible Spirit. Observe how the writer makes the matter personal to himself – “Whither shall I go?” It were well if we all thus applied truth to our own cases. It were wise for each one to say – The spirit of the Lord is ever around me: Jehovah is omnipresent to me.


Post to Twitter

AskRob: A question on initial thoughts regarding Dispensational & Covenant Theologies

Q. I have a question that is probably best answered in a deep discussion, but I am really just looking for you to give me a few resources (online or in print) that would help us out. My accountability friend and I are starting a study of the book of Hebrews. She mentioned that she would also like to look a bit into the arguments for and against Covenant Theology since she has had several friends leave the church over this issue and she would like to have a better understanding of this for discussions with them and her family members in other denominations who believe in Covenant theology. WHEW! This is out of my zone but I’m up for the challenge. John’s got a lot more head knowledge for these types of discussions but I’m willing to learn more about what I believe so that I can have a good discussion with those who believe differently. Since Hebrews is about the Jews who were practicing a hybrid faith, I want to be sure I am not swayed in the wrong path as well. Do you have any starting points for us?

Thanks!

  1. Let me start by providing some starting points. You probably do not need them, but in case its helpful, let me build a perspective – if not, just humor me. ;P

Read the rest of this entry »

Post to Twitter

DailyTheocentrism: The Divine Will of God and the providential will of God

(I am reposting this to prepare for our Sunday School lessons upcoming)

It must be said that there is an attribute, both eternal and uniquely divine, about God’s will so as to say that it is immovable, immutable and the only reality there will ever be. (Job 42:2)

This is coupled with the fact that He provides some freedom to those who have been reborn and can thus be alive and make choices. It CANNOT be said that man ever has freewill, as a “free-will” would be able to do anything it wants to do anytime it wants to do it – only God can do that. Rather, we live within the realm of responsibility and Divine Sovereignty, as D.A. Carson writes. Yet, how if God’s WILL is sovereign over all can we ever make a choice. Well . . . we can and we cannot.

This is where the principle of complexity needs to replace ideas of contradiction. Two items may only seem to contradict, unless they are elementally opposed – then they contradict. Otherwise, they may be two corollary attributes of a thoroughly complex system. Here that applies to the reality that the tension between say, the imperatives (commands) in Scripture and the fact that God has no thing outside of His WILL, is no tension at all – it only seems to be. This applies to sin and the Sovereignty of God as well. His Will is complex enough to contain His will (providence with man) and it is neither a contradiction, nor a diluting of the integrity of God.

See the illustration below:

God’s providential will (the filial application of God’s Sovereign WILL to His relationship with mankind) lies always within His Sovereign will, namely because it is born out of it – as all things are. Yet, it is within the complexity of His will a real realm of [limited] choice – namely to please or not to please Father. These two categories are essential to even begin a dialog on the Will/will of God. For truly, no thing can ever thwart the WILL of God.

Post to Twitter