According to so-called “classical theism,” God is wholly immutable, or unchanging. Not only can he never change in character, or nature; he cannot change in any respect whatsoever. He does not have changing thoughts; he does not have changing emotions (he is “impassible”). Indeed, he does not even experience sequence in his thoughts, emotions, or life generally. He is wholly “timeless,” with no before or after, with no sequence at all. His existence is somehow a timeless nunc (“now”). Continue reading
Category Archives: New Testament Teaching
The Prodigal Son and Open Theism
The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most moving of the parables of Jesus that have come down to us in the New Testament Gospels. Unfortunately, the depth of meaning in the parable, especially as it relates to the character of God, is blocked from many Christians and other theists saddled with false ideas about God. Continue reading
The Myth of Original Sin
The doctrine of original sin says that as a result of Adam’s sin all of Adam’s posterity besides Jesus are born with a “sinful nature,” whereby they are physically unable to do anything but sin; they cannot do good. For example, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state.” Continue reading
The Spread of Early Christianity as Proof of God and the Truth of the Christian Revelation
Here’s another selection from James Harris Fairchild’s Elements Of Theology, Natural And Revealed
. In this selection Harris briefly presents the argument for the existence of God and the truth of the Christian revelation from the spread of early Christianity. In sum, “The great fact that Christianity starting from Judea spread over all the Western world and changed the whole tide of history requires as an explanation such events as those which the Gospels record.” Continue reading
Jesus as Proof of God and the Truth of the Christian Revelation
This is a selection that I’ve adapted from James Harris Fairchild’s Elements Of Theology, Natural And Revealed
(1892). In the selection Fairchild presents an argument for the existence of God and the truth of the Christian revelation that one does not see presented anymore, which is a shame because it’s a powerful argument. It is a kind of teleological argument from the Jesus of the Gospels. Just as the universe in general plainly evidences its design and creation by a transcendent being (God), so the person of Jesus presented in the Gospels plainly evidences divine origin. He is no “mere man” and no literary invention. Continue reading
How am I Saved?
I was talking with a friend of mine about God and Christianity recently, and he said he was trying to get clear on salvation. Specifically, he said he had been trying to hammer down an answer to the question, “How am I saved?” He asked, “Is it by professing faith in Jesus to forgive me of my sins against him and the father and then continuing in that belief and attitude each day?” Furthermore, he added, “What about if/when my faith waivers or I’m apathetic for a season?” As a Christian, I myself have asked these same questions. What follows is how I responded to my friend (via email). Continue reading