EnnisP, Author at NowTHINK!AboutIt

Nooses, Abuses And Oppression

September 26, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Racism Is Better Than Slavery
But Not By Much

A guy recently made a remark that caught me off guard. We were working next to each other and somehow the conversation prompted him to make the following statement.

“I think it is time,” he said, “that the black community got over slavery and got on with life.”

It was surprising for two reasons. We weren’t discussing racial issues so it seemed to come out of nowhere. And it was terribly off-center.

There was more to the conversation than that but somehow he thought the remark was related and appropriate.

To buttress the insult, he named several ethnic communities, all of whom had been enslaved and all of whom had done well after liberation.

He also prefaced his remark by affirming he was not a racist. I’m sure you’ve heard some version of:

I’m not a racist but………

To the average person on the street, that idea, which is partly true, gets traction. Other ethnic groups have been enslaved and yet today seem to be doing well in spite of it.

However, there are differences between the black community in America and other enslaved people groups and the differences are obvious. Those differences, however, though easily recognizable are for various reasons met with disinterest.

People just don’t care that the underlying feeling across the American landscape is that Blacks are somehow inferior. I call it a “feeling” because there is certainly no substance to the idea but it is as widespread as blueberry jam for breakfast.

Even my antagonist’s remark was motivated by the idea, although I doubt he realized it. Think about it. If in fact, the black community hasn’t gotten over slavery, how would you explain that? What is holding them back? What could explain their lack of development and over-incarceration?

There are only two possible answers. Either they have been marginalized by the surrounding culture or they are inferior. It”s the former.

Whatever gifts, abilities, talents and potential you find in any God-created group you find in every group and to the same extent. Those qualities are just as nuanced among blacks as they are anywhere.

In spite of that… [Read more…] about Nooses, Abuses And Oppression

People Really Do Want To Work

July 10, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

A Living Wage
Is A Strong Motivation To Work Hard

My Dad drummed a strong work ethic into us from an early age.

Work!

Work hard!

Show up early and stay a little late.

Engage! Don’t stand around waiting for someone else to do the job.

Don’t wait to be told what to do. Find what needs to be done and do it.

People who don’t work, he complained, are lazy and they’re also the ones who inevitably get into trouble.

That’s a brief summary of his ideas and they’re generally good ones to live by. Bottom line? Work is a good thing and the Bible agrees but not only was he too job/boss centric, his droning made it seem more like a Chain Gang than an opportunity. [Read more…] about People Really Do Want To Work

Foreknowledge Is God’s Domain

March 1, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

But It’s Human
To Be Curious

The Bible plainly states that God has foreknowledge. He knows what is going to happen before it actually happens and from a human perspective, we are fascinated by that.

We understand the concept but can’t possibly relate to that reality. We can fiddle with the idea philosophically but that’s it, and that’s kind of the point of this post. No human can know with certainty what is going to happen even in the next five minutes much less a year or more from now.

Other than conceptual awareness, foreknowing is completely beyond the sphere of human experience.

We might have an idea, even a good idea, how things will pan out but the difference between that kind of anticipation and knowing absolutely is light-years.

We can know the odds of winning but anyone promising a definite win is either lying or manipulating the circumstances.

When it comes to the future, humans are only capable of imprecise predictive knowledge. We are curious. God is neither imprecise nor predictive nor curious. He’s prophetic.

Our expectations are based on analysis, investigation, reasoning, and are largely influenced by hope. God is all-knowing. His rational capacities are never spent trying to figure out why things happen the way they do.

Humans anticipate multiple possibilities and plan for each one as best they can. We hope for desired outcomes but there’s always a degree of mystery. Nothing is guaranteed. That’s not a space God lives in.

What we don’t do, or at least shouldn’t do, is forget about the future and we shouldn’t just wait for it either.

The future is what helps us get over the past.

But what I’ve described so far is what humans experience. God does none of that.

God doesn’t make predictions because He already knows the outcome. He never spends time hoping for anything.

He knows what’s going to happen, to whom it will happen, how it will affect each person, and how we’ll respond. He knows all that. He knows exactly what our capabilities are and He knows what we’ll do to develop them and how effective we’ll be in using them.

He knows what the possibilities are and He knows how the possibilities will play out. It’s hard to get your head around that.

Involved VS Intervening

God is involved. He created the universe in which we live and the universe doesn’t operate hands-free.

Gravity, weather cycles, biochemical reactions are created and maintained by God. He maintains them continuously but He doesn’t micromanage our responses to these facts once we discover them.

I can know what foods I should eat but God doesn’t make me eat them. He doesn’t plan the menu, cook the meals, or make me sit at the table till my plate is clean.

God doesn’t force the issue.

I can choose not to breathe and God won’t intervene if I make that choice, but I can’t change the fact that I need oxygen. [Read more…] about Foreknowledge Is God’s Domain

Biblical Predestination Not Focused On Individuals Or Minutia

January 24, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

What is the point of loving someone in this life if they are condemned to hell without recourse in the next?

Plans And Goals Are Predestinated
Not People
Part 3 of 3

Part 1 – Calvinism Has No Connection To Election Or Predestination

Part 2 – Biblical Election Has Many Applications

Predestination is definitely a biblical concept but we must be very careful how we apply it because, without very clear definitions and applications, it can mean anything.

Calvinists have taken it to mean God selected certain individuals in eternity past, before creation, and predetermined that they would be saved. That’s the upside. The downside is everyone else is condemned to hell without recourse.

What is amazing about this idea is the fact that the preselected ones can’t avoid it, they can’t aid it, and anyone not selected has no choice in the matter either. It’s all predestined, or so they would have us think.

The Calvinist version of Predestination literally cuts the heart and soul out of motivation. Some won’t try to believe because maybe they weren’t selected. Some won’t do more to evangelize because maybe the target audience wasn’t elected.

Who will be saved and who will not be saved is absolutely settled completely and entirely by God’s choice before creation.

Of course, these false ideas about Predestination don’t stand alone. They are aided and abetted by Calvinistic teachings on Election. When these two concepts start swirling, the effect is catalytic. People get caught in the resulting vortex and just give up.

Once Election is understood correctly, however, which was the point of my last post, it opens the door to a very different viewpoint on Predestination.

Predestination Doesn’t Kill Hope

The biggest problem with Calvinistic ideas about Predestination is they leave absolutely no wiggle room for variable outcomes and give no hope. That’s a problem. Hope is everything. We endure momentary difficulties because we have hope. We fight for survival because we have hope. Take hope away, which is what Calvinism does, and people tend to harden, not against God but against people.

Once you start picking individuals to favor with eternal bliss leaving the rest to suffer eternal torment, you lose traction. Why bother trying. All the important questions are settled and there is nothing anyone can do to change it.

Predestination Doesn’t Encourage Questionable Motives

A good question to ask is why does any Calvinist obey the commands of Scripture, like preach the Gospel to every creature and love your neighbor.

This may not be true in every case but one reason a preselected person would love their neighbor (which we are commanded to do, even the ones who are easy to hate), who also may not be selected, is to rub it in.

I’m one of the chosen and I’m so much better than you.

You may think I’m exaggerating, but visit a few churches where Calvinism reigns and tell me the atmosphere isn’t laced with a sense of superiority. If you’re not sure where to find such churches, just look for the words Reformed or Covenant in the name. That’s usually a dead giveaway, although you find all kinds of churches laced with Calvinism’s ideas these days.

There’s a good reason for this phenomenon. When you’re beliefs run contrary to your actions, it makes you look at least confused, maybe stupid. You have to do something to shore up apparent sophistication. If you’re not BEING the part, you have to try and LOOK the part. [Read more…] about Biblical Predestination Not Focused On Individuals Or Minutia

Biblical Election Has Many Applications

January 22, 2022 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

If you don't do the hard work of becoming the person you need to be, you won't be able to do the thing you're called to do.

Election Is For Service Not Salvation
Part 2 of 3

Part 1 – Calvinism Has No Connection To Election Or Predestination

Part 3 – Biblical Predestination Not Focused On Individuals Or Minutia

Part 1 of this series focused on the many fallacies of Calvinism and there are many. Too many to enumerate in one post.

Calvinism raises so many questions that if you took each to its logical end, you would end up with a book, maybe a set, not just a post.

The previous post was intended to whet the appetite and set the stage for further investigation. The fallacies don’t explain Election or Predestination so the job isn’t done yet but they do reveal the questionable nature of Calvinism and that opens the door to a different approach.

So, what about Election.

Preliminary Thoughts

First, a few preliminary thoughts.

More than any other word, Election has become the anchor for Calvinistic thought. Everything Calvinists teach about any subject in the Bible is tethered to the idea that God selected some for salvation and deselected everyone else.

Calvinists don’t like it when their ideas are framed in those terms and they’ve produced a litany of sophisticated-sounding prose to suggest that isn’t true but when you boil it all down, if any person is not saved and doesn’t get saved before they die, they were deselected.

As we go along, it will become clear why that is the logical inference of Calvinist teachings.

There are several key passages that need to be explained but before we get into those, a few foundational observations are needed first.

Election Is Too Common To Be Special

First of all, a word about the word Elecction.

The word Election is just one word. It isn’t a unique word. It wasn’t specially coined in the Old Testament or New Testament to carry a strange, weird, or unusual meaning.

The word was never intended to become a theological Shibboleth. It’s not even particularly spiritual.

The New Testament writers haven’t said enough in context to impregnate it sufficiently with the idea that God did something before we were born to divide humanity into two groups: the ins and the outs.

The word simply means chosen and it can apply to all kinds of things. Making choices (elections), is very common.

We choose what we wear and eat each day, what we watch on TV, what we read, think, and more.

We choose how punctual we are, how we act under pressure, who we marry, spend time with, vote for, and so on.

People choose careers, places to live, and methods for managing money.

But the choices we make are always qualified or should be. Careless people make random, unqualified choices and suffer badly as a result. Words like thoughtless, irresponsible, negligent, and imprudent describe the random-choice approach to life.

And that is exactly what Calvinists are suggesting about God.

Election Presents Opportunities

Sometimes we make good choices. Sometimes we make bad choices. The good news is after we make bad choices, we can still choose to learn from the experience. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we don’t.

Choices shape our lives they don’t define us. [Read more…] about Biblical Election Has Many Applications