NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

Jonathan Edwards Talked Hell, Promised No Heaven

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If people are condemned to hell without recourse, why torment them before they go.

When Edwards Described Hell
You Felt The Flames

I’m not sure what you would call it but the congregation’s response to Jonathan Edward’s famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, was not a revival.

He wasn’t speaking to heretics, hecklers or blasphemers. In fact, his hearers weren’t even skeptical. They were regular congregants and they were anything but slack. They endured long, dry, complicated, and often irrelevant or condemning discussions on Bible topics every week.

Deadening, yes, but showing up every week was a sign of determined commitment. They weren’t indifferent.

The services were probably lifeless – the effect had to be numbing – but we can’t blame the attenders for that and there is no reason to accuse them of being spiritually casual.

Mr. Edwards was clearly a very intelligent man with a remarkable ability to articulate his thoughts. But in spite of these abilities those who heard him found his theology difficult to assimilate. [Read more…] about Jonathan Edwards Talked Hell, Promised No Heaven

Calvinism – Devil Doesn’t Believe It!

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Sinners are born sullied not senseless.

The Devil Thinks Calvinism
Is A Great Idea!

And why not? One of his tricks is to make people think they can’t get saved, so anything that encourages doubt works right into his hands.

But, even though he thinks Calvinism is a good idea he doesn’t believe it.

In case you’re not familiar with the tenets of Calvinism it is a philosophical concept – nothing theological about it, although some would argue otherwise – that says God selected certain people to be saved and consigned everyone else to hell. His choices were made in eternity past and are fixed. No appeals allowed.

Yes, if you are a thinking person the logical inference is any individual not chosen for salvation IS chosen for hell. Offensive thought, hey? Calvinists think so too and have responded with long drawn out discussions designed to camouflage the reality. They even came up with a term for it, “double election.”

Google it and read for yourself. One post admits to the offense and suggests ways to soften it, without admitting any error, of course. I won’t take time to explore it here.

But, getting back to my original thought, the Devil doesn’t buy it. Not only does he focus on EVERY person – not just the elect or non-elect – he also works to blind them all to the truth of the Gospel – a condition Calvinists suggest is already existing and is curable only by a special, mystical, enabling by God.

Instead, however, the Bible says the following: [Read more…] about Calvinism – Devil Doesn’t Believe It!

Where Does Power Come From – God?

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We use things we can't fully understand (the brain) to figure out things we can.

Use The Power You Have
To Become The Thing You Must

To say God has all power is to say what we can easily understand, not because we have experienced it but because we, through rational thought, can reach this conclusion logically.

Obviously, I don’t have to prove there is power. It’s a no-brainer. Scientifically we have identified many different forms of power.

It is all around us, very available and is presented mostly in manageable forms. We derive much benefit from power – we couldn’t live without it – but the bottom line is we cannot create it. If it wasn’t freely supplied we wouldn’t have it.

We have learned ways to harness it effectively and to convert it from one non-useable form to a more useable one but, again, we cannot create it. In fact, one well established principle of physics reminds us that…

Energy can be converted from one form to another but it cannot be created or destroyed.

At least not by us.

Even the power we manage is presented to us in a controlled state. If it wasn’t we would be out of luck. Sunshine, rain and wind are all forms of power that can become quite destructive if supplied in excessive amounts. [Read more…] about Where Does Power Come From – God?

Contending For The Faith Or With The Faithful?

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Sovereignty. Everyone believes in it but we don’t all measure it the same way. For some sovereignty means God has all the power and all the will. He isn’t just omnipotent He is dominant. Everything that is or will be, was determined (pre – before it actually happened) by Him (salvation particularly). You can accept His outcomes and go with the flow or not, (you can only buck His plan if He decided you would, even if you didn’t want to) but you can’t change it.

In this scheme, God has pre-knowledge of all things because He planned it. He knew what would happen because He caused it. Taking this idea to its logical end, we don’t have to do anything. In fact, we can’t. Do you have a career path? Only if God wants it. Can you tell us what it is? Only when God shows it. If God’s will is such, why do we need a will at all? [Read more…] about Contending For The Faith Or With The Faithful?